rionaleonhart | Then I Was Thinking About A Sandwich.

Entry tags:

Then I Was Thinking About A Sandwich.

I love The Mentalist so much. It has its flaws, yes, but I love it. Patrick Jane is a contender for my favourite fictional character of all time, and Jane/everyone in Lisbon's team (with optional Hightower) is without question my favourite 'ship.

Have I ever said that before? I know I babble on about how Jane is in love with everyone in every other Mentalist post I make, but have I ever said it's my favourite 'ship in the world? I'm saying it now. If I had the power to pour hundreds of high-quality fics about a single 'ship into any fandom: Jane/everyone. I wouldn't even need to think about it.

The second episode of series four ('Little Red Book') demonstrates what I've always suspected: Jane can't work with people he's not in love with. Try to put him in a new team and he'll just sabotage it until the team of his heart are gathered around him again. I love him so much. He's such a child; he's completely incapable of maturely putting up with a situation that isn't to his liking. NOPE. RUIN EVERYONE'S LIVES UNTIL I HAVE MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE WITH ME AGAIN. I WIN.

I've been rewatching a few second-series episodes recently, and I'd forgotten how heartbreaking 'Blood In, Blood Out' was. Cho. (Also, I've mentioned several times that I'd like to see Jane screw up more often; I'd evidently forgotten about his tendency to get bored, wander into a high-tension situation and ruin everything. The man needs to be kept in a cage.)

I'd love to write more fanfiction for The Mentalist, actually. Point Five is a piece I'm really fond of (my view of it is probably skewed by the fact that it deals with, as mentioned, my favourite 'ship of all time), but save for a few snippets I've never managed to write anything else. I don't know why I find it such a difficult fandom to work with. I need more ideas. Does anyone have ideas I can borrow?

This is a really pointless entry, I know, especially considering how few of you actually watch The Mentalist. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS I NEED TO EXPRESS.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I feel you on loving a show that few others are watching (read: Nikita). Makes you just want to force everyone to watch it so you can have someone to talk to it about, no?

I did watch a bit of The Mentalist recently. It's being rerun on one of our Norwegian channels - seemed to have some interesting characters. Might check it out more if I get the time. (Time is such an evil thing.)

I definitely understand the desire to make everyone watch something! I've probably got too many fandoms on my plate at the moment to seriously consider getting into another, but if I see Nikita on the television schedules I'll give it a look.

I'd definitely recommend The Mentalist if character is your main interest; plot-wise it's a bit formulaic, but its central cast is delightful. Jane is my favourite character, but I love my second favourite (Lisbon) more than I love my favourite characters in many other things.

I would write more fic, but at this point I'm still forgetting which one is Rigsby and which one is Van Pelt, and my rule for fandoms other people are trying to get me in is "I don't have to write any fic until I've learned to tell all of the major characters apart without trying."

Ideas...Patrick Jane in Silent Hill would be too easy, so zombies? Ponies? Zombie pony attack?

I got Rigsby and Van Pelt confused when I first started watching! In the first episode, I thought that Rigsby was called Van Pelt; in the second I managed to work out that Van Pelt was in fact the woman, but I still had no idea what Rigsby was actually called for some time. It took me ages to shake off the residual name-confusion that had me believing on some level they were both called Van Pelt. Apparently they're a confusing couple of characters.

I do actually have a handful of scraps of Jane in Silent Hill written. Maybe I should see whether I can do anything with that at some point.

For two characters who aren't that much alike, they are surprisingly easy to confuse with each other. Lisbon I picked up immediately, because I saw the episode with the disease lab (PATRICK JANE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?), and I've seen Blood In, Blood Out, so Rigsby and Van Pelt are the sticking point.

Patrick Jane in Silent Hill should not be too difficult, considering that Red John is perilously close to being a Silent Hill character.

Oh, the disease lab episode is one of my favourites! But, yes, it's a pretty major WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU JANE episode. I love you, Jane, but I am extremely glad that I don't work with you.

Red John is like Silent Hill concentrated into a single man for Jane. I'm endlessly fascinated by Jane's feelings about him; it's such a strange mixture of guilt and respect and longing. You're never in any doubt that Jane wants to kill Red John more than he wants anything else in the world, but it's very difficult to say for certain that Jane hates him.

