COME WATCH TV WITH ME!
12 Jan 2013 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
promethia_tenkYEEESSSSSSS. Excellent meme day:
Day Twelve
In your own space, rec at least three fanworks that you think would make a good intro into XYZ fandom. Rec a fandom overview, a introductory picspam, stories that define and shape the fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
If at all possible, try to pick a smaller or rarer fandom, one that maybe doesn't have the following you feel it should.
Cheating because how could anyone pick one?
1) The Middleman: You owe it to yourself to watch this vid right now:
Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amathela
The cool chick in the glasses is Wendy Watson, who was basically your best friend from college who now works for a secret organization that protects you and all the rest of the schlubs you know from the existence of comic book villainy in our world. There really isn't that much more to say, because that is the show right there and if you haven't realized yet that it is awesome and that you are going to have to go hunt down all twelve episodes right now, then there isn't much more I can do to help you. Though if you're the kind of person who would like to think they're not quite that easy, The AV Club makes a very good case here with words and clips and stuff.
2) Sanctuary: At first glance (and maybe second or third, if you're unlucky in which episodes you see), Sanctuary will look like any other mediocre sci fi show you've ever ignored. But. Let me tell you: I would happily sit through twice as much mediocre sci fi show for HELEN FUCKING MAGNUS, MD, PhD, her most HBIC BAMF-ness. Picture Laura Roslin with a gun, a centuries-long lifespan (self-induced), and a secretive world-wide organization that protects and studies unusual life-forms. If you know my feelings about Laura Roslin you should know that these are NOT COMPARISONS I UNDERTAKE LIGHTLY. Allow me to rec to you the meta that convinced me I would have to watch (infinite thanks tocassi0pei4, who recced it first):
Here There Be Monsters: Sanctuary and the Queen of the Dead byartaxastra
And for those of you who have been burned on such matters in the past, you may watch assured that the show was rudely canceled after four seasons, during which time they never once managed to ruin her.
3) Dollhouse: I have saved the hard sell for last. Look, I know the overwhelming response to this show was negative. Trying to find fanworks and discussion for this show that gets beyond 'BUT EXPLOITATION IS WROOOOONG!' is, well, challenging. But guys? I really, really love this show. It is flawed: the scars of network interference and production uncertainties are almost comically obvious. The first half-season is all but wasted. The second season should have been three. It's a show that is far better in meta than in watching most of the time: the IDEAS are amazing, but you do have to watch the thing before you can get to the yummy, chewy center. The characters are hard to connect with (though I think this is a feature rather than a flaw). The show is unsettling because it deals with really horrifying sort of exploitation, yes, but it is even more unsettling because it seduces you into its world, so that periodically you jump at the realization of the things you have come to accept as "normal." And, unlike the rest of Joss Whedon, this is not science fantasy, but true science fiction, built around a single, tight, speculative premise: what if we had the technology to rewrite people's brains? Simply put: you can't watch this show the way you do most shows. But if you're up for a super-dense, challenging, mythically and symbolically rich exploration into the construction of identity and the operations of power, this show is worth the effort. The goalpost I usually see set for prospective watchers is episode six where, it is true, the show shifts and really begins to become what it's about. But I would go farther than that, frankly: this show is definitely not for everyone, but if you haven't at least finished the first season, don't assume that it's not for you. To the recs!:
Dollhouse meta byjanie_aire: If you're read any of janie_aire's Doctor Who meta (and if you haven't, go, run, now!) you will know what you are in for here: heady, meaty, meta-y exploration into the myth and symbolism behind the show. Give the first entry there a go if you need convincing ("Briar Rose Learns to Read"). The take-away here is, if this particular sort of literary weight is something that appeals to you in the curent run of Doctor Who (fairy tales!), there is MORE TO BE HAD!
Not the communist party manifesto set to music: A Dollhouse diptych byhazelk: I think I have watched just about every vid made about this show, and the overwhelming majority of them are BUT EXPLOITATION IS WRONG! Which . . . yeah? See my comments above. And some of them are very well made and I would recommend them too, but I feel like they think they are being more critical and editorial than they are. BUT EXPLOITATION IS WRONG! is pretty much the text of the show, so repeating it is . . . well, it is worthwhile, but what else have you got for me? Hazelk's two vids certainly don't side-step EXPLOITATION IS WRONG!, but they don't stop there either. And while they work wonderfully together, let me particularly recommend the first one, which gets into the headspace of the dolls in a mesmerizing way.
Last but not least, the other reasons to watch Dollhouse is ADELLE FUCKING DEWITT. About whom I am capable of talking ONLY IN CAPLOCKS. OH LOOK ITS A PICSPAM. . . . AND MEANWHILE SHE'S ALL TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS AND SHIT LIKE NOTHING IS GOING ON WITH HER FANTASTIC WARDROBE OF BAMF. That's right.
Mmmmmm, tv. You know you want a new show, come on *eyebrow waggle*
Day Twelve
In your own space, rec at least three fanworks that you think would make a good intro into XYZ fandom. Rec a fandom overview, a introductory picspam, stories that define and shape the fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
If at all possible, try to pick a smaller or rarer fandom, one that maybe doesn't have the following you feel it should.
Cheating because how could anyone pick one?
