Some Thoughts on J. K. Rowling’s “A Casual Vacancy”

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Disclaimer: I’ll go ahead and say going into this that I’m biased. I’ve been a Harry Potter fan for 12 years (God I’m old), and I have no doubt that this will likely affect my opinion of The Casual Vacancy. I wish that I could make this a completely neutral review, but alas, I’ll go ahead and say that reading TCV, at least in terms of general prose style, was like hearing a bedtime story from your mom. The story may be different, but the teller is the same, even if it is weird to see words like “penis” and “fuck” and know they came from the same woman who created the character of Luna Lovegood. It’s hard to hide J.K. behind the setting of a sleepy English town.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

I found The Casual Vacancy to be infinitely compelling. Even though realistic fiction is not a genre I usually partake of (except in my literature classes), I found myself taken in by the story of Pagford, and was loathe to put it down. I’m not sure if countless re-reads of the HP series has ingrained in me an appreciation for J.K.’s prose style, or the book is actually just that good. Also, it may have just been in my mind, but I’m pretty sure that the font in TCV is the same one used in the Scholastic versions of HP. Or at least something very similar.

I will admit right from the beginning that part of the joy of reading the novel, for me, is in realizing just how great of a person Rowling is. I think one of my favorite parts of the novel was a sentence where one of the characters, Samantha, is reminiscing about when she was young and thin. This is by no means an unusual sentiment in novels featuring middle-aged women, but right near the end, Rowling sticks in that Samantha’s thin ideal was a size 10. I’m sure I don’t have to explain why this is refreshing—even though there are some women who naturally have slim physiques, there is an overwhelming number of others who feel infinitely inadequate when confronted with a constant media barrage of skinny models. Rowling posits an alternative ideology, a reassurance—size 10 is normal. In fact, it goes even further; size 10 is not just normal, but desirable, ideal. This wasn’t a crucial moment in the plot, it wasn’t overtly didactic, but I found it a moment of beautiful humanness, a subtle, unsolicited message that will reach millions of readers. There were many moments in the novel that stood out like this to me—moments when, without trying, Rowling addresses typical insecurities with unflinching compassion. Can you like a book just for doing that? I did.

But the best part of the novel, by far, is the characters. In many ways, everyone in the novel seems to be more fully fleshed out than most characters in Harry Potter, but that might just be because you are privy to everyone’s internal thoughts. Each character is utterly convincing, to the point where you recognize them. You’ve met these people–they’re your mother-in-law, your brother, your neighbor (sometimes even yourself)—and I think the narrative is all the more rich for that. Rowling crafts an arc that culminates in disastrous events, but the reader isn’t left wondering why characters acted the way they did. Each personality is crafted so meticulously that I was completely convinced that things couldn’t have unfolded any other way. Characters also proved to be the only thing I particularly didn’t like about the book; some of the people were just not very pleasant. I guess it’s a good thing if the worst thing I can say about the novel is that I didn’t like some of the people who live in Pagford.

To finish up, I feel I must address a question I was curious about before reading The Casual Vacancy: just how adult is J.K.’s adult book? The answer: very. I guess I was expecting something “adult” in the way that, say, The Da Vinci Code is “adult”—a plot that involves grown ups doing normal(-ish) things and then something unusual happens to them. TCV, on the other hand, involves death, rape, mental illness, lawsuits, abuse (both physical and of drugs), self harm, social workers—the list goes on and on. And it seems that part of the point of the novel is that, in fact, nothing particularly unusual does happen—its impact lies in the fact that these dark things happen all the time, and are a part of everyone’s lives. Somehow it works though, and I found myself intrigued anyway, even though I could probably find similar problems just by scrolling through my inbox.

I also think (to my chagrin) that part of the compulsion of TCV lies in a human desire (or just my desire? I hope not…) for gossip. Pagford is a small community of people, and several of those people’s deepest secrets are bared completely for the reader. It’s vicarious revelation of all the secrets you’ve ever wanted to know about pretty much everyone you do know. I guess the catch here is that, by the last page of the book, you rather wish you hadn’t wanted to know those secrets in the first place.

And there you have it, a totally biased, starry-eyed review of The Casual Vacancy. Have any of you read it yet? Were you able to apply a more critical eye than I was? Are you totally disillusioned? Tell me all your thoughts! I am dying to talk about it and no one I know has finished reading it yet!

Skipping to Conclussions: The Lady Expendables

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by Ali

In geekdom, we see a lot of teasers. Sometimes it’s just an image or the name of a creator, other times it’s a trailer or a simple tag line. Whatever it is, it’s meant to get a reaction from you and start a discussion. Inspired by the anticipation and buzz caused by these teasers, we at Fantastic Fangirls present Skipping to Conclusions in which we speculate about the comics, movies, TV shows, or whatever we’re excited about but hasn’t come out yet.

