saturday night
Mar. 5th, 2005 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseDamn good thing I went to the pub last night, because tonight I've been forced to skip the friends' get-together so I can finish my poetry paper (due Thursday) so that the rest of the week can be focused on my seminar and sagas papers (due next Monday). I wouldn't be worried, but with Baronial banquet next weekend and both papers due kind of early... yeah.
At least I only have two of my three classes this week. I don't get the assignment for the sagas paper until Wednesday, so I need to be mostly done with the seminar paper by then, and then finish it after my conference on Thursday, leaving me the rest of the time to do the sagas paper.
Just for saying, I've banned "Frienditto." Honestly, people - anything that asks for your password to another site is a pretty shitty idea, and it's totally not okay to copy other people's locked entries. Not cool at all.
I wrote a whole gigantic thing about how I was having trouble figuring out what to write for a fic, but it segued into a pairing discussion, and then I realized exactly why I was having issues, so I cut the chunks that only had pertinence to my writing issues, and was left with
On a theoretical level, I can understand Duncan/Methos, but it just doesn't appeal to me or fit my interpretations of the characters - I don't think Methos would have a problem with it, but Duncan strikes me as pretty darned straight. As for any of the others... also all pretty darned straight, in my mind. Richie seems totally girl-centric, in a typically teenage kind of way - he likes women, he's kind of obsessed with women, and he has horrible luck with women. I love all that about him. Joe - no, I'm sorry, I think Joe, too, is straight. He just strikes me as a "been there, tried that, liked women better" kind of guy. I don't really have any basis for this, it's just my feeling. Duncan... well, for god's sake. The man is always after a new chick, and seems perfectly happy that way. If he were ever to think of getting together with a guy, I would have assumed it would've been Fitz - his best friend, who he knew for so very long. But try to picture that for a minute - I have a feeling the closest they ever came was finding a pair of sisters (twins, even!), sharing a huge bed, and making absolutely sure they were on opposite sides of the bed. I could more easily conceive of Duncan being homophobic than I could see him as a happy bisexual.
Methos is the exception to the rule, of course - there was obviously a past of a sexual nature between him and Kronos, and between him and Byron. In both of those relationships, I interpret the situation as Methos being drawn to powerful men and getting into what were honestly relatively abusive relationships. Now, don't get me wrong, I hardly think Methos was the "omg abused innocent!" in either of those cases - he's a clever man, and clearly knew what he was getting into. And liked it. But despite what Valentine Pelka has been quoted as saying, I saw nothing equal about the relationship between those two (Kronos was clearly the leader of the horsemen, and Methos clearly the second-in-command - rewatch the scene in "Comes a Horseman" where they divide their spoils, if you don't believe me) and the situation with Byron struck me as Byron taking a seemingly quiet academic sort of fellow and... playing with him. Clearly, he knew that there was more to "Benjamin Adams" than met the eye, but I doubt that he knew exactly how much, and Methos clearly got a (sometimes guilty) rush from the naughty things that Byron did. He played their games, he hero-worshipped both of them to some extent, but he was still the lower rung in the ladder in both cases.
Watching him with those men, particularly Kronos, any supposed undertone between him and Duncan just kind of slipped away from me. Duncan amuses Methos, especially when he can torment him a bit, and Methos clearly likes being friends with Duncan - he keeps coming back, every time he goes away, which seems pretty unusual for Methos. I think if Duncan offered, Methos would go for it, but the vital thing is that I don't see Duncan ever offering, and I'd be more likely to see Duncan getting a bit freaked out if Methos ever offered. Sorry, guys - he just does not seem at all to be into men, to me. Same thing goes for Joe - I think Methos could definitely be attracted to Joe, but I get the impression that Joe is pretty straight. I think he'd probably politely turn down any passes made, and that would be the end of it. Don't even talk to me about Richie - I cannot imagine a straighter male human being. Maybe in a couple centuries he'll be a bit more open-minded, but not yet. For now, the closest I could see is Methos messing with Richie's head; flirting with him to get a reaction, or telling lewd stories to freak him out, or even telling Richie that he and Duncan are lovers, just to watch the panic on Richie's face. He'd think it was hilarious.
So, the natural response is - women. Which is great, because to be honest, after the slash-fest that is the Harry Potter fandom, it's a relief to me to see a group of characters who I happily view as primarily straight, particularly since I find two (okay 2.5) of the four main guys very attractive, and the third and fourth not bad at all, just not my types. But. No interesting women in canon!
