This post contains spoilers for How I Met Your Mother 4x12, and Gossip Girl 4x15
What's the opposite of speechless? You know, when something great happens and you just need to talk about, or you'll explode? Well, that's more or less how I'm feeling now, because I've just seen the newest episode of How I Met Your Mother (412). And I'm giddy. Which might be why I can't think of that word... anyhow.
To think, before I watched this I had actually planned to write about how glad I was HIMYM wasn't doing a lot with the romance of Barney and Robin, (or BrOTP, as it's known among the nerds. And yes, I ship them regligiously. ), and how I had realized this was a good thing. Because I was annoyed at first, that every time the ship came up, it was always for the sake of comedy, with either Barney or Robin acting in a very silly and (especially in Robin's case) out-of-character way. But then I realised, this is a great thing. It's actually a good thing. Because if shows ignore their concept (HIMYM being a sit-com) just to please the rabid shippers, the result isn't going to please anyone (yes, I'm looking at you, Bones). So I was happy I wasn't getting any shipping-love from the show.
And now I realise I've just been kidding myself. I wanted an episode with a serious plottling focusing on Barney/Robin. I wanted and episode like 412. It was just so cute, and funny, and just warmed my crazy fangirl heart. And it was funny at the same time, too! So it's not just about the romance. It's about doing it right. Which HIMYM does.
In other news, Gossip Girl is exceptionally weak compared to mybeloved How I Met Your Mother. I really couldn't care less about Dan and Serena's half-sibling, who's going to show up at some point. Actually I couldn't care less about Dan and Serena at all. They're boring. The only thing that manages to tug my heartstrings is Chuck, as usual. But the whole Chuck-and-Blair buisness is getting kind of old, to be honest. Not that I'm not enjoying the ride...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
To Fangirl Or Not To Fangirl. It isn't really a question.
So I thought I'd follow up the post where I taunt everyone for thinking minor characters are cool, with one filled to the brim with unjustified love for a minor character. I am talking about a one-shot, and one of my all-time favorite characters, Hama. However, she does not get enough love. There aren't enough Hama-fans out there, which I find weird. I think a lot of people are put off by the fact that she's old. Which is sad, because that's a part of her brilliance! She has not one, but two entirely different designs and stories (old and young), and they are both equally awesome. So I really don't get what everyone's problem is. I can see why some people might be put of but the fact that she's batshit crazy, but then again, what awesome character in the Avatar-universe isn't? Just think of Zhao! Or, come on... Azula.
But I'll start with the backstory. Despite only being in one episode (308, The Puppetmaster) Hama has a very developed and interesting backstory. It also fits together very nicely with the rest of the show, and it shows us very clearly just how much the Fire Nation fucked up the world and the people in it. The moral is, war is bad. Now you know. So what is Hama's backstory? Well, she starts of in the Southern Tribe, which is always fun, because it's one of the most well-known locations, seeing as how two main characters live there, we really don't know that much about it. Except for the beginning, there are really only two episode that explore the history of the Southern Tribe (308 and 316, The Southern Raiders). Yes, the raids. We'll get to those in a second. So Hama's the best waterbender in the entire tribe (one can assume, as she's the last to be abducted by the Fire Nation.), which is a nice paralell to the Northern Tribe, were women at that time weren't allowed to fight, even if they were waterbenders.
Cue the raids. Small attacks by the Fire Nation which sole purpose was to capture all the benders of a tribe or village, to imprison them so that they couldn't fight back. (I have a theory on why they chose to imprison the benders rather than killing them, but let's not get into that now.) The Southern Tribe was strong, but eventually, Hama was the only one left, and she gave up, possibly so that the village would be spared, just like Aang does in 102. (It's kind of unclear, as there are no dialog, simply the old Hama stating that she was "the only one left.")