A little over a month ago it was announced that an all-female version of the action franchise The Expendables was in the works. And there was much rejoicing!

Since then we’ve found out that Michelle Rodriguez doesn’t think she’s done enough action movies to star in the franchise (file under: WTF) and that both Gina Carano and Katee Sakoff have officially been added to the cast.

Also behind the project are, what sounds like, an enthusiastic producer and screen writer. This is sounding less like a pipedream and more like something that’s actually going to happen. Which means, I’m getting excited. And whenever I get excited, I like to speculate!!

SO! What we do know is that the production team behind the yet-to-be-named, all-woman action movie is not the same as the group that put out The Expendables movies.  So while I was hoping to see a flick in the same universe, that’s unlikely to happen. But I really love the older, rag-tag band of “heroes for hire” and I really, really hope they find a way to keep that part.

Fantasy casting is probably the most fun part of speculating. HuffPost Woman has a really great line up. The Expendables crew was 6 guys with a few cameos and bad guys. To keep things short I’ll list out my favorites for the rest of the team (since Sackoff and Carano are already in).

1. Sigourney Weaver 
Seriously, how do you do this movie without Sigourney Weaver?!

 

2. Linda Hamilton See above note.

 

3. Gina Torres Big. Damn. Hero.

 

4. Lucy Liu Elementary, my dear Watson.

How about you guys? What are your predictions for lady Expendables movie?

Fantastic Fangirls Podcast: 2.1: Who’s Afraid of Fake Geek Girls?

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The Fantastic Fangirls podcast returns, and Caroline, Anika, and Sigrid talk about whether girls fake their geekery (and whether they should) and get around to discussing some of our own histories of fakery. We also talk about things we’re looking forward to, on this site and elsewhere.

For one great perspective on the Idiot Nerd Girl Meme (pictured below):

. . . see this post by Jess of Active Voice. Other items mentioned in the podcast are Stumptown and Fistful of Rain by Greg Rucka, New York Comic-Con, and The Vampire Diaries.

Comments are open below, and feel free to share some of your own takes on faking it!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

(Mis)Adventures at MorrisonCon

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by Ali

This weekend I went to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada for MorrisonCon–a unique comic convention celebrating the work of comics rock star Grant Morrison. I was mostly there for fun, but I had the pleasure of doing a little bit of reporting for MTV Geek.

I’ve gone to at least a dozen comic conventions in spots all over the country. But MorrisonCon was a very different kind of con, and I was a little bit intimidating being there in a more professional capacity.

My personal goal for the show was to present myself like this:

I felt like this: 

But in actuality, I probably looked like this:

But that’s way more than enough about me. You’re here to learn about MorrisonCon.

SATURDAY

I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The show was always meant to be an intimate affair with easy access to the creators; but it was also an exclusive and closely curated show. It had a lot of potential to be pretentious. And I am so very, very happy to report that it was nothing at all like that (ok, maybe Morrison’s spoken-word performance was a bit on the self indulgent side). MorrisonCon was incredibly laid back and chill, which made it a lot of fun.

Saturday was my “panel day”. The panels were really awesome because the stage was set up like a talk show instead of traditional con panels. There were big cushy couches and people just kind of passed their microphones around. Basically, if Grant Morrison had late night talk show, this is what it would look like.

Speaking of G-Mo, late last week I found out that I would be interviewing Grant Morrison for MTV Geek about his long-awaited Multiversity project. This is pretty much what was running through the back of my head all day Saturday: AAAAAAAH!!! I’M INTERVIEWING GRANT FREAKING MORRISON!!! Several happy dances and a minor nervous freak out later, I think I handled myself pretty well in the interview. He’s, unsurprisingly, a super cool guy who just adores comics and superheroes.

Back to the panels! The conversations were loose and funny and interesting, and all over the place in the best way possible. The afternoon went from a lively and hilarious conversation about zombie movies with Robert Kirkman and Max Landis to a more quiet and heady conversation about science and religion in fiction with Jonathan Hickman and Jason Aaron. I mean, how awesome is that!

Grant Morrison on the couch with Chris Burnham and Frank Quitely
photo by Pat Loika

At one point, during the conversation about comics and movies, Max Landis totally fanboyed out about The Boys–he was having ALL OF THE OPINIONS. But it was kind of awesome and adorable to see someone on a panel get that worked up and passionate about something (btw, because I had to google him, Max Landis is the dude who did that hilarious Death and Return of Superman video. apparently he did that Chronicle kids-with-superpowers movie too.)

