Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 298

Gallifreyan Geek Out

Loren Sherman has a Gallifreyan translator you can download on this site.

So this . . .

. . . is “Nothng but good times ahead” in Gallifreyan. It makes me unreasonably happy to see what looks like a puppy face in there, too.

Take the Kids To Work Day: Superhero Version

Andry “Shango” Rajoelina did a whole series of these on his blog. My fave? Wonder Woman, of course, and not just because of that fab golden jump rope.

Found through io9.

Next Who Sunday: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways: Russell T. Davies

The Who finales are always epic, but this one remains my favorite. It’s legitimately hide-behind-the-couch scary, equally funny, puts Our Guy and Our Girl front and center and throws a nightmare of Big Bads at them, and the pay-off at the end is searing and satisfying and right, tragic and true. We’ve talked a lot about endings in the McDaniel class, but the big takeaway is that if the end doesn’t work, the rest of the novel/story/episode/series is toast. It’s what everything that has come before has been building up to. It’s the Big Finish, the Payoff, the Climax in every sense of the word. Davies very carefully built the whole season to culminate in this two-parter, layering the Doctor-Rose relationship so that it could only end in this way, building all the characters so that their actions here are the sum of everything that has gone before. Davies does what Joss Whedon always did, he ENDS the season, he doesn’t shill out his narrative with a tacky cliffhanger because he knows if he delivers at the climax, his audience will be back. Cliffhangers fall into the same category as prologues and epilogues; they’re weak writing, a sign of a writer who doesn’t trust his or her audience. One of the great things about this two-parter is that while it’s both an ending and a beginning, it makes the season complete, a unified whole, a great filmed novel. So let’s talk about endings this week, along with everything else.

Fun fact: There’s a “Bad Wolf” mention in every episode of Season One (and several after that in later series) although some are so hidden they’re hard to find.

Who Sunday: Boomtown: Russell T. Davies

“Boomtown” is a reward moment for faithful viewers, bringing back people we know in a character-driven script. It doesn’t have the emotional impact of “The Doctor Dances” or the big explosions of “WW3,” it just pits a lot of people who know each other and who have been through a lot together against a smart enemy they’ve fought before, and then fights that fight all over again, this time with trickery and finesse instead of blowing up 10 Downing Street. There’s a great deal of pleasure in watching characters we love do what they do beautifully, and the episode, sandwiched between two epic two-parters, is that small, quiet moment before the Big Finish, a chance for viewers to rest before going to war in “Bad Wolf.” There are more very very close shots of characters in this show than in any other in the series; the camera practically goes up their noses. It’s not one of the Great Who Episodes, but it’s a wonderful example of that (comparatively) still moment in any narrative before everything goes all pear-shaped.

Cherry Saturday: 5-18-2013

Today is National Sea Monkey Day. No, I am not making that up.

I am bummed that I missed Lumpy Rug Day (the 3rd), No Socks Day (the 8th, followed by Lost Sock Memorial Day on the 9th), and Dance Like a Chicken Day (the 14th). Must pay closer attention to holidays.

What are you celebrating this week?

Charlie Jane Ander on Moffat’s Who

Charlie Jane Ander’s take on the problems with Moffat’s Who on io9. Her observation that Moffat likes writing the cleverest guy in the room (see Sherlock)is dead on, I think, but there’s so much more, especially the problem with making your protagonist the center of the universe. The protagonist has to be the center of his or her universe, has to think the story is about her or him, but if everybody in that universe agrees, you’re undercutting the character’s vulnerability. If your hero can yell at alien warships to tell them who he is and then watch them flee in fear, how worried can we be? More than that, how much can we understand him? I don’t think a protagonist has to be like us–normal–in order for us to attach, but I think that vulnerability is absolutely key. And Moffat’s Who isn’t vulnerable, which is odd because I think the actor can play vulnerability beautifully and is trying to, the scripts are just kneecapping him.

Also on io9: a summary of the different flavors of Who through 32 seasons.

Next Who Sunday: Boomtown: Russell T. Davies

I was going to skip “Boomtown,” another Russell T Davies episode (when did the man sleep?), but I think it’s interesting because it’s a comparatively low key story that comes between two huge, high impact double episodes, so it acts as a valley, a small quiet story that relies on character, particularly drawing on what viewers already know of all the characters. It’s a good look at how to pace a novel or, in this case, a series, without undercutting the tension. And for a Who, it’s very talky; the ratio of explosion and panic to discussion is reversed.

Fun fact I just discovered: Captain Jack was written with Barrowman in mind, which helps explain that perfect fusion of character and actor.

Who Sunday: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Steven Moffat

“I’m looking for a blonde in a Union Jack. A specific one, mind you, I didn’t just wake up this morning with a craving.”

Russell T. Davies brings us The Blitz, people turning into monsters, Rose stranded on Big Ben, and Captain Jack. Not to mention the creepiest repeated line in Who history: “Are you my mummy?” I talked about motif and metaphor in this story in the lecture I gave the McDaniel students, but there’s so much more. This double-episode makes just about every Best of Who list out there: creepy, heart-breaking, funny, and romantic. Plus, Captain Jack. I wish I could write like this.

Cherry Saturday 5-11-2013

I typed “Cheery Saturday” and then thought, “Well, that’s good, too. Cherry Saturday’s make me cheery.”

What’s cheery or not in your Cherry world?

Next Who Sunday: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Steven Moffat

We’re skipping three episodes this time, “Dalek,” “The Long Game,” and “Father’s Day,” (I know, I know, but there are seven seasons to skim through, so we’re going to be skipping some good stuff), but we can’t skip “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.” If you forced me to pick the best Who story it would be this one, a blend of horror and comedy, heartbreak and jubilation, Who at its best. You’ll never hear the word “Mummy” again without shivering, so one thing to look at is the way Davies never undercuts the horror with the comedy but balances the two to create just the right amount of tension. Also metaphor: there’s a lotta talk about dancing going on here.