A Lightkeeper's Log

Why the hell did I just read like 100,000 words of Evil!Jim Doesn't Understand Poor!Blair? If I wanted to remind myself why I'm not in The Sentinel fandom anymore, I'm sure I could have found a less time consuming way to do it.

I've mentioned it before I think, but there really needs to be fic in which an evil bay guy cable cabal gets a hold of Steve and put him up for auction to the highest evil bad guy bidder. Then Tony sends in someone awesome like Deadpool as a proxy and spends like a trillion dollars on Steve. Then there's awkwardness and angst and cuddling. I don't understand why this does not exist.

Here's a Wordle of my big bang, which I hope to be able to link to any day now.

Another ancient story found on my drive that's most likely never going to get finished, but the first part wasn't bad.

( Untitled Stargate: SG-1/The Sentinel crossover. )

Title: Raiders of the Seven Systems
Author: ltlj
Fandoms: Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG-1, Firefly
Words: 32,400
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU. John Sheppard leads a crew of Athosian space pirates in the Pegasus Galaxy. They rescue Earth refugees Rodney McKay and Sam Carter, but then things get complicated.
Notes: I used to love reading AUs in The Sentinel where the boys met for the first time under different circumstances. I loved seeing familiar characters in new situations, and how they'd manage to work things out this time. I also love outsider perspectives on familiar people. This is a lot like that, only far less predictable, far more fun, and involving quite a lot of space pirates. All of the characters are beautifully drawn, and though it's mostly from John's point of view, everyone (including, rather randomly, Zoe of Firefly) gets something to do and a role to play. Also, mysteries are solved, allegiances are questioned, daring do is done, and bucklers are swashed. A good time was had by all.

How to detect a Suthor, whether or not the story has original characters (Part Two):
Character One: Woe! Angst! Woe!
Character Two: -falls into room- There you are! I've broken my leg in four places and the Evil Overlord cut off my hands. I need your help!
Character One: You don't appreciate me! I work and I slave and I lay down my life for your cause, and what thanks to I get? Nothing, that's what!
Character Two: Look, the fate of life the universe and everything hangs in the balance! You need to push that red button right now!
Character One: Why should I care about the universe? The universe obviously doesn't care about me!
Character Two: Can we talk about this later?
Character One: How can you be so insensitive? I have a broken nail here! Have you no compassion? This is another example of how callously you treat me.
Character Two: You know what? Never mind. -sort of flops over to panel and pushes button with nose, thereby saving said universe etc- Useless, you are.
Character One: No one ever loves me! -cries-
Character Three: -comes in- OMG! Two! Have you no decency? Can't you see that One has a broken nail? You are such a bastard. One, don't listen to Two. I've always thought he was a bastard. -kicks Character Two-
Character Two: Ow.
Character One: -sniffles- I never understood true love until now. -hugs Character Three-
Character Three: Let's make babies. -walks out, stepping on Character Two on the way by-
Character Two: I'm not sure I deserved that.

Yeah, um anyway... Made it through all eighteen hundred plus summaries in the Andromeda enclave of the Pit of Voles, a couple of days ago. I ended up starting maybe a dozen stores, finishing about half that and only really enjoying one. That has to be a record.

So I made an icon. Which like cruisedirector and I will actually get.

Also a quiz via sparowe ( What Dragon Spirit Resides in Me? )

ETA: Also, note to The Sentinel fen: please stop killing Naomi and demonising Carolyn. There are few enough women in that universe as it is. I know sometimes it's unavoidable for the story's sake, but it's looking alarmingly like the default position in AU's these days.

Note the First: Lookit! linaelyn fixed my icon!

Note the Second: Fact: It is usually warmer inside in Canada in the winter than it is outside in Canada in the summer.

Note the Third: I just got out of the last class I will take until at least fall 2008. I find that deeply terrifying.

Note the Forth: sparowe is writing angsty House fic. Go read and offer praise!

Note the Fifth: Dad just sent me Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album, and it has made me happy.

ETA2: Note the Sixth: There's a new(ish) Kavan Smith interview up over at The SciFi World. Go read and enjoy!

Ramble: rageprufrock just wrote a post about characterisation that reminded me of a topic I've been meaning to post on for a while now. Her main point (though you all really should read her rant as she is all articulate and stuff) is that she hates authors sprucing up McKay and making him super competent and smooth in fic. What she loves about him is that he is so utterly awkward in every situation that involves actual real people (and even those that have him talking to imaginary people). He's a dork. That's not going to change. He knows it. He's largely fine with it. Everyone else should be too.

This reminded me of a several things that had been on my mind of late.
1. My ramble from this spring about the problems of having a story with too many Chosen Ones and not enough people to do the actual work (also known as that Cracked Supernatural/The Lord of the Rings Thing).
2. That H:TLJ fic I read wherein the author gave Iolaus some godlike powers, and the point of the fic didn't seem to be How Would Iolaus Feel About That, but more to the effect of Now He's Finally Equal to Hercules YAY!
3. The alarmingly large part of the The Sentinel fandom that seems to feel that to be counted as a worthy companion to Jim, Blair has to come by some sort of awesome "gift" himself.

I inevitably feel like going for the Herculean approach to diplomacy and throwing up my hands and shouting, "What is wrong with you people?"

I think it's some sort of Mary Sue thing wherein the author identifies with the "weaker" character and wants to make them outshine everyone so that s/he can bask in vicarious glory.

