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Driving downtown the other day and having thinky thoughts about Victoria, I passed one of those little enclave housing projects with the cute names and noticed that it was called Windhover. And almost crashed laughing. Oh dear.
There is extremely little chance I will actually finish s2 by tomorrow night, considering I have twelve more episodes, even if I skip a few as I may. I'm still making good time, though.
2x04 Bird in the Hand
HI THERE, TURNBULL! I kind of like the fact that Fraser genuinely dislikes him -- temporary assistant interim associate deputy liaison officer indeed. I think Fraser would find no reason to dislike him at all if he wasn't wearing the uniform -- Fraser has a nearly infinite well of patience for insane people who prevaricate and take things literally and are generally totally nuts, but, um, the problem is that all those descriptors are ones that apply to Fraser also and the moment they're applied to a Mountie in close proximity to Fraser, Turnbull becomes the upsetting annoying funhouse mirror of Fraser's soul. There's also the simpler reading that Fraser just doesn't want to work in any professional capacity with someone so determinedly inept, but I suspect it's slightly more than that.
...I think Victoria really got to me this time around, by the way, because I'm sure for Fraser at this point it's many months later, but I still want to insulate Fraser in a protective force field of love and keep him from things like Gerrard being at large. My god, Fraser's whole life is just one giant 'fuck you' from the universe, isn't it?
Ohhh Vecchio, you terrifying man. 'Really, Fraser, feel free to kill Gerrard, I'll tell everyone it was self-defense. No, here, have a gun!' And ... that means at some level he still really doesn't understand Fraser. There is absolutely no universe in which Fraser could accept that sort of offer and still be Fraser.
On the other hand Fraser SLAMS GERRARD INTO THE WALL WITH HIS BOOT. This is not terribly astonishing considering that he pulled a gun on Gerrard in the pilot and called him son of a bitch, which are pretty unrestrained things for Fraser to do, but it's still a bit terrifying to see Fraser slam someone into the wall with his boot. And ohhh "What's wrong, Constable? People not behaving the way you want them to anymore? The good guys don't wear their white hats and the bad guys don't like black?" And of course that's a simplification; you'd catch Ray in a white hat never, and Victoria did wear black, and Fraser knows these things, but -- yes. It's not that people behave differently; Fraser's seeing a little differently now. And then there's the moment where Gerrard points out that he'll be dead the moment he's turned over to the police, and Fraser leans back and says, "I don't give a damn." As well he shouldn't, but oh.
"If you really loved me, you'd kill him for me!" "No, Dad, if I really loved you I'd --" One, way to try the emotional manipulation card even though your son can see right through you, Bob! Two, I want to know what Fraser was going to say. I'd have made more of an effort to know you when you were alive? I would've asked you what was wrong when you were going after Gerrard before you got killed? I don't know what else he could be beating himself up for, but since it's Fraser there's probably a whole host of things.
"I never loved anyone as much as I loved you, and I could never, ever say it." "Well, if you did I would've hit you." Ladies and gentlemen, the summation of Fraser's relationship with his father. WAY TO BE, BOB. I'd say it's amazing that Fraser turned out as well-adjusted as he did, but I think there's a difference between functional and well-adjusted, and Fraser's able to hold onto duty and justice as solid facts, but that doesn't mean he's okay. I do love the way Fraser's entire backstory does a really good job of making sense of the way he turned out.
I seriously love the whole "There's nothing more unnerving to men than talking about feelings," thing. I love that Fraser's not above using his own feelings as weapons just as easily as he's willing to use any other words, and I like that he is completely capable of articulating things about himself in the necessary circumstances. (See: reasons why most fic where the romance is between two guys makes me want to hit the back button when someone starts declaring their true love, but very seldom to I have that 'wtf no' reflex when Fraser's involved. It's possible I wouldn't believe it if Vecchio said it, though. Whereas Kowalski's said it on screen twice, albeit with qualifiers. Have a little gold star, Kowalski.)
And I love Bob's magical mind control! "Let's get out of here!" Oh rules of the ghost world, never change. By which of course I mean never make a lick of consistent sense. <3
2x05 The Promise
I love that Meg used to have a dachshund! And that she is really flipping beautiful. I think I have sneakily and without my own knowledge turned into a Thatcher fangirl.
