The bane and blessings of fandom

Note to self: you already knew not to look at Breaking Bad comments. You have only yourself to blame for breathing fire again. But seriously: "Walt needs a hug! Skyler, you bitch!" as a response to the latest BB episode?!? Rinse, repeat older entry about Skyler hate and how it creeps me out, even more than the usual fandom misogyny. I think I'll do something constructive with my frustration and make a post about how I came to love Skyler White and why Anna Gunn should win an Emmy already. It didn't happen overnight or immediately, but happen it did, and writing a post about why I think she's a great character will be better than hating on the haters and their idiotic, moronic... well, you get the picture.

Helping to wash the bad taste out of my mouth was also this delightful post of silly crossover ideas (Breaking Bad/Buffy, Breaking Bad/Oz, Breaking Bad/Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad/The Wire and Breaking Bad/Deadwood). Spoilers for all shows concerned, but if you don't mind that and want a good giggle, have a look.

Two fanfic recs:

Amazing Spider-Man:

Promise not to promise anymore: ( spoilery for the film summary is spoilery but necessary. )

Battlestar Galactica:

Emissary from Another World: The collected diaries of Dr. Gaius Baltar. It's a story from 2009 but I discovered it only now, and am awed. One of the two best post-finale stories I've read, covering about nine years from the time the show ended. I love the way it takes up, argues with and against and with the ideas of the show. I love the characterisations all around, how the relationships are in constant flux (Gaius and Caprica and their ups and downs, but also Gaius Baltar and Lee Adama striking up the least likely yet, because the story takes the time to develop it step by slow step, entirely believable friendship), how past issues still matter (Caprica and Sharon have quite a different attitude towards Laura Roslin to both each other and to how the colonials see her; Felix Gaeta is very much present in Baltar's thoughts throughout) , how the new characters are as interesting as the ones we know from the show (seriously, this story has one of the best OCs I've seen in the form of Lee's wife, who is... you'll find out), and how people are layered and complicated and screwed up but never quite lose hope but continue trying.

Skyler: A Love Declaration

Skyler White is not one of those characters you fall in love with at first sight. Or second sight. She's not a witty quipper, a female warrior or a morally ambiguous male (though her own moral ambiguity will unfold in the course of the show); when we meet her, she's the pregnant and dominating wife of the main character whom he has to hide things from, read: coming close to the macho male's worst nightmare without being "cool" in a way viewers of either gender can identify with. Why, she even is busy typing a story for her creative writing class while absent mindedly giving her husband a hand job. (The most common summary for the White marriage pre show usually reads "Skyler has emasculated Walt".) And it's not until the last third of the first season that Skyler starts to get scenes outside of the "Walt lies to Skyler"/"Skyler has an inkling she's lied to and investigates" paramater. So no, I'm not surprised Skyler drew hostility. Back when I marathoned the show, I saw her mostly as a commentary on Walter through the first season until, again, the last third, was pleasantly surprised to get more development in the second, but really fell in love in the third. By now, she's become my favourite Breaking Bad character. And the show, which as opposed to certain other shows which started promisingly but then narrowed their focus to one or two main characters and flattened the others (*cough* Dexter *cough*) widened its focus and detailed narrative attention (from which Skyler, Hank, Marie, and various gentlemen in the meth business all benefited), gave me plenty of reasons. Some of the more prominent ones are below the cut.

( How to fall love with Skyler White in six easy steps )