Aha!

[selenak]

Much as there are easy markers by which to divide movieverse Avengers fanfiction written after the movie got actually released from the fanfic written before that based onl the other films and the comics (to wit: does Bruce Banner have a personality and a prominent role in the story? Does Natasha have characterisation and dialogue? Is either of them paired up with another Avenger? If so, it's likely to be written post release and based on the film), it's now easy to separate the Hobbit fanfic written pre movie release from that written post movie release. (Hint: if the central pairing is Bilbo/Thorin an/or if Kili and Fili are involved, and/or if Bofur has dialogue and characterisation, it's based on the movie.) Now, given the phenomenon discussed in this post of writers pairing up characters because their actors played roles involved in a popular slash pairing elsewhere, one pre-release pairing that was subsequently crushed by the mighty tide of Bilbo/Thorin was Bilbo/Smaug.

It occured to me that frustrated Sherlockians need not despair, but rather feel inspired. Because the new popularity of Bilbo/Thorin should free the way, on the same general principle that caused pre-release Bilbo/Smaug, for John Watson/Lucas North (Armitage's character in Spooks), which was clearly meant to be. Lucas North spent years in Russian captivity, being tortured and forming a weird relationship with the torturer in chief. (It just occurs to me: he was Nicholas Brody before Brody got invented.) (Except that the answer to "is he or isn't he a terrorist?" was different.) (I think. I haven't watched the last two seasons yet.) He's in the spy business, which offers at least as much excitement as the consulting detective business, and between his imprisonment and several betrayals and losses of comrades occuring thereafter has enough issues to make Sherlock look like the picture of emotional health, only he's an adult. In conclusion: bring on the John Watson/Lucas North!

(I'm only half joking about this.)

Next: Guy of Gisborne/Lord Shaftebury: or, would the Restoration have survived so much smouldering? Comes complete with the Duke of Buckingham discovering he's really a police inspector at heart.

Comments

[likeadeuce]

Ooh, I've been meaning to watch the Armitage seasons of Spooks and now you've given me extra incentive. I also just saw season 1 of Homeland and am still mulling over what I think of it, but it was definitely well-done dramatically speaking.

[selenak]

I'm looking forward to your Homeland thoughts then. As for Armitage in Spooks, have a scene from early in his run when he encounters his Russian ex wife again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTVIdhiOAZw

[likeadeuce]

I don't know that I have anything particular to say about Homeland except that I really admire the performances and especially like the "Weekend" episode. Though my issue with the show was also summed up in that episode when Saul tells the woman he's escorting that if her problem is geopolitical he can't help her. Everything is so personalized/ every character's situation is so specific that it's hard to figure out how to contextualize it in terms of the real world. Which is, you know, perfectly fine for drama, but maybe just not to my taste as far as a treatment of real world events. I like more of an (acknowledged) level of fantasy in this kind of subject matter, I guess.

[likeadeuce]

And I'll check out the Spooks clip when I'm home -- I got burned out on the show during one of the stretches where they just seemed to be killing off everyone for its own sake but I always meant to dip into one of the new casts.

[saturnofthemoon]

Bilbo/Smaug? But how do you even....nevermind, I don't want to know. Funny thing is that I don't even ship John/Sherlock because the writers so obviously want us to....and I'm just rebellious.

[selenak]

I don't ship John/Sherlock because I spent the first season loathing Sherlock, and the second only intermittendly liking him, and I can't get behind a pairing where I don't love both participants. As for Bilbo/Smaug, according to my sources this was solved by Smaug displaying shapeshifting abilities. (Eh, I say. I've read Barbara Hambly. Jenny/Morkeleb shows how it's done when the dragon stays a dragon in dragon form.)

[likeadeuce]

I understand there was human/velociraptor sex in this year's Yuletide archive. Dragons don't seem like a problem at all :)

[kittydesade]

Just skimming through on Network and this post is the best thing I"ve seen all week. I may have to go mainline the Armitage seasons of Spooks, now. I've already subjected myself to Robin Hood!

