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ugh i also have a new layout but i don't remember how to have a sidebar, dammit.

Today was that day -- the first true show of spring, when all anyone can seem to talk or think about is how nice it is outside, with an awkward reverence that comes from knowing more ice is just as possible as a string of these days. Somehow we have grass now! That does not even seem possible, and yet. And yet! My French lit class is on the third floor and it has this magnificent view of the flatirons, which is so nice in winter, because you watch the flurries pass the mountain backdrop and thank everything you don't have to go back out there for another thirty minutes. But today we were much too close to the sunshine not to feel jealous of it, and good lord was it every difficult to tear our minds from the windows, back to Flaubert and his métaphores figées.

There was this weird attitude in the FMM comments about Brennan, this idea that she is somehow "less" of a character and Bones is somehow "less" of a show now than it was in seasons one and two. This is not the first time I have seen this said, and I have to say it completely and totally mystifies me. I get that Bones has since season three has devolved into a certain kind of silliness that is only going to appeal to certain people, what I cannot wrap my head around is this idea that Bones was some magnificent show back when it was not this ridiculous. Most of season one of Bones feels to me like the blandest, most mediocre procedural possible, peppered with these incredibly awkward, trying-too-hard character moments that are endearing only if you are looking back on them with season three/four/five eyes. Not completely-- there are a handful of standout moments and a couple of standout episodes, but even the memorable parts are the ones that are more in keeping with the tone of the later seasons. Season two is harder to comment on because I've only watched it the once, the first time, two years ago during the strike, but I will tell you that pretty much what I remember is a) Aliens in a Spaceship (good television), b) the one where they go to Vegas and go undercover as an engaged couple (delightful silly television), c) some stuff with what I think of as Bones' mytharc, which is not actually a mytharc at all I guess but just the ongoing story with Bones' parents, which I actually always liked, and d) the second half of the season was really boring and I just wanted it to end. ANYWAY, outside of the "Aliens in a Spaceship" argument... where the hell are these people coming from? SERIOUSLY I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL, WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER PASSIONATELY MISS SEASON ONE/TWO OF BONES? Where is the greatness? The realism? THERE WAS A HOLOGRAPHIC COMPUTER. Ugh I realize I am being derisive but it genuinely eludes me, it really seems like after two seasons they realized their best moments were the moments when they were taking a page out of the books of ff.net authors everywhere, and then let that formulate how they would continue with the show. I can't even dig into the Brennan idea, I can't tell if it stems from the perception that her social obliviousness got better and that got worse again (which I can't comment on, I guess I haven't paid enough attention) or the idea that she's less ~ass-kicking~, because to be honest I am so okay with that being a backburner part of her character, that moment in the pilot where she kung fus out airport security is so awkwardly written and conceived I sometimes wonder how any of us ended up as fans of this show.

This dress in red was Annie Edison (of Community)'s valentine's day dress, and then two weeks ago Kristin Kreuk wore it on Chuck. I've had it since December in blue and I wear it so much, finally decided the universe was telling me (via television, naturally) to get it in red too. I'M HOLDING IT IN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW, best decision ever.

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Hahaha, I enjoy your diagnosis of Bones, even though I've only ever seen one whole episode (the one that Duchovny directed) and parts of others. Then in FMM I was like, wait... do people really take this seriously? Is Brennan a developing character? I'm glad to see it may have just been some fan over-enthusiasm.

Still pissed she lasted longer than Scully.

SCULLY!!!!!!

It actually felt really bizarre to vote for Brennan in the final four-- she was the only character left from a show I'd watched, but the fact that lasted longer than Scully just felt uncomfortable. I do like the Bones, and I don't want to say that the characters lack depth completely because they don't, but... maybe it's me, but a lot of things feel shallow when you stand them up next to Scully (and Mulder).

Okay, people need to chillax about Bones. Its Bones. The show is way sillier than it use to be, but I got to essentially agree with you. I like S2 a lot, really, but it's not exactly something to be glorified and wax nostalgically over. Brennan and Booth are way more developed characters now, less like the caricature extremes that they were early on, and it's way more interesting to watch it play out on that level now. Brennan has never really been a badass to me. For a while I thought she was, but false. I mean, at least when compared to real female badasses. The woman has trouble aiming and firing a gun. No, no, not an ass kicking bamf. ITA about that moment in the pilot. But that's FINE, she's better this way. At least to me. But I tend to measure my enjoyment of Bones based solely off of B&B because I really could give a shit about the procedural aspect, and as far as that goes there has been much better stuff in the past few years. But yes, this is just a long way of saying MTE. Because MTE indeed.

