six feet under, story rec, vid rec

[oiran]

It's all related.

Saw season premiere of Six Feet Under last night. What a depressing hour of television! How glad I am that it's back! I'm so impressed and horrified by Peter Krause's performance. Nate is becoming more and more unlikable, yet more sympathetic. I anticipated the end result of the cremation vs. burial issue, but I didn't think they'd go as far as they did, showing his disgust and horror and pain and love so vividly…and the little glimpses of her corpse were just enough to give me nightmares.

Claire's attempts at "breaking the eye," then David's repetition of the concepts in a new context, with Keith. David and Keith are the only remotely normal couple on the show, which is just sad.

Justin Theroux!!!! He's like a pretty serial killer! Did Rachel Griffiths gain about 50 lbs? It looks good on her, but it seems like she's a lot more there.

And, stream-of-muddled-conscience-y talk: I've always loved the ick factor on this show, being shown intimate horrors that we cannot recoil from because they're inherent to our flesh. Although gross things happen to men and men's bodies, it tends to focus on the women as a landscape of the grotesque: Claire's abortion, Lisa's stunted and mutilated corpse, Brenda's fluctuating boundaries, Ruth's middle-aged lusts. It's easy to interpret such representation as misogynistic, but instead I see it as a very apt extension of transformation, of transformative experience in general, which is certainly much more the bastion of female bodies than male. And, frankly, SFU tends to show the women already in possession of knowledge that the men struggle to articulate, so I'm rather inclined to see the cretinous flesh as a sort of odd compliment...

Breaking the eye. Seeing differently, which may or may not be seeing more clearly.

So, I cried and felt like a great weight was resting quietly on my chest. A great, depressing, heaviness. Depression that isn't something that my own chemistry inflicts on me is almost a pleasure. Different origins, differently emotions.

Yeah, I take this way too seriously. But I'm glad it's back.

~~~

ETA: Well, apparently you can't read it any more. But if you want to read about how much I liked resonant8's Exog, it's behind the cut. Sorry. See her post about taking it down here. I get to the story rec eventually: The best sci-fi uses the science to allow us to reevaluate something familiar in a new context, from a new perspective. I'm not so concerned with future technologies and how shiny-cool they'll be. I'm more interested in speculation as to how we'll deal with each other with the same monkey weaknesses we'll always be plagued with when we're presented with all the mod cons of the flying-car future.

Connie Willis is my favorite "sci-fi" writer for this reason. She writes what might be better termed speculative romance than sci-fi, despite the futuristic settings and her staple technology, time travel. Her short stories and novels aim for (and connect with) emotional marks, which is ever so much more satisfying than spaceship specs or laser canon action sequences. I'm always hoping to find another author who does this in a similar manner, as I have read everything Connie Willis has written and I need more.

I had never read anything resonant8 had written until last night, although I'd heard her (?) name here and there. Both runpunkrun and lenajill gave this story effusive praise, and now I will, too:

(link removed)

If Connie Willis were to write human/sentient non-human homoerotica, she'd be very fortunate if she could come up with something much like resonant8's tale. And now, despite the lack of shared fandoms, I think I need to go read some of resonant8's fanfiction.

~~~

vid rec: I have a hard time getting excited about most fanvids. While I can appreciate technical skills, clean edits and pretty effects, I'm more interested in story. There are also issues of musical taste--if I can't stand to listen to the song, the beauty of the visual work will probably be lost on me. That said, I am very pleased to repeat rec I saw on happyminion's journal for Euphony's Lex-centric vid to the NIN version of Hurt.

Links to Euphony's vid site
-or-
links on the TWoP forum, here, which are useful for those who, like me, can never get those streamload vid links to work.

Mostly S3 clips. No manufactured intensity or forced relationships in the arrangement of clips. Rather, the choices pare down the canonical events to pinpoints of painful regret. Every scene reflects resignation to emotional loss. It's pretty fucking harsh. It does make me think wistfully that Michael Rosenbaum should just accept that he's a fabulous dramatic actor and a not-exceptional comic actor and choose his roles accordingly. I mean, just look at this vid...

Comments

[logovo.livejournal.com]

Exog link - it no work - sad.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I changed my post after seeing this comment. It's frustrating to have gushed about something so wonderful and then find out people can't read it!

[rhiannon-jehane.livejournal.com]

She removed the story from the web so as not to damage her chances for publication. (By the way, she's written some excellent Sentinel and due South stories, too. I haven't read her Harry Potter stories, but I've heard that they're great, too)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up. I changed the post accordingly.

I'd love to see her expand Exog into a novel. Clearly, I need to get back in the habit of saving stories I like to my hard drive, as I'd love to be able to reread this without having to wait for publication.

[runpunkrun]

I love Connie Willis too. That woman can *write*.

My favorite Res fics are her post-war Harry Potter Transfigurations and her due South American Way, both of which are extremely readable even if you're not in the those fandoms, which I'm not.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

She's an author I recommend to people who claim to hate sci-fi/fantasy. I don't really care about converting them to the category--I just want them to read her ;)

That HP story seems to be the story of choice for the HP-averse, so I suppose I should check it out. Even though I've never seen a single frame of dS, I was introduced to the fic about a year ago by mei_x on the basis of CKR being sexy, and I love what I've read. I may very well have read some of Resonant's stuff. I know I've read more than one dS author, but I can only ever remember Cesperanza's name...