Argh Sid the street urchin brother sort of drives me up the wall. I know he's in a difficult situation but he's still a total dick to his poor sister. (Disliking Sid: something I will have to actually get over. Why? Well, uh, I decided it would be fun and not at all time-consuming to write an s2 AU where Kowalski shows up in conjunction with a case Fraser and Vecchio are working, because I want me some more Kowalski'n'Vecchio fic but all of it is rightly post-CotW. Anyway, for various and sundry reasons I want to use The Promise as the starting point, which means that even if Kowalski is not particularly fond of Sid, I have to at least sympathize with the kid if I'm going to write him.)
On the other hand much is made up for by the fact that the child welfare agent who's blackmailing Sid is named Crowley. Seriously? Anthony Crowley, that is low. (Speaking of which, I have this vague recollection of finding a Good Omens/due South fic in which Crowley goes on vacation in Chicago, decides that he'll get one hell of a promotion if he can seduce Fraser's soul to damnation, sleeps with Fraser, and accidentally gets redeemed. I don't remember it being anything very special but I do know that the plot and premise make me giggle like mad.)
Ohhh Fraser's story about being alone in a city as a child; you'd think that a story wherein a child is alone and hungry and desperate would end with him stealing food, but no, he boiled his left oxford shoe. And then his grandmother tanned his hide for that! Yay! As someone who never got hit or spanked or anything as a child as punishment, that makes me twitch. Fraser seems to think it was perfectly normal, but I can't actually imagine him physically punishing a kid himself if he ever had any. Also I want to know why I'm wondering what sort of parent Fraser would be instead of just wanting to give him another hug.
(And I was completely derailed in the middle of writing this commentary by writing instead another few pages of the s2 AU. Yay!)
-- Actually in the interest of not going mad by pausing every five seconds to transcribe and remix a conversation (two minutes of film: three pages of Kowalski reading the paper, being noir, and discussing the weather with Fraser -- IDEK) I'm going to have to drop this one two-thirds through. The next scene has Vecchio, you see, and in translation that means "Five pages of the Rays bitching at each other for thirty damn seconds of film." So no. Sorry, episode five!
I would like to observe in closing, though, that this is the episode in which Fraser waxes poetic about the unique beauty and artistic expression of a tattoo. This is awesome both on general principle and because it means he would probably appreciate Kowalski's. Bless.
2x06 Mask
When Meg was young she spent a summer in Paris being an artist's model! Ohhhh Meg. <3 Here is also the first instance of Ray calling her the Dragon Lady. I have never decided if I like that or Ice Queen better; Dragon Lady is probably more apt, but then I flash to Kowalski putting his hand over a telephone earpiece and shouting, "Fraser! Ice Queen!" and then sort of remembering what he's just shouted, and it makes me so happy that I have to love that name too.
And I think I want more episodes like this! I mean, to begin with I want more episodes where various of Fraser's friends from Canada come to visit (or commit crimes, or both, or whatever) not least because how many shows regularly have Inuit actors on, especially using them in (as far as I know; it's entirely possible I'm Doing It Wrong) a good way that doesn't erase them or do other dodgy things. Besides this I'd also love more episodes where people transform into ravens and such! If you have a show where someone can write a fic about Fraser being a were-otter and I will readily believe it, you should take advantage of the sheer strangeness as often as possible! (Paul Gross kind of did this, but in the direction of absurdity rather than shape-shifting and things. That's okay, though, bring on the magical realism in whatever form you'd like.)
I love Ray's Women 101 rule of learning at least one word in every foreign language. I love less that Ray still has this overpowering need to mock Fraser's fallibility; yes, Ray, Mounties occasionally fall off roofs. You were doubting the man's ability to occasionally make mistakes?
I'm thinking that Eric is where Fraser got at least a good portion of his body of Stories For Every Occasion. Eric tells stories with a lot of the same cadence Fraser does. I'm also thinking that the strange insistence in MotB about Fraser needing logic seems pretty odd considering that Fraser just has feelings and tracks by vision in this episode. On the other hand, I don't think the issue is that Fraser doesn't believe in going on instinct; the issue is that -- wow, this is a switch -- his intuition is the only one he's willing to trust, hence his and Kowalski's screaming trust issues. I don't know how bad his inability to trust people is shot here, but it's pretty bad by s3. Anyway, for the purposes of this episode I just want it on the record that Fraser is perfectly willing to have his turn being Mr. Instinct.
