Tales of the City

So, I'm loving this show to pieces, I've been rambling about how good it is on my main blog for months now (not very eloquently, but still). It's the best show I've seen in years and I can hardly believe it's on a network, much less it's on CBS (as much as I love CBS shows, it seems just way too smart and, should I say, daring for them). The character development is done brilliantly. They don't preach on problematic issues (which they're totally not afraid to touch upon) and still somehow manage to get their point across. It's pure joy to watch every week, the reason Wednesday is always a good day (well, technically it airs on Tuesdays, but it's actually Wednesday this side of the ocean when it's on and when I can watch).

But well, I'm a fangirl. And as well as loving it for the smarts, I'm loving it for the shipps, which is, actually, the point here. Because, with all these recent developments, I'm once again wondering, just what way I'd like the show to go.

My ship of the show is, of course, Alicia/Kalinda, but I don't see how it may actually play out on screen, and not because they wouldn't dare to add a major queer subplot for their main character, like with the most other shows, no, I can see them doing this. There's still an opening for Kalinda having a crush on Alicia to be written in. But I just can't see Alicia reciprocating, not in that way. Which leaves us with the two men in Alicia's life.

Tbh, I'm on Will's side in this rivalry... mostly. Strangely, I can't say that I don't trust Peter, but I don't really like him. And it's not really his infidelity that bugs me, it's bad but it happens, and people work these things out one way or another. No, it's not that, it's the scandal and the public humiliation for his wife that I can't get over. I know it must be some kind of personal trigger because I'm a very private person and I hate to have any part of my personal life in public, especially if it's that hurtful. In any case, that's what makes Peter's come-back to the family this much harder for me to accept.

On the other hand, there's Will, and my feelings regarding him are just the opposite: I like him, but I don't trust him. He's got all these smiles and genuine expressions, but he's a lawyer and a good one at that, which means looking friendly and genuine is basically his job requirement. I can believe that he was a really decent guy once and somewhere deep inside he still is, probably, but I also sense a lot of cynicism in him and I believe what Stern told Alicia about Will in the beginning of the 1st season, that Will won't hesitate to stab her in the back if the need comes. Will may seem to be a good guy, but he's really not, not that good at least.

All of which doesn't stop me from reading Alicia/Will fics and enjoying them, of course, but fics are one matter and the show is a completely different one. And after watching yesterdays episode where both of my ships got yet another blow and complaining about it, I thought... well, okay, so how do I want it to turn out on the show? I gave it some thought while watching season 1, when the issue had come up for the first time but it was different then, less complicated. And the funny thing is I realized I don't really want the show to go with Alicia/Will. It just wouldn't feel right. She did take Peter back, not so much in word as in action, and even if I can't say I like it, I'd like it even less if she just turned around for Will's sake. (And actually when I say I don't like Alicia taking Peter back, I mean it personally, on the trivial, "in real life", level; on a watcher's, "character representation and development" level, I really like it a lot).

I wonder how this latest twist with Kalinda and Peter having a one-night stand would play out. I'm almost sure it'll blow up in everyone's faces somewhere between now and season finale. The thing I want to know most about it is how it's going to affect Alicia's relationship with Kalinda. I don't give that much shit about Peter. And the more I think about the way I'd like Alicia's marriage storyline to go, the more I come to realize I'd like her to leave them both, Peter and Will. She doesn't have to go from one man to another, that's what so great about this show - she's in no way defined by men in her life or even by having one in it. The next best thing would probably be her staying with Peter and making the marriage work despite all odds. Her ending up with Will is the least favorite possibility of mine, at least from where I'm standing right now. And this brings us to the real point of this entry (I mean besides rambling at length about TGW), which is: what kind of shipper am I, anyway, if my pairing ending up together on the show is the worst case scenario for me? XD

P.S. I wonder if I should ramble here about my possible participation in Russian multifandom Big Bang that's being started, too. I definitely want to ramble about it and get some things off my chest and mind, but I feel like I need a discussion more than a monologue. And the matter being sensitive, I'm not sure @diary is the best place to have this discussion. Hmm.

I want to live in a world where people do good things for each other simply because they can, with no other reason needed.

Sometimes I even dare to believe that I actually do.

This is basically my first attempt at making icons, so please bear with me. )) I just couldn't resist the cuteness that is NCIS: LA as a whole and Sam & G in paricular.

Total count: 17 icons, mostly from 1x04 Search and Destroy, but a couple from promo pictures for earlier eps.

Preview:


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* No credit or comment is necessary (although deeply appereciated :))
* Modify at will
* Basically, just enjoy yourselves. :)

You know what is, like, one of the most frustrating things in the world? It's when you have a badly missed deadline, and you're all stressed out about it and you're trying your best to avoid the employer because you've all run out of the good excuses as well as all the bad ones - and then you're finally done and you send it in, like, at nine a.m. and four hours later you still don't get any reply! Not even some confirmation they've received the message and the file. I hate this. Not as much as they should hate me by now, but, well, you know. It's just another stress factor when all the stress is supposed to be over.

