Name five characters who would hate attending a family reunion.

Ah, dysfunctional families. One of my favourite things to read, listen and watch.

1) Tiberius, as portrayed in I, Claudius. Not that Tiberius in any version and as described by any historians doesn't strike me as hating family reunions, but I assume the meme goes after fictional characters, so Gravesian Tiberius it is. Doesn't matter which era we're talking about, young Tiberius with his extremely awkward relationship to stepfather Augustus and mother Livia or very old Tiberius (at this point responsible for various family deaths himself) in Capri - family reunions, he loathed them.

2) John Locke of Lost. Not for nothing did he win in the evil daddy stakes in the poll I posted a few months ago, in a show with an overabundance of bad fathers. Meeting his mother didn't turn out too great, either. Let's just say that canonically, family reunions for John Locke went from bad to worse and I can't imagine him respond other than going macro and yelling DO NOT WANT at the prospect of more.

3) Aeryn Sun (Farscape). Aeryn's canonical family reunion party is called The Choice. Otherwise known as the angstiest Aeryn episode ever. Fun times, these were not, even if she hadn't been grieving for other reasons in that episode already. I don't think Aeryn would want a repetition of that experience any time soon.

4) Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Battlestar Galactica). And then there is Kara. As many a viewer has said, she could talk with Aeryn about Mommy issues. With the mothers in question far, far away. There's also a psychologically torturous family situation she would not want to repeat from early s3. No, can't see Kara signing up for family reunions any time soon.

5) Heidi Petrelli (Heroes). I checked out of the Heroes canon during s3, but however it went down afterwards (no, don't tell me), I can't imagine Heidi really enjoying a Petrelli family reunion, between her mother-in-law indulging either in put-downs or come ons, Arthur being a creep, and Nathan and Peter doing their co-dependent arguments/hugs act.

Name the five sweetest fictional characters.

Here they are, all coming with a "if you don't love them, you're just plain wrong" disclaimer. :)

1.) Vir Cotto (Babylon 5). In addition to being absolutely adorable and funny when he doesn't break your heart, Vir is brave, loving and not only Londo's conscience but the one of the show.

2.) Kaylee Frye (Firefly). The ship's mechanic, tends to babble, is an unabashed hedonist who loves her strawberries and her sex in equal measure, and is just a darling.

3.) Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Lost). Definitely the heart of the show, a natural caretaker, big geek, able to overcome some significant damage. Hurley will hand you a chocolate bar for consolation even if you're a villain-gone-antihero known to put people through hell. Awwwww.

4.) Gwen (Guinevere) (Merlin). My favourite Guinevere of them all, kind and sweet, but push her too far, and she'll tell you exactly what's what. I just love her.

5.) Wilf(red) Mott (Doctor Who). Adorable grandfather, enthusiastic astronomer, known to attack Daleks with paint balls and have heart-to-hearts with Time Lords feeling their age. Also? Bernard Cribbins.

You know, yesterday I caved and went from smiling benignly to exclaiming "YES!" re: world cup results. It was hard not to, walking through celebrations in Munich.

This was a week of cheer for me on a personal level as well, because seeing old stories of mine from different fandoms reccommended leaves this nice glow of "aww, this one is still read... and this one as well".

I shall now rec some new works myself:

Battlestar Galactica/ Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:

Satellite. This crossover was written for this year's Multiverse and provides an encounter between BSG's Laura Roslin and DS9's Kai Winn. I always thought that Winn and Roslin were very similar characters, if not the same one, only one written as the villain and one as the heroine of the story, and this story plays on that magnificently. Spoilers for the entire canon of both shows.

Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Raise it up: a great vid about the are-they-still?-children in SCC, all but Savannah soldiers in a war whether they want to be or not: Riley, Lauren, the Martin Bedells, Allison, Savannah and John himself. Stunning. Also reminds me that now that the film festival is over I need to finish my SCC rewatch.

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On a note of "things don't take place in a vaccuum": I'm not in SPN fandom, and I don't read the fanfiction, but it was impossible to miss what's been going on during the last months. I do, however, read Time Magazine on occasion, and Joel Stein recently published an article called My own private India which is, shall we say, a proof you don't have to be a fanfiction writer to behave in a spectacularly clueless and entitled way. He got got called on it by Kal Penn (who played Kutner in House) in a magnificent fashion.