And she immediately suspects that he is faking and he is all "I AM TOTALLY NOT FAKING!" and she actually ends up believing him!

Yeah, if a person was a city, Red John would be Silent Hill. (I think Patrick Jane would be Gotham City, being consistently centered around murder and revenge, but veering between creepy levels of dark grittiness and cheerful wacky adventures.)

♥ ♥ Jane! ♥ ♥

He's slowly inching his way to my favourite character as well :)

Someone at TVtropes made a very good point that even though Lisbon's career is constantly on the line because of Jane, she actually has just as good job security as he does. Because if Bertram or anyone else were to actually fire her, Jane would destroy them. And smile while doing it.

Does anyone have ideas I can borrow?

I just rewatched "Red Sauce" and am now obsessed with the idea of Team!birthdays. Either Jane organising a surprise party for someone, or the others trying to organise one for him.

Also,

comment_fic has loads of The Mentalist prompts in their lonely prompts archive, though mostly Jane/Cho (and I didn't leave them all, swear! :D)

I just made such a weird noise of delight at your icon. JANE AND HIGHTOWER ♥. I miss Hightower! (I've only seen up to episode four of the fourth series, though, so don't tell me if she suddenly parachutes through the CBI ceiling in episode five.)

she actually has just as good job security as he does. Because if Bertram or anyone else were to actually fire her, Jane would destroy them.

...that really is a good point. Jane is so fascinating when he's being scary. And I love that there's very little middle ground with him; there are exceptions, but on the whole either he doesn't really care about someone or he cares about them to an unhealthy and dangerous extent.

Ooh, thank you very much for the link to the commentfic prompts; I'll take a look and see whether anything jumps out at me.

Incidentally, I read Wrath this morning and really enjoyed it. I wish we could have seen the immediate aftermath of That Incident for the rest of the team, but I'm very happy to assume that your excellent fic was the case! I particularly liked the description of Jane's dreamlike state, and as I'd just rewatched 'Blood In, Blood Out' Cho thinking he'd let a friend down really hit hard.

I've only seen up to episode four of the fourth series, though, so don't tell me if she suddenly parachutes through the CBI ceiling in episode five

I've only seen up to episode four myself so far, so I'll join you in hoping that she really will parachute through the roof in the next episode :D

(the fact that this show seems to love bringing characters back gives me hope that we haven't seen the last of her)

And I'm guessing you were that anon kudos to "Wrath" last week that cheered up my day? :) I'm glad you liked it. I had such trouble trying to come up with an idea for who Cho would hate, until I remembered "Blood In, Blood Out" and then it just clicked. Cho may usally come across an no-nonsense and unemotional, but he also seems to value loyalty and friendship very highly, like when Rigsby used him as an alibi for his father.

I have lots of feelings about The Mentalist which I need to express. However, you seemed to have done the job for me, so I shall just say:

DITTO. ESPECIALLY ABOUT S04E02. ♥.

I encourage you to express your feelings! There are never enough Mentalist posts on my flist.

Hello! I just woke up from dreaming you whisked me up onto your motorbike and drove me to a restaurant, where I was to eat with you and a guy who looked like a cross between Derren Brown and David Tennant. Also you were dealing drugs and your supplier was a policeman, which didn't seem a terribly smart move.

Hello! I have only just woke upto this, and I have to say that is quite a brilliant dream. Except for the drug dealing; I have to agree, that doesn't seem like a very smart move.

I absolutely adore Patrick, he's just so loveable. And he loves the team too. I haven't been watching the new series online, as it starts shortly on TV here (I did watch the first episode though, because I HAD to know what happened!). The end of series 3 broke my heart - I swear, there were tears in my eyes. I love how concerned he was about Lisbon ♥

I watched the first four episodes of the new series online, because I couldn't seem to find any information about when it was starting here, but now that I know it's beginning on the tenth I think I'll watch the rest on television. The gaps between shows being broadcast in America and being broadcast here seem to have narrowed in the past couple of years, which I really appreciate.

