Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Last night, for some reason I couldn't sleep from 4am-6am so I ended up sitting in bed rereading old, bookmarked Veronica Mars fanfic, of all things.



And now I feel like a rewatch! S1 and 2 here I come (S3, you are dead to me).

Once upon a time, this LJ was a Veronica Mars zone - all VM, all the time. Looking back on it, VM was the last time I truly fell in love with an American show - in love to the point of rabidness - spoilers, meta, lots of fandom participation, even fic. I've liked American shows since (Burn Notice comes to mind) but I haven't loved them or, more to the point, fangirled them.

Yes, definitely a rewatch.

In case you have no idea what VM was, it was a show about a California teen, Veronica Mars, who lives in a small, class-divided town of Neptune. Tough, prickly, very damaged Veronica helps her father (now a private investigator, formerly a sheriff) and solves cases on her own. The entirety of the first season (the best one) revolves around a single story - Veronica's driven, dyfunctional quest to find out who really killed her best friend, Lilly Kane, a billionaire's daughter and the town's golden girl. Lilly's death, and Veronica's father's subsequent belief that it was the Kanes who killed her, was what ended Veronica's sheltered and privileged existence and made her world fall apart. Second season, which is flawed but good, pursues a different if related mystery. I like to pretend S3 doesn't exist.

Oh, it all comes back now. How I used to obsess over Veronica/Logan. GUUUUUH. They are still such a huge ship of mine. In retrospect and with the calming distance of years, the chances of them ultimately working out would probably be nil - a closed-off, distrustful vigilante rape victim who is terrified of trusting anyone and letting anyone in and an acting-out abuse victim who desperately latches onto any sign of affection and cannot let go is a recipe for decades of therapy, not a happily-ever-after. At least in real life. But hey, this is fiction, and I like to believe that after everything came out into the open and he rescued her on the roof, thus proving to her that he will always there for her if she needs it, and his father is finally dead and he's acquitted, they can move on to a place of therapy happiness. That's what fiction is for - to give us happy endings you are unlikely to get in RL. S3 does not exist does not exist does not exist :P

Have a shippy MV. It's not as crisp as I prefer but I really like the clips.

Last night, for some reason I couldn't sleep from 4am-6am so I ended up sitting in bed rereading old, bookmarked Veronica Mars fanfic, of all things.



And now I feel like a rewatch! S1 and 2 here I come (S3, you are dead to me).

Once upon a time, this LJ was a Veronica Mars zone - all VM, all the time. Looking back on it, VM was the last time I truly fell in love with an American show - in love to the point of rabidness - spoilers, meta, lots of fandom participation, even fic. I've liked American shows since (Burn Notice comes to mind) but I haven't loved them or, more to the point, fangirled them.

Yes, definitely a rewatch.

In case you have no idea what VM was, it was a show about a California teen, Veronica Mars, who lives in a small, class-divided town of Neptune. Tough, prickly, very damaged Veronica helps her father (now a private investigator, formerly a sheriff) and solves cases on her own. The entirety of the first season (the best one) revolves around a single story - Veronica's driven, dyfunctional quest to find out who really killed her best friend, Lilly Kane, a billionaire's daughter and the town's golden girl. Lilly's death, and Veronica's father's subsequent belief that it was the Kanes who killed her, was what ended Veronica's sheltered and privileged existence and made her world fall apart. Second season, which is flawed but good, pursues a different if related mystery. I like to pretend S3 doesn't exist.

Oh, it all comes back now. How I used to obsess over Veronica/Logan. GUUUUUH. They are still such a huge ship of mine. In retrospect and with the calming distance of years, the chances of them ultimately working out would probably be nil - a closed-off, distrustful vigilante rape victim who is terrified of trusting anyone and letting anyone in and an acting-out abuse victim who desperately latches onto any sign of affection and cannot let go is a recipe for decades of therapy, not a happily-ever-after. At least in real life. But hey, this is fiction, and I like to believe that after everything came out into the open and he rescued her on the roof, thus proving to her that he will always there for her if she needs it, and his father is finally dead and he's acquitted, they can move on to a place of therapy happiness. That's what fiction is for - to give us happy endings you are unlikely to get in RL. S3 does not exist does not exist does not exist :P

Have a shippy MV. It's not as crisp as I prefer but I really like the clips.

I have just read a thread on AF for a Taiwanese drama because I was curious to see if it was something I would like.

And now I feel faintly ill. The drama? Knock Knock Loving You, or as katranna aptly renamed it "Knock Knock, I am about to be loving you whether you want to or not."

Why does it make me so rageful? Apparently part of the story is Guy A seeing the girl he likes kiss Guy B and raping her (or possibly "just" sexually assaulting her) to teach her what's what.

And this is the fangirl reaction.

( Skip if human stupidity makes you allergic )

Me: I want to find these fanbrats and murder them. Awwww, rapists = such good dating material! SICK.