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Back to more fun things. When Lennon Naked was broadcast, some of the reviews went through previous screen incarnations of any aspects of Beatles tales, and that's how I found out that Elizabeth Mitchell, who played Juliet on Lost, has played Linda McCartney in a tv version of her life. (Gary Bakewall, aka Richard Mayhew from Neverwhere, was Paul. He has played him as well in Backbeat, which makes me wonder whether there is such a thing as (ex)Beatles type casting, seeing that Ian Hart played John Lennon twice as well.) This made for a fleeting moment of imagining a really bizarre Lost crossover.

Something Lennon Naked by necessity of its focus could not cover was the origin story of one of my favourite songs, Hey Jude, but as the film covers the exact period I was reminded of it again. It's also a good example of how any work of art, or, if you prefer a less fancy term, any creative effort can be interpreted completely independent from authorial intention the moment it's done, which in the case of the interpretation I'm thinking of has a bittersweet irony. To recapitulate via quotes from the various horses' mouths:

Paul McCartney: "Hey Jude was a song which I originally thought of whilst driving my car out to visit Cynthia and Julian Lennon after John's divorce from them. We'd been very good friends for millions of yers and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be personae non gratae and out of my life, so I decided to play them a visit and say, 'How are you doing? What's happening?' I was very used to writing songs oon my way out to Kenwood because I was usually going there to collaborate with John. This time I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces. The adults may be fine but the kids... I always relate to their little brain spinning round in confusion, going, 'Did I do this? Was it me?' Guilt is such a terrible thing and I know it affects a lot of people and I think that aws the reason I went out. And I got this idea for a long, 'Hey Jude', and made up a few little things so I had the basic by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better."

(This sympathy for Julian thing wasn't a one time only gesture. Quoth Julian Lennon: " "Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit—more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad." Case in point. They still seem to get along well. )

Of course, by the time Hey Jude entered the recording stage, the text had changed quite a bit; as with the majority of McCartney songs, romantic love had entered the picture with the line "you were made to/go out and get her". This led to none other than John Lennon - who was savagely critical about most of Paul's later stuff, but not of this song, which he always praised - to come up with the following interpretation (from the Playboy interviews shortly before his death):

"I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it... Yoko's just come into the picture. He's saying, 'Hey Jude" - "Hey John". I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me. The words 'go out and get her' - subconsciously he was saying, 'Go ahead, leave me.' On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead. The angel in him was saying, 'Bless you'. The devil in him didn't like it at all because he didn't want to lose his partner."

( And now for the actual song. Lots of people singing Hey Jude under the cut )

First of all, have some Shakespeare fanfiction, by at_t_rain who wrote the awesome Merchant of Venice three parter I recced a while ago. This time, it's an King Lear story, Edmund-centric, which goes AU during the scene where Cornwall decides to blind Gloucester. Like the Shylock tale, it's awesome, and everyone's characterisation is believable and layered, starting with Edmund's, who might make have discovered a line he won't cross but is still an ambitious bastard (in both senses of the word). (Pssst, likeadeuce, your favourite 'ship is represented.) There is a great fleshing out of the servant from the play's blinding scene (and his wife, who's an OC and fits perfectly), a good Edgar, and a terrific Cordelia. In short, go read These Late Eclipses.

Speaking of Lear - aka a father who judges the merits of his children on how much they fawn on him, is spectacularly harsh when they don't, and is much into emo outbursts making Everything About Him as the realm falls apart: some of you might have heard that Bill Adama made it on io9's list of Best Father's Ever. They mean that unironically. Other best fathers include Kyle Reese (I like Kyle, but agree that he was a sperm donor rather than a father; now, were this a list of brave folk willing to sacrifice their lives to save someone else's, there'd be no problem), while the Lost representative among the "worst fathers" is.... Michael. That's right. Lost offers: fathers who abuse physically, fathers who abuse emotionally, fathers who do both and add sexual insinuation for good measure, fathers who con, cripple and try to kill their offspring, fathers who set up their daughter's significant others to die, but the guy who gets named as "worst" is the one who doesn't do anything of the sort but pays a terrible price for saving his son. I'm beyond baffled.