Oh girl, I am probably wrong about season 2 being boring-- like I said, it's been awhile. To be honest I always expected to go back to season 1 and 2 and enjoy them more the second time around, having come around on the characters (it took me a ridiculously long time to really get into it, I think I was on the second-to-last episode of season 1 before I even went "heyyyyyy, I could be into this!"), but when I rewatched season 1 in October and still found it pretty lame, I was too lazy to continue on to season 2.

Anyway ugh, yes, I am so glad they didn't continue along the ~badass~ line for her characterization, because it was so out of place-- it's a lot more interesting to see her decide to come out of the lab because she enjoys investigating than it is to see her come out because she wants to hold a gun. But sometimes it really seems like people think she is less of a character because doesn't break out the action moves these days? Idk, I have always been kind of uncomfortable with the amount of emphasis fandom places on whether or not female characters could physically best you in a fight.

I have always been kind of uncomfortable with the amount of emphasis fandom places on whether or not female characters could physically best you in a fight.

This is super interesting, and I don't really get that emphasis, either. I mean, I get loving bamf females. It all comes down to an aspect of feminism that I think focuses too much of it's energy on physical strength and power, but that's my own issue. I love badass female characters, people like Scully or Juliet from Lost, but with those ladies they became that hardcore and ass kicking because their circumstances dictated that they become that in order to survive. Brennan doesn't need to carry a gun or punch people or manipulate them or beat them up. That's what Booth does, and him filling that role doesn't make her a weak female or something. Her life just doesn't require these skills as necessity. Her growing emotionally, becoming a more well rounded individual, becoming more comfortable with herself, her family, her relationships, those all make her a way better character, and in no way "less" or "not cool." But that's just me, I'm not as emotionally attached to Bones as others.

I am impulse buying that dress because I just worked two weeks straight and am getting a huge paycheck down the line, woot, woot. In blue, cause they don't have my size in red. Sadface.

Edited 2010-03-13 00:50 (UTC)

Yeah I was actually just talking about this with my friend

captaincatapult, but it's kind of like the concept "strong female character" almost has more to do with physical strength/HBIC... ness than it does with emotional strength of character or whether or not they are well-written? She actually threw out Juliet as an example of someone who does possess the latter two qualities but is almost valued more for being a HBIC, but then there are also the Kara Thraces and River Tams who are not really emotionally together, but still considered strong female characters because of their physical strength and/or masculine characteristics. But what can you say, fandom likes its' ~ladies with guns~. Although okay one of the many things I love about the way Scully is written is that the fact that she is a better shot than Mulder is never explicitly stated or made a big deal out of-- you just kind of infer it. Actually the only time they ever really make a big deal out of her asskicking is that fantasy scene in Kill Switch...

Hahaha SORRY, I think I contributed to them running out of red sizes. But to be honest I think I love the blue one at least as much, I seriously can't tell you how many times I've worn that dress since December.

I totally agree about Bones - yes it's got way campier and sillier in the last few seasons but if anything it's stopped being a mediocre procedural and started being a really good camp and ridiculous show!

Also I adore that dress and when I looked on the website I saw it was reduced to £30 and I was all excited and decided to buy it, only to get to the checkout bit and discover that with shipping etc it would be another £30, doubling the price and preventing me from having it as £60 is a little steep for a late night impulse buy that I haven't tried on but MY HEART IS BROKEN. And now it's going to become The Dress I Didn't Buy and my life will be endlessly full of situations where I think about how I could wear it IF ONLY I had bought it that fateful night... WOE IS ME.

I really do love it so much the way it is now, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY ANYONE WOULD WISH FOR A RETURN TO MEDIOCRITY.

Oh noooooooo, what do they have to ship it from the states? I thought they had opened one across the pond! Even that seems silly, I think it's like $10 for one of those "anything you can stuff in this" international shipping boxes? Maybe? Ugh it really is the greatest dress, but I can see how not being able to try it on beforehand would make that pricetag impossible.

They do have one here! So I don't understand why they would ship it from the states. I may pop into the store and see if they have any I can try on. Or I may crack and buy it with the money I honestly don't have!

