sailing the fingers of the dragon

Title: The King is Dead
Author: tellitslant
Fandom: Sanctuary
Characters/pairing: Will Zimmerman, Helen Magnus
Rating: G
Word count: 900
Disclaimer: Characters are property of Space etc. This is a transformative work; no infringement is intended.
Notes: Written for the "Elvis" square on my sanctuary_bingo card (see the card here).
Warnings: None. No spoilers; set somewhere earlyish in season one.
Summary: ( Will never knows what he's going to find tucked away in a corner of the Sanctuary. )

Scene: sitting in the boys' living room, flipping through Netflix for something to watch.

Ross: Hey, Justin and I saw an advert the other day, and do you think we would like this Sanctuary show?

Me: ...

Me: ...

Me: ... Yes, actually, I do think you'd like it, although the pilot's rubbish.

Ross: Oh, that's not a good sign... Alex?

Alex: The only thing I know about it is that it's got that actress from Stargate that KK likes, and so she's probably horribly biased.

Me: Hey! I'm watching Stargate for her too, and I know that's shit!

Alex: *chokes half to death laughing* YES it is.

...they still have to finish BSG, but they are warming to the idea! :D :D

*

I was over because Ross had a friend from Canada visiting, and man, I don't know what it was, but I was able to take a step back and identify a huge amount of the Canadianisms he pulled in terms of behaviour, many of which are ones that I totally recognised as being part of my own repertoire. It was hilarious and a little disturbing at the same time. We really do do passive-aggressive in a way that no other country I know of has achieved. :P

Title: TKO
Author: tellitslant
Fandom: Sanctuary
Characters/pairing: Henry Foss (Ashley Magnus, Helen Magnus)
Rating: G
Word count: 1000
Disclaimer: Characters are property of Space etc. This is a transformative work; no infringement is intended.
Notes: Written for the "The Gym" square on my sanctuary_bingo card (see the card here)
Warnings: None. Set in season one, prior to 1x07 "The Five."
Summary: ( The first time Henry wondered – or at least, the first time he let himself wonder, consciously – he was in the gym. )

I had a brief conversation over drinks with such_heights about how I just want Amanda Tapping to be happy all the time, and then I come home to find out that Sanctuary has been cancelled and ATapps is tweeting about entering the long dark teatime of her soul. MY HEART.

(yes, I'm aware I have a problem)

Sigh, Sanctuary. I barely knew ye. Sadface.

Tell me you want to play and I'll pick up to three of your fandoms. Then update your journal and answer the following questions:

such_heights gave me Sanctuary, DCU, and Stargate.

Sanctuary

What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Tumblr gifspams of Amanda Tapping kissing girls. No, shut up, really. Because sophia_gratia had been pushing it on me for a while, and I tried to watch the pilot and found it really boring, so I gave up. And then last November my Tumblr dash exploded with "Helen makes out with another woman in canon omg!!1!" posts, and I thought, hm, maybe I should watch this episode. So I did, and not only was there ladykissing, there was genre smartness and interesting gender politics and a badass heroine, and there we go.

Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I am a total fandom butterfly and there is a possibility that the series won't be renewed for a fifth season, so while there are a lot of stories I'd like to tell I can't imagine I'll always be as invested in the fandom as I am currently. I can't see myself getting to a point where I don't like it any longer (unless I write too much on it academically), though.

Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
Ack! Well, the first one I watched, obviously, "Monsoon." Also "Haunted," (because John!), "The Five" (because Nikola!), "Pax Romana" (because Ranna!), "Fugue" (because singing!), and, last but not at all least, "Out of the Blue" (because AU Crazy McPaintsALot Cat Lady Magnus OH MY GOD!).

Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Just a wee bit. :P I am particularly looking forward to participating in Sanctuary Bingo starting on Sunday!

Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
YES. I would particularly like some more vidders (yes I'm looking at you, you know who you are *cough*). Also, I just think more people should watch shows where the lady rescues herself. Plus it's quite smart about its genre-ness and self-aware and meta; it's not perfect, but if you can get past the dodgy CGI in places it's better than it seems.

