...way out on the corner of fucked up and evil...

Comment to this entry and I will pick three of your fandoms. You must then update your journal and answer the following questions:

I was given American Gothic, Carnivale and X-Men.

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?
American Gothic: I got some gift vouchers at work and it was on sale in HMV for a ridiculously low price. I initially confused it with Twin Peaks, resulting in some very weird looks on the way home when I was happily babbling about wee evil dudes in cowboy boots and a friend saying (in a highly offended tone) "Gary Cole isn't wee!" Anyway, I decided to give it a whirl anyway as I love shows about spooky happenings in small towns and it seemed like a win. So I put it on and it's like, HO DUDES THERE IS THIS TOTALLY EVIL SHERIFF DUDE! AND OH MY GOD THERE'S THIS WEE BLONDE DOCTOR WHO'S TOTALLY SNARKY! AND THEY'RE LIKE ENEMIES BUT SECRETLY THEY'RE A BIT GAY FOR EACH OTHER! Also, Caleb was lovely and sympathetic and not at all annoying like most kids on TV, so that was win. But yeah, at first it was the whole Lucas/Doctor Matt thing.
Carnivale: The first season was a present on my birthday - I took it home, watched the first three episodes and was right there the next day getting season two. I loved the opening sequence, I loved Sampson's monologue at the start of episode one, I loved how bleak the whole look and feel of the show was. I also really liked how you couldn't tell which Avatar was the Avatar of Light and which one was the Avatar of Darkness for like... pretty much until the first half of season two, really, although apparently that wasn't intentional. I loved that all the characters had their parts to play - there wasn't anyone there who felt superfluous. I loved Rita Sue because she was tough and smart and kind of a bitch with it. I loved Ben because he was so damaged and so completely without social skills. I loved that you had to think your way through each episode instead of being spoonfed everything.
X-Men: Like most 80s children, my first exposure to it was the cartoon that used to air on Fox Kids. Of course, in my case they seemed to endlessly repeat the Dark Phoenix Saga, which lead me to a) assume that the stories were always about Jean and Scott and b) to really hate Jean and Scott. I did, however, develop a kind of pre-pubescent crush/hero worship thing with Storm and Rogue. I desperately wanted Rogue's hair and beautiful Southern accent, along with Storm's poise and self-assurance and, of course, absolutely kick-ass powers. The first X-Men movie, while a lot of fun and containing plenty of Hugh Jackman in leather - surely the best kind of Hugh Jackman - didn't really bring my adolescent self back into the fold. I was a little busy with Pokemon by then. But then X-Men: Evolution came out and I fell in love. Kurt was so adorable and Pietro was so hilarious and, God, even Scott was semi-likable.

2. Do you think you will stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
American Gothic: It went off the air in like, '96, and it only ran for a single season, so there isn't much of a fandom to speak of. However, if anyone ever wants to squeal with me about how awesome it was, I am more than happy to oblige.
Carnivale: Again, there's not a whole lot in the way of fandom - I do think it's another one of those shows that I'll rewatch over and over and have minor gleefits about, and again, you are all welcome to join me.
X-Men: With Evo having ended a few years ago, that part of the fandom is pretty much dead. I will always love Hugh Jackman in leather, and I do like the Ultimate X-Men comics, but I would say I already have.