Hama is then, together with all the other benders of her tribe (whom we never hear or see anything from ever again) to a prison somewhere in the Fire Nation. Now, Avatar is a kids-show, so we aren't shown exactly what happened in there, except for the fact that they were placed in caged, and chained up before they were allowed to drink. But I'm sure you all have creative minds, with no trouble imagining just what might have been going on in there... yeah. So during these years (years) Hama noticed that the moon increased her bending abilities, and she used this to develop a whole new bending techniqe, Bloodbending. Now, if you are any kind of fan of the show, you must admit that bloodbending is the single most cool bending technique ever. To control someone else's body by bending the fluids in their body. It's equal amounts of creepy and awesome. Using this technique, Hama escaped her prison. However, for some reason she didn't free her fellow benders. My explanation for this is that either 1) They were all dead, seeing as they'd been there long than her, or 2) She was already insane, and they condemned this new technique of hers, so she left them there as history's most vicious Take That.
Then she spent the rest of her life developing this technique, hiding as an old inn-keeper, whilst simultaneously capturing and imprisoning random Fire Nation-people as some kind of twisted revenge. That is, until she stumbled into the Gaang (talk about bad luck!) and after she's taught her technique to Katara, was beaten and put back into prison. Yes, the world is really that cruel.
Yes, this epic story is told by one episode. And very well so, I might add. In my opinion, The Puppetmaster is one of the best episodes of season 3, if not the whole series. So what else do I like about Hama? Well, for one, her design. She has a very nice design, especially as a young waterbender, (I know her outfit by heart. I'm such a nerd.) The other watertribe women from the South (Katara, Kanna, Kaia) are all very similar in their designs, (that is, they all have hairloopies. It's like there's some kind of rule that children must inherit their parents hairstyles. Seriously.)
Then of course, there is the shipping. I say of course because I ship more or less every characters I like in every series. In fact, this is pretty much the only ship I really like in the Avatarverse. I'll go for any combination of the Gaang + Zuko if it's well-written. But this, this is my OTP. That is, HaKanna, or Hama/Kanna. What, you say? Isn't that, you know, Gran Gran? Katara's and Sokkas' grandmother? What kind of crack-shipper are you? Actually, it's not that cracky. There's even some basis in canon (yes. I'll show you some other time), but the reason I like it, it's that it's so versatile. You have the incredibly cute fluff/drama when they were younger, fitting nicely with the story of how Kanna ran away because she didn't want to live her life guided by the rules of her tribe. But then you also have incredible angst, with both Hama getting abducted, Kanna being left behind, and them possibly meeting after the series is over. It has everything! Except perhaps humor. Then you'll have to get real nerdy.
So, to conclude, Hama is a really awesome character, but she's easily overlooked, whilst other minors like Zhao, the Freedom Fighters and Haru (not that they're also incredibly awesome) get all the glory! The world needs more Hama-love! Yeah. I really have nothing other than that to conclude with.
But I'll start with the backstory. Despite only being in one episode (308, The Puppetmaster) Hama has a very developed and interesting backstory. It also fits together very nicely with the rest of the show, and it shows us very clearly just how much the Fire Nation fucked up the world and the people in it. The moral is, war is bad. Now you know. So what is Hama's backstory? Well, she starts of in the Southern Tribe, which is always fun, because it's one of the most well-known locations, seeing as how two main characters live there, we really don't know that much about it. Except for the beginning, there are really only two episode that explore the history of the Southern Tribe (308 and 316, The Southern Raiders). Yes, the raids. We'll get to those in a second. So Hama's the best waterbender in the entire tribe (one can assume, as she's the last to be abducted by the Fire Nation.), which is a nice paralell to the Northern Tribe, were women at that time weren't allowed to fight, even if they were waterbenders.
Cue the raids. Small attacks by the Fire Nation which sole purpose was to capture all the benders of a tribe or village, to imprison them so that they couldn't fight back. (I have a theory on why they chose to imprison the benders rather than killing them, but let's not get into that now.) The Southern Tribe was strong, but eventually, Hama was the only one left, and she gave up, possibly so that the village would be spared, just like Aang does in 102. (It's kind of unclear, as there are no dialog, simply the old Hama stating that she was "the only one left.")