Anyway!

The only problem I had with the programming–and really the only problem I had with MorrisonCon on the whole–was it’s serious lack of women. All of the creators and special guests were men. Kirsten Baldock, one of the event organizers, moderated a couple panels but she was the only female presence on the stage. MorrisonCon could have been a fantastic opportunity for “panel parity”–i.e., having as many women on a panel as men. Like I said, I go to a lot of conventions so I know that this hardly ever comes close to happening. But for a show that was so different from everything else out there, it would have been really nice to see at least a couple female voices.

The day was incredibly awesome but a bit overwhelming. I must be getting a bit old and curmudgeonly because after grabbing dinner with a big group of friends, I pulled a Rory Gilmore and went to my room to read by myself for a bit (as opposed to mooning over Jess until Dean breaks up with me at the 24-hour dance marathon). But I made myself go down to the club for the afterparty since that was part of what this con was all about. There was dancing and expensive drinks and shenanigans, but after an hour I swapped out the raucous club for a quiet chat about comics with friends over bourbon.

@acomicbookgirl and me at a fancy party
photo by Pat Loika

SUNDAY

We got free breakfast Sunday!! No matter how old or curmudgeonly I get, I will always love free food.

Sunday was a pretty short day for me. My flight back home to New York was at 5pm so I passed on most of the panels. I spent the majority of the time lounging around the, er, Lounge area and checking out/plotting to steal all of the gorgeous art in the Salon. And I was able to sit down with Frank Quitely and a few other fans while he sketched the Flash for my friend Chris. You know, as you do. (squeeeeeeeeeee).

Easily the coolest part of Sunday was the Sketch Jam with Chris Burnham. If you’ve never seen one of these, they set up a projector so that everyone one can see what the artist is drawing as they’re doing it. I’ve seen them done at other cons before and they’re always really cool. Random sketch books (a.k.a. the amazing hard-cover programs for the con) were chosen from the audience and you got to ask for anything you wanted. My book was the last one to be chosen (again, squeeeee). But this being MorrisonCon and the morning after a late night for a lot of people, the sketch requests were a bit out there. For example, Wolverine doing coke off a hooker’s butt, new Batman villain Professor Pyg dancing (in a thong and heels), Judge Dredd on the toilet, Grant Morrison as Doctor Who, and Wonder Woman (fresh after killing someone, complete with blood and eyeball splatter). I very nearly asked for Princess Leia strangling Jabba the Hut because Burnham is stellar are drawing disgusting details, but I went with an old iFanboy running gag, Post-Coital Thor.

The post-con blues (or connui) hit as soon as I got into the taxi to the airport. MorrisonCon truly was an experience like no other. It was zany and fun and thought-provoking and just plain wonderful. I have no idea if they’re doing this next year, or even how they replicate this. But if they do, I am there in a heartbeat.

Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan

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This post contains spoilers.

Anika: We’re back to wrap up the short first half of DOCTOR WHO series six, specifically the episode The Angels Take Manhattan aka Farewell to the Ponds.

a still from Doctor Who; young Amelia Pond, waiting

So, the three basically filler episodes in between “Asylum of the Daleks” (which was SO GOOD, now having seen the rest of the half-series) had lulled me into the mistakenly safe idea that maybe, just maybe, the Ponds would leave on their own terms. That they’d make their own adult decision, as I wished for in our earlier roundtable, and stop traveling because they wanted to. But no, that was a false sense of security (to quote seemingly all of tumblr: Damn you, Moffat), and the Ponds were ripped away and lost to time. It made Amy even more like Rose (I feel like I am the only person in fandom who thinks they are similar but they are So Similar!) and it made for a heart-breaking half-series ending.

I cried.

Sam: Yeah, I went back and watched “The Eleventh Hour” today, as a way to heal the horrible wounds of sadness that were torn into my very being. Not to be… dramatic (too late!). It’s always sad when the Doctor’s companions leave, except Martha, because she deserved to go out the way she did. Poor Martha. I have to say that I’m kind of glad my favorite Old School companion (Ace!) never got an official send off, because I probably would have been wrecked.

Anyway, to the episode at hand: I had a vague idea, just from the fact that the Angels were the bad guys, how the Ponds would go. But the reality was so much more nuanced and heartbreaking than I had even thought possible. I basically cried from the moment Rory stepped up on that ledge to five minutes after the credits stopped rolling. I think it’s because, even though the last few episode had been filler, like Anika said, they did a good job of building up the emotionality of it. “You’re the first face this face saw,” has been in my head all day, and it makes my heart hurt. It’s so sad and so hard to say goodbye to people you love.