3. What are your favorite episodes/books/movies/etc?
American Gothic: To Hell and Back, the Beast Within and the Plague Sower. To Hell and Back is, for all it's ostensibly about Doctor Matt and his wife and daughter, completely gay. The Beast Within is hilarious - I love how totally mean Lucas is about Archie and the prospect of soldiers in the psych ward getting blown up. The others are all like, we have to save Archie! and Lucas is all, "I don't care about that Jarhead!" And then Gail is all, wahh, hundreds of people will die, and Lucas is like, "Yeah, hundreds of crazy people," and it's so mean and heartless and wonderful. I love when Ben refers to his kid's stepfather "the Bionic Man." I love the way Caleb says "I hate you" with such venom in his voice. I love that Doctor Matt punches Lucas and Lucas responds by decking him. Plague Sower is lovely because it showcases what a great kid Caleb is, and the empathy and mercy he feels for the people around him, and the importance he places on love. I liked that it was part of a darker character arc for Merlyn, and I like that Doctor Matt's version of "going mental" mostly involves highlighting everything.
Carnivale: Babylon, because it was fucking terrifying. Over the course of the episode there's this mounting sense of dread that rises to a point where it's almost unbearable - the sense of impending doom is so vivid, it's almost a seperate character in itself. Then there's the scene at the very end, where Sampson sees Dora Mae standing in the window of the bar, and he makes this face that's somewhere between a sob and gagging as if he's about to throw up, and the full horror of it crashes down on you as the credits roll.
X-Men: Survival of the Fittest, purely for that bit where Avalanche and Scott get into it and Lance pushes Scott into the river and Jean's all, "Scott is far too mature to sink to that level" and then Scott (off-camera) fully eye-beams Lance into the water. Joyride, for that scene at the end where Bobby's all, "Yeah, we stole loads of things - the X-Jet, the X-Coptor, Wolverine's motorcycle..." and Wolverine's all like, "My motercycle?!" and Bobby's like, "Ummm bye!" The Hex Factor, for Pietro's girly "Wanda!" scream and for the X-Men getting totally curb-stomped during the battle in the mall. No Good Deed for the random old dude who glomps Todd.

4. Do you participate in this fandom (fan fiction, graphics, discussion, etc.)?
American Gothic: Again, there's not really much by way of fandom, though if it comes up I am right there with the squeeing and the hand-clapping. I am a shockingly bad writer, so a lack of fanfiction from me can only be seen as a good thing.
Carnivale: Again, not much in the way of fandom, although I have read a couple of astoundingly good fics involving Ben'spower and the circumstances that have him shackled in a chain gang before the start of the series.
X-Men: Aside from a little Evo-squealing and leather Jackman appreciation? Not really.

5. Do you think that people should get into this fandom?
American Gothic: YES! You should all watch it and be amazed at it's beautifulness and write lots and lots of fic for me to read.
Carnivale: Oh God yes! Not even for selfish reasons this time, do it for yourselves. Carnivale's a masterpiece. You won't be sorry.
X-Men: I'm certainly not adverse to a little post-X2 Wolverine/Scott porn, or some Logan/Victor action set around the time of the Wolverine movie. If we're talking Evo, let's have some Lance/Pietro and Scott/Kurt action.

Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Demon   Your raging id needs no chemical incentive to break out into a fiery orgy of destruction. When you're not burning, you're brooding. All you need is someone to point the way out for you.
Werewolf
Cthulu Spawn
Vampire
Sorceror
Incubus/Succubus
Ghost
Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Do not even try to pretend you are suprised.

I'm trying to decide what weirds me out most about the West Wing, now that Rob Lowe and his strange face have gone to travel the world and maybe learn to grow a manly beard, and I can't decide if I'm more freaked out about Glinda being Toby's new Gal Friday or the fact that Lucas Buck is the Vice President. Like, every time the President has an MS attack or Toby's crazy ex-wife crazily refuses to re-marry him because she's crazy or some handsome Republican rogue tries to steal one of Josh's many whores, I keep expecting to hear a door slam off-screen and then the camera spins 'round and Lucas will be standing there brimming with his trademark genial menace and it never happens.

Actually, yeah, the Lucas thing is weirder than the Glinda thing.

ETA:
In other, boring news, passport turned up, leak is fixed, central heating works and apart from a lingering wet-dog smell from the carpet, flat is livable again.

Wow, I suck at updating. In my defence though, I have been extremely distracted by a combination of Roar and Stargate Atlantis - in the episode I'm watching right now, Ronan has just invented a game where the sole purpose is to give him an excuse for grabbing Johns ass. And Sheppards just like, okay, that's a totally believable game, I'll go along with it. I mean, really. When I was in college, we did this whole bit on consent obtained by deception, and there was one case about a music teacher who touched up (euphamism for something much worse I don't want to go into this early in the morning) his students under the pretence that it would improve their singing. I always used to wonder how anyone could be that naive, and now I know - they were all related to John Sheppard.