Now that's not entirely true - I like Amanda quite a lot. I like Amanda/Duncan quite a lot, honestly, although I'm sure it's pretty damned unpopular in the larger fandom. I think that if Duncan ever relaxed a bit, he'd realize that they'd be a pretty good match - and it awfully seemed like that was the direction the finale was pointing in, too. So good for them. I hated Anne (with a passion that will never die and was at least partially due to my familiarity with other 'work' of that actress, in which I also hated her), and I hated Cassandra. Hate. That. Bitch. I'm sorry, I realize that you were traumatized, but that was three thousand years ago. Get the fuck over it. Also, do not molest poor 13 year-old flashback!Duncan, please - that's disgusting, and appalling. And no matter how much Methos hurt her, no matter how betrayed she felt by what happened all those years ago, it was Not Okay to try to kill him (after he'd saved her ungrateful life twice!) while he was on the floor crying. NOT OKAY. And not just because I have the hugest fictional-character-crush ever on him, either. Let's see... anyone else? Hmm... Amy Dawson, but no. Just... just no. Nope, all the other women are dead. Which just pisses me off, because I'd like to write something nice between Methos and a woman. I really would. But his only former lovers that we've seen on the show are both quite dead, which is particularly sad with Alexa, because damn would I love to write her. My mind occasionally goes "dude, what if he had managed to get the Methuselah's stone? How would that have affected everything after? I mean... two words: Horseman Arc." X_x But beyond that... umm... anything would have to be an OC. And I am so fucking trained out of OCs, now, that I can't even think them without guilt. Especially if it's to set up my favorite character. Eep.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled essay writing. *Sighs*
At least I only have two of my three classes this week. I don't get the assignment for the sagas paper until Wednesday, so I need to be mostly done with the seminar paper by then, and then finish it after my conference on Thursday, leaving me the rest of the time to do the sagas paper.
Just for saying, I've banned "Frienditto." Honestly, people - anything that asks for your password to another site is a pretty shitty idea, and it's totally not okay to copy other people's locked entries. Not cool at all.
I wrote a whole gigantic thing about how I was having trouble figuring out what to write for a fic, but it segued into a pairing discussion, and then I realized exactly why I was having issues, so I cut the chunks that only had pertinence to my writing issues, and was left with
On a theoretical level, I can understand Duncan/Methos, but it just doesn't appeal to me or fit my interpretations of the characters - I don't think Methos would have a problem with it, but Duncan strikes me as pretty darned straight. As for any of the others... also all pretty darned straight, in my mind. Richie seems totally girl-centric, in a typically teenage kind of way - he likes women, he's kind of obsessed with women, and he has horrible luck with women. I love all that about him. Joe - no, I'm sorry, I think Joe, too, is straight. He just strikes me as a "been there, tried that, liked women better" kind of guy. I don't really have any basis for this, it's just my feeling. Duncan... well, for god's sake. The man is always after a new chick, and seems perfectly happy that way. If he were ever to think of getting together with a guy, I would have assumed it would've been Fitz - his best friend, who he knew for so very long. But try to picture that for a minute - I have a feeling the closest they ever came was finding a pair of sisters (twins, even!), sharing a huge bed, and making absolutely sure they were on opposite sides of the bed. I could more easily conceive of Duncan being homophobic than I could see him as a happy bisexual.
Methos is the exception to the rule, of course - there was obviously a past of a sexual nature between him and Kronos, and between him and Byron. In both of those relationships, I interpret the situation as Methos being drawn to powerful men and getting into what were honestly relatively abusive relationships. Now, don't get me wrong, I hardly think Methos was the "omg abused innocent!" in either of those cases - he's a clever man, and clearly knew what he was getting into. And liked it. But despite what Valentine Pelka has been quoted as saying, I saw nothing equal about the relationship between those two (Kronos was clearly the leader of the horsemen, and Methos clearly the second-in-command - rewatch the scene in "Comes a Horseman" where they divide their spoils, if you don't believe me) and the situation with Byron struck me as Byron taking a seemingly quiet academic sort of fellow and... playing with him. Clearly, he knew that there was more to "Benjamin Adams" than met the eye, but I doubt that he knew exactly how much, and Methos clearly got a (sometimes guilty) rush from the naughty things that Byron did. He played their games, he hero-worshipped both of them to some extent, but he was still the lower rung in the ladder in both cases.
Watching him with those men, particularly Kronos, any supposed undertone between him and Duncan just kind of slipped away from me. Duncan amuses Methos, especially when he can torment him a bit, and Methos clearly likes being friends with Duncan - he keeps coming back, every time he goes away, which seems pretty unusual for Methos. I think if Duncan offered, Methos would go for it, but the vital thing is that I don't see Duncan ever offering, and I'd be more likely to see Duncan getting a bit freaked out if Methos ever offered. Sorry, guys - he just does not seem at all to be into men, to me. Same thing goes for Joe - I think Methos could definitely be attracted to Joe, but I get the impression that Joe is pretty straight. I think he'd probably politely turn down any passes made, and that would be the end of it. Don't even talk to me about Richie - I cannot imagine a straighter male human being. Maybe in a couple centuries he'll be a bit more open-minded, but not yet. For now, the closest I could see is Methos messing with Richie's head; flirting with him to get a reaction, or telling lewd stories to freak him out, or even telling Richie that he and Duncan are lovers, just to watch the panic on Richie's face. He'd think it was hilarious.