(Part of me is secretly very sad that Ray didn't end up with Louise instead of Stella at the end. I mean, at least they have some awesome bitchy quality screen time together.)
Eric says, "I shot a caribou once. The next time I looked, he turned into a man," and Fraser says in reply, "You saved my life. I was grateful." I suppose that means Eric is supposed to be the hunter that shot Gerrard in the pilot? Hey, if I can pretend a different wolf is Dief and a different woman is Mackenzie King later, I can pretend that two actors are Eric also. And I do like that Fraser does still trust Eric.
Also, um, I am quite willing to ship Fraser/Thatcher pretty hard. They are definitely not Meant To Be, but their awkward tension and little flashes of understanding are making me extremely happy. OH MY GOD AND RAY TOOK LOUISE TO THE SWEATLODGE. Somehow I missed that the first time. I'm being hit with the Canon Het Bat and I'm enjoying it.
Mm, that one is quite good.
There is extremely little chance I will actually finish s2 by tomorrow night, considering I have twelve more episodes, even if I skip a few as I may. I'm still making good time, though.
2x04 Bird in the Hand
HI THERE, TURNBULL! I kind of like the fact that Fraser genuinely dislikes him -- temporary assistant interim associate deputy liaison officer indeed. I think Fraser would find no reason to dislike him at all if he wasn't wearing the uniform -- Fraser has a nearly infinite well of patience for insane people who prevaricate and take things literally and are generally totally nuts, but, um, the problem is that all those descriptors are ones that apply to Fraser also and the moment they're applied to a Mountie in close proximity to Fraser, Turnbull becomes the upsetting annoying funhouse mirror of Fraser's soul. There's also the simpler reading that Fraser just doesn't want to work in any professional capacity with someone so determinedly inept, but I suspect it's slightly more than that.
...I think Victoria really got to me this time around, by the way, because I'm sure for Fraser at this point it's many months later, but I still want to insulate Fraser in a protective force field of love and keep him from things like Gerrard being at large. My god, Fraser's whole life is just one giant 'fuck you' from the universe, isn't it?
Ohhh Vecchio, you terrifying man. 'Really, Fraser, feel free to kill Gerrard, I'll tell everyone it was self-defense. No, here, have a gun!' And ... that means at some level he still really doesn't understand Fraser. There is absolutely no universe in which Fraser could accept that sort of offer and still be Fraser.
On the other hand Fraser SLAMS GERRARD INTO THE WALL WITH HIS BOOT. This is not terribly astonishing considering that he pulled a gun on Gerrard in the pilot and called him son of a bitch, which are pretty unrestrained things for Fraser to do, but it's still a bit terrifying to see Fraser slam someone into the wall with his boot. And ohhh "What's wrong, Constable? People not behaving the way you want them to anymore? The good guys don't wear their white hats and the bad guys don't like black?" And of course that's a simplification; you'd catch Ray in a white hat never, and Victoria did wear black, and Fraser knows these things, but -- yes. It's not that people behave differently; Fraser's seeing a little differently now. And then there's the moment where Gerrard points out that he'll be dead the moment he's turned over to the police, and Fraser leans back and says, "I don't give a damn." As well he shouldn't, but oh.
"If you really loved me, you'd kill him for me!" "No, Dad, if I really loved you I'd --" One, way to try the emotional manipulation card even though your son can see right through you, Bob! Two, I want to know what Fraser was going to say. I'd have made more of an effort to know you when you were alive? I would've asked you what was wrong when you were going after Gerrard before you got killed? I don't know what else he could be beating himself up for, but since it's Fraser there's probably a whole host of things.
"I never loved anyone as much as I loved you, and I could never, ever say it." "Well, if you did I would've hit you." Ladies and gentlemen, the summation of Fraser's relationship with his father. WAY TO BE, BOB. I'd say it's amazing that Fraser turned out as well-adjusted as he did, but I think there's a difference between functional and well-adjusted, and Fraser's able to hold onto duty and justice as solid facts, but that doesn't mean he's okay. I do love the way Fraser's entire backstory does a really good job of making sense of the way he turned out.