[selenak]

When Armitage joined Spooks it was already past its prime and into increasingly unlikely (even for the spy genre) plots, but he's got some great stuff to do, and I swear it is better than Robin Hood!

[kittydesade]

I've managed to infect the braintwin with Armitage Fever, so she'll be glad to hear that. ;)

[msilverstar]

Wait, you mean it gets worse than the first two seasons? Because I just watched them and wow, they are ridiculous

[selenak]

The first two seasons are the universally acknowledged high point of the show.

[msilverstar]

o.o! That's... distressing. Well, I'm only in it for the accents and the eyecandy.

[weewarrior]

Lucas North/John Watson: I've already seen gifs for that on tumblr, although I think they were used for a sort of modern Hobbit AU (go on, imagine Bilbo Baggins as an MI-6 agent).

Are Armitage's Spooks seasons worth watching? I would need huge amounts of bribery money to watch Robin Hood, but I guess I could live with a spy drama.

[selenak]

re: Armitage's seasons, haven't watched his last one yet. The first one which introduces Lucas North gives his character a strong arc. The show itself, as mentioned, is already past its prime at that point, but okay-ish - basically it's Alias season 3, without the infuriating treatment of Lauren and anyone being called a soulmate? Also, because it's a British spy show, the Americans if they show up usually are the bad guys. This btw goes for Spooks throughout, no matter early or late. Armitage's first and second seasons also benefit from having Ros Myers (character name, not actress name) in them, who after a very uneven introduction back in the day in s4 or 5, I forgot which one, became one of the best female characters the show had. Your icon makes me realise she's Redverse Olivia, a bit older. And of course Peter Firth is reliably good as Harry Pearce, spymaster extraordinaire.

[weewarrior]

I've seen Series 7 now, and I think I can see what you mean, re: quality. Their use of light and filters is very interesting, though - Armitage, smouldering as he is, is associated a lot with bluish tones and bright, almost frosty light by them. Fits the character, obviously, especially with a last name like North. I like him quite a bit, and Ros, too, but the general "kill 'em all!" format makes it somewhat difficult to get attached to anyone.

P.S.: The actress for Ros is called Hermione Norris.

[selenak]

Kill them all format: there is more than one reason why Torchwood: Children of Earth was immediately realised as feeling like an inofficial Spooks crossover. (I do suspect Rusty watched. He would.) However, some spies do retire (for example, of the s1 cast, two made it out alive and out of the spy business, for reals!), and Harry is the safest person to get attached to because he's the ONLY character to make it alive and unretired from the pilot to to the finale. (Which I haven't watched yet, but I know Harry is in it.) Still, the death score is pretty high, so yes, I lost my capacity for genuine emotional attachment long before that restrain myself to only cautiously liking characters like Ros and Lucas North.

In ye early days of the show, andraste and myself used to joke about an Alias crossover, and how that would go, and imagined Jack or Sydney having to brief Harry & Co. on Sloane's latest Rambaldi ploy, and everyone's faces. The words "bloody Yanks" would definitely be spoken. :)

[weewarrior]

So far, it's a bit special interest to me, and I'm not sure if I'd really watch more than Armitage's seasons. But it's good to know *some* people get out. ;)

Where emotional attachment is concerned: I managed to pick up quite a few bits about the show over the years, despite never having seen it, and so I already knew what will happen to both Ros and Lucas (and also Harry) before I even started watching. (Incidentally, if you ever get around watching RA's final season, I'd be curious what you think.)

Absolutely, but after Handheld Nuclear Weapons, could anything really surprise them? Not that they wouldn't think "bloody yanks," anyway. At least Harry and Jack could bond over not recognizing Russian spies that basically operate right under their nose...

[kalypso]

Just noticed on the sherlockbbc comm: "John Watson/Sebastian Moran (Past Bilbo/Thorin) - Reincarnation AU". Couldn't check it out, as there didn't seem to be any link, but evidently the absence of Richard Armitage in Sherlock is being rectified by casting him as a not-yet-seen character!

[selenak]

LOL. Trust fandom. At a guess, Armitage!Moran will be seduced to the light side?