Jessica: I guess I’ll have to be the curmudgeon again, alas! I’m not sure if it’s resentment or just that my brain fires on a way different wavelength than Moffat’s, but I never cry when he wants me to. I will say that I think this episode was almost really great — it had a lot of fantastic elements. For one, even though I’ve never been a big fan of the Ponds, I did appreciate that their best feature — their love for each other — was prominently and sweetly displayed. But there were way too many plot holes for me to totally buy into it. I think that Moffat cared too much about exploiting the deep affection most fans have for the Ponds and not enough about actually writing a cohesive story. It probably doesn’t help that I loathe River Song and I have problems with the characterization of the Doctor in this episode. Still, overall I liked it! It was definitely the second best one of the season, after “Asylum of the Daleks”. It almost makes me wonder if “The Power of Three” was intentionally horrible, to make this one even better by comparison…

Sara: I agree with you, Jessica. There’s something about Moffat telling me how I should feel that turns me into a toddler, stomping my foot, yelling, “No!” This time around, I really did feel for the Doctor and the Ponds, but it was nowhere near the heartbreak I felt at Donna’s end (DONNNNNNNAAAAAAAAA). I did like the Ponds, but I never loved them, so this episode was emotionally okay for me.

The problem with this episode (which I will only go into a little, because I really did like this episode) was a recurring problem with Moffat’s writing in general. He’s SO OBSESSED with writing a story like a tangled web of misdirection and fake-outs because he’s banking on the big finish, the awesome reveal — kind of like a magician and his bag of tricks. It works well for some of his characters, Sherlock especially. It would work as well for the Doctor if he didn’t do it again and again! He’s messing around with time and space (ha, duh!) to tell this incredibly intricate tale, which, at the time, people might buy into. When you go back and think about it just a little harder, however, the plot holes are enormous! It’s off-putting and kind of insulting. I don’t want to be a kid marveling at the quarter that magically appeared out of my ear, I want to be taken seriously as an educated audience member.

Le sigh. Now, for the good things!

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THE ANGELS COULD NOT GET ANY CREEPIER, ONE FREAKING SMILES. I WAS TERRIFIED.

a still from Doctor Who; a smiling angel

LET ME BE HONEST, I’M STILL TERRIFIED.

I hate you, Moffat. Do you have any idea of how many stone statues there are on my block alone? Let me tell you, walking home last night was an exercise in calming my heart down so it wouldn’t burst out of my chest.

Something that I really liked about this episode made me realize what truly separates Moffat from Davies as a Who writer: the relationship between the Doctor, the companions, and the audience. It’s not too much of a leap of logic to say that, in the past, the companions have been a device for propagating the plot and also, more importantly, to give the audience someone to identify with. We (or at least, I) can’t exactly see ourselves as a brilliant alien genius, running around like a madman and solving all the world’s problems. We can, however, see ourselves as the person running alongside that madman, yelling at him to slow the heck down or rethink that course of action or simply stating the fact that he is indeed mad. That’s how it’s always worked. Whether you see more of yourself in Rose or Mickey or Martha or Donna, the companion is the person we are, while the Doctor is the person we aspire to be.

This episode made me realize this was not the case in Moffat’s Who. Well, not entirely in any case. With all the Doctor’s crazy ripping-of-last-pages-of-books and I-hate-endings-declaration, for once, we were put into a position where we were utterly and completely identifying with the Doctor. He was the person voicing all our inner thoughts and feelings. He was our representation on screen. He was the one desperately grasping with us at the fleeting images of his best friends. And he is the one that is just as lost as we are now. For once, we have become the alien with two hearts–even if both are broken.

a still from Doctor Who; the Doctor, alone on a bench in Central Park

Sam: First off, I think it’s great that we have different reactions to the episode. It helps me put my unabashed love for the show in perspective. That said, I’m not sure I have a problem with plot holes in Doctor Who, honestly. It’s my show the way Once Upon a Time is Anika’s. I hear the criticism and understand it (sometimes, sometimes I really just don’t understand it at all) but I don’t really care. I’ve managed to get what I need from each series since the reboot, and I kind of like how Moffat has reframed our connection to the show. I definitely agree that series 6 was pretty weak (but not as weak as series 3, because of how the Doctor – and RTD – treated Martha) mainly due to Moffat trying too hard with the timey-wimey. I didn’t really get that sense in this episode. Like “A Girl in the Fireplace” and like the entire arc of the Doctor and River, it felt more like The Time Traveler’s Wife and less like the convoluted mess that was “The Wedding of River Song”. Plus the Dixon Hill episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Generally, I think comparing Sherlock to Doctor Who (which I see over and over) is unfair, since Doctor Who has to take into account the younger audience, even if it’s no longer aimed purely at them. This is meant to be a show the entire family can sit down and enjoy… or hide behind the couch and enjoy. Sherlock doesn’t have that limitation, and so can treat its audience accordingly.