Hama is then, together with all the other benders of her tribe (whom we never hear or see anything from ever again) to a prison somewhere in the Fire Nation. Now, Avatar is a kids-show, so we aren't shown exactly what happened in there, except for the fact that they were placed in caged, and chained up before they were allowed to drink. But I'm sure you all have creative minds, with no trouble imagining just what might have been going on in there... yeah. So during these years (years) Hama noticed that the moon increased her bending abilities, and she used this to develop a whole new bending techniqe, Bloodbending. Now, if you are any kind of fan of the show, you must admit that bloodbending is the single most cool bending technique ever. To control someone else's body by bending the fluids in their body. It's equal amounts of creepy and awesome. Using this technique, Hama escaped her prison. However, for some reason she didn't free her fellow benders. My explanation for this is that either 1) They were all dead, seeing as they'd been there long than her, or 2) She was already insane, and they condemned this new technique of hers, so she left them there as history's most vicious Take That.
Then she spent the rest of her life developing this technique, hiding as an old inn-keeper, whilst simultaneously capturing and imprisoning random Fire Nation-people as some kind of twisted revenge. That is, until she stumbled into the Gaang (talk about bad luck!) and after she's taught her technique to Katara, was beaten and put back into prison. Yes, the world is really that cruel.
Yes, this epic story is told by one episode. And very well so, I might add. In my opinion, The Puppetmaster is one of the best episodes of season 3, if not the whole series. So what else do I like about Hama? Well, for one, her design. She has a very nice design, especially as a young waterbender, (I know her outfit by heart. I'm such a nerd.) The other watertribe women from the South (Katara, Kanna, Kaia) are all very similar in their designs, (that is, they all have hairloopies. It's like there's some kind of rule that children must inherit their parents hairstyles. Seriously.)
Then of course, there is the shipping. I say of course because I ship more or less every characters I like in every series. In fact, this is pretty much the only ship I really like in the Avatarverse. I'll go for any combination of the Gaang + Zuko if it's well-written. But this, this is my OTP. That is, HaKanna, or Hama/Kanna. What, you say? Isn't that, you know, Gran Gran? Katara's and Sokkas' grandmother? What kind of crack-shipper are you? Actually, it's not that cracky. There's even some basis in canon (yes. I'll show you some other time), but the reason I like it, it's that it's so versatile. You have the incredibly cute fluff/drama when they were younger, fitting nicely with the story of how Kanna ran away because she didn't want to live her life guided by the rules of her tribe. But then you also have incredible angst, with both Hama getting abducted, Kanna being left behind, and them possibly meeting after the series is over. It has everything! Except perhaps humor. Then you'll have to get real nerdy.
So, to conclude, Hama is a really awesome character, but she's easily overlooked, whilst other minors like Zhao, the Freedom Fighters and Haru (not that they're also incredibly awesome) get all the glory! The world needs more Hama-love! Yeah. I really have nothing other than that to conclude with.
Homage to Harry the Hero
So, two posts in four months, huh? That's actually pretty good for me. Especially considering this would be my blog made of posts with actual content. Seriously nerdy content, but content none the less. But, it being Janary 1st, I felt compelled to try it one more time with this blog. It's not like I have any readers anyway, this is basically because it will be so much fun in a few years (hoping that blogger won't delete it), looking back, hopefully just as nerdy.
This topic I'm going to talk about now is so outdated it's not even funny, but I'm not trying to be funny, and this has been buzzing around in my head for quite some time now, so I just need to get it out. And my re-discovery of Naruto (it's perfect, because it only requires half your attention-span. Allowing you to do something else, like drawing, with the rest of your brain.) sort of reinforced this point I'm going to make. To myself. If that makes any sense whatsoever. It probably doesn't, especially not to you, as you don't know what point I am going to make yet, or even on what subject it's going to be... I should just get on with the fucking point, shouldn't I? Point taken. I'll get right into my post-intro intro.