***

DCU

What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Hahahahaha. I don't know if I can answer that. You know, in the Serenity tie-in graphic novel, Nathan Fillion writes about going down to Whyte Avenue and poking through the longboxes in the Wee Book Inn and that's how he started reading comics, and... yeah. I don't actually remember when I started doing that. Age seven, eight, nine? The first DC Comic I remember buying new off the shelf was Wonder Woman vol.2 #72, when I was nine, but I'd been reading back-issues for a while before then.

Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
Comics are my forever fandom. It's true! I mean, seriously, they've been part of my life for a good twenty years now. I read stuff that's not DCU, sometimes, but I can't be arsed to catch up on the X-Men stuff now and the DCU, even the crazy post-52 DCnU, is where my heart is. (Even if I am a bit broken by Wonder Woman. Thank god I still have Batwoman and Batgirl right now.)

Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
I am just going to talk about favourite runs, because otherwise we could have a problem. Ask if you want more detail.
Wonder Woman - the Perez run, at least through issue 30 or so, still defines the character for me; Rucka's run is just goddamn amazing; Simone's run does some delightfully subversive things.
Gotham Central - possibly my favourite thing in comics in the last... fifteen years? Because RENEE.
Batwoman - my second-favourite thing? Because KATE, and a canonically queer woman wearing the bat-symbol!
Secret Six - because they are SO WRONG it's amazing.
Teen Titans - totally oldschool, but Wolfman's run back in the 80s on TT and NTT still define Starfire and Raven for me.

Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Off and on. I do a bit more on tumblr and on twitter and in person. I write fic sometimes, when the need (or the ficathon) strikes. I hang out with the occasional author and write academic papers. You know, like usual.

Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
This is hard for me to answer, because the DCU is so vast and so many people might like only one aspect of it. I think more people should read Gotham Central and Batwoman, because they are amazing stories and beautifully written. I think everyone should read Secret Six, because it is so twisted. I hesitate to recommend Wonder Woman to anyone right now, because it's wonderfully written and gorgeously illustrated and doing horrible horrible things that hurt me deeply. But I do think that comics as a medium are underappreciated and more people should give them a try, and that there is likely to be something in the new DCU for almost anyone if they can find it.

***

Stargate

What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Um. I ran out of Amanda Tapping in Sanctuary and sophia_gratia told me how awesome Sam Carter was. What, I'm totally shallow, I can't help it. I like to say that I'm not really a fan of Stargate so much as Stargate is my Amanda Tapping delivery vehicle.

Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
Well, there's a lot of Stargates still to watch, so I'm definitely around for a while. And all the Stargates have some Sam Carter, so I'll stick them out. How fannish I stay about it will probably depend on how many stories I see that exist offscreen, because let's be fair: it's a pretty bad show and I'm really just watching it so I can have deep thoughts about Sam. Well, and because I think there's a paper or two in there somewhere.

Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
I am only on the early part of the third season of SG-1, so I am relatively early on, but: "Hathor" (because it's hilariously awful and Janet says 'libidinous' and the ladies save the day), "A Matter of Time" (because Sam! being sciencey!), "Singularity" (because Cassie! and Sam having emotions!). I have not yet watched any of the episodes that feature multiple alternate-timeline Sams, but I foresee them being high on my list also, because of reasons.

Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
I write some fic. I hope to write more fic. I spend a lot of time reblogging pictures and having a lot of feelings in email. :P

Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
Again, tough one! It would be nice if more people were a little more active in it, but it is a rather old fandom. I might settle for getting pointers to all the hidden early-2000s fic archives that must be out there... ;)

I was out with a friend the other night and talking about how I have decided that 2012 is the year of awesome and happy and puppies with sunshine and all things, and he asked whether 2011 had been that bad. And, no, 2011 was pretty good, actually (though that doesn't mean 2012 can't be better!), except for the fact that I wish I had gotten more work done on my DPhil. Well, I was thinking about that this morning (because I have a meeting tomorrow with my supervisor to go over what I've done while he was gone - which is Not Enough), and while I didn't do a hell of a lot on that project, since August I have developed and/or started three different side/future projects: the Paul Gross one, the comics one, and the Sanctuary one. So I feel a little better about my productivity. :P

In other news: I am probably never learning to vid. And if I do, it won't be until after I finish my DPhil. And if I did learn, I wouldn't start with a vid for a pairing I don't really ship, in a fairly small fandom, to a piano ballad from the 70s that's in a language that most of the fandom probably doesn't speak. But, all that aside - is this not the perfect Helen Magnus/John Druitt song? (The English subs are fairly accurate, if a bit... shall we say clinical? But you get the idea.)

I am trying to comment on as many of the sanctuary_santa fics as I can before reveal, which should be possible – it's a pretty tiny exchange, after all! It is a remarkably high-quality assortment of fics, but here are some of my very favourites so far ( in alphabetical order... )

As before, guess my own story and I'll write a ficlet of at least 500 words. I may have narrowed the field a bit. Or, you know, not.

Title: With Abandon or Not At All
Author: tellitslant
Fandom: Sanctuary
Characters/pairing: Ensemble (Magnus/Tesla)
Rating: PG
Word count: 2500
Disclaimer: Characters are property of SyFy. This is a transformative work; no infringement is intended.
Thanks: To sophia_gratia, for amazing beta as well as pushing me till I fell under Magnus's spell.
Warnings: None. No major spoilers. Set somewhere in season two, pre-"Sleepers."
Summary: Inspired by resonant's comments: Whenever I'm exploring new characters, I always enjoy asking myself two things: Can they sing? and Can they cook? Five interlocking five-hundred-word ficlets about the Sanctuary team, cooking, and music.

( Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all. )

Okay, honestly: could the NYT have used the word "Canadian" as a qualifier any more in this article on Paul Gross's run on Broadway? (I am SO SAD I can't go to see that. SO GODDAMN SAD.) I just think - are there any other Canadian stars whose nationality is so constantly emphasized in their publicity? He is a Canadian star who makes Canadian movies and was in Canadian tv shows and travels with his Canadian wife! I wish I could have appended this to my postdoc application.

As an aside, I recetly had the opportunity to tell a couple of my British friends the truth about Kiefer Sutherland - that Jack Bauer is actually played by a Canadian left-winger - and it turns out that it is really goddamn hilarious to watch someone's face when they learn that fact. :P

In my copious spare time (ha), I have been watching moar Sanctuary. It is a fantastic brain-break (and I finally find myself back to thinking about my thesis in unguarded moments, rather than whne Iforce myself to, which tells me that the non-spy-tv watching has been really good for me), but mostly I find myself more and more impressed by Helen Magnus as a character. I mean, how many other shows - sci-fi or not - are helmed by a forty-something actress? Whose character is allowed to be both an object of desire and actively sexual herself without narrative condemnation? She is a mother, she is bisexual, she is feminine, she is good with a gun, she flies choppers, she is a scientist and a medical doctor... I am totally impressed. She does the rescuing of the guys in the story! I love it. I suppose maybe her flaw might be that she is too good to be true. I'm sure she does have some issues - poor judgement in a few cases - but mostly she is just incredibly badass. I am okay with her being nigh-flawless - it makes a change from some of the other gender stereotypes we get too much of.

Also, she wears a lot of really fabulous power suits and clingy dresses and heels. And yet manages to kick immense amounts of ass while doing so, AND her outfits generally display wear and tear in ways that are perfectly realistic rather than simply designed to expose strategic amounts of skin. Best of both worlds! :D

I only wish there was more good fic. Or that I had time to write some myself (or that sophia_gratia had time to write some for me *g*).

It is also so much fun to have a Canadian show to watch again! I missed playing spot-the-actor and spot-the-accent! Yay for things that film in Canada, seriously. They make me happy. :D