But back to the episode! I love noir, so I loved the nods to that genre. And I love the Ponds, and how they love each other (including Melody). The only thing I won’t give them is the Statue of Liberty, because there’s just no way that makes sense. But I don’t even care, because it is kind of a little terrifying to even think about.

Jessica: I think the reason I can’t overlook the plot holes in the show are because I love it so much. Let’s face it, any show about time travel is going to be inconsistent, especially one that is this long running, but I think my main problem is that I don’t feel like I get any payoff from the plot holes that Moffat creates. It’s not like all of these logical fallacies are present BUT I feel like the characterization is really good, or that these episodes add much to the world of the Doctor. Rather, I feel like Moffat sacrifices these things and tries to do something spectacular that doesn’t pay off. Thus I resent these plot problems! It feels like Moffat traded the quirky little show I love for something that is trying to be different, trying to be edgy, trying to be exciting, but just comes off as bland when compared to the way it used to be.

In this particular episode, I just couldn’t bear the way it all hinged on technicalities. One angel just randomly survived the paradox? How is that even possible? Did it not get zapped somewhere? How could the paradox get rid of the Statue of Liberty Angel but somehow this one weird survives? It just doesn’t make sense! AND THEN, even then, it would have been okay if Rory had just been looking in the right direction at the right time. What? That’s not even really going into the fact that the angels look at each other ALL the time in the episode, which they are not supposed to be able to do. And who is that collector guy? Since when do angels look anything other than weepy? How is a baby angel even created? Also, why, exactly, can’t the Doctor go back and visit them? Even if he can’t go back to the exact spot where they were sent, can’t they travel somewhere else and he go visit them? Can’t he go to like 1942 or something instead? I don’t understand how he can be blocked from ever seeing them again if they are in the same universe.

The only other problem I have is probably more of a personal one, of me not liking the the personality of the 11th Doctor that much. Even though I appreciated his attachment to his companions, I couldn’t quite buy into his reactions in this episode, like Amy leaving, to River’s hand getting injured. The Doctor is literally ancient. I’m all for him being emotionally tortured–his humanity (time-lordy-ness?) is what makes you care about him, but I thought the particular reactions in this episode were more on par with a small child that had been through a trauma than an 800-year-old immortal being. It seems like he would have accumulated more coping mechanisms than this. Further, it just doesn’t seem to mesh with the overall emotional picture of the Doctor Moffat has been giving me ever since 11 showed up. Many a time have I ranted that Moffat’s Doctor doesn’t seem to care when he has to kill people, or commit genocide. He doesn’t seem to bat an eye, as long as he and the Ponds make it away okay. And now he is suddenly unable to cope with even a few laugh lines around the eyes? Sigh.

Okay, rant over, maybe. As I said earlier, I also thought there were some really good parts to the episode! It’s probably the first time I haven’t been super annoyed at Amy/Rory in a really long time. They were great! I wish they were like that all the time. I would have been satisfied, and had many more rosy feelings about the Ponds if they had perished after they jumped off the building. Or even if they just disappeared somewhere. That was noble. That was brave. That would have eliminated like half of my problems with plot inconsistencies. I also really appreciated the focus on relationships between the Doctor and his companions. I miss touchy feely-ness sometimes. Probably what I liked the most was that the Angels were scary again. Blink was so terrifying. And then Moffat made the angels lame. But now they are really scary again. It’s the first time I’ve been scared by Doctor Who in a long time. In the end, I can say that this episode gave me hope that future episodes of Doctor Who might be more satisfying. For me, the legacy of season seven is this: next season might be better.

Anika: I really only have one thing to say. It wasn’t Amy and Rory that made me cry. It wasn’t Amy and the Doctor that made me cry. It was Amy and Melody.

a still from Doctor Who; Amy prepares to leave as the Doctor begs her to stay and River watches

See…I love River Song. I love her for the reasons people tend to hate her. She bends all the rules. She basically lives in plot holes. She doesn’t make sense. She personifies the fact that it doesn’t have to make sense — it just has to be fun. I spent a lot of this episode laughing at how coincidental it all was. It was rushed and random and I didn’t find the angels particularly scary. But I enjoyed it because River was there. And I cried because Amy called her Melody and talked to her like a mother to a daughter. That’s enough for me. I suppose it means I don’t love the show in the way you all do, but that’s okay.