I actually received the original blue one as a gift, and it fit me perfectly anyway-- it's kind of stretchy so I think it'd fit well/flatter most figures. UH, NOT THAT I AM TRYING TO ENCOURAGE IMPULSE BUYING, just for the record. You should definitely stop into the store though, they've got to have one hiding somewhere you can try.

HELLO, THAT DRESS. Would you say it runs small or large?

Also I think it's a trend of fannish behavior to start hating on shows after a couple seasons, because obviously shows need to change, and for a lot of people different = worse, since it's not the exact original format/characters/themes they loved. But it sucks because right now I still love a lot of shows I'm watching, and my f'list is full of people who used to like them hating on them.

It runs a little small, but that's kind of offset by the elastic that's sewn into the waist, it ends up kind of form-fitting on top but not in a constraining way? Does that even make sense? I would just get whatever your normal size is.

Ugh I have been in that position before, surprise: it sucks! But you're right, it really does come down to the fact that shows have to keep innovating to keep themselves going, and everyone's ideal is different, yadda yadda yadda. My own flist is so overwhelmingly in favor of what Bones is now that it's easy to forget that people outside of my bubble don't feel that way.

Ugh I have so much to fucking say about this (BECAUSE I LOVE BONES SO MUCH GOD *__________*) but my brain is so fucking frazzled right now from today I'm just sitting here staring at the screen making zombie noises because I can't make myself think thoughts. :(

IT IS ACTUALLY KIND OF THE GREATEST CONSTRUCTION TELEVISION HAS EVER GIVEN US, EVERY WEEK IT OUT-FANFICTIONS ITSELF AND LIFE IS A LITTLE BIT BETTER. I mean really, why would anyone not want that?

I know, right?? I mean, when I first read this post, my kneejerk reaction was "lol but it was better in the first couple seasons, because let's face it, fanfic-on-my-tv is not exactly quality telivision." Except the more I thought about it (IE, FOR A HANDFUL OF MINUTES AFTER THAT INITIAL HALF SECOND OF SCORN), the more I realized how right you are. I mean, the first couple seasons are nothing remarkable. At all. The only thing that differentiates them from every other quirky procedural ever is that... they weren't as good. But now...

I mean, it's gone from something that was watchable, but nothing all that special, to where I'm going "*_______* OH GOSH OH GOSH IT'S BONES O'CLOCK :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD" and "*____________* BEST SHOW EVER OH MY GOD" and just grinning like a complete doof for a couple hours after I watch it because it makes me so happy. Because, yeah, it's fanfic for TV. And there's a reason why fanfic is pretty much the same set of cliches/situations/etc. written over and over again.

I mean, it's still not good TV, because hey, fanfic tropes don't make good TV because they're so ridiculous. But if you're judging "good TV" by "how happy does this show make me" then it's great TV.

Right, if you're say, a TV critic in it for the Mad Mens, Bones has gone from low-mediocre to absolute terribleness-- downgrade! But if you're in it for the ~quality~, I guess what I don't understand is why you were even watching Bones in the first place. Fanfictioning it up was actually a really smart move on the part of the powers that be, because by making it more ridiculous, they actually gave it some degree of uniqueness in a field that is absolutely overflowing with moderately watchable procedurals.

BUT WHATEVER, I GUESS I DON'T WANT THOSE PEOPLE IN MY BONES FANDOM ANYWAY, the party poopers.

HONESTLY, I think you just read my brainwaves sometimes, or something. I actually just found out through FMM that people actually felt that way about Bones--and I was so confused. I am not a good judger of what makes good television good (critically acclaimed, loved by people who are not critics but have good taste in television, loved by the public, etc.), so I will always love Bones forever and ever and ever for everything about it, so long as the characters are present. But after I read several comments in the vein of Bones going downhill and Brennan not being a great character and all else, I was completely mystified! I left a comment asking a person who seemed particularly impassioned about the topic, but s/he never got back to me, so I am... still perplexed. Especially because outside of those two episodes you mentioned, as well as the Howard Epps ones (he really creeps me out), nothing comes up as particularly significant in the first two seasons.

