Because we like our lads...

[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*

Comments

[freetraveller15.livejournal.com]

Well, for example I didn't enjoy Sebastian's stories. I don't remember if I've read them all that are online, but the ones I read didn't do much for me.
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 :)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sebastian's fics and Larton are all stories that most people seem to either love or not like at all. I think Larton definitely relies on a kind of familiarity and affection for the setting the lads are in, and I suspect there are lots of almost in-jokes there too (not all of which I think I've 'got', either! *g*). I adore it though - I love the cosy "vanilla-ness" of it. Sometimes vanilla is just what I want. *g*

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*