Also, Alex/Sam. Yes? No?

[rionaleonhart]

Somewhere along the line, Ashes to Ashes appears to have become something that I actually watch and enjoy, rather than something that I watch only because I feel on some level that I ought to. Alex is annoying me far less than she used to, and I am gradually recovering from the tragic lack of Sam and Annie. In fact, I may even be developing a certain fondness for Alex/Gene. Don't tell anyone.

It's still not one of my favourite programmes, but it's something I can actually look forward to now. I am interested in seeing how it ends. This pleases me. (It bothers me a bit that the writers are trying so hard to make Shaz awesome, though. Do you know what I mean? Am I imagining things? Because I am contrary, I cannot love Shaz until the writers stop throwing a bunch of awesome at her and saying 'LOVE THIS CHARACTER; SHE WAS CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEING AWESOME AND ADORABLE'.)

I think I like the fact that it has more of an emphasis on the crazy mind stuff (shut up, you know what I mean) going on than Life on Mars did. And, all right, maybe I 'ship Alex/Gene a lot. Shut up. At the beginning, my attitude was 'DON'T YOU DARE GET TOGETHER WITH GENE, ALEX'; now I seem to be going 'ASJHFJHGDHJGH SNOG ALREADY SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS'. This was unexpected, but, um, all right?

(I think I may find Gene less attractive in Ashes to Ashes than I did in Life on Mars, though. Alas! On the other hand, Chris and Ray are brilliant in it. Ray definitely gets the 'Most Improved Since Life on Mars' award.)

Comments

[jantalaimon.livejournal.com]

I did briefly think Alex/Sam while watching A2A S1.06.

But I've been convinced for the past couple episodes that the canon pairing is actually Shaz/Alex.

TELL ME I AM WRONG. >3

(Also, I don't usually rec my own fic to you. But I think this (http://community.livejournal.com/lifein1973/1061979.html) might amuse you. Feel free to tell me if it doesn't, though. XD)

[rionaleonhart]

Shaz/Alex does have more evidence than quite a few popular pairings in other fandoms. Hmmm.

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

I am pretty much only watching it in the hope that Alex and Gene (or Alex and Evan) will do hot kissings.

[rionaleonhart]

I am sure that we shall have (whoops, that was what I originally unthinkingly typed and it could be far too easily misinterpreted) there will be hot kissings eventually!

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

did you get a chance to poke at my ~essay~?

[rionaleonhart]

Augh, sorry! I'll try to get it done tomorrow. The problem is that my Internet access is quite sporadic at the moment, as of course I have to share the computer with the rest of my family when I'm at home.

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

SHAZ IS AWESOME THOUGH
i love her

i still haven't seen last week's episode. D:

also, alex/gene SO HARD
but not as hard as alex/evan

[serriadh.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to maybe like Alex just a little bit because with her Gene doesn't have to be all I AM A MAN AND YOU ARE A MAN SO WE ARE IN COMPETITION AND IF I SHOW WEAKNESS I WILL PROBABLY DIE. And I did involuntarily gasp when he was trying to resuscitate her. And unghf leather gloves.

On teh other hand, the storyline with her mother is bloody annoying - I spend hte whole time they're together going YOU ARE ACTING LIKE A FUCKING LUNATIC. SHE IS GOING TO HAVE YOU COMMITTED SOON.

And Evan is well hot, but his relationship with Alex is straying into the wrong side of weird.

Do we know what happened to mrs hunt? did i miss it?

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

I so agree with you comments about Alex's relationship with her mother - I more or less have to hide behind the sofa for that bit!

The only consolation is that Alex's mum is clearly barking mad too, so perhaps she hasn't noticed.

And I know nothing about Mrs Hunt, and I wish I did ♥

[serriadh.livejournal.com]

It was a cunning diversionary tactic so no-one will guess that I AM MRS HUNT. GENE IS MINE

RIONA! Write this now. Zombie Mrs Hunt wants Gene back. She tries to steal him away from his time travelling lovers (Sam/Gene/Alex - someone should write that too)

[culf.livejournal.com]

There was a cut scene in the script for the first episode where Gene reveals that Mrs.Hunt left him for another woman. This is actually true!

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

EXCELLENT ♥

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

I STILL THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE TO SHARE HIM - AFTER ALL THERE IS QUITE A LOT OF MACHISMO TO SPREAD AROUND

♥

[rionaleonhart]

She comes across as so insane whenever she's within half a mile of her mother. I'm amazed no restraining orders have been taken out, honestly.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

Does this mean I should watch it then? I'm waiting until the end of series one and then going back to see what people think.

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

I think you would enjoy A2A - if mostly for the crack - which they commit wholeheartedly. Don't you remember the episode you wrote in the gay bar?

The Gene/Alex relationship/UST/rivalry/whatever you want to call it is hardly stereotypically romantic.

It really depends how much you think you will miss Sam and Annie - Shaz is quite fun, and Chris and Ray get more screen time, but it's not the same.

And the clown is much less scary than TCG, IMHO.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

The gay bar episode was supposed to be fun, but I didn't watch it, and sometimes scripts get bungled in filming.

And nothing is as scary as the Test Card Girl. Not Pyramid Head, not that guy from No Country For Old Men, not the Cloverfield monster, nothing.

Except possibly zombies.

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

They did a pretty good job of filming your script, IMHO - crack, angst, Neville's brother, downbeat ending and all ;-(

I will consider what could possibly be scarier than TCG and then be very careful not to tell you

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I know that the all-time, number one thing that freaks me out in movies is zombies. So something less scary than zombies, but scarier than the Test Card Girl would be good.