When reading Deahtly Hallows (see, didn't I tell you? Outdated. But none the less awesome) I discovered a few few things about the series, but also about myself. That might sound awfully cliched and sugarcoated, but it is actually true, and made less diabetic-inducing by the fact that the thing I discovered about me, was actually related to Harry Potter. Mostly. Some points were pretty obvious, like the fact that Neville Is The Awesome, and just how much I relied on Dumbledore to be the good mentor. But some things came as quite a surprise; like the fact that I love Harry Potter. Not the series, the character (or, in my mind, the person). Before DH, I was a part of the "Harry-should-die"-camp. Not would, should. I thought it would be the best end for the series. Sirusly. Then, come "The Forest Again", when I was certain Harry was going to die, I was roaring in pain. Literally. (The tears started flooding when Fred died, and it just got worse from there) Sitting on the roof (again, siriusly) I was damning everyone, from Dumbledore to Jo to my parents (they tried to talk me down from the roof). And as much as I suffered from "Post-Potter-Depression", and as much as I mourned Fred and the other (maybe not as much as the others did, but still), had Harry died, I would've been a lot worse off.
Deathly Hallows made me realize just how much I care for Harry. Like many others, I sort of waved him off, as the hero, the "obvious favorite". I had my own favorites, and I sure as hell cared a lot more about them. They were usually the underdogs. And it really wasn't until Harry was going to die, that I realized that all this time, Harry had been the underdog. In my mind. And now, I love him. Like I always should've. Aw. (Cue Crowning Moment of Heartwarming)
So, what's this got to do with Naruto, anyway? Well, the last time I watched Naruto, was before Deathly Hallows. It was also before taking a peek at the Naruto fandom. And guess who my favorite character was? That's right, Sasuke. (And Shikamaru. He's still awesome.) Then, after realising liking Sasuke made me into a mindless fangirl (not unlike those of Edward Cullen), I regressed to liking him a bit less. But now, re-watching it, I realize (wow, I've been using this word waay to many times) that I love Sasuke. Just as I love Naruto. Not in the way I love Harry (that series changed my life. Literally. Naruto is... mild entertainment. But everything's relative.) I root for them.
So I guess my point is, I'm beginning to tire of this "liking minor characters makes you cool"-thing, which seems to be pretty much universal in every fandom. It's not that the minor characters aren't awesome and wonderful (one word: Hama), but liking them shouldn't be cooler than liking the "obvious choice"-main characters. Just as the major characters shouldn't be bashed just because they're major characters. So if you want to swoon over Zhao, go ahead. But remeber, you are still just as cool as that Zuko-fangirl over there.
This topic I'm going to talk about now is so outdated it's not even funny, but I'm not trying to be funny, and this has been buzzing around in my head for quite some time now, so I just need to get it out. And my re-discovery of Naruto (it's perfect, because it only requires half your attention-span. Allowing you to do something else, like drawing, with the rest of your brain.) sort of reinforced this point I'm going to make. To myself. If that makes any sense whatsoever. It probably doesn't, especially not to you, as you don't know what point I am going to make yet, or even on what subject it's going to be... I should just get on with the fucking point, shouldn't I? Point taken. I'll get right into my post-intro intro.
When reading Deahtly Hallows (see, didn't I tell you? Outdated. But none the less awesome) I discovered a few few things about the series, but also about myself. That might sound awfully cliched and sugarcoated, but it is actually true, and made less diabetic-inducing by the fact that the thing I discovered about me, was actually related to Harry Potter. Mostly. Some points were pretty obvious, like the fact that Neville Is The Awesome, and just how much I relied on Dumbledore to be the good mentor. But some things came as quite a surprise; like the fact that I love Harry Potter. Not the series, the character (or, in my mind, the person). Before DH, I was a part of the "Harry-should-die"-camp. Not would, should. I thought it would be the best end for the series. Sirusly. Then, come "The Forest Again", when I was certain Harry was going to die, I was roaring in pain. Literally. (The tears started flooding when Fred died, and it just got worse from there) Sitting on the roof (again, siriusly) I was damning everyone, from Dumbledore to Jo to my parents (they tried to talk me down from the roof). And as much as I suffered from "Post-Potter-Depression", and as much as I mourned Fred and the other (maybe not as much as the others did, but still), had Harry died, I would've been a lot worse off.