Um, by the way, I've been watching lots of  "Will & Grace" these days. I guess it's gonna be my next favorite sitcom after "Friends". I'll go on watching it right now even though the best thing to do would probably be go and get some sleep. Because, let's face it, one deadline's done but there are two more to go. Not as bad as the first one, but still.

And hey! I have to go get the tickets to Spb because I'm going to concert there this Sunday. Mylene Farmer, yay! I think I don't quite believe it yet. But this means at least three more days of not-working-at-all which is really bad. And just to finish off the concert subject... I do regret I missed the Pet Shop Boys last week. I mean could have at least tried and get the tickets. But I thought I didn't really want to go and now I do but it's too late. And if the vids on YouTube are anything to go by, it was a good show. Actually, I've been to their concert about 10 years ago when they were here last time and it was kind of nice... okay, I'm rambling.

So back to watching the sitcom, then getting a little sleep, then getting a little work and then getting some train tickets tomorrow. Sounds like a plan to me. ;)

I want to say a nasty thing here. I mean, I just want to say it but if I do it on my main Russian blog there are some people who most probably are going to get offended. Not that I care about it too much, but I don't have time or energy to argue about it nor do I want the slinet indifference between me and these people to turn into silent resentment. I feel uncomfortable enough about them reading me as it is.

Actually, this same thing caused my falling-out with Russian Supernatural fandom back in the early 2008 and became the beginning of a rather prolonged and painful end of our brief romance. We had a disagreement about a fic translation. Apparantly, fandom translators believe in "claiming" fics they want to do in the future. And after a fic is "claimed" no one else has a right to take it on because that  - apparantly - would be a breach of fandom ethics.

Well, what I believe is that she is right who does, not she who talks about doing. And being a great one to talk myself I fully realize the consequences. But my inability to make good on my plans is my problem and there's no reason anyone else should be bothered. Similary, I honestly don't see why it should be my problem that months ago someone else said she was going to translate a fic and failed to produce any kind of results ever since. To my mind this is ridiculous. It is ridiculous when fic stays "claimed" and untranslated for months or even years on end. Ridiculous and pathetic. And yes, that includes all of my unfinished projects by default.

And oh, believe me, I know how it hurts when someone else does what you've desperately wanted to do but haven't. But I also know that this is my fault and not that other person's. Generally I don't like laying blame at all but if we start to do it, I prefer for it to be layed at the right door.

And just to note: I quite consciously leave out the issue of translation requests and authors' permits. It's a different matter because it concerns the relationship between the author and the translator and not among translators themselves.

My head is spinning. :) I've never thought that handling a fannish community could feel so much like a full-time job. *gg*

Got a die-hard medal for Hotch's spot on FanPop. Am foolishly proud of it. :) Too bad I fell out of the loop somehow since I got home. My activity there is much more limited now and I somehow miss the long hours of choosing and uploading screencaps, sifting through the pictures and saving everything and anything that's caught my eye. Still cherishing the idea of writing an article about him for the spot. Have no idea when I might actually get around to doing that, though.

Have lots of work to do (and am not doing it), am thinking about doing more NCIS translations. I'd be sending out requests and pleas right about now if I haven't had that many WIPs on my  hands. I know it's irresponsible to take on anything else 'til I finish at least one of them. Still, the thought stays. The only thing that comforts me is that Russian NCIS slash fandom is so scarce (in fact I'd say it was virtually non-existent up until now) I won't have any competition for the stories I like. Come to think of it I'm not sure it's such a good thing even if I don't really like competition.

Two questions I'm starting to entertain concerning FanPop: first, are there any slash fans on it? and second, consequently, was Gibbs and DiNozzo spot meant as a friendship comm or as a slash comm? Not that it makes much difference anyway since I don't post there but I wonder.

The Kid left for Spb tonight and is coming back on Monday. The Mouse is sleeping now. Too bad I won't be here when the Kid gets home. I'd like to believe the Mouse would come around by the time she's back but I doubt that. This makes it sooo not a good idea to leave them alone with each other but I have to get to my place, pay the rent and such. I really hate these family falling-outs, mostly because I usually don't know how to deal with them.

Working on one of the weirdest jobs of the last two years. Okay, well, the aliens and time-traveling machines were weird, too, but they were crazy-weird. This is... just plain weird. But I sincerely wonder what on earth a Russian tourist would do with a guide-book on Tallinn written in the UK. It's certainly interesting from cultural, social and even political points of view but the practical purpose of publishing this book here eludes me. Half of it should be re-written and the other half will get out of date by the time the book is out. So why bother with translation and not commission an original one instead? Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice used to say.