I seriously love the whole "There's nothing more unnerving to men than talking about feelings," thing. I love that Fraser's not above using his own feelings as weapons just as easily as he's willing to use any other words, and I like that he is completely capable of articulating things about himself in the necessary circumstances. (See: reasons why most fic where the romance is between two guys makes me want to hit the back button when someone starts declaring their true love, but very seldom to I have that 'wtf no' reflex when Fraser's involved. It's possible I wouldn't believe it if Vecchio said it, though. Whereas Kowalski's said it on screen twice, albeit with qualifiers. Have a little gold star, Kowalski.)
And I love Bob's magical mind control! "Let's get out of here!" Oh rules of the ghost world, never change. By which of course I mean never make a lick of consistent sense. <3
2x05 The Promise
I love that Meg used to have a dachshund! And that she is really flipping beautiful. I think I have sneakily and without my own knowledge turned into a Thatcher fangirl.
Argh Sid the street urchin brother sort of drives me up the wall. I know he's in a difficult situation but he's still a total dick to his poor sister. (Disliking Sid: something I will have to actually get over. Why? Well, uh, I decided it would be fun and not at all time-consuming to write an s2 AU where Kowalski shows up in conjunction with a case Fraser and Vecchio are working, because I want me some more Kowalski'n'Vecchio fic but all of it is rightly post-CotW. Anyway, for various and sundry reasons I want to use The Promise as the starting point, which means that even if Kowalski is not particularly fond of Sid, I have to at least sympathize with the kid if I'm going to write him.)
On the other hand much is made up for by the fact that the child welfare agent who's blackmailing Sid is named Crowley. Seriously? Anthony Crowley, that is low. (Speaking of which, I have this vague recollection of finding a Good Omens/due South fic in which Crowley goes on vacation in Chicago, decides that he'll get one hell of a promotion if he can seduce Fraser's soul to damnation, sleeps with Fraser, and accidentally gets redeemed. I don't remember it being anything very special but I do know that the plot and premise make me giggle like mad.)
Ohhh Fraser's story about being alone in a city as a child; you'd think that a story wherein a child is alone and hungry and desperate would end with him stealing food, but no, he boiled his left oxford shoe. And then his grandmother tanned his hide for that! Yay! As someone who never got hit or spanked or anything as a child as punishment, that makes me twitch. Fraser seems to think it was perfectly normal, but I can't actually imagine him physically punishing a kid himself if he ever had any. Also I want to know why I'm wondering what sort of parent Fraser would be instead of just wanting to give him another hug.
(And I was completely derailed in the middle of writing this commentary by writing instead another few pages of the s2 AU. Yay!)
-- Actually in the interest of not going mad by pausing every five seconds to transcribe and remix a conversation (two minutes of film: three pages of Kowalski reading the paper, being noir, and discussing the weather with Fraser -- IDEK) I'm going to have to drop this one two-thirds through. The next scene has Vecchio, you see, and in translation that means "Five pages of the Rays bitching at each other for thirty damn seconds of film." So no. Sorry, episode five!
I would like to observe in closing, though, that this is the episode in which Fraser waxes poetic about the unique beauty and artistic expression of a tattoo. This is awesome both on general principle and because it means he would probably appreciate Kowalski's. Bless.
2x06 Mask
When Meg was young she spent a summer in Paris being an artist's model! Ohhhh Meg. <3 Here is also the first instance of Ray calling her the Dragon Lady. I have never decided if I like that or Ice Queen better; Dragon Lady is probably more apt, but then I flash to Kowalski putting his hand over a telephone earpiece and shouting, "Fraser! Ice Queen!" and then sort of remembering what he's just shouted, and it makes me so happy that I have to love that name too.
And I think I want more episodes like this! I mean, to begin with I want more episodes where various of Fraser's friends from Canada come to visit (or commit crimes, or both, or whatever) not least because how many shows regularly have Inuit actors on, especially using them in (as far as I know; it's entirely possible I'm Doing It Wrong) a good way that doesn't erase them or do other dodgy things. Besides this I'd also love more episodes where people transform into ravens and such! If you have a show where someone can write a fic about Fraser being a were-otter and I will readily believe it, you should take advantage of the sheer strangeness as often as possible! (Paul Gross kind of did this, but in the direction of absurdity rather than shape-shifting and things. That's okay, though, bring on the magical realism in whatever form you'd like.)