1) The Middleman: You owe it to yourself to watch this vid right now:
Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny by
amathelaThe cool chick in the glasses is Wendy Watson, who was basically your best friend from college who now works for a secret organization that protects you and all the rest of the schlubs you know from the existence of comic book villainy in our world. There really isn't that much more to say, because that is the show right there and if you haven't realized yet that it is awesome and that you are going to have to go hunt down all twelve episodes right now, then there isn't much more I can do to help you. Though if you're the kind of person who would like to think they're not quite that easy, The AV Club makes a very good case here with words and clips and stuff.
2) Sanctuary: At first glance (and maybe second or third, if you're unlucky in which episodes you see), Sanctuary will look like any other mediocre sci fi show you've ever ignored. But. Let me tell you: I would happily sit through twice as much mediocre sci fi show for HELEN FUCKING MAGNUS, MD, PhD, her most HBIC BAMF-ness. Picture Laura Roslin with a gun, a centuries-long lifespan (self-induced), and a secretive world-wide organization that protects and studies unusual life-forms. If you know my feelings about Laura Roslin you should know that these are NOT COMPARISONS I UNDERTAKE LIGHTLY. Allow me to rec to you the meta that convinced me I would have to watch (infinite thanks to
cassi0pei4, who recced it first):Here There Be Monsters: Sanctuary and the Queen of the Dead by
artaxastraAnd for those of you who have been burned on such matters in the past, you may watch assured that the show was rudely canceled after four seasons, during which time they never once managed to ruin her.
3) Dollhouse: I have saved the hard sell for last. Look, I know the overwhelming response to this show was negative. Trying to find fanworks and discussion for this show that gets beyond 'BUT EXPLOITATION IS WROOOOONG!' is, well, challenging. But guys? I really, really love this show. It is flawed: the scars of network interference and production uncertainties are almost comically obvious. The first half-season is all but wasted. The second season should have been three. It's a show that is far better in meta than in watching most of the time: the IDEAS are amazing, but you do have to watch the thing before you can get to the yummy, chewy center. The characters are hard to connect with (though I think this is a feature rather than a flaw). The show is unsettling because it deals with really horrifying sort of exploitation, yes, but it is even more unsettling because it seduces you into its world, so that periodically you jump at the realization of the things you have come to accept as "normal." And, unlike the rest of Joss Whedon, this is not science fantasy, but true science fiction, built around a single, tight, speculative premise: what if we had the technology to rewrite people's brains? Simply put: you can't watch this show the way you do most shows. But if you're up for a super-dense, challenging, mythically and symbolically rich exploration into the construction of identity and the operations of power, this show is worth the effort. The goalpost I usually see set for prospective watchers is episode six where, it is true, the show shifts and really begins to become what it's about. But I would go farther than that, frankly: this show is definitely not for everyone, but if you haven't at least finished the first season, don't assume that it's not for you. To the recs!:
Dollhouse meta by
janie_aire: If you're read any of janie_aire's Doctor Who meta (and if you haven't, go, run, now!) you will know what you are in for here: heady, meaty, meta-y exploration into the myth and symbolism behind the show. Give the first entry there a go if you need convincing ("Briar Rose Learns to Read"). The take-away here is, if this particular sort of literary weight is something that appeals to you in the curent run of Doctor Who (fairy tales!), there is MORE TO BE HAD!Not the communist party manifesto set to music: A Dollhouse diptych by
hazelk: I think I have watched just about every vid made about this show, and the overwhelming majority of them are BUT EXPLOITATION IS WRONG! Which . . . yeah? See my comments above. And some of them are very well made and I would recommend them too, but I feel like they think they are being more critical and editorial than they are. BUT EXPLOITATION IS WRONG! is pretty much the text of the show, so repeating it is . . . well, it is worthwhile, but what else have you got for me? Hazelk's two vids certainly don't side-step EXPLOITATION IS WRONG!, but they don't stop there either. And while they work wonderfully together, let me particularly recommend the first one, which gets into the headspace of the dolls in a mesmerizing way.Last but not least, the other reasons to watch Dollhouse is ADELLE FUCKING DEWITT. About whom I am capable of talking ONLY IN CAPLOCKS. OH LOOK ITS A PICSPAM. . . . AND MEANWHILE SHE'S ALL TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS AND SHIT LIKE NOTHING IS GOING ON WITH HER FANTASTIC WARDROBE OF BAMF. That's right.
Mmmmmm, tv. You know you want a new show, come on *eyebrow waggle*
(no subject)
Date: 12 Jan 2013 09:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12 Jan 2013 09:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13 Jan 2013 07:08 am (UTC)As for those first five episodes, there's only one I really don't like. I like Ghost, especially the first scene, so totally sets up a lot of what's to come; Gray Hour has some beautiful artistic flourishes; The Target's a great romp; True Believer completely freaks me out -- maybe because it's the first episode I ever saw, and I just wigged.
It's only when the show shifts at Man on the Street that I get emotionally invested, but it's the Epitaphs that make it all payoff. Those two season-enders are some of the most beautiful television I've seen. They make Dollhouse A-grade material, and without them, it might only be middling to good.
Mostly, I'm just grateful I had this series around when I needed it and all the weirdness I was going through, and I'm just sorry I wasn't ready for the show until the hiatus between the two brief seasons.
(no subject)
Date: 12 Jan 2013 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12 Jan 2013 10:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13 Jan 2013 06:54 am (UTC)