memey goodness

gakked from profound shallowness.

Six favourite shows in no order:
1. Buffy
2. Doctor Who
3. Firefly
4. ER
5. X-Files
6. The Professionals

1. Who is your favourite character from #2?
   The Doctor. D'oh. Smart, funny, strong-minded. Never cruel or cowardly, as it's been said. Each time he changes, he stays somehow the kind of hero I love.

   "I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I - I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." The Christmas Invasion

   If I can't have him as my favourite then...er...Fitz Kreiner from the books. And if I can't have him then...er...Barbara Wright.


2. Who is your least favourite character from #4?
   Corday. A waste of a decent British actor, whose character I never warmed to, and who ended up sort of hanging about for no good purpose. It's like the writers had a great starting idea but never worked out what they should do with her.


3. What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include?
   Aw, Buffy and the X-Files is too easy. The obvious thing is Mulder and Scully showing up in Sunnydale, investigating an alleged Hellmouth. You could have the Slayer(s) kidnapped by the Conspiracy but that runs the risk of being season 4 of Buffy. Can't I cross the Pros and Firefly?


4. What is your favourite ship from #6?
   Bodie/Doyle. Bodie/Cowley can be read into the series if you squint very hard, or Bodie/Murph, but really it has to be the classic Bodie and Doyle.


5. If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be?
   Inara and Bodie: he's very like Mal in that cynical warrior shell hiding a romantic core and she's the kind of classy lady he loved to woo. Doyle can take Kaylee out.


6. If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be, and what would you do?
   Ooh. Er...
   I know what I'd be tempted to do for a day with Ray or Luka. After much thought...Ray. A late lazy breakfast, and afternoon kicking about town, an evening knocking back shots in a sticky indie dive and home for the obvious.


7. If you could change one thing about #2's plot line, what would you change?
   I'd sort out that whole mess in the mid-80s. I loved Davison, and I like the last two seasons of McCoy, but gods the middle is a mess. Bad companions, nonsensical plots, garish overlighting and clothing, stunt celeb casting.


8. Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5, and why you like the relationship between them.
   Mulder and Scully. I like the initial dynamic and the manner in which it evolves over time. There are many details in those early years which suggest a wonderfully complex mixture of friendship, respect and attraction of opposites. There's sharp banter and underlying understanding. It got a bit more irritating once you reach the Saint Scully business etc etc but it worked in those early years.


9. If the lead title characters (first name in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be?
   Buffy vrs Mal. It's hard to apply the "which one would probably make it without me?" test since Buffy is superhumanly strong and Mal is superhumanly stubborn. I think I would save Mal: he's a decent guy who's had his world taken away because he made a bad choice whereas Buffy would pout and whine and feel the burden of her Slayerness.


10. If you could change the title characters' order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose?
    Current credits? Well, I'd take out Sherry Stringfield since her sudden vanishing, and move Maura Tierney up a place or so - make her second to Goran.


11. If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline for #6, what would the character be like and what would their role be?
    I'd produce a family member for Bodie or Doyle. Preferably about the same age, so a cousin or sibling. Neither of them have any family on-screen and it would change the dynamic without producing a Girlfriend of the Week syndrome.


12. What happens in your favorite episode of show #2?
    Ooh, er. Classic series: the Doctor arrives in a Victorian manor house in which an alien scientist is running an experiment involving evolution. New series: OMG!squee!Tennant. Well, actually, no. My favourite has the Doctor and Rose in WW2, haunted by a little boy in a gasmask, aided by a bisexual conman from the 51st century.


13. If you could kill off one of the characters of #1, who would it be and how would you do it?
    Willow's bounceback girlfriend. And I'd do it very carefully so as not to induce the wrath of Willow.


14. If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose?
    Firefly. To walk through Serenity? To clatter up and down the walkways and check out the details? To stand in the middle of the cargo hold and spin around? To play with the dinosaurs on the flightdeck? Who wouldn't?


15. So, I saved the best question for last. If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person?
    Well the choices would be:
    Spike (dangerous rock date ending in a necking)
    you don't date the Doctor so Harry Sullivan (very trad date with an Italian meal and a peck on the cheek, old thing)
    Jayne Mal (a sullen date with half-disguised charm and no kissing)
    Ray (see question six, with more tequilla shots) or Luka (charming European seduction date)
    Scully in the early period (a contemporary dinner date)
    Doyle (pub grub and dancing).
    
    Scully, Doyle and Harry are out first, leaving the rock boys or the sullen war survivors. As I'd like to come out of a date in a good mood, it'd be the dumb rock boys. So... Spike. There'd be a thrill to the edge of darkness danger, whereas Ray would just be a regular date for me.

There's a lot of fallen idealists, rock gods, and damaged men in that list.

Suicide is Painless

Since I started archivng my ER and Firefly fic here on aurelius, I've decided to reduce my online personae a little and claim my M*A*S*H fic as my own. Note this is the only medium in which I write slash. I don't know why. So the following stories are now up on aurelius:

Cold Comfort
SLASH. season 1 or 2.
Strangers When We Meet
SLASH, post-series. Heavily influenced by More Than Heaven.
Wedding Jitters
het, during Margaret's Wedding

Under My Skin & Too Darn Hot, set sometime between Margaret's Engagement and Margaret's Wedding.

There's another one, a 3-part story, but I'll do that another time.

fic rec: Of Boys and Fireflies

Of Boys and Fireflies
by mishbloom

Pre-series. No spoilers. Wowsa. Maybe it's just because I read The Ship Who Sang too often as a teenager, but this brought a tear to my eye.

fic rec: Mend (1/1)

It's Sunday, it must be catch up with fic day!

Mend by Goldy Dollar.
Post-Serenity Mal/Inara fic. Inara intends to get a cup of tea.
This writer totally nails it. The dialogue is spot on, with a mix of painful truths, misunderstandings and bickering banter. For example,
"I’m attempting romantics. Don’t faint."
The mood swings slowly and subtly through pain, fear, eroticism and delight. I love this piece.

fic: Drabble: Paper Wraps Stone

I just did a quick drabble for neela_ray, based on last nights new episode (UK E4): Paper Wraps Stone. I'll write up thoughts etc on Sunday.

This new ship seems to be inspiring drabbles in a way that no previous ship has. I've always written them, as I think they are a great writing exercise. Trying to pack as much as possible into the strict word count makes you think about what you are trying to express, and how to most effectively do that. Every word needs to add to the meaning: there's no room for slack. So drabbles are great, but Neela and Ray is the first time in years that I've just been dashing them off whenever I have a spare half hour. Strange, n'est pas?

fic rec: time to say how much it meant

time to say how much it meant
by cathiexx
Firefly, post-Objects in Space, pre-movie. A lovely little Mal/Inara story which fits within canon but seems so plausible. Inara and Mal's voices are clear, and their reactions are in character.

Principle Flutie! The Annointed One!

So, yes, I'm still being overly fannish about ER. Today was a bit of a OMG! moment though, when I realised that both Flutie and the Annointed One were in episode 01.04 of ER. Flutie is a office supplies sales guy and the kid is a brat with an insane mother.

This was, as you might imagine, a bit startling.