Which is worse: Test Card Girl, or Volkswagen Beetle?

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

TCG, definitely, for me - cars can't climb stairs.

Other contenders include, but are not limited to

The demon that was controlling the Ood and writing on that chap
The "wracked with many diseases" people from the Dr Who ep with the feline nurses
The creepy snappy dolls from Barbarella

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. The Test Card Girl can pop up anywhere.

The Ood demon and the disease people didn't creep me out all that much. I think the demon was a big letdown when I saw him. That, "He is awake!" "And you will worship him!" stuff gave me shivers.

Creepier than the mermaid dream? I have a habit of stealing things from dreams and turning them into stories; I'm contemplating that with the mermaid dream, although it might be too nasty to inflict on fanfiction characters. Plus, it's only part of a story.

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

Yes, imaginary nebulous terrors are scarier than more concrete ones, at least for me.

Not sure I understand the concept of "too nasty for a story" - well, OK, I do, but I think cruelty can be justified if the story has something interesting or important enough to say. Or if just writing stuff down helps - reality is more real, and thus more important, than fiction.

Reads above statement, wonders if it true - if fiction has the power to make me so happy, then surely it has the equivalent sad/scared making power? But if I'm sure it's fiction, and not a dramatisation of a real tragedy, then drama is mostly catharsis rather than misery. It's an adrenaline thing, perhaps?

I think the conclusion there may be that I am a glass half full person - but then a lot of people enjoy stuff like LoM and Supernatural et al, which is pretty much totally about bad things happening to quite nice people.

*puzzled now*

[rionaleonhart]

OBVIOUS LIES. The Test Card Girl has never made me physically start (HELLO, PYRAMID HEAD), or frightened me so much that I couldn't focus on the rest of Life on Mars at all (HELLO, NO COUNTRY FOR MEN PSYCHO KILLER augh).

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

That's because you get creeped out by strange thing. A man in a big pointy hat or a man with a Mo haircut is nowhere near as creepy as, "You do not like me with my clown. I can see I make you frown. When on Earth will all this end? I'm your friend, your only friend!" Which will never leave my brain.

Obviously, I'm going to have to write better Life on Mars fanfic with a creepier Test Card Girl to prove this.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

Sorry; I don't hate the idea of Alex/Gene, but I just can't get into it. It's all too set-up for me; there's just nothing about their relationship or the eventual (tedious) growth of the UST between them that took me by surprise at all. It's not a pairing I've anything fundamental against, but it'll never be something I actively ship.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could ship them. I have issues with leading man/leading woman ships in everything but Farscape. I never even shipped Mulder/Scully, and I loved both characters and how much they loved each other hugely; I just didn't want it to be romantic.

So unless Gene and Alex start running around in black leather fighting evil aliens and getting tortured a lot, I doubt it'll click for me.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

I don't mind leading man/leading woman pairings, as such; it just takes a lot to make them really work for me. They have to take me by surprise a little. Gene/Alex...well, every single "LOOK AT HOW HARD THEY'RE TRYING NOT TO HAVE SEX" moment they've had has been one I was able to see coming. It doesn't do it for me.

[dancesontrains.livejournal.com]

:O Same here! *Loves John/Aeryn*

[rionaleonhart]

It is all terribly, terribly obvious. It's a bit like the 'LOVE SHAZ; SHE IS AWESOME' thing; I feel as if the writers are shouting 'YOU SHOULD WANT THIS PAIRING TO HAPPEN. WANT IT. WANT IT.'

But apparently I have given in, because I am weak and because my 'but I don't like Alex' objection is apparently no longer valid. Also, it does make sense. Sort of.

[reipan.livejournal.com]

I disagree. I don't see anything that'd attract these two characters to one another apart from the fact that they're both shouting, occasionally-amusing morons. ;p

[thinkpink20.livejournal.com]

Secretly, I'm rather hoping that Gene and Alex kiss to *nods*

[kelly96.livejournal.com]

I, erm, might prefer it to Life on Mars. A bit.

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

IT'S THE BREASTS ISN'T IT

[kelly96.livejournal.com]

IT MIGHT BE

The stockings do help, though.

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

I HAVE FINALLY SEEN LAST WEEK'S A2A

OH, GENE. D:

also, alex/shaz otp
ALEX/EVAN, SO HARD. EVEN THOUGH IT IS SO WRONG

[jantalaimon.livejournal.com]

*waves wildly*

SEE?!?!? SEE?!?!??! ALEX/SHAZ OTP IS NOT ONLY IN MY MIND DAMMIT! :D

[strangeumbrella.livejournal.com]

Ray definitely gets the 'Most Improved Since Life on Mars' award.
Yes! Ray is suddenly awesome now! I watched some LOM the other night and enjoyed Ray quite a lot more with the knowledge that he turns out better than you might think. :D

[loz]

I was planning on writing Alex/Sam long before the series ever aired, but never did.

Apart from still not shipping Gene/Alex, I also look forward to A2A. I don't trust the feeling, though, and the next episode is written by Matt and sounds very melodramatic. I have a fair idea what's going to happen, and that will just make me roll my eyes (I may also be crying, but that's because it's Matthew fucking Graham and he has that kind of talent.)

[rionaleonhart]

The fact that you did not write Alex/Sam saddens me! In fact, I don't seem able to find Alex/Sam fanfiction anywhere, which saddens me a lot. Alas!

I'm still holding onto the (possibly slightly desperate) hope that Sam is going to show up at some point. DON'T FAIL ME, ASHES TO ASHES.