But this, THIS: Most of season one of Bones feels to me like the blandest, most mediocre procedural possible, peppered with these incredibly awkward, trying-too-hard character moments that are endearing only if you are looking back on them with season three/four/five eyes--THAT IS SO TRUE. TNT goes through the show every couple of months and right now we're at, uh, I think the midpoint of Season 1, and that is SO TRUE. The only thing that I really, really, REALLY miss about Seasons 1 and 2 is Zach. But then--I adore the new interns, and I love how the cycling keeps it interesting. But it's my affection for Zach and the interactions between him and Hodgins and Angela (oh gosh, Hodgins and Angela in their happiest days!) and like you said, the season 3-5 eyes that allow me to love them even more. I mean, I only started watching last summer, watched much of it out of order, so--that could be the reason why I can't see this erosion of quality, but... it's the characters that I love.

Which is why IT MAKES ME ANGRY THAT PEOPLE INSULTED BRENNAN. The general show, okay, whatever, but I love Brennan. I WISH SOMEONE COULD JUST EXPLAIN IT TO ME????

This was... a long ramble.

I LOVE THE DRESS! and clearly all those instances on television were signs!

Dude if she ever comes back and does reply to you, I want to hear about it! Because that is the thing! I want it explained to me! That opinion actually makes so little sense to me that I need someone to write it out. LIKE, REALLY, WHAT?

Once I ran across a Bones community that was about this, actually, and mostly they complained about how Aliens in the Spaceship was the greatest ever and Bones is so lame now and Hodgins doesn't get enough screentime. Or something. I think. It was mostly locked. And now I don't remember what it was called.

Anyway I agree re: Zack, that is the only thing about seasons 1 and 2 that makes me nostalgic. HE WAS SO DEAR. But honestly I am still amazed by the way they decided to replace him-- BY NOT ACTUALLY REPLACING HIM. I really think if they had thrown in one new intern we would've all hated that person on principle, but the rotating interns is like... ugh, such a brilliant feat of executive decision making.

In any case I have no idea how I did get into it by watching in order, because it really is pretty lame back in the beginning. AND PEOPLE ARE STUPID, I GUESS WE SHOULD MOVE ON? (But I want to knooooooow.)

http://www.livejournal.com/customize/
scroll all the waaaaay down, to 'choose a page setup' and choose one of the two column ones. Yeah, I forgot how to do it today too, oy.

oo, it looks like you go it, nvm, teehee

Haha I meant more theoretically-- I know how to get it there, but how do people fill sidebars up with STUFF?

HI. Oh forgive my stupidity. I assume you've typed in your blurb already and or set up your sidebar linklists and nothing shows up, right? Make sure the 'Show blurb in sidebar' and/or the 'Show the link list in the sidebar?' dropdown is on 'yes' in this (http://www.livejournal.com/customize/options.bml?group=sidebar) section.

please ignore me if you know this already, i hate telling people what they already know, honestly. :D

WHAT, there are people who think Bones has gotten less great who are simultaneously in fandom? Does not compute how these people exist. I mean, the show's biggest strength is that it has become less of a procedural and more of plain old ridiculous-good-times. HOW CAN YOU EVEN HOLD THAT OPINION?

COMPLETELY MYSTIFYING, ISN'T IT?

French literature class, would you recommend it? I would really love to do it in Uni.

Hahaha um, I am maybe not the person to ask, I am a French major so if I did not enjoy these things I would be nowhere, but I also think it depends a lot on the French department at your University-- mine is like a little pocket of magnificence and good professors and teeny classes at my mostly sciency school (which is okay since I am premed, but seriously a good 75% of the other liberal arts class I have taken here has made me want to die a little on the inside). But if you can find a good class it can be magnificent!

We have already discussed this but god, I judge those people hating on the later seasons so much, if I read one more comment about how the show is a shadow of how it used to be I will punch something. The early seasons are so forgettable, and everytime I think about that airport scene in the pilot I die a little bit (WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????) But yeah, to me it's like season one = The Man in the Fallout Shelter, season two = Aliens in a Spaceship and then the show starts on a journey of infinite delightfulness.

Also I love that time of year. Unfortunately we are at the stage here where we know summer is officially over, and we're just waiting for these endless days of blue skies to end. (Apparantly it hasn't rained here in like 4 months or something insane?) But I hate winter, so I am really upset about this, even though our winter's are mild compared to pretty much anywhere else in the world.

it's like season one = The Man in the Fallout Shelter, season two = Aliens in a Spaceship
HAHAHA OMG THAT IS PERFECT, yes that's exactly how it is.

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ugh i also have a new layout but i don't remember how to have a sidebar, dammit.

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