Anyway, leaving aside random military dudes who don't even know when they're being molested, Roar is so... okay, it's like what would happen if Highlander and the Tribe had a baby - it's so poor, but at the same time, it has so much leather-clad Heath, and therefore it's really hard for me to form a definate opinion. And then there are a couple of really great episodes, not to mention a few scenes where you can totally tell it's done by the same guy who did American Gothic, and therefore at least temporarily awesome. Unfortunately, Longinus and Diana, the nominal baddies, are clearly meant to be cast from the same mould as Lucas and Selina, and they completely fail to measure up. Especially Longinus, who frankly is a whingy little Roman bitch. I kind of like Diana, though, if only because she shares my hatred for dance.

On the subject of how much I hate dance, Mama Froodle came to visit again last week - it was pretty enjoyable, apart from the part where she forced me to go to the ballet. Let me just state again - I HATE DANCE. Especially ballet, which is just a bunch of underfed white boys flailing around like spastics who've gone off their medication. It was like - you know that episode of Angel where they go to Pylea, and Lorne is explaining that they have no music, but unfortunately they still have dancing, and then Numquar does the dance of joy in complete silence? It was like that, for three hours. I only survived because I started fantasizing about shooting everyone onstage in their kneecaps. Fortunately, as with all great artists, pain and suffering leads to creativity, so I give you ( Read more... )

In other news, seven weeks 'til Halloween, yay! ASDA have already put their decorations and things out - this year they have a really cool skeleton in a hanging cage, and when you press a button the skeleton shouts and rattles the bars and tries to escape, and an awesome jug in the shape of a skull. I also got a set of four really cute votive candle holders decorated with bats which arrived today (hence why I'm up so early). Also, fair warning to anyone attending Casa Del Froodle this year who plans on turning up in a Nurse!Joker costume - I will try to grab your ass. I promise I won't pretend it's some lame homoeroticized version of Capture The Flag, though. Seriously, Ronan. Fail.

Oh come on! How can the third season of Miami Vice not be out yet? Losers. I am going to sulk if I cannot spent Christmas day watching the Homoerotic Interracial Adventures of Sonny and Rico. And by "sulk", I mean "watch Battlestar Galactica and get gleeful about how pretty Dirk Benedict is", naturally.

In other news, Secret Santas are the stupidest thing ever invented. Oooh, let's all exchange meaningless gifts with people we don't actually like, and in return, we too will get a cheap and thoughtless gift that will get banished to the bottom of the wardrobe the minute we get home! And when you say you're not going to do it, everyone looks at you like you just pistol-whipped Santa, cut him into pieces and then fed him to a bunch of doe-eyed orphans on Christmas day. Honestly, this sort of force-fed faux festive jollity just makes me want to stab everyone.

On a rather less ranty note, I am astounded and appalled by the revelation that Doctor Billy was that mean bowling alley guy in Bones who threw the superhero kid who was dying of cancer off a roof. Man, you suck, Doctor Billy. Even Lucas would have... okay, Lucas would have laughed and laughed, and laughed some more, and then built laser cannons for tiny hamsters. But still, I am glad Dave and Bones kicked your ass.

Also, someone had better tape the Hogfather for me. I mean it. Even if all I do is moan about how the guy from Hustle is totally not the right choice for playing Mister Teatime, I want a copy.

I am sure you will all be very pleased to know I survived my trip to The Dirty South reletively unscathed, and had the most AWESOMEST TIME POSSIBLE watching Wicked. I am going to marry Idina Menzel and have ten thousand of her little green babies. For real-real, not for play-play. Although Adam Garcia was totally gay* as Fiyero and the whole Scarecrow thing is just abou the Most Nastiest Thing I Have Ever Heard Of, Ever. He is made of straw! Manparts! Of straw! Oh, it's just dreadful.

Alas, some stupid whore brought her four-year-old child to the show and the little brat yammered all the way through it. Now, far be it for me to tell other people how to live their lives, but if you're stupid enough to think that taking a kid that age to a three-hour show at a London theatre is appropriate, you're really too stupid to be breeding in the first place. I hope they got run down and killed when leaving.

But ANYWAY, apart from that it was an exersise in gleeification and I can honestly say that I will be doing the "toss-toss" thing and quoting bits of the show at work well into the new year, even though nobody will know what I am talking about and will just look at me like I'm crazy.