On the bright side, I showed katranna first four eps of Veronica Mars and she enjoyed them. I've forgotten how good the show was - now I am sitting and rewatching the whole season 1. I think I am getting old because I see all the characters and am all indulgently going "awwwww, awesome kids."

I have just rewatched the pilot episode of Veronica Mars and I am struck all over again by how this is the best pilot of any show I have seen: it introduces all the characters and sets up every single theme but also throws us in the middle of this intriguing world.



It makes me fall in love with the damaged, prickly but underneath it all hopeful Veronica. It makes me fall in love with her warm, slightly dorky Dad. It makes me amused and fascinated by Weevil the biker and Logan the rich boy. And it reels me in with its mysteries: who killed Lilly Kane? Why did Lianne Mars leave her family? Why did Duncan Kane ditch Veronica? What is with Logan? And, most visceral of all, who roofied and raped Veronica a year or so ago?

Also, because it's a rewatch, so many things are so enhanced, from little things such as seeing future recurring characters such as Felix, to bigger things like watching the start of the Wallace/Veronica friendship, or realizing why Logan is so 'impervious' to Weevil beating him to a pulp, to Duncan's zoned-out state.

But anyway, I metaed this episode to death before so I bring you a few caps instead. This show was so gorgeously shot!

( Caps and comments behind the cut )

And here is a shippery L/V vid, I can't help self. It's not spoilery.



Yes, the song is Nickelback, but the vid itself is great.

I have just rewatched the pilot episode of Veronica Mars and I am struck all over again by how this is the best pilot of any show I have seen: it introduces all the characters and sets up every single theme but also throws us in the middle of this intriguing world.



It makes me fall in love with the damaged, prickly but underneath it all hopeful Veronica. It makes me fall in love with her warm, slightly dorky Dad. It makes me amused and fascinated by Weevil the biker and Logan the rich boy. And it reels me in with its mysteries: who killed Lilly Kane? Why did Lianne Mars leave her family? Why did Duncan Kane ditch Veronica? What is with Logan? And, most visceral of all, who roofied and raped Veronica a year or so ago?

Also, because it's a rewatch, so many things are so enhanced, from little things such as seeing future recurring characters such as Felix, to bigger things like watching the start of the Wallace/Veronica friendship, or realizing why Logan is so 'impervious' to Weevil beating him to a pulp, to Duncan's zoned-out state.

But anyway, I metaed this episode to death before so I bring you a few caps instead. This show was so gorgeously shot!

( Caps and comments behind the cut )

And here is a shippery L/V vid, I can't help self. It's not spoilery.



Yes, the song is Nickelback, but the vid itself is great.

I am going to rewatch Seasons 1 and 2 of Veronica Mars, one of my favorite TV shows (I like to pretend S3 does not exist, thank you very much!)

Who is with me? It would be fun to have a group rewatch!

In case you have never heard of VM (my LJ used to be VM-central, but that was a couple of years ago), VM was a snarky, clever show which centered around Veronica, a cynical, battered-by-life high-schooler living in a shallow Southern California town, who helped her Private Eye father solve mysteries, and solved some on her own. It's such a clever, incredibly well-written show that made me laugh and cry!

Season 1, which is the best, centers around Veronica's obsessive, not-too-healthy quest to find out who murdered her best friend, the town's golden girl Lilly Kane. After Lilly's murder, Veronica's life fell apart: her mother left town, her father lost his job, her perfect boyfriend, Lilly's brother, ditched her without an explanation, and she ended up ostracized and eventually raped at a party by someone she does not remember.

Now the former naive idealist is a hard-as-nails outsider with an attitude, on the outs with the privileged rich kids in her school, but slowly learning to feel friendship and trust again. If she doesn't get buried under the town's secrets, of course.

Veronica Mars:



Keith Mars, formerly Sheriff, now a Private Eye, the one stable and loving presence in Veronica's life. But is he her biological father?



Lilly Kane, the murdered best friend, who is dead but still very much present:



Logan Echolls my total crush, Lilly's former boyfriend, the leader of "09ers" (i.e. the privileged kids), and Veronica's biggest nemesis. Is there more to him than meets the eye? I used to ship them to an unhealthy degree.



Duncan Kane. The serious, studious "golden boy" son of Jake Kane, a software millionaire, Duncan was Lilly's brother and Veronica's boyfriend. He broke it off with Veronica without any explanation and has become a living zombie since.



Wallace Fennel. The first friend Veronica makes since Lilly's death.



Eli "Weevil" Navarro. A leader of a biker gang, he becomes a sort-of ally of Veronica's.



There are many many more, but these are the main ones.

Btw, my ship of choice? Was Logan/Veronica. They were so gloriously messed-up!

I think I am going to embark on a Veronica Mars rewatch.

Only seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 is dead to me.