Deathly Hallows made me realize just how much I care for Harry. Like many others, I sort of waved him off, as the hero, the "obvious favorite". I had my own favorites, and I sure as hell cared a lot more about them. They were usually the underdogs. And it really wasn't until Harry was going to die, that I realized that all this time, Harry had been the underdog. In my mind. And now, I love him. Like I always should've. Aw. (Cue Crowning Moment of Heartwarming)
So, what's this got to do with Naruto, anyway? Well, the last time I watched Naruto, was before Deathly Hallows. It was also before taking a peek at the Naruto fandom. And guess who my favorite character was? That's right, Sasuke. (And Shikamaru. He's still awesome.) Then, after realising liking Sasuke made me into a mindless fangirl (not unlike those of Edward Cullen), I regressed to liking him a bit less. But now, re-watching it, I realize (wow, I've been using this word waay to many times) that I love Sasuke. Just as I love Naruto. Not in the way I love Harry (that series changed my life. Literally. Naruto is... mild entertainment. But everything's relative.) I root for them.
So I guess my point is, I'm beginning to tire of this "liking minor characters makes you cool"-thing, which seems to be pretty much universal in every fandom. It's not that the minor characters aren't awesome and wonderful (one word: Hama), but liking them shouldn't be cooler than liking the "obvious choice"-main characters. Just as the major characters shouldn't be bashed just because they're major characters. So if you want to swoon over Zhao, go ahead. But remeber, you are still just as cool as that Zuko-fangirl over there.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
I'll just get right to it
So, this is basically a blog for me to rant/celebrate/be nerdy about my favorite TV-shows, websites, books, artists and so on and so forth. But today I thought I'd start with a rant. It will probably not be the last, so if you mind people ranting, you should probably leave now. This rant has actually been building up inside me for the last couple of weeks, or since some of my favorite shows went back on air. This is actually what I've been asking myself since then, with almost every episode:
Why is it that all my favorite crime solving series are turning into soap operas?
Like, siriusly. The prime example of this is Bones, which is very sad as it's one of my favorites when it comes to these type of shows. But Criminal Minds is an offender, too, and House to an extent, when though it pulls it of much, much better than the other. (And yes, I do count House as a crime solving drama, because it's the same premise, only the bad guy is some decease. Compare House to other Hospital shows, like Grey's Anatomy or Scrubs, and you'll see that you can't bundle them up together, just because they have a common setting.)
But back to what I was saying, since when did the relationships of these shows become more important than the actual crimes? Since when is it acceptable to have a lousy plot, as long as you throw in as much fluff as possible? Well, for Bones it started in beginning of the third season, got better towards the middle and is now getting worse again. I have another theory on that, but that's for another day (perhaps tomorrow).
