So, it was written for the QAF gift exchange this year, so I cannot put it here for a week or so. But I can link to it. :) Here it is. I'm happy with it. Thanks to my beta, Aschicca. Although, well, I don't know how to link to her. If someone wants to tell me how, I'd love them forever. :)

Here's the fic:

http://qaf-giftxchnge.livejournal.com/113720.html

Sons of Anarchy last night. The season finale. Wow. If you don't want to know what happened, don't read on. I don't know how to do that cut thing. Anyway, I spent a good portion of my younger years hearing things such as "I'm going to stab you with a fork." Or there's the classic, "Put a fork in me, I'm done!" Well, that finale puts new meaning on any saying that involves a fork and a person together. It was probably the most violent and horrific murder ever shown on tv. I was horrified. It was horrifying. Seriously. I don't even watch #SOA on a regular basis. I picked it up these season because my roommate was a huge fan. So I've half watched most of season 5. I've asked a few questions about the backstory. I didn't really get into it until last night's finale. Well played, Sutter. Well played. Which brings me to the other part of my post: finales.

Finales. Season finales. Series finales. I hate them. Maybe that's why I've always been a soap fan. Soaps go on. And on. And on. Until you shift what you care about. Until you couldn't care less about any of it. Until you care again. It's still there when you can't watch for six months. Finales suck. Ends of good books. Ends of good TV shows, they suck too. Bad endings to good TV shows. ARGH. As in last night's SOA finale, they serve to bring you back next year. Or to rope in new viewers that are just tuning in. (Well played, Sutter). And in the end of a show, it should wrap up all of the arcs in a nice bow. Or maybe it should leave us in a place where we can imagine the rest without having to rewrite history.

The best series finales? I think Six Feet Under did a great job by showing us how the characters live out their days. Charmed did good, showing us the future a bit. Dawson's Creek was good, and I never watched the show. Friends was a good, albeit bittersweet, ending. Growing Pains was good. Actually, a lot of sitcoms have good endings. Maybe it's because they are less emotional in general. In dramas, we are more invested in characters I think. Of course, sitcoms always have those couples we root for, but we rarely have been to the brink with them. They never almost die during childbirth or lose the love of their life to their best friend. But I digress.

Season finales are meant to keep you coming back. To get you talking. I have so many questions. There are two kinds these days. There are winter finales now, which is a relatively new thing since shows aren't airing repeats a lot. Then there is the season finale. We have two types of shows now, too. We have the network season, which still gives us somewhere around 20-24 episodes (which is WAY down from days of yore, where you'd have 30+ new episodes per year). And then you have the ridiculous invent of cable seasons where you have as few as 8 episodes and usually not more than 13. I think Sharon Gless said it best about Queer as Folk. In the beginning, there were 20 some episodes. As the paychecks went up, they reduced the episode count. It's sad, but true.

The most infuriating thing about the limited number of episodes outweighs the benefit though. The cable TV series brought about an era of no reruns, which is good. We love it. Especially those who watch them religiously. OF course, it does probably limit the ability for new viewers to jump on the bandwagon. However, I guess with online viewing and per episode sells on itunes, etc, that reruns become a moot point. Anyway, the worst part is the waiting. You have a show that starts in September, as did SOA, and here we are in December. We had a good, solid 13 episode season. And now we are waiting NINE MONTHS for the next one to come out. With network Television, you have to wait maybe 4 months in the summer and 2 in the winter. Why not do that, cable TV? Why not?

Oh, SOA. How I will now be forced to watch your first 5 seasons on Netflix and mourn that you are gone until September. Oh, and kudos to Charlie Hunnam for that brilliant end scene. He deserves an emmy!

Ok, I don't know if you can add audio clips to this page or not. But there is a song I heard today by The Script called "I'm Yours" and it is Brian ALL THE WAY. I don't have the skills or the time. But a Brian POV vid to the song would be amazing. Find it on youtube and listen! I mean, there is even an art analogy in it! "You wrap your thoughts in works of art and they're hanging on the walls of my heart." Here are the lyrics:

I'm Yours:

You touch these tired eyes of mine
And map my face out line by line
And somehow growing old feels fine
I listen close for I'm not smart
You wrap your thoughts in works of art
And they're hanging on the walls of my heart

I may not have the softest touch
I may not say the words as such
And though I may not look like much
I'm yours
And though my edges may be rough
I never feel I'm quite enough
It may not seem like very much
But I'm yours

You healed these scars over time
Embraced my soul
You loved my mind
You're the only angel in my life
The day news came my best friend died
My knees went weak and you saw me cry
Say I'm still the soldier in your eyes

I may not have the softest touch
I may not say the words as such
And though I may not look like much
I'm yours
And though my edges may be rough
I never feel I'm quite enough
It may not seem like very much
But I'm yours

I may not have the softest touch
I may not say the words as such
I know I don't fit in that much
But I'm yours

Of course, a lot of songs make me think of whatever I'm shipping.

If anybody reading this or someone they know has the skills. . .it would be amazing! :) And I'd love you forever.

Originally posted by queerasfray at Guh.

Ok, so one of the biggest pet peeves I have about television (beyond the rating system, but that is an entirely different matter), is how shows are cancelled with loose ends. I hate that shows are cancelled and the network tells the show AFTER the final show has been filmed. So there is no chance to tie up loose ends, and in a lot of cases, there is the typical end of year cliffhanger that just HANGS there FOREVER. That leaves us fangirls running to fandoms trying to tie up loose ends through fanfiction. Some of my favorite shows of all time ended this way. Or they get the cancelled notice when it is really too late to change much and it is rushed. . .or whatever happens behind the scenes. There are many shows that I feel were like this. . .many that have gone on too long. . many that are never given the chance to grow. Here are some of the worst.. .

Veronica Mars. Ok, I admit. Season 3 was not as strong as the first two. But this show was genius. And obviously had enough fans because they ultimately put up over $5 million to finance a film about it to tie up the loose ends.

Gilmore Girls. Here, I think the end was rushed and the last season, they knew it was the last season and they went out in left field and it was crap.

Queer as Folk. Anything post season 3 was pretty bad. There were. . .well, moments in the final two seasons. But the end of that show. . . I hated it.

The L Word. Again, we knew this was the final season. This show didn't just end BADLY. It didn't even END. It left a murder mystery unsolved. WTF???? It was like a big F-U to my wasted years of watching the show in the first place.

There are a lot of shows like this in the history of me being a fan girl. Truly. I thought I had a lot in my head when I started and now I can't think of them all. Anyway, my point is . . .there ought to be rules that prohibit premature cancellation. . .that ensure that people are forced to tie up the cliffhangers. I mean, I never watched it (egads), but I hear Firefly is a huge example here. When are executives going to listen to us fans, and not numbers that, as referenced at the start of this rant, are given by an outdated rating system that no longer reflects modern viewing.

how about you. .. what shows do you think this applies to?

Well, that's not exactly true. I've had an account FOREVER because various friends have wanted me to read their entries, but I've never felt compelled to write one myself. I'm spending a lot of time reading fanfics from various fandoms around LJ now, and several people have told me that they see my empty journal and decline to add me. Anyway, I'm just not a writer. I'm a reader. And I am just trying to find a niche in this little corner of the interwebz. :) -K