But (related to the above), even though I think the show self-destructed spectacularly in S3, I never understood Rob Thomas hate. Even if I agree that he derailed the show in S3 (VM really was written to be a one season show. S2 only worked because it tied up every possible end from S1), none of the characters or the perfect S1 and the good S2 would exist without him. Not to mention he is partly responsible for giving me Logan Echolls, my teevee boyfriend :)

Here is a Logan/Veronica kissing vid to get me in the mood.



Oh, and yes, indeed. The Breakfast Club was as awesome as ever. Every time I find something new. And Bender=EEEEE!

I think I am going to embark on a Veronica Mars rewatch.

Only seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 is dead to me.

But (related to the above), even though I think the show self-destructed spectacularly in S3, I never understood Rob Thomas hate. Even if I agree that he derailed the show in S3 (VM really was written to be a one season show. S2 only worked because it tied up every possible end from S1), none of the characters or the perfect S1 and the good S2 would exist without him. Not to mention he is partly responsible for giving me Logan Echolls, my teevee boyfriend :)

Here is a Logan/Veronica kissing vid to get me in the mood.



Oh, and yes, indeed. The Breakfast Club was as awesome as ever. Every time I find something new. And Bender=EEEEE!

I talk so much about drama OTPs but here is a list of my Top 10 American/British tv OTPs. No order, except that John/Aeryn ARE my number 1.

( Read more... )

Well, the women are strong, and the men idealistic, and there is angst, but that is about all they have in common :P

Finished ep 3 of Return of the Condor Heroes. crumpeteer is right, that kid was incredibly annoying. But I don't particularly care as now he is grown-up and incredibly beefcakey. Moral of the story? Be kind to stray children for they will grow into prime rib :P

Or something.

No angst so far, which is disappointing. I neeeeeeeed hot people angst.

In news of other violent hotties, Fair warning: I plan to embark on a rewatch of my favorite movie of all time: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (yes, I do think they are one movie). I discovered the books when I was 12 and fell in love with them. When years later I discovered movies would be made out of them, I was both excited and terrified. Best Friend and I would talk about it for hours.

But they turned out perfect, like someone reached into my imagination and plucked it down on the screen. It’s the kind of feeling you get when you walk out of the theater and the world feels less intense and real. Total dream-state.

If I had LJ at that point, it would have been a scarily fixated LOTR zone.

Yeah, I am the geek who took time off work for Trilogy Tuesday (Mr. Mousie and I both agree it was the best movie experience ever).

And when we were in New Zealand around Queenstown four or so years ago, yeah, we totally geeked out and took a tour of whether they filmed.

I am a fangirl.

So rewatch probably means a lot of posts.

Also, Aragorn? Hottest, most awesome movie hero ever. Yeah. Not that I don’t adore the hobbits or Legolas or Faramir or Eomer but you know. Girl’s got her priorities.

Also, I realized that while I watched and loved Buffy I never really watched Angel even though Best Friend was a huge fan and she is a good indicator of what I’d like. Should I give it a try?

Also, people have been going back and forth about VM’s last night ep being a series finale with no closure. Some (like me) being annoyed like heck and other saying ‘it’s noir’ or ‘he didn’t know he wouldn’t be renewed.’

OK.

It’s not the fact that it has no neat tidy ending that bothers me. Farscape’s last episode was ‘Bad Timing,’ the ending of which literally had me scream and scream and scream at the TV (Mr. Mousie went for the earplugs). At that time, they didn’t know they’d be able to get $$$ together to film the miniseries. And all they needed to do to have tied it up more or less was to snip off the last two minutes or so.

Yet?

I thought it was one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever seen, even as it broke my heart.

Why?

Ending it the way they wanted, and no tinkering was no ‘I am bargaining with the network because if it’s a cliffhanger, they’ll have me come back’ was the modus operandi. This is the way they saw the ep end. Close of story. And because David Kemper and Co. went out with guns blazing (second half of S4 is my favorite FS ever), because they didn’t do everything and anything, ditch their core concept, dumb down to get more viewers? To me the jaw-dropping end of BT came across as in line with their desire to do the story their way, and not patheticness.

And also? Because if the end of BT was the end, it would have been a great place to end in, narratively speaking. Yet another empire (even more powerful) out to hunt them down. Earth protected forever. And John and Aeryn finally resolving everything, no need to hide, and this time refusing to be separated in death. They tried it. It sucked.

That desperate last kiss, the blast, and that last shot of their intermingled ashes with the engagement ring sticking out? And D’Argo screaming? It was the perfect Farscapian end: bleak and super-romantic at the same time.

None of the above can be said of VM. The episode wasn’t interesting, nothing was resolved, or left at a place where it could proceed from. And there is no defense of artistic integrity from RT.

So…Buh-bye, disappointing show.

But this reminds me. I am putting ‘Look at the Princess’ eps into DVD player now as it’s where I left off my Farscape rewatch. I really shouldn’t let so many weeks go in between viewings because FS is such a heavily serial show that it dilutes impact to have it interrupted like this.