The problem is that Rodney is fine with being socially inept. So are all of his friends. Blair seems pretty happy the way he is, and Jim has enough trouble with his own abilities without having to deal with a pimped up Blair (that came out horribly wrong, but oh well). Hercules loves Iolaus more because he's mortal and sticks by him anyway (though he wishes his friend would lay off the whole dying thing). Iolaus on his own part turned down offers of special abilities at least once - and all creators of Sue!Iolaus would do well to watch "The Apple" again to see what their fantasies really look like.

Instead of doing the character of the favour of showing how awesome they are, these authors seem to be insulting them by saying that the simply are not good enough as is and need to be "improved" drastically to be worthy of attention.

I know that is far from the intention of the authors, but by saying that the socially inept dorks are not worthy is alienating a hell of a lot of fandom. Saying that even brilliant and beautiful souls need magical powers to count is alienating pretty much all of the human race.

ETA: This is not an anti-AU rant. I'm all for turning the entire cast of SG-1 into fluffy pink unicorns if that's what floats your boat, but please do it because you want to explore the trials and tribullations of Unicorn Life, not because you feel that fluffy pink unicorns are inherently supperior to humans, and therefore your favourite character deserves to be one.

Title: New
Author: T. Verano
Fandom: The Sentinel
Rating: PG for language and some violence
Season/spoilers: Season One Between "The Debt" and "Cypher"
Word Count: About 12,250
Summary: Eight days after the warehouse exploded. Life goes on, in its own unlikely way.

Quote: Which was weird. Jim didn't like sharing his digs with flaky twenty-something anthropologists-cum-police observers whose outlook on life had been fundamentally influenced by Naomi Sandburg. Not that Jim knew about Naomi. Or that Naomi knew about Jim. God, never the twain shall meet, okay? The very thought of that had a sort of Rocky Horror Picture Show quality that made Blair twitch.

Notes: There have been a hell of a lot of stories about how Blair ended up in the loft, and I have enjoyed a lot of them, but I think that this is my favourite ever. The author has the boys down perfectly, with Blair's determination to make his dissertation work no matter what, and Jim's lack of communication skills and mile-wide protective streak. In this case, their relationship doesn't immediately click, and they have to sort some shit out, which makes sense given that they are so different. It is also a very clear example of why I live in res not off campus housing. It's funny, slightly angsty, and entirely heart warming.

I was thinking about the following a lot while I was gardening.

I am not sure I believe in the Hound of the Baskervilles. I am sure I do not believe in being terrified by a dog painted over with luminous paint. But I am sure that I believe in Mr. Sherlock Holmes and in the strange friendship between him and Dr. Watson.
--Jorge Luis Borges: This Craft of Verse (Page 103)

This is exactly why I love so many stories that are, to be perfectly honest, pretty bad. Take The Sentinel for example. I don't believe that any competent police officer would act like Jim or Simon (to say nothing of the rest of the MCU). The anthropology is equally whacked. Sometimes, I'm not sure if I believe in Blair. However, I irrevocably believe in that strange friendship, and that's why I love the show as much as I do.

It's also the cause of my disenchantment with BSG of late. The plots remained clever, but I didn't believe in the people who used to be my favourite characters. It just didn't work for me any more.

I'm now caught up on Supernatural, and loving it. It's got canon smarm that highly appeals to me, and on a level that I haven't seen for a while in one of my regular shows (this is not counting reruns of The Sentinel). I love canon smarm in all its angsty glory. I really want to cross it over with a number of different shows, though mainly O'Neill era SG-1. My inner feminist wants one of the duo to be a sister (pertinently preferable, but I'll take gender fucking), but I think she'll get over it. John Winchester is pushing my ffkoah buttons a bit too, which is always good. I want the soundtrack. New episode tonight, YAY! (Does this show air on a channel you can get in Canada? -checks- CityTV, great, my folks get that, I won't miss it.)

New Doctor Who this weekend -squeeful dance of joy- (no sign of when that's playing on CBC though, however, it's a fair trade). The Americans get "Dalek" tomorrow. I'm so happy for them. (celebratory picture for culurien)

In the not nearly as squeeful category, we have this note from Torri Higginson (Dr Weir on SGA): ( extreamly vague season three spoiler )

-sighs- Yeah I know, I claim to be able to ignore Weir, but sometimes...

I think what I love most about Blair (aside from his relationship with Jim) is his courage. He may complain and worry and doubt, but he will jump out of aircraft, and take on terrorists/gang members/violent offenders/whoever both physically and verbally when the situation calls for it. He doesn't seem at all phased by Jim being entirely pissed off at him (rather daunting to most people), perfectly willing to push back just as hard or try to calm the guy down. He psyched out a truly psychopathic serial killer as he was being murdered. He took out an armed white supremacist with a bathroom stall door and another with vending machine. If he thinks something is stupid, he'll say it. People do not walk over this guy. -loves-

One of the things I love most about Jim is how laid back he is. Okay, so he gets in his moods, especially when his senses are misbehaving, but he is at heart a happy person. He loves his job; he loves spending time with his friends, and he loves good food and simple pleasures. Sometimes, it's easy to focus on how neurotic he can be, and overlook the fact that he is fundamentally just a nice guy. -loves-

ETA: I'm not actually planning to shut up about this show anytime in the forseeable future. Sorry.

This week's episode was the famed "Cypher." This show has more missing scenes written for it than any episode save the infamous series final (and "Sentinel, Too," if you count both halves). I can see why. ( SPOILERS for a show that aired almost ten years ago )

Due to me forgetting the time change, I missed taping the episode with Jason Carter. It's not supposed to be a great episode anyway, but... Jason Carter. –la sigh-