Sam: Different perspectives are great! And, like I said, I love all the Ponds. But despite my sadness at the loss of the Amy and Rory, I really can’t wait for Christmas. Even though I don’t think it would kill the Doctor to recognize one of the other religions’ winter holidays on his beloved Earth, having Doctor Who around is my favorite part of the season. And I can’t wait for Clara, or the return of Madame Vastra, my favorite Victorian lesbian Silurian.

Strong at the “Broken” Places: Once Upon a Time

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by Anika

This post contains spoilers.

When ABC’s fairy tale television series Once Upon a Time premiered last fall it was the new show I most anticipated. I love fairy tales. I love Disney. And I love Allison Cameron (House) so I was excited to support Jennifer Morrison in her new role. I enjoyed the pilot but it was the fourth episode that hooked me. Specifically this speech made by Emma Swan to Ashley Boyd, the Cinderella equivalent:

“People are going to tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say: No, THIS is who I am. You want people to look at you differently? MAKE them. You want things to change? You’re going to have to go out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world.”

That was the moment that caught my attention, that made me care. I made a video about it. I put together a playlist. And that was when I started to call Once Upon a Time “my show”.

a still from Once Upon a Time; Emma Swan

It’s interesting, that shift from a show I watch to a show I enjoy to a show I care about to a show I inexplicably and unreasonably take ownership of. I used to watch at least one episode of Law and Order every day but it was never “my show”. I’ve written fanfiction for Doctor Who but it’s not “my show”. I am highly emotionally invested in Fringe but I don’t refer to it as “my show”.

La Femme Nikita was my show (not the current one, the one that starred Peta Wilson). Battlestar Galactica was my show (the recent one with Kara Thrace). Star Trek Voyager was my show. E.R. and House were my show. All of these disappointed me, especially in the later seasons. But they held me.

Once Upon a Time has a lot of flaws. It’s convoluted. Its cast lacks diversity. It’s redundant. I love, love, love that the show defines “true love” as something beyond just a romantic couple, but I wish that every single history wasn’t about parents and the children they disappoint. Don’t get me wrong, that is a very powerful story that I am always interested in watching explored. But if everyone’s drama revolves around the complicated and ultimately, in the world of Once Upon a Time, damaged relationship between parents and children it becomes less relevant. And it steals something from the drama I want to be most important: the love story of Regina and Henry Mills.

Emma has been called “The Hope” but “The Savior” and “The Knight” fit her better. She is a hero, a true born hero. She rushes into the fire, every time. Henry is the real “Hope”. Henry is the believer, the storyteller, the heart of the adventure, and the key to happiness. In the season two opener, “Broken”, Henry asks the good guys — Emma, Mary Margaret, David, and Archie — to save Regina from the angry mob because “She’s still my mom.” Whatever else, whatever very real evil she has done, she’s still my mom.

a still from Once Upon a Time; Henry Mills: She's still my mom.

And Henry is still a child.

Children believe in fairy tales. Children believe in dragons and magic and good and evil. Children believe.

And children are impatient. Children want change right away. Now. Now! Because they believe. Impatience belies belief. Later in the episode Henry tells Regina to prove her love for him and to him. Not because Henry wants to punish her, not because he thinks she doesn’t love him. No. Henry believes her, he wants to believe her, and he wants her to prove him right and everyone else wrong.

a still from Once Upon a Time; Regina Mills and Henry Mills: I love you./Prove it.

I want her to prove him right and everyone else wrong.

I believe. That’s why it’s “my show”. I believe that happy endings don’t exist, but fairy tales do.

Q&A #173: Pick a character who has appeared in a film — what does he or she think of their portrayal on screen?

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In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

Pick a character who has appeared in a film — what does he or she think of their portrayal on screen?

CAROLINE

Wolverine wishes to be clear about one thing: he does not wish that he were taller. That might be something that bothers other strong, tough masculine men and leads them to have insecurity complexes (can you imagine how hard Cyclops would be to take if he were short? That probably explains that Marsden guy’s career.)

Anyway. Wolverine does not in any sense wish he was as tall as Hugh Jackman, who he could totally take in any kind of fight.

He likes the jacket, though. That’s pretty badass.

a still from X-Men; Rogue and Logan on the train

MARIE

Rogue’s a little miffed that Anna Paquin doesn’t assume a proper southern drawl, even though she’s perfectly capable of doing so as that waitress on True Blood. She feels a bit wistful at the film’s choice to have her first join the X-Men under Wolverine instead of the Brotherhood under Mystique. Her younger self on screen seems much less angry and bitter than she was as a teenager. “What if?” bubbles to the top of her mind, a question that plagues her too often. But being who she is, she shakes herself out of it and thinks about asking Professor X if she can get that black leather outfit in her size.