So, the natural response is - women. Which is great, because to be honest, after the slash-fest that is the Harry Potter fandom, it's a relief to me to see a group of characters who I happily view as primarily straight, particularly since I find two (okay 2.5) of the four main guys very attractive, and the third and fourth not bad at all, just not my types. But. No interesting women in canon!
Now that's not entirely true - I like Amanda quite a lot. I like Amanda/Duncan quite a lot, honestly, although I'm sure it's pretty damned unpopular in the larger fandom. I think that if Duncan ever relaxed a bit, he'd realize that they'd be a pretty good match - and it awfully seemed like that was the direction the finale was pointing in, too. So good for them. I hated Anne (with a passion that will never die and was at least partially due to my familiarity with other 'work' of that actress, in which I also hated her), and I hated Cassandra. Hate. That. Bitch. I'm sorry, I realize that you were traumatized, but that was three thousand years ago. Get the fuck over it. Also, do not molest poor 13 year-old flashback!Duncan, please - that's disgusting, and appalling. And no matter how much Methos hurt her, no matter how betrayed she felt by what happened all those years ago, it was Not Okay to try to kill him (after he'd saved her ungrateful life twice!) while he was on the floor crying. NOT OKAY. And not just because I have the hugest fictional-character-crush ever on him, either. Let's see... anyone else? Hmm... Amy Dawson, but no. Just... just no. Nope, all the other women are dead. Which just pisses me off, because I'd like to write something nice between Methos and a woman. I really would. But his only former lovers that we've seen on the show are both quite dead, which is particularly sad with Alexa, because damn would I love to write her. My mind occasionally goes "dude, what if he had managed to get the Methuselah's stone? How would that have affected everything after? I mean... two words: Horseman Arc." X_x But beyond that... umm... anything would have to be an OC. And I am so fucking trained out of OCs, now, that I can't even think them without guilt. Especially if it's to set up my favorite character. Eep.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled essay writing. *Sighs*
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 01:51 am (UTC)Actually, I get what you're saying. I *like* reading HL slash, but at the same time . . . it never quite rings true. If Duncan were going to be gay, or even bi, he would have played around before, almost certainly, and there would have been some signs amid all the unrelenting straightness.
And Cassandra is creepy and deranged.
As far as OCs- a fair number of people go back to the arcs with other female characters, especially the older Immortals. The older the Immortal, the less likely that they haven't had some contact with Methos, even if they don't know who it was . . .
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 02:23 am (UTC)Don't suppose you happen to have any good recs in either of those pairings, do you?
The idea of some other random female immortal having known Methos ages ago and now coming back and going "Holy shit, he's Methos? He was going by Einar Haraldsson when I knew him, and he said he was only a hundred years old!" amuses the living daylights out of me. That's awesome.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 02:07 am (UTC)I see him being SO homophobic. It's sad really, it would make yummy slash if he and Methos....or he and Joe (uhmmmm, Joe)
ermm, yeah.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 02:26 am (UTC)*Blinks* I totally can't see him and Joe getting together. Him and Methos, maybe. I'm more likely to go in the direction of Joe/Methos, if anything, though. Largely because I don't find Duncan very attractive, whereas Joe......
Ahem. I'm not perving over some poor guy practically old enough to be my father, really. (Not like that would be unusual...)
Oh, and the episode that starts the arc where Methos comes in is called "Song of the Executioner." You'll like Kalas - he's a fun bad guy. Nothing like Kronos, of course, but still pretty impressive.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 05:19 am (UTC)I DO for the most part like the Highlander bad guys, they're funny. Sorry you have to miss the get together tonight, but it sounds like you had fun at the pub.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 06:04 am (UTC)Yeah, it's been a good night, though - got my poetry paper pretty much done (going to edit it later), did all the reading for the week for the sagas, and I'm starting to plan for my seminar paper, now. So I'm feeling pretty pleased.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 07:41 am (UTC)There were several that he was very close to and Duncan didn't seem to have *any* inhibitions, lol
In any case, I respect that you don't see it. I'll just retire to my little world now *g*
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 07:45 am (UTC)I do agree that he's got his crazy moments in the past, and as for the present... well, who's to know, really? It was fun working out my theories, more than anything else. Either way, it's fun stuff!