Briefly...

[selenak]

So, I hear BSG cornered some Saturn nominations, including both James' (Bamber and Callis) for best supporting actor, and Katee Sackhoff for best supporting actress. I'd show my partiality and root for Callis (and not just because I think the writing for Baltar has been better than the writing for Lee this season), except they're running against Terry Quinn as Locke in Lost, and I'm sorry, but based solely on the first season which I've seen, he totally deserves to win. It's galling enough Ron Rifkin never got nominated in all the years for the fabulous stuff he did as Sloane on Alias; very gratifying that at least his spiritual cousin over on that other J.J. show has been recognized.

Meanwhile, I've watched Where The Truth Lies, which is a well-done neo noir, with not one but two period settings; the Fifties, when the murder in question takes place, and the Seventies, when our main narrator tries to solve it. It's based on a novel which I haven't read, so I can't say how faithful an adaption it is, but Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth are great as the two comedians whose double act in the 50s ends with the discovery of a nude dead woman in their hotel suite. Their 70s incarnations as seedy self-loathing has-beens are particularly striking. Alison Lohman as former fan, reporter and mystery solver is pale in comparison, but she holds her own in the two quiet, touching scenes her character has with the dead girl's mother, which brings in an element rarely found in noirs, the grieving family of the murder victim. (Unless the family members are suspects, of course, but that isn't the case here.) If I have any complaint, then that the identity of the killer is a bit of a punchline.

And while we're talking complaints: found an excellent rant by Kita about one of my pet peeves in any fandom regarding a certain kind of feedback for fanfiction.

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I suspect you could write a Connor story I really liked if they were less tightly linked into canon. One needs to know the series so well to understand them that one watching is not enough. (I don't have Angel on tape or DVD, so I'm reliant of my memory of seeing it on TV several years ago.)

I'd like to see a Connor story that was a stand-alone. It would still need to have some canonical links (otherwise you lose his connections with the world around him, and they are an important part of what he is), but I'd like to see a new story, not new insights into an old story.

(in other words, if you write a story about one of my least favourite characters that doesn't require me to know the series really really well, then I'll read it and probably enjoy it)(Of course, if it has Wesley in, then I'll be even happier, but I don't insist on him.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Have you read "Ouroborous" (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1962559/1/)? It's set after the show, and a Sandman crossover. It also, which is rare for me, has plot as opposed to being just a character vignette. No Wesley, I'm afraid, but there is Lilah.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

IT's well written and poetic as your writing usually is, but it's still very series-linked. I'm missing the identity of the girl with Jasmine and Cordelia, although she has to be someone Connor has killed. I'm also missing part of Lilah's backstory, so her connection with the theme isn't working for me as well as it should.

The Sandman crossover (even though I know very little of the sandman universe) isn't the problem. The trio is a concept that's fairly universal. I think the difficulty I always have is that Connor's concepts are not universal. Or rather, that they are, in the sense that love and guilt and fate are universal, but his need to be understood in context and you always work several of them into each tale. Which is great if you know him well as each aspect of him sheds light on other aspects - which is what I suspect makes you vignettes really effective to anyone who knows the series well.

Such is life. If I ever have enough time, I'll borrow the series and watch it again and hopefully get more out of it this time. (I find that good fic often increases my interest in characters I had less interest in the first time around)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, if you're missing those bits of information, I can see why it doesn't work that well.

The girl (who never has a name) appears in the episode Inside Out which is the turning point for Connor in the fourth season. It's just after Angel & Co. have discovered, somewhat belatedly, that Cordelia is possessed and have been trying to kill her. Connor (who wasn't told, which is fatal) just saw them trying to kill her, saved her and is on the run with her. Cordelia, highly pregnant, then makes her crucial pitch: she can induce labour, and get her baby born which will change everything and stop Angel & Co. wanting to kill her and their child (this actually happens to be true - one of the several great things about Jasmine as a villain in season 4 is that she usually uses the truth), if Connor brings her a human being to sacrifice. This is the fatal line to cross and the decision he makes in the course of the episode. Said episode also has Darla's ghost appearing, which is great for me because I get my two favourite characters on screen on the same time (see icon), and basically her and Cordelia both trying to convince Connor to listen to them, and ultimately, he breaks down and does drag that girl to her death. (Cordelia is the one who actually wields the axe, but Connor is as culpable.) Then Angel, who has been trying to find them, shows up, but it's too late, the ritual works, Jasmine gets born, and de-possessed Cordelia sinks into her coma. The episode ends with both Angel and Connor kneeling in front of Jasmine.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember the sacrifice now you describe it. It was indeed where Conner crossed the line.