SIGRID

He likes that Heath Ledger fellow. The man seemed to grasp the nuance and complexity of a comedic life.

So what about you? Pick a character who has appeared in a film — what does he or she think of their portrayal on screen?

It’s in the little things: Fringe’s final season premiere, “Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11”

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by Gabby

This contains SPOILERS.

Last time we saw Olivia, Peter, Walter and the gang, they were all smiling and a lot of people agreed that the fourth season finale could have acted as a series finale.

Call me selfish but I wanted MORE. Always and forever.

Thankfully, the show runners (now show runner, singular) heard my prayers and cortexifans are getting a 13 episode fifth and final season.

Arguably, the biggest mystery of the Fringe-verse resides in the Observers. Since the pilot, these bald, suit-wearing, pale dudes have been showing up at decisive moments in the show’s history. Every once in awhile we’d get nuggets of information about these strangers. For instance, how they like jalapeños because they can’t taste anything, or how some of them have feelings for humans. However, the observer I most connected with was September, portrayed by Michael Cerveris.

an Observer from the tv series "Fringe"

Last season in the episode “The end of all things”, Peter made contact with him, entering his subconscious. September explained many things, like this important and foreshadowy bit of info here:

… we are you — we’re human… many generations after your lifetime. We are one of countless possible futures for humanity. Our technology has uniquely afforded us the ability to travel within and outside of time so that we may observe our beginnings.

Then, in the staple “weird” episode that has become the seasons’ 19th episode, we flashfowarded to 2036. We landed in bizarro world; the observers have taken over planet Earth, in a way that would have George Orwell running for his money.

Now the season premiere is upon us, promising to delve into the trials and tribulations of yet another Universe that Fringe is exploring. However interesting this concept may be, I’m not exactly watching for this.

I’m watching for Walter’s many nicknames for Astrid. I’m watching for Olivia’s secret smile reserved for Peter. I’m watching for the forever troubled Broyles, and the ever-enigmatic Nina. I’m watching for the eventual fleshing out of Etta Bishop’s character, for Gene the cow, red vines and strawberry flavoured death. I’m watching for human relationships, for love, for family.

And the season premiere did not disappoint.

This episode was all about the little moments.

a still from the tv series "Fringe": Peter and Olivia, on a date in the park

Olivia and Peter on the blanket. Etta kissing Walter. Astrid touching Walter’s cheek. Olivia reuniting with Etta (especially this one).

As for the plot, it left me wanting more, which is always excellent. What exactly happened after Etta was taken in Boston? We know that Peter stayed, and Olivia went to New York to try and save the world, but where exactly did their daughter go? How will the Fringe team rally the many factions of resistance that seem to have sprouted up? What is September’s plan? Will they be able to make sense of the pieces of Walter’s brain that have been erased or moved by Captain Windmark?

Let’s talk about this for a second. First, how amazing is John Noble? His work here as the tortured Walter is made so much more amazing by the fact that we know he was most probably battling severe sleep deprivation at the time of filming. My heart was swelling in pain as I watched his whole body shake with tremors and his eyes get bloodshot. Second, can we give Walter’s brain a BREAK? In “Letters of transit”, Henrietta and Simon had to inject a part of his brain to make it whole, and in this episode, Captain D-Bag basically scrambles it into one of those disgusting looking egg sticks! And that’s just what happened after he got de-ambered, not taking into account the countless abuse it’s been under in the past four seasons. Quick, somebody make a Save Walter’s Brain tumblr!

As awesome as it will be to answer all these questions week after week, I am really grateful that I’m getting more time with these characters that I love. I feel I need that time to get familiar with these new people who have spent the last 20 years of their life trapped in amber. They are being thrust into this unfamiliar world, two of them with a daughter that’s aged and become a full grown adult woman. I fully trust this Fringe family to go where I need them to in order to reach a satisfying end. I trust them because hope is a central theme in Fringe, and this hope did surface in the season premiere.

It comes from the single yellow dandelion that ends “Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11”. Where a white tulip was a sign to Walter from his god, and also a sign of bonding for Peter and Olivia, we’ve moved past this. The Universe is different now, and hope now rests inside that yellow dandelion that springs forth from the rubble; Henrietta Bishop, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Gimme an F-F-G…RELAUNCH!!!

