a conspiracy of cartographers

For no particular reason I have lapsed back into watching TOS Trek. (Maybe the reason was that I suddenly realized Abed would make an awesome Vulcan? That is the only reason I can think of short of my brain just suddenly going, "Okay, hilarious 60s sci-fi time!") And from there it is but a short slide into seeking out all the Kirk/Spock fic. I am not very surprised I am all over Kirk/Spock -- it's got aliens, telepathy, snark, inarticulateness about feelings, and an epic history of friendship, so it is pretty much my ship kryptonite -- but I have discovered some weird difficulties in the course of seeking it out.

It is so, so much easier to find well-written AOS fic than it is to find well-written TOS fic. But this is a problem! AOS!Kirk/Spock is TOS!Kirk/Spock minus epic friendship plus Uhura. And ... well, the more TOS I see, the more bewildered I am the film went the Spock/Uhura route (not least because I apparently have a side gig watching the old films and shipping Scotty/Uhura like burning) but, this said, I really don't want to sacrifice Uhura to the Gods of Slash, because she's too awesome for that. The entirely excellent compromise is Kirk/Spock/Uhura, which is fine, but at that point they have rejected the ghosts of TOS, and that is not the dynamic I'm craving.

Hilariously enough, when I'm reading AOS fic, everyone is definitely AOS Kirk and Spock and Uhura and Scotty et al, and same with TOS fic -- but Bones is always just Bones. I can flicker back and forth between their faces, but the tone and expression are always the same. Karl Urban, I take off my metaphorical hat to you.

Anyway, TOS Kirk/Spock! A lot of it is seriously delightful. A lot of it, by which I mean the fic from zines way back in the day that their authors have obligingly posted online, is delightful for anthropological reasons -- I just read a fic, for instance, in which Spock spends a lot of time agonizing over/analyzing his feelings, and realizes that he thinks of Jim as a friend in the sense that he is a comrade-in-arms and maybe something more, and I was sitting there going, "Spock, t'hy'la is in your vocabulary, why don't -- WAIT" and realized that the fic's publication date was 1979, the same year Roddenberry coined the term in the movie novelization. Dude. Guys, I read fic that is older than t'hy'la. *___*

(Reading TOS Kirk/Spock has an element of don't-think-about-pink-elephants to it, though. There is nothing quite like coming upon a sex scene and going "DON'T REMEMBER THAT IT'S WILLIAM SHATNER." Oh, Chris Pine, if only you were as interchangeable with Shatner in my head as Urban is with DeForest Kelley. My life would be much less full of horror.)

Lastly: this still! The one of Kirk clutching at Spock while they are no inches apart! And I think Spock is about to meld with Kirk or something? It crops up in vids a lot. But I do not know which episode it is from! Can anyone tell me? I would very much like to know.

Today we say goodbye to Katharine Hepburn and Ewan McGregor. Okay, flist, Imma let you finish, but Kate was the hottest lady of all time.

( Eight attractive people beneath the cut! )

Today we say goodbye to Ellen Page and John Simm. I'm actually impressed that Ellen Page made it this far! Y'all might be on notice for voting off John Simm, though.

( Twelve attractive people under the cut! )

Today we say goodbye to Zooey Deschanel and Callum Keith Rennie. They were in something together once, you know! It's called Tin Man and it's TOTALLY CRACKED OUT.

( Fourteen attractive people under the cut! )

We seem to have a tie this round between Callum Keith Rennie and Peter Wingfield, so instead of just choosing one or the other, because it might actually be physically impossible for me to do so, it's time for a tie-breaking vote.

ETA: It occurs to me, looking at the results so far, that this is actually a poll to determine who on my flist watches due South and who watches Highlander. I don't think that accounts for every vote, but it's definitely entertaining.

