Because we like our lads...
Tuesday, 14 March 2017 07:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
byslantedlight...and I miss this in my flist (still, again *g*).
So - right now, right this moment, what's your favourite Pros ep, and when did you last watch it, and what's your favourite Pros fic? *g*
So - right now, right this moment, what's your favourite Pros ep, and when did you last watch it, and what's your favourite Pros fic? *g*
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Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 03:25 pm (UTC)And that also applies to choosing a favourite fanfic. Though I've only read few Pros fics compared to most of you in the fandom (and strictly those available online, as I don't have any zines), and not systematically. I have no objections to gen, as opposed to slash, as long as the fic is well written and I recognise the characters. I never thought of myself has having a short attention span, but somehow I tend to stay away from fics that are longer than 10k words, and where it seems to take forever for the plot or characterization to develop. Reading comments or reviews here and there by other Pros fans, it seems a lot of the fics that are nearly universally liked do not do much for me (I abandoned a few of those).
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Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 04:02 pm (UTC)I'm eternally glad that there's room for different tastes, and that we all mostly share the overall enthusiasm even when we don't share the same preferences *g*
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 10:18 pm (UTC)Ooo - that's really interesting - I struggle with first person narration. I much prefer third or omniscient. Most of the fic I write is omniscient or a variant of third.
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Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 08:57 pm (UTC)With
When I started reading fic, I wasn't very well. So I used to filter AO3 by word count and just read the 1,500 to 3000 word ones.
There's plenty out there - not everything has to be a saga (although, do try some of the BB fic, if you can). Also, I only have three Pros zines to my name. I intend to pick up more if I can, but a lot of the fic is online now - and of the stuff that isn't, some's on the *PosLib mailing list.
(*NB - There's a link in the box on the right.)
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 02:32 pm (UTC)As I was saying to
I prefer to use AO3 as a reading archive too, for its flexibility and possibility to filter by various criteria (genre, story length etc).
I tend to get frustrated, though, by those very long stories that are posted to AO3 into one single entry (that is, not split into chapters). Apart from practical reasons (less chance the page crashes when it contains fewer words), I prefer to have a long, complex story to be divided into chapters, given my low tolerance for long stories anyway, especially at major scene/POV changes.
I find reviews/discussions of Pros fics very useful, but more after reading them, than as a guidance before attempting to read. Exactly because I'm aware what excites rave reviews in some readers may not be my cup of tea. I tend to prefer using AO3 filtering criteria to select stories to read, in general, but not always.
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 10:38 pm (UTC)Glad you found Yahoo :0)
AO3 in their 'top tips' recommend against posting long fic without chapters. I started out on FanFiction.net and not posting in chapters there is just a recipe for pain, so I guess I got into good habits early.
And, if you do post in chapters, AO3 enables the reader to read/download them as one fic anyway. So by not posting in chapters all you're doing is restricting the choice of those who prefer not to read or download that way.
There are only three things that would improve AO3 for me, a) being able to post artwork (and maybe vids) directly to the site; b) a PM facility and c) being able to memorialise the accounts of writers and artists who are no longer with us. Other than that, it's just about perfect :0)
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 03:01 pm (UTC)As I was saying to
I prefer to use AO3 as a reading archive too, for its flexibility and possibility to filter by various criteria (genre, story length etc).
I tend to get frustrated, though, by those very long stories that are posted to AO3 into one single entry (that is, not split into chapters). Apart from practical reasons (less chance the page crashes when it contains fewer words), I prefer to have a long, complex story to be divided into chapters, given my low tolerance for long stories anyway, especially at major scene/POV changes.
I find reviews/discussions of Pros fics very useful, but more after reading them, than as a guidance before attempting to read. Exactly because I'm aware what excites rave reviews in some readers may not be my cup of tea. I tend to prefer using AO3 filtering criteria to select stories to read, in general, but not always.
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Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 09:35 pm (UTC)People have been saying for donkey's years (i.e. as long as I've been in Pros fandom, and for years before that according to the various archives *g*) that they don't like the "popular" fics, or the ones that "everyone" likes. It just reminds me that we all have different tastes, and there is no real "everyone" as far as Pros fic goes! One woman's excellent writing is another woman's poor characterisation is another woman's slow plot is another woman's exquisite slash! *g* And it depends on so much - mother tongue, and background culture, and familiarity with geography, just to name a few! So I really wouldn't worry about that - I suspect there are still lots of people out there who'd agree with you about enjoyable fic! (I'd still like to hear which ones you like, though, cos I'm eternally nosy - and which ones you didn't, come to that! *g*)
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 04:01 pm (UTC)I've also given Larton a try these past two weeks but didn't like it at all. Despite getting bored straight away, I persisted and read on; but no, not my type of story at all. Not because it's AU (I've read plenty of AUs that I enjoyed). I think the main reasons, in Larton's case, are that it depicts a setting that I don't find interesting or compelling; the OCs are not interesting to me; the narrating style and pace are too 'vanilla' and sedate to me. Perhaps if I had lived in a setting like that myself I could have found the story more interesting. I don't know.