I love Ray's Women 101 rule of learning at least one word in every foreign language. I love less that Ray still has this overpowering need to mock Fraser's fallibility; yes, Ray, Mounties occasionally fall off roofs. You were doubting the man's ability to occasionally make mistakes?
I'm thinking that Eric is where Fraser got at least a good portion of his body of Stories For Every Occasion. Eric tells stories with a lot of the same cadence Fraser does. I'm also thinking that the strange insistence in MotB about Fraser needing logic seems pretty odd considering that Fraser just has feelings and tracks by vision in this episode. On the other hand, I don't think the issue is that Fraser doesn't believe in going on instinct; the issue is that -- wow, this is a switch -- his intuition is the only one he's willing to trust, hence his and Kowalski's screaming trust issues. I don't know how bad his inability to trust people is shot here, but it's pretty bad by s3. Anyway, for the purposes of this episode I just want it on the record that Fraser is perfectly willing to have his turn being Mr. Instinct.
(Part of me is secretly very sad that Ray didn't end up with Louise instead of Stella at the end. I mean, at least they have some awesome bitchy quality screen time together.)
Eric says, "I shot a caribou once. The next time I looked, he turned into a man," and Fraser says in reply, "You saved my life. I was grateful." I suppose that means Eric is supposed to be the hunter that shot Gerrard in the pilot? Hey, if I can pretend a different wolf is Dief and a different woman is Mackenzie King later, I can pretend that two actors are Eric also. And I do like that Fraser does still trust Eric.
Also, um, I am quite willing to ship Fraser/Thatcher pretty hard. They are definitely not Meant To Be, but their awkward tension and little flashes of understanding are making me extremely happy. OH MY GOD AND RAY TOOK LOUISE TO THE SWEATLODGE. Somehow I missed that the first time. I'm being hit with the Canon Het Bat and I'm enjoying it.
Mm, that one is quite good.
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I AM SEEING YOU IN TWO DAYS DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THAT IS.
(PS are you back home now? How was your flight? <333)
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OMG YAY! \o/
And I am home, which is lovely, and the flight was remarkably pleasant - there was no one in the seat next to me, so I stretched out and listened to fic on my iPod and read books.
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That sounds like the best international flight possible. <3 Hopefully my flights Thursday will be okay too. Nnngh I am pretending to be blase about this but I secretly really hate the in-transit part of traveling, so even if I get in exactly on time and can find all the shuttle signs and everything is beautiful, I'm still going to be stressed when I call you to let you know I'm in. Fear not, though, I'm a big girl and I can do things like switch planes in fucking O'Hare just fine.
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My work here is done. *glees*
If you have not read About a Girl yet, you should! It is Meg gen and utilizes all the little facts we acquire about her.
Eric says, "I shot a caribou once. The next time I looked, he turned into a man," and Fraser says in reply, "You saved my life. I was grateful."
It's from the pilot! Eric shoots Gerard before Gerard can shoot Fraser and then says he thought Gerard was a caribou.
F/T: It's pretty awesome, in its own way. Someday I will finish the epic F/T fic I have outlined, which is set post-COTW and features former-spy Thatcher with paranoia issues and amnesiac Fraser.
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Your Fraser/Thatcher fic is making me want to keyboard with excitement. Please finish it!
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So, someday! It did at least prompt some interesting discussion about what mannerisms and skills Fraser would retain, even with amnesia, and what the effects of her time undercover overseas would be on Meg. My favorite part of the discussion was the one around Meg's integrity - would an amnesiac Fraser trust her to tell him who he was? Would the readers think her reliable? And I came down firmly on yes, because I do believe that Meg's a person of great integrity. If she wasn't, she would have taken advantage of those leering superiors and slept her way to the top, you know?
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Amnesiac!Fraser, I have to confess, is one of my favourite things in the world (although I remember it just being played for laughs on the show, and it's a pity they didn't take up the entire episode with it) and I've only seen it used in fic once (here; I don't know why I risked looking for that link, because it means I want to read it again right now); if there are any others I want to know about them, and I am seriously looking forward to yours. Total agreement re: Meg's integrity, too, although I am becoming steadily more Meg-biased by the minute here. :D
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(Oh, and you must have read Speranza's "Chicago's Most Wanted", right?)