( Yesterday's pictures again! For, idk, scientific accuracy. )

1. Nicholas Courtney died yesterday. I'm a bit shattered; I adore the Brigadier more than words can say, and it just feels so odd to know that he isn't an ongoing part of Doctor Who anymore. I just. I miss him. :(

2. Which is why I then felt a bit confused when last night's White Collar happened, because, oh my god, so excellent and full of delight this week! I don't think either one really cancels out the other. ( 2x14: Neal, Peter, El, Diana, and Moz are all kind of my heroes. )

I have finally caught up on Community! I watched most of it a while ago, before getting sitcommed out and stopping. (Not to mention that I occasionally get intense contact embarrassment from Britta. I know you're trying so hard, but stop being on my side!) But ... idk, I think I mostly just wanted to get to the stop-motion Christmas episode, and it's not like it's very difficult to be a completist when every episode is twenty minutes long.

Anyway, um, along the way I managed to get massively emotionally invested, although mostly in Abed and Troy. (If anyone asks, since I am given to believe that it is A Thing in certain sections of the fandom, I am on Team Jeff/Britta Because They Deserve Each Other, and Team Annie/Someone Preferably Female and Awesome For Her. I'd be on Team Annie/Britta except that I think Britta's hipster gay acceptance would slowly destroy Annie. ANYWAY.) But I really just want to watch the Troy and Abed Show! I am so happy that, at least from where I'm standing, there is nothing inherently "haha we're not gay NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT" in their epic BFF relationship. They love each other! They love each other and it's canon and not used as a weapon or a punchline! I may keep getting a little starry-eyed about this. I'm pretty sure that on onscreen romance with kissing between them isn't going to happen, but I'm also pretty sure that if did, everyone else's reactions would be the punchline.

Also, how much do I love Abed? A lot. He is such a nerd, and he is no good at people except for those times when he really, really is, and he is so meta I can hardly stand it, and sometimes I find him kind of attractive? which is weird, idk, I just want to hug him a lot. Has anyone written the fic where Abed literally breaks the fourth wall? I know he looks at it a lot, but he's never properly destroyed it.

In conclusion, like most of my entries about shows I'm watching but haven't put much serious thought into, I expect it's only mildly coherent. Also, Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas made me cry. Legit cry actual tears because I may be a bit emotionally invested in Abed.

(Also it is WHITE COLLAR NIGHT. I have been rubbish at blogging about White Collar, but I am pretty excited for this one.)

So last September/October, I watched a truly alarming amount of Smallville. I still genuinely love the first three seasons, and there are good ... bits ... of later ones, too. (Except for sixth season, which needs to be punched in the face.) I was only watching for Lex, though, and when he left and Chloe definitely was never going to be Lois, I didn't bother to keep going. I did read a ton of fic, and I have a slightly suspicious number of Superman comics on my bookshelf now, but for the most part I went on to other things.

This is all by way of saying that I am still STUPID EXCITED about some casting spoilers. First we have Lex back for the finale, and I honestly don't care if they screw everything up and Lex is flat-out eeevil or anything, I am still full of sparkly joy. Second we have THIS THIS DEAR GOD THIS. Not only is that picture goddamn adorable (I want to ruffle his haaair; how so perfect, casting?) but it also means that ... I may have to watch bits of season ten? I am strangely okay with this.

STUPID EXCITED, GUYS.

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I am celebrating by eating some of the (frankly alarmingly large amount of) ice cream we have stockpiled in the freezer, remembering and appreciating that I have friends who love me, and giving a little something back. Here are a truly ridiculous number of kissing ficlets for your reading pleasure. (NB: I couldn't get to everyone's prompts, and for that I am sorry! I got to as many as I could, though, and I hope you'll enjoy some of those I did write.)

For northeto: ( Sinclair/Delenn, Babylon 5 )

For polarisnorth: ( Giles/Remus, Buffy/Harry Potter )

For jolly_utter: ( Carmilla/Laura, Carmilla )

For filia_belialis: ( Doctor/Master, Doctor Who )

For skipthedemon: ( Doctor/River, Doctor Who )

For mergatrude: ( Fraser/Kowalski/Vecchio, due South )

For icepixie: ( Fraser/Thatcher, due South )

For gehayi: ( Methos/Alexa, Highlander )

For sophia_sol: ( Methos/Kronos, Highlander )

For kinglets: ( Edmund/Caspian, Narnia )

For epershand: ( Clark/Lex, Smallville )

For innocentsmith: ( Geoffrey/Ellen/Oliver, Slings & Arrows )

For china_shop: ( Neal/Peter/Elizabeth, White Collar )