Maybe I should explain myself, I feel I haven't really done that. What is it that I'm so mad about? It's the fact that in most of my favorite shows that should be about good guys catching bad guys, interesting mysteries and surprising plots, have lately revolved around one thing, and one thing only, making the other aspects of the show suffer. And that thing is relationships. More specifically of the romantic kind. I'll use Bones as an example. In season one, it was all good. There was an obvious connection between Booth and Brennan, but there was still a focus on the crime solving. In season two, their relationship developed, and got a little more screen time, an a new couple was introduced, namely Angela and Hodgins. But it was a good balance, most of the time. In season three, there was Gormogon arc, admittedly, but besides from those episode, and especially those in the end of the season, the cases where bad. They didn't get enough attention, and therefore felt rushed. And what's more Brennan began using all that time she previously spent in the lab, with Booth! Meaning more fluffy romance shots, and less and less actual science used in solving the cases. I might be over-reacting here, but you know since it's the entire premis of the show, I'm thinking she should at least focus a little bit on it. And then there's season four. My my. Where to start? None of the episodes where any good, except maybe for 405 (but that's mainly because Zach returned, disproving my suspicions that they made Zach into Gormogon just to get rid of him). Season four just took everything I disliked about season three (too much romance, rushed cases, not enough science to solve the cases...) and made it more so. And I'm really hoping they'll turn it around, but as the same time I'm a pessimist, so I'm sort of thinking that thet won't.
It's not that I don't like romance. And I mean that. I watch Grey's Anatomy for crying out loud. I'm a rabid shipper. I like both Angela/Hodgins and Booth/Brennan. But it's just too much of it now, and it makes those moments that I used to love, the fluffy romantic moments, it makes them worth less. Bones would be no fun without these relationships. But I miss the really good plots. And the non-romantical relationships. You can't just take everything the fans like and put is together, that doesn't make a good show. Balance does.
Why is it that all my favorite crime solving series are turning into soap operas?
Like, siriusly. The prime example of this is Bones, which is very sad as it's one of my favorites when it comes to these type of shows. But Criminal Minds is an offender, too, and House to an extent, when though it pulls it of much, much better than the other. (And yes, I do count House as a crime solving drama, because it's the same premise, only the bad guy is some decease. Compare House to other Hospital shows, like Grey's Anatomy or Scrubs, and you'll see that you can't bundle them up together, just because they have a common setting.)
But back to what I was saying, since when did the relationships of these shows become more important than the actual crimes? Since when is it acceptable to have a lousy plot, as long as you throw in as much fluff as possible? Well, for Bones it started in beginning of the third season, got better towards the middle and is now getting worse again. I have another theory on that, but that's for another day (perhaps tomorrow).
Maybe I should explain myself, I feel I haven't really done that. What is it that I'm so mad about? It's the fact that in most of my favorite shows that should be about good guys catching bad guys, interesting mysteries and surprising plots, have lately revolved around one thing, and one thing only, making the other aspects of the show suffer. And that thing is relationships. More specifically of the romantic kind. I'll use Bones as an example. In season one, it was all good. There was an obvious connection between Booth and Brennan, but there was still a focus on the crime solving. In season two, their relationship developed, and got a little more screen time, an a new couple was introduced, namely Angela and Hodgins. But it was a good balance, most of the time. In season three, there was Gormogon arc, admittedly, but besides from those episode, and especially those in the end of the season, the cases where bad. They didn't get enough attention, and therefore felt rushed. And what's more Brennan began using all that time she previously spent in the lab, with Booth! Meaning more fluffy romance shots, and less and less actual science used in solving the cases. I might be over-reacting here, but you know since it's the entire premis of the show, I'm thinking she should at least focus a little bit on it. And then there's season four. My my. Where to start? None of the episodes where any good, except maybe for 405 (but that's mainly because Zach returned, disproving my suspicions that they made Zach into Gormogon just to get rid of him). Season four just took everything I disliked about season three (too much romance, rushed cases, not enough science to solve the cases...) and made it more so. And I'm really hoping they'll turn it around, but as the same time I'm a pessimist, so I'm sort of thinking that thet won't.
It's not that I don't like romance. And I mean that. I watch Grey's Anatomy for crying out loud. I'm a rabid shipper. I like both Angela/Hodgins and Booth/Brennan. But it's just too much of it now, and it makes those moments that I used to love, the fluffy romantic moments, it makes them worth less. Bones would be no fun without these relationships. But I miss the really good plots. And the non-romantical relationships. You can't just take everything the fans like and put is together, that doesn't make a good show. Balance does.
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