I'm also inspired, because my mind is still Shakespeare-influenced. Now, Will S. offered a rich variety of fathers. Here's my personal best and worst list:

Worst:

1.) Hamlet Senior. Gets his country invaded and overthrown and his entire family plus the one of the prime minister killed by insisting on appearing and complaining to his son instead of letting the boy move on.

2.) Lear. See above. And I didn't even mention the misogynistic language used towards all three daughters.

3.) Leontes. Ordering your child to die directly after birth would do the trick. Especially when simultanously ordering the mother's death as well.

4.) Leonato. When your daughter is ditched at the altar for supposed unfaithfulness, your first reaction shouldn't be to believe the accusation and curse her. (Really, the only guy who comes out well of that scene in Much Ado About Nothing is Benedick.) Is there a tendency with fathers whose names start with L I spot?

5.) Brabantio. Going from accusing your daughter's new husband of having bewitched her to telling him she'll cheat on him after she made it clear she married him voluntarily isn't a good reaction to a daughter's wedding, either.

6.) Antiochus. Canon father/daughter incest is not okay.

7.) Titus Andronicus. It may be very Roman to kill your son out of duty to the Emperor, but it doesn't exactly make you father of the year, even without everything that happens to your family afterwards.

8.) Old Capulet. Threatening to kick your daughter out if she doesn't marry the man of your choice is an unsurprising way to trigger teen suicide.

9.) Prospero. The fact he puts his daughter to sleep with his rants is just the mildest offense. He was the only father figure Caliban had, and how did he treat him? Realistic racist exploitation is no excuse.

10.) Polonius. Telling your daughter not to take the attentions of a prince seriously is actually sensible, given the circumstances. Sending spies after your son who are supposed to blacken his reputation is not. And spying on your daughter when she's meeting her ex is just plain creepy.

So, are there any good fathers in the Bard's ouevre? Well....

Best:

1.) Aaron. No better love hath he who sacrifices his life for his child, and so forth.

2.) Shylock. Okay, there was that "I would my daughter were dead" outburst, but that was a one time event, as opposed to Lear's rantings, and he was in great distress when he said it. Otherwise, he's concerned for her safety before she leaves him and even when busy having his revenge during the trial scene takes the time to be appalled at the callousness of Christian husband's on his daughter's behalf.

3.) A Shepherd (from A Winter's Tale): doesn't even get a name by his author but is the one to find baby Perdita and raise her along with his simpleton son, without, it appears, encouraging sibling rivalry. *looking at you, Gloucester*

4.) A King of France (from All's Well That End's Well). Also doesn't get a name, but responds to low-born Helena healing him not by hitting on her himself, as certain other Shakespearean potentates are prone to do - cough *Vincentio* cough - but by becoming a father figure to her and asking her what she wants from life.

5.) Another King of France (actually Charles VI, but the play doesn't tell you that): losing your son and being historically insane is a drawback, but the Shakespeare version is dignified throughout, gets along with his son and daughter far better than certain English kings who shall remain Henry IV. ever did with theirs and manages to ensure his daughter becomes queen.

6.) Falstaff: has lots of flaws, sure, but puts up with being constantly ridiculed by the young 'uns who hang out with him, especially the one from the screwed-up royal family, and provides physical affection, emotional support and good cheer. Definitely the more likeable father figure of the plays he's in.

7.) Alonso (from The Tempest): having married his daughter to the king of Tunis points to him having no prejudices, as opposed to Prospero; throughout the play, he shows laudable concern and grief for his missing-believed-to-be-dead son but doesn't take it out on other characters. Sure, he helped a coup d'etat in another realm once, but what has that to do with his fatherly qualities?

8.) Belarius. Generally, we frown on kidnapping to avenge oneself on the father of the child(ren) in question, but Belarius clearly did a stellar job of raising the twins afterwards, as opposed to the biodad, Cymboline, whose behaviour towards his daughter Imogen and son-in-law is anything but.

9.) Egeon. Losing one son and one's wife in a storm is bad enough. Nearly getting executed trying to find your surviving son and then seemingly denied by him is worse. Does Egeon turn into a misanthrope with lethal intentions towards his offspring through this trial? No. Good to know he gets a happy ending with his sons and even retains a poker face when finding out his supposedly dead wife is an anachronistic abbess.