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Cheri Spirit, a cheerleader, with pom poms
HELLOOOOOOOOO FANTASTIC FANS!!!!

I’m Cheri, your friendly neighborhood fangirl, and I wanna welcome you to the new and improving

FANTASTIC FANGIRLS
media blog!

First, a history lesson:

 

Previously on FANTASTIC FANGIRLS…
a report by Jo Casual 

Jo Casual, the leader of the Fangirls, in an oval frame

(She’s our fearless leader!! ^_^)

Four years ago this blog was started by four fans and friends because they wanted a place where female voices would not just be heard, but be leading the conversation. Comic books, video games, sci-fi dramas and all that jazz were and are still considered the purview of The Boys. But The Girls have just as much to say! September 23, 2008, FFG co-founder Caroline posted our first ever blog post, Icebreaker. It was our introduction to her and to the site. Over the next few weeks, the other founders (Jennifer, Sigrid, and Anika) introduced themselves and our longest running ongoing activity Q&A kicked off. Since then they’ve reviewed all sorts of media, started a (comic) book club, took on podcasting, given out awards, gone on convention field trips… more than four hundred posts were written and consumed. Now with a staff of five plus dedicated contributors, FFG is poised to double that number in half the time.

Cheri Spirit, a cheerleader, with hands on hips Hmmmmmm, that sounds like a challenge!! Now lemme give you the rundown of what’s what, who’s who, and where’s where!!

  • Check out the updated ABOUT US page to get to know all the Fangirls.
  • Follow us on TWITTER or RSS for updates to the site.
  • Follow us on TUMBLR for updates from our Fangirls elsewhere, as well as art, and updates to the site.
  • We also welcome questions from YOU over at our tumblr!
  • The FFG PODCAST is relaunching this month.
  • Finally, I’d like to introduce you to the other avatars* who represent the site. We are an all-girl superteam dedicated to spreading positivity in the sphere of girl-geekdom!! Left to right on the banner above we have Jo, T’Mid, Peta, Player 1, Quinn, Addison and me, Cheri!! We’ll be introduced over on tumblr in the coming weeks and will show up on the site whenever there’s a need for us. #positivity!!!
*Not literal representations of the writers!

Cheri Spirit, a cheerleader, posing

FFG isn’t a news site, it’s a conversation site so consider this your open invitation to JOIN THE CONVERSATION. We want to hear from you ♥

Meet the New Fangirls: Ali

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by Ali

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved heroes and adventure. From Indiana Jones and Star Wars to Danger Mouse and She-Ra, she was mesmerized. There were rainy Sunday afternoons watching Superman: The Movie, tales of Wonder Woman from her mother and Hobbits from her father. But little girls grow up, and the childhood heroes are replaced by adolescent glossy posters of pop stars. Which inevitably leads to trying to be cool even though you have no idea what that actually means.

I was very much a late bloomer when it comes to comics and geek culture in general. It wasn’t until college when a certain boy wizard found his way into my heart that I got my first taste of fandom. And then the radioactive superhero bug bit me again and down the proverbial rabbit hole I went.

Things really started with Heroes. Yes, the TV series about ordinary people with extraordinary abilities that started out so strong and then went very far off the rails. But that first season will always be amazing to me. It was the first time in what felt like a long time that there were superheroes and villains battling it out on my television screen each week. And while I couldn’t get enough of the show, one of the things I loved most was the anticipation for the next episode. Each week I was on pins and needles waiting for what came next, speculating with friends, and adoring every minute of it.

From there, the jump into comics was very natural. And once I got here, so to speak, I really fell in love with the medium. I love the way a story unfolds throughout the panels. I love the way that layout controls pacing and mood and tension in such a way that it gives you a completely different experience than what you’d get from reading a book or watching a movie.

Comics were also the first thing I loved so much I actively sought out other fans. The comic community, on the whole, has just been so great and welcoming. There are few places in the world that I feel as “at home” as I do at a comic convention. Even when a con is insane and overwhelming, there’s just this genuine, fervent enthusiasm for this wonderful medium of storytelling, of heroic and not-so-heroic characters, of the awesome melding of art and words that is comics. I’ve made some of the best friends I have through comics, and I think my life is all the better having those silly funny pages in it.

Being a fangirl is part of who I am. It’s not all of me–I mean, I can go on and on about curling or marketing theory or my cat but I’m thinking that’s not why you’re here. I’m just very, very enthusiastic about the things I love. And really that’s what being a geek is all about: unabashedly loving what you love and wanting to share that with the whole universe. I think all of us at Fantastic Fangirls feel that way, and it’s why I’m so very excited and so very proud to be part of this team.

Go Team Fangirls!