The Fic of a Snick

Chuck is a show I've enjoyed in bits and pieces, but never watched in any organized fashion. I'm not necessarily committing to watching it through now. However, a friend and I staged a two-woman anti-Super Bowl party yesterday that included marathoning Chuck, so I thought I'd give my impressions.

Basically: this is fun, frothy comedy-action of the kind that makes no sense but isn't really supposed to. The point of the show is not sense-making, but of regular joe Chuck Bartowski running around avoiding spy missions to the best of his ability (and usually failing), working at a fictional equivalent of Best Buy, and hanging out with his sister and fellow employees.

( goods and bads )

Conclusion: I'm pretty sure the friend and I will get together for more episodes, so there may be more reportage later. Apparently the next one, 1.06 Chuck vs. the Sand Worm, actually involves some reference to Dune, and I am all over references to Dune.

Original entry posted at Dreamwidth. Feel free to reply here or there. ( DW replies)

Snagged from selenak and kathyh

Your main fandom of the year? It's still all about BtVS for me.

Your favourite film watched this year? Shoot. I don't keep track of movies the way I do other things. Um, Toy Story 3 was Pixar being brilliant as usual. Also I rediscovered my love for the old Disney cartoon Robin Hood, which is wonderful fun.

Your favourite book read this year? A toss-up here between one/all of Megan Whalen Turner's Eugenides books (I GET IT NOW, YOU GUYS) and Sunshine by Robin McKinley, which despite some shaky worldbuilding was pretty much everything I never knew I wanted in a vampire novel.

Your favourite album or song to listen to this year? If I had to pick one favorite new thing, it'd probably be "Comfort Eagle," by Cake - which is hilarious, because it is sooo not representative of my tastes. But I love it.

Your favourite TV show of the year? Again, I am undecided. I adored the first episode of Sherlock but then felt resoundingly meh about the other two; does that even count? And I devoured the first season of Veronica Mars like a mad, mad thing (seriously, I did pretty much nothing else that week), but can't get up the energy for season 2. Eh.

Your best new fandom discovery of the year? I actually read a fair few stories for Sherlock fandom (mostly because of ladyofthelog and her enabling recs lists), so I guess we'll say that.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year? Season 8. Not that my expectations were high for the comics themselves, but they've made my corner of fandom sad.

Your TV boyfriend of the year? Nobody new. I caught a few episodes of Chuck, though, and ohmygoodness he is still the nicest guy on TV. I want him, please.

Your TV girlfriend of the year? Um. Um? Well, Dawn Summers is still my girl and this year has only made me love her more, so we'll say Dawn.

Your biggest squee moment of the year? About half the scenes in "A Study in Pink": John shooting at the end; Lestrade's "brilliant man / good man" line, which suggested so much yummy potential; pretty much every bit of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman being absolutely perfect. Yeah.

The most missed of your old fandoms? eowyn_315 and I reminisced about seaQuest DSV quite a bit. I was never fannishly involved, but it was my first TV love.

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to? If I end up liking Avatar: The Last Airbender half as much I think I might, then I'm definitely going hunting for the fic that people on the flist have been writing - stultiloquentia comes to mind. It's a show that's totally different from BtVS, but looks to me like it might have some of the same flexibility. We shall see.

pennydrdful asked me for this forever ago, when I did the "Top 5" meme, and it really did take me this long to think of them. I don't tend to think in terms of heroes, since the term seems often to fall under the categories either of They Who Do Heroic Things Can Do No Wrong, or of On the Scale of Heroism, This Person's Actions Don't Look All That Heroic, Actually.

Also, I'm a bit sad there aren't more women on the list, but the sorts of fabulous that female characters usually are don't seem to fall under 'heroism,' at least however my brain defines the term.

Finally, note again that I make no actual claims to supremacy; these are just five I like a lot who have stuck with me.

1. Don Diego de la Vega (Tyrone Powers) - The Mark of Zorro. Because he's clever, has a sly and wicked sense of humor, gets into the heroing business for all the right reasons, and gets out of it as soon as they're resolved. Also because he swashes buckles with the best of them (and with Basil Rathbone, no less, which can't but help any budding swashbuckler's reputation).

2. Eowyn - The Lord of the Rings. Because she's a shield maiden of Rohan, with all that implies. Because she goes to the battle and slays the witch-king and defends her people at all costs. When it comes to that, she's really the most traditional choice on the list.

3. Freddy Standen - Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer. Because sometimes, getting you out of a sticky social situation is the most heroic thing a man could do. Also because he's so terribly good-hearted and will put up with so very much to make the people around him comfortable.

4. Chuck Bartowski - Chuck. Because he's such a very nice reluctant hero; and because although he's sensibly terrified about his sudden promotion to espionage, he pulls himself together and does the heroic thing that needs doing, even if he panics about it afterwards.

5. Miles Vorkosigan - the Vorkosigan series, by Lois McMaster Bujold. Because he's smart enough and driven enough (my gosh, the energy) to accomplish whatever he thinks needs accomplishing, heroism included, but also complicated enough that he comes across less as "hero" and more as "human being."