10.) Vincentio (from Taming of the Shrew, not Measure for Measure). Has to find out that his son started a complicated con in order to get married and meets a madman and his wife en route. Vincentio takes it all in stride and supports his son and his new marriage. Brabantio, Cymbeline, you could learn from this.


And in conclusion: to be a good father in Shakespare, it helps being a villain or a minor character. And it definitely helps to be French.

Still not the big meta Lost retrospective talking about the series an an overall narrative, but a preliminary study, aka scenes and episodes from six years that without having done any rewatch are alive in my memory (and not in a "omg what a horrible viewing experience that was" kind of way). I only used Wiki to check the episode titles, but otherwise am writing from memory, so if I put a scene in the wrong episode, feel free to correct me.

( Season1 )

( Season 2 )


( Season 3 )

( Season 4 )

( Season 5 )


( Season 6 )

Busy day ahead, so just a few thoughts; this isn't meant as a comprehensive meta post. I'll do one on the entire show, favourite scenes, least favourite and most favourite plot lines and so forth when I get around to it (upcoming long train journeys should help). But for now, with the finale still fresh in mind:

( How can you be here? )

With shows approaching their finales left, right and center, here are a few not so secret wishes on my part to the show runners:

Ashes to Ashes: you guys have been amazing with the ensemble development, which is one of several reasons why I prefer the spin-off. Keep it up right until the end and give Shaz, Ray and Chris as good a goodbye als Alex and Gene. Speaking of Gene, I'm okay with redeemed, tragically-flawed-yet-heroic Gene Hunt, but please, please, do not, especially after a season that showcased his flaws like no other, including the first of LoM, suddenly pull a "was right all along in everything and is the bestest copper who ever existed!"Gene Hunt. Also, I'm with jesuswasbatman: no Sam Tyler cameo as the grand climax. He's an important part of the backstory, yes, but he's not the hero of this show. Which brings me to Alex, and my ideal ending for her is what I've outlined in the last reviews: ( spoilery ).

The Good Wife: has remained excellent so far, but I have a few caveats. ( Which are spoilery ) Regarding Kalinda, I have no fears, and am game for anything the show comes up, given all they've done with her so far.

Lost: oh, where to start? Instead of a long list, I'll simply say: be magnificent, guys. I don't care whether this includes being partly frustrating as well, because, well, tradition, but I want something splendid for the finale, and I know you can do it. Also, because the internet is like that, look what I found: The John Locke Rap, summing up Locke's life until mid-season 5.




Non-impending tv show finales related links: A hilarious send-up of Christopher Hitchens' autobiography, Hitch-22 : By the early 1980s I had grown tired of the self-satisfied London parochialism that refused to honour me as the greatest thinker of the Far Left, and moved – taking only my first editions of Proust and Rosa Luxemburg – to New York, where I quickly became America's lone moral force against the crass relativism of intellectual pygmies such as Edward Said, Noam Chomsky and Saul Bellow – all of whom have since conceded I was right.

Merlin fanfic rec:

(Possibly not) The End of the World: in which Arthur overslept by fourteen centuries. He blames Merlin. Also Morgana, but mostly Merlin. Especially awesome for the way it uses Gwen, who usually gets the short stick in reincarnation fic, but here plays a crucial part. Choice excerpt: “Wasn’t Lancelot supposed to be looking after you?” asked Arthur as they picked their way down the hill to where the boat was waiting to take them back to shore. “He was. He did. He stopped reincarnating after he and Merlin had words about five hundred years ago,” responded Gwen distractedly, more concerned with not falling over a treacherous tussock in the lingering twilight. “Words?” “I believe the conversation ended along the lines of: ‘Wake me up when you wake Arthur for the Apocalypse and not before.’ </i<

Now that, as opposed to the Richard backstory? Was awesome. Show, I love you. Icon courtesy of squee-worthy guest actress.

( When you make up your own game, everyone will have to follow your rules )

In which Sawyer betrays a real lack of pop culture knowledge, and reunions happen galore.

( Who is Anakin? )

Before I get to my review, something about another show: I'm so writing a big post on Damages, third season once it's wrapped up. Woo, and also, hoo.

Now, on to the island. And Los Angeles.

( All you need is... )