In other news, everyone should watch Stormbreaker and be all like "Oooooh!" at the scenes that were shot on the Isle of Man, because that is where I am from and it rocks, although unfortunatly we don't have anyone as pretty as Alex Pettifer or even Damien Lewis there. Which is sad, but oh well. Also, Brandon Routh is a big gay spoon who wears too much foundation. YES I SAID IT! Kevin Spacey could kick his ass.

On a completely different note, I would like to add that it is completely INCONCIEVABLE that Lucas Buck is Kim Possible's dad. Now every time I see that episode with the tornado chamber, instead of getting all indignant about Lucas encouraging Caleb to cheat on his science project, I just feel relieved that he didn't wind up giving a miniature battlesuit with working lasers to the class hamster that rampages across campus and destroys half of the science block. Although that would be pretty funny...

*Gay as in homosexual, not gay as in rubbish. He was actually very good. Just... gay. It was strange.

BRAY LIVES! At least, he lived at some point in the recent past, according to Ickle KC, who is no longer Ickle and is in fact quite burly and hunksome. So that was a little spark of joy with which to end the last season of the Tribe.

In other news, work is horrible and one day soon I will kill everyone there. With fire! And monkeys! And fire-breathing monkeys made of fire! Or possibly I will just hand in my notice and run away to Spain or something. And send them a mocking postcard that then BURSTS INTO FLAMES AND BURNS THEM ALL TO DEATH.

On a lighter note, the German market is in town now, and I went on the carosel and it was Awesome! Although I did not get either younger or older, which makes me suspect that Cornelia Funke is telling porky-pies about the supposed magical quality of roundabouts. For shame, Cornelia Funke! Also, I am rereading the Aubrey-Maturin books and they are the most funniest thing ever and I can't believe I forgot how glee-inducing they could be.

Anyway, that's all the news I have for you this week; my dad came over on Sunday but it was boring so I shall not bore you with it, and I have decided to give American Gothic another chance and just TOTALLY IGNORE DOCTOR BILLY because Lucas's hair is so shiny and pretty and must be watched. Also Hyde was in it! And Lucas totally kicked his ass which means Lucas is cooler than Hyde, oh my God! In fact, I think I shall go buy mince pies and then go home and watch it Right Now. So good day to you, sirs!

Well, while I was right in my assertion that seasons four and five of the Tribe just wouldn't be the same without Lovely Bray, I have to report that it was not quite the quagmire of horror that I imagined it to be. Although Jay is basically Luke for the Technos, Gel actually manages to have a more annoying voice than Danni, Trudy and Salene put together, and Ved really is a little shit, there are some high points. Dee and Patch are adorable, Jack and Ellie get back together (glee!) and Lex, while still being the scurrilous rogue we know and love, has actually grown up to the point where he has arguments that don't involve shouting and flailing. Plus, that scene where he's using the Paradise technology to watch Taisan dance is absolutely heartbreaking. And on a lighter note, it also includes the all-time Best Insult In The World Ever, when they're all in Liberty and Ram is learning to walk again and he and Lex are arguing over crossword clues:

Ram: Spell "goose", Lex. Spell "rabbit". Hey, hey Lex, spell "dog".
Lex: Spell cripple, Ram.
Ram: *totally looks like he's going to cry*
Lex: *smirk o' evil*
Froodle: *hysterics*

I have to go pick a fight with someone in a wheelchair just so I have the excuse to use that line now. Also, Gothicwhite, although I am still in two minds about Ram, I will admit I totally see the whole Thing with him and Slade. Also Lex/Jack.

In other news, my short-lived love affair with American Gothic has ended in tragedy when Dr Matt responded to Sheriff Lucas's evil, Southern and undeniably sexy wiles by trying to shoot him! God, Dr Matt, just because he's evil and Southern. And a rapist and a murderer, okay. Nobody's perfect! So anyway, Dr Matt has been replaced by some stupid new Doctor with curly hair who I don't like because he's smarming all over Selina, who is Lucas's woman, damn his eyes and it's all ended very badly.

Anyway, that's about all we have time for today, but stay tuned for dancing penguins and other such madness at a later date.