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bop_radarHope everyone had a safe and relaxing Christmas. Mine was... painful. I underestimated several things:
1. My (decreased!) eating stamina
2. The consequences of eating with a family who eat the whole Christmas meal in 2 hours as opposed to spreading eating it over the whole day (as my mother and I have been in the habit of doing for the last ten years or so)
3. The familial pressure that comes from having to taste everyone's 'specialty'. I distinctly remember staring at that last rum ball that was thrust in front of me with a 'this is my special recipe' blurb, and thinking 'I'm going to live to regret this...'
And oh, yes, I did. I don't think food has ever caused me quite so much physical pain without actually having food POISONING before. :-/ I spent from about 5pm onwards in bed, clutching my stomach and moaning.
Meanwhile, downstairs, my dog, left alone without dinner, decided to forage by breaking into the parcels of mince pies I'd made up for the neighbors... I came down to find the tattered remnants of tissue paper, but not a crumb of the pies left. I think it's karmically terribly unfair that he appears to have suffered NO ill effects whatsoever.
I opted for a quiet day today, as I have to go back to work sooner than most people (tomorrow) though I'm then off the following day for my birthday. Anyway, I was in a hiding-from-the-world mood so I've been mainlining Farscape. Yeah, apologies in advance to long-time fans of the show. I know how weird it is to read the opinions of people who mainline a series late. They always have a really different take on the show, and it can be irritating so I hope I do not annoy. I am very much enjoying the series... just maybe in a different way from other people. :)
It's really weird watching a show that I'm so familiar with from vids and also from just having absorbed it through ads when it was back on television and having seen the odd episode. Everything feels very deja vu ... it's particularly the case (unfortunately?) with jokes. I swear not a single big joke line comes along without me reacting with 'ohhh, *that's* where that comes from'. It means I don't really find anything funny (since I was never going to find jokes about bodily functions funny that rules out the lesser lines). I don't think the lack of humour is proving detrimental to my viewing but it does change it, I guess. I think Crichton suffers a bit because I lose out on finding his lines (and therefore him) amusing. I do find it kind of charming to revisit that 90s humour though, all those old references to Buffy and Melrose and so on. Aww.
So, I am definitely very charmed by the show and I am finding I want to keep watching, but John is driving me NUTS. Like, I want to smack him, kind of nuts. I thought I'd warmed up to him after the glorious 'Can't Go Home Again' episode, but I've just watched the whole marries-a-princess-and-gets-turned-into-a-statue arc, and I just... aaaarrrrggggghhh, why is he so annoying, why can't he leave Aeryn alone and stop giving the girl such a hard time, why is he so smug and supercilious and full of himself?! :( I am hoping he becomes less annoying over time because I was shipping them for a while (they DO have chemistry) but I've now gone OUT of doing so because he's so damn irritating. I still don't really buy that he likes her more than he likes any of the other women he gets it on with, and he's so ... I want to say patronising? ... towards Aeryn and her struggle to express her feelings. Why SHOULD she have to express them? Lord. It's embarrassing. I kind of feel awful for her liking this guy so so very much and he's just sitting back thinking smugly 'yeah, you like me, I'm great, I'm just waiting for you to develop emotionally some more and I'm going to be an ass to you until you do'.
:(((
(Just to cap off my irritation with John they had to write him having a daughter and give him that AWFUL line about a child deserving two parents. What a load of crap! That's worth turning yourself into a statue for, is it, John? I wish Aeryn had been there to a) kick you in the jaw (bitchslapping not enough) and b) see how easily you leave her for some ridiculous quest to be 'heroic' and 'manly'. She deserves to know the truth about you. Ugh. And don't give me any emo crap about missing your daughter--she wasn't real to you, she was just a concept, stop being a wanker!)
Ok, ok, I'm done ranting, I just had to get that out of my system.
Thankfully you dont have to be crazy about Crichton to like the show, it seems. :D The characters I like (in order) are:
Aeryn <--no brainer
Moya and PIlot <--I can't really separate them but I do love the individually as well as together. I am particularly interested in their plots and the journey with Moya's offspring, and also their relationships with other crew members, particularly Aeryn but also Zhaan
Zhaan, Chiana and D'Argo <-- probably on an equal level, hard to separate them. Individually I don't think any of them would have the power to make me watch for them alone, but together they make for interesting dynamics to be set up. I like D'Argo a lot more than I would have expected based on what I knew of him before watching (I think I thought he was just a Klingon lite), Chiana I find ok in small doses but I get a bit tired of all that wide-eyed flirtation when an episode focuses on her, Zhaan is probably the most interesting but I don't find her sympathetic--I think that's good though, it keeps me watching.
Crichton <-- for reasons discussed above, To be fair, it's not all his fault. I almost NEVER like main protagonists/heroes. At least Crichton has a lot of crazy stuff happen to him... I just wish it was having more of an impact and making more of a dent in his ego than it is. ;)
Rygel <--I actually do find Rygel amusing sometimes and I like that he is totally who he is and his characterisation is so solid. I felt sorry for him when he talked about no one listening to him at the end of the bodyswap episode. However, most of the time he IS very annoying.