[runpunkrun]

I, too, have never seen a single frame of dS, but I've read every dS fic Resonant and Cesperanza have every written. They both tell a good story. And I *finally* watched Hard Core Logo, so I have now seen CKR in sexy action.

[corinna-5.livejournal.com]

Try her "Transfigurations," which is one of the few HP fics ever to work for me.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

This seems to be the fic rec for the HP-averse generally, then here in these comments, so I suppose I should give it a try ;)

[philexos.livejournal.com]

I'm a recent convert to SFU (courtesy: Netflix. Damn them). I remember seeing the first couple of episodes but didn't continue; don't know why. I remember that Michael Hall annoyed the crap out of me, which is strange because I find him an intense woobie now, likely because his character had much more opportunity for evolution and he didn't disappoint.

I'm excited about S2 release in early July (I still don't have HBO), and I will be reading your spoilers for S4 if you continue to watch/post. I can't wait, I'm such a baby. Must find out if Brenda is back-back or just for the opening ep(s).

Also, downloaded Euphony's vid, and "hell, yes" to everything you said. It's a beautiful thing.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I am 100% unspoiled for 6FU (as I was for The Sopranos, and will be for The Wire)...so now I'm apprehensive that you know something about Brenda/Rachel Griffiths leaving. But if you do know something, don't tell me! I have a massive Brenda crush and always have.

I didn't like David at first, either. His extremely uptight closeted behavior really bothered me--he seemed very self-hating and rigid. Which he is, I guess, but he's got so much more dimension now. And I do think he and Keith are the only remotely normal people in that family ;)

As to whether I'll be watching and posting...I'm in it for the long haul. Watch this space for more incoherent spoilerish impressions throughout the season.

[tobyfan.livejournal.com]

Rachel had a baby fairly recently, which would explain the weight gain. Even knowing that, I was surprised.

As for that vid, I was trying to dl earlier today and I kept getting an error message. Must try again.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I e-mailed Euphony about that and she may have purchased more bandwidth by now...I also offered to temporarily host it for her if that doesn't work out. I really liked it ;)

I didn't realize RG had a baby, and that does explain a lot. And, again, I don't think she looks bad with the extra weight, but it was quite a surprise. She looks different in relation to the other actors, if you know what I mean.

[happyminion.livejournal.com]

Yay! So glad someone else saw the vid and realized the reason I did the massive pimpage from yesterday. I just don't get that worked up about most vids. I mean, I love them, because I'm a whore for the visual so when I see one I like I'll point the way. But there were things in this vid that were *gorgeously* done, without a bunch of fancy effects and without forcing the story, as you said, above. I also really loved that it showed the evolution Lex took in S3 and used the Hourglass clips, not as anvils, but as chilling reminders of what that turn *pointed* him towards.

Um, which is me gushing more about the vid. Anyway, yay! A rec! Woo hoo! I just hope people are sending her feedback, because I believe in encouraging the good ones.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, I gave my feedback in a roundabout way: I offered to host the vid (she was out of bandwidth last time I looked) and told her I'd recced it ;)

I'm so glad you recced this and gave some reasons...I really don't watch many vids unless I'm given a compelling argument, which you provided ;)

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

I'm glad *somebody* got a chance to follow my rec in that short window of opportunity. *g*

If you've read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies - or, really, even if you haven't - you might like Transfigurations. I'm not in the Harry Potter fandom but I adore that story. My opinion is much more biased in her other fandoms, since they're mine, too.

I went over to her site and tried to pick out one story to say "this is the definitive Resonant story that you should read" and discovered that that's pretty much impossible, but I will say that it's her longer pieces that jump out at me; Nuance (Sentinel), The Teeth of the Hydra (due South), and American Way (due South). And Broadway Hotel (due South) which isn't as long but I had to mention anyway. *g*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I have never seen due South (and damn Netflix with their filthy, broken DVDs doesn't have it available yet!) but I've been reading dS fic off and on since mei_x gave me links about a year ago. It's possible I've already read some of Resonant's stuff--I tend to think of dS as a sort of general Cesperanza zone, though I know I've read authors besides her (and liked them). Everyone is reccing the HP story, and I will probably give it a try, but I just don't get HP...

I would love to see Exog fleshed out into a full-length book. I just really loved it--the tone, the ideas, the characters. I'm disappointed that publication rights issues are going to keep all the people on LJ who are interested from reading it, but I do hope she can find someone interested in publishing it. I'll buy it ;)

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

Oh, good, you know Ces; dS is *totally* a Cesperanza zone (and I like that phrase). If you take a look at Ces' authors notes, however, you'll notice Resonant's name popping up. I started with Ces and then branched off to read what her *beta-readers* wrote, which Ces generally betaed in return.

I'm a total author-whore. ;)

As for HP, there are a total of three fantastically good stories that I've found - beyond that, I don't get it either.

I, too, would love to see Exog lengthened; I was just today wondering what Fin's first year on Chrt's homeworld would be like.

Yikes, gotta run!