I tend to prefer stories narrated with a certain pace, with lots of banter, with very few or any OCs at all (unless it's AU). If one or two sex scenes are there too, I wouldn't complain LOL: but only if they advance the plot or deepen the characterisation, therefore are not gratuitous 'fillers'.
Some time ago I read Exile, by PR Zed, in an attempt to go against my nature (!) and try long fic, and I did like it very much, despite the excruciating cruelty of certain things Bodie does. But it didn't detract from the high quality of the writing. And because the story is neatly divided into chapters and nicely paced, I felt very invested in it and the characters' progress, so it became a page turner for me.
Among my favourite writers so far that I have found consistently good, besides PR Zed, also Melanie Athene, Angelfish, Josey ("empty mirrors"), Merentha13, moth2fic, O Yardley, Alexandra and various others by whom I have, though, not yet read a decently sized sample of stories yet. I also like your fics, too, and it amazes me how quickly you find inspiration based on a prompt and just start writing...! I know that the lads are very, ahem, inspirational, but sometimes even the best writers suffer from writer's block or agonise over a short passage for a long time... LOL
As for favourite episodes, as I said originally, it's difficult for me to identify one or more eps that are virtually 'perfect', or that at least seem to tick most of the boxes!... I know I shouldn't demand too much of 1970's television, where producers and screenwriters didn't have the luxury of being able to have multiple script reads or rewrites, nor the narrative constraints of having to have an overarching storyline running parallel to the "caper-of-the-week" one. I so wish Pros eps had an overarching storyline! But, having said that, I tend to favour episodes where the case of the week is not overly complicated that you need multiple viewings to make sense of it (I prefer that repeated viewings highlight nuances in characterisation, than being necessary to make sense of the plot because the scriptwriter didn't bother make things clear the first time LOL or because poor script editing meant cutting scenes that would have helped understand the plot) and where the lads and Cowley are speaking the same language (and not working against each other, or away from one another) and therefore work mostly seamlessly like a well-oiled operation. Or if they hit a stumbling block, their relationship comes out at the end as strengthened and closer. I also tend to stay away from eps that lack humour and banter. Sometimes humour is what IMO saves an ep from being too bleak, and makes me almost forget the bleakness of certain scenarios, including set decoration and hideous wallpaper! A well placed humorous line (especially if unscripted!) or light-hearted scene can actually lift an episode that might have seemed mediocre otherwise. Same goes for a guest character that nearly upstages the lads (see Marge in Backtrack).
So among my favourites, I tend to include Hunter/Hunted, First Night, Slush Fund, A Stirring of Dust, Acorn Syndrome, Ojuka...
Mixed Doubles seems to be nearly universally liked, but though I recognise its merits (good, solid story, interesting and thought-provoking questions it poses), it doesn't 'excite' me or entertain me too much except maybe for the lads' pillow talk scene, so I'd certainly give it high marks but would not be on my frequent-rewatch list :)
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Date: Monday, 20 March 2017 10:26 pm (UTC)Your example of Exile is interesting too - it's been a while since I read it, and PRZed is a solid writer (though she can slip in Americanisms that throw me), but I was completely thrown that she used Noel and Liam Gallagher from the hugely famous and popular band Oasis for her Irish villains. The artwork in the zine where I first saw the story was just absolutely them, with no doubt - Lorraine Brevig must have used them as the models for her pictures - and it just meant that I couldn't quite take the story seriously any more. I seem to remember feeling as if it was very much a Bodie story too, with some Doyle, and the two of them almost entirely separate, which doesn't usually work for me either...
I tend to prefer stories narrated with a certain pace, with lots of banter
Pace is definitely important (though if the writing's good, I can like a slower pace too!) "Banter" I'm a bit more wary of - it's got a certain modern meaning that doesn't really fit our lads. They do joke around together, obviously, but they don't really "do banter" in the same way that Life on Mars "did banter", and I think there are some Pros fics that go a bit too far in that direction... but then I don't want them to be deadly serious in stories either, because they're not in the eps!
Nice list of favourite eps too - it's always interesting to hear what other people like, thanks! *g*