Aeryn is far and away the closest thing to a point of view character I have on the show, largely because she's practical and is irritated with John nearly as often as I am, and is frustrated with herself when she likes him. She's often irritated with the others the same way I am as well. Aeryn definitely IS reason enough to watch the show. I loved her vicious snark at that ridiculous casanova dude that stalked her on the Princess planet and then got them both battered on rocks when they went climbing. Basically she is fabulous and I love her to bits and am keen on her character journey.
But I'm a bit worried that I may have missed the shipper 'boat'? Is it too late for me if I am not into them yet? Or rather I was into them but Crichton threw me out again? Will this deter my enjoyment? I've always kind of gathered that liking Aeryn/Crichton was important to overall liking of the show... but I could be wrong! Should I go back to the beginning and try to see this liking-of-Aeryn-from-the-beginning that other people see in John that I missed? Sell me on him! I want to ship! I just need him to level up a bit! (whereas the show is evidently running with the idea that it's Aeryn that needs to change)
1. My (decreased!) eating stamina
2. The consequences of eating with a family who eat the whole Christmas meal in 2 hours as opposed to spreading eating it over the whole day (as my mother and I have been in the habit of doing for the last ten years or so)
3. The familial pressure that comes from having to taste everyone's 'specialty'. I distinctly remember staring at that last rum ball that was thrust in front of me with a 'this is my special recipe' blurb, and thinking 'I'm going to live to regret this...'
And oh, yes, I did. I don't think food has ever caused me quite so much physical pain without actually having food POISONING before. :-/ I spent from about 5pm onwards in bed, clutching my stomach and moaning.
Meanwhile, downstairs, my dog, left alone without dinner, decided to forage by breaking into the parcels of mince pies I'd made up for the neighbors... I came down to find the tattered remnants of tissue paper, but not a crumb of the pies left. I think it's karmically terribly unfair that he appears to have suffered NO ill effects whatsoever.
I opted for a quiet day today, as I have to go back to work sooner than most people (tomorrow) though I'm then off the following day for my birthday. Anyway, I was in a hiding-from-the-world mood so I've been mainlining Farscape. Yeah, apologies in advance to long-time fans of the show. I know how weird it is to read the opinions of people who mainline a series late. They always have a really different take on the show, and it can be irritating so I hope I do not annoy. I am very much enjoying the series... just maybe in a different way from other people. :)
It's really weird watching a show that I'm so familiar with from vids and also from just having absorbed it through ads when it was back on television and having seen the odd episode. Everything feels very deja vu ... it's particularly the case (unfortunately?) with jokes. I swear not a single big joke line comes along without me reacting with 'ohhh, *that's* where that comes from'. It means I don't really find anything funny (since I was never going to find jokes about bodily functions funny that rules out the lesser lines). I don't think the lack of humour is proving detrimental to my viewing but it does change it, I guess. I think Crichton suffers a bit because I lose out on finding his lines (and therefore him) amusing. I do find it kind of charming to revisit that 90s humour though, all those old references to Buffy and Melrose and so on. Aww.
So, I am definitely very charmed by the show and I am finding I want to keep watching, but John is driving me NUTS. Like, I want to smack him, kind of nuts. I thought I'd warmed up to him after the glorious 'Can't Go Home Again' episode, but I've just watched the whole marries-a-princess-and-gets-turned-into-a-statue arc, and I just... aaaarrrrggggghhh, why is he so annoying, why can't he leave Aeryn alone and stop giving the girl such a hard time, why is he so smug and supercilious and full of himself?! :( I am hoping he becomes less annoying over time because I was shipping them for a while (they DO have chemistry) but I've now gone OUT of doing so because he's so damn irritating. I still don't really buy that he likes her more than he likes any of the other women he gets it on with, and he's so ... I want to say patronising? ... towards Aeryn and her struggle to express her feelings. Why SHOULD she have to express them? Lord. It's embarrassing. I kind of feel awful for her liking this guy so so very much and he's just sitting back thinking smugly 'yeah, you like me, I'm great, I'm just waiting for you to develop emotionally some more and I'm going to be an ass to you until you do'.
:(((
(Just to cap off my irritation with John they had to write him having a daughter and give him that AWFUL line about a child deserving two parents. What a load of crap! That's worth turning yourself into a statue for, is it, John? I wish Aeryn had been there to a) kick you in the jaw (bitchslapping not enough) and b) see how easily you leave her for some ridiculous quest to be 'heroic' and 'manly'. She deserves to know the truth about you. Ugh. And don't give me any emo crap about missing your daughter--she wasn't real to you, she was just a concept, stop being a wanker!)
Ok, ok, I'm done ranting, I just had to get that out of my system.
Thankfully you dont have to be crazy about Crichton to like the show, it seems. :D The characters I like (in order) are:
Aeryn <--no brainer
Moya and PIlot <--I can't really separate them but I do love the individually as well as together. I am particularly interested in their plots and the journey with Moya's offspring, and also their relationships with other crew members, particularly Aeryn but also Zhaan
Zhaan, Chiana and D'Argo <-- probably on an equal level, hard to separate them. Individually I don't think any of them would have the power to make me watch for them alone, but together they make for interesting dynamics to be set up. I like D'Argo a lot more than I would have expected based on what I knew of him before watching (I think I thought he was just a Klingon lite), Chiana I find ok in small doses but I get a bit tired of all that wide-eyed flirtation when an episode focuses on her, Zhaan is probably the most interesting but I don't find her sympathetic--I think that's good though, it keeps me watching.
Crichton <-- for reasons discussed above, To be fair, it's not all his fault. I almost NEVER like main protagonists/heroes. At least Crichton has a lot of crazy stuff happen to him... I just wish it was having more of an impact and making more of a dent in his ego than it is. ;)
Rygel <--I actually do find Rygel amusing sometimes and I like that he is totally who he is and his characterisation is so solid. I felt sorry for him when he talked about no one listening to him at the end of the bodyswap episode. However, most of the time he IS very annoying.
Aeryn is far and away the closest thing to a point of view character I have on the show, largely because she's practical and is irritated with John nearly as often as I am, and is frustrated with herself when she likes him. She's often irritated with the others the same way I am as well. Aeryn definitely IS reason enough to watch the show. I loved her vicious snark at that ridiculous casanova dude that stalked her on the Princess planet and then got them both battered on rocks when they went climbing. Basically she is fabulous and I love her to bits and am keen on her character journey.
But I'm a bit worried that I may have missed the shipper 'boat'? Is it too late for me if I am not into them yet? Or rather I was into them but Crichton threw me out again? Will this deter my enjoyment? I've always kind of gathered that liking Aeryn/Crichton was important to overall liking of the show... but I could be wrong! Should I go back to the beginning and try to see this liking-of-Aeryn-from-the-beginning that other people see in John that I missed? Sell me on him! I want to ship! I just need him to level up a bit! (whereas the show is evidently running with the idea that it's Aeryn that needs to change)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 05:20 pm (UTC)I have a hard time seeing John as smug and full of himself because he fails so spectacularly so often and is constantly learning from it. The show makes sure to present him as wrong pretty consistently. He does have a "the human way is the best way" attitude in the early period of the show, which certainly can come off as condescending, but again, he's almost always proved wrong about it.
And I don't think he takes one thing for granted with respect to his relationship with Aeryn. I'm always conscious of his total vulnerability with her. He wears his heart on his sleeve, which is a big reason why I am so attached to him.
whereas the show is evidently running with the idea that it's Aeryn that needs to change
I think the show advocates Aeryn changing from a Peacekeeper to a more functional person who is able to relate to others without the xenophobia and militaristic thinking she was raised with. And I am on board with that.
As far as their relationship is concerned? They'll both have to change. Don't worry: John gains some humility (for excellent reasons!).
Anyway, yeah, early seasons can be rough going with John. I took a long time warming up to him -- it wasn't until after the Look at the Princess trilogy that I really got invested in him. I hope you warm up to him, too, but even if you never love him, there's plenty to enjoy about the show. I'm so glad you're watching!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 09:39 pm (UTC)Oh, thank goodness! Yes, Aeryn's journey to lose her Peacekeeper conditioning was something I viewed as positive and interesting, but I kind of feel like it's gone far enough now. I didn't like John pushing her to express her feelings. Not being an expressive person is not necessarily bad and is not the same as being xenophobic, for instance. It kind of pushed beyond losing cultural conditioning into trying to change someone's personality for me. And without any reciprocal change in personality or behaviour from John it felt unfair to me. So I'd like to see that.
I will hang in there if you think I don't need to be warmed up to him yet. I was a bit worried as other people seem to really have seen him in such a different light from the beginning, especially with regards to Aeryn. And yes, I'm enjoying the whole show very much--rewatching from the beginning would not be a hardship, as I'm sure I would pick up on other things I missed. It is lovely to have a new universe to roam around in in one's imagination! :)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 04:46 pm (UTC)I do see your point. I guess I never read it as him pushing her that hard. It's not something I think of as the primary dynamic in their relationship, even in its early stages. I see their relationship at this point mostly as "John makes a fool of himself; Aeryn rolls her eyes." (:
Which is it in a nutshell: I read their power dynamics totally differently than you do. I see John as the weak one, completely out of his element, struggling just to survive, not understanding anything, having his default morality constantly challenged, and his brain and body constantly violated. Aeryn is just about the only thing that makes sense to him right now, because he can see how she feels even though she won't admit it herself.
Whereas Aeryn, though now homeless herself thanks to him, understands how this universe works, its peoples and its places and its morals, is usually right about how things are going to work out, feels confident and understands what she's capable of, can more than handle herself in a fight, and is largely inviolate, narratively speaking.
So when John pushes, I don't see him the way I would the typical stalker dude in western media. I see him trying to grab hold of the one thing that makes sense to him, the one thing that could give him a home. Because he's practically powerless and totally alone.
Anyway, yes. Things will change. Be patient. (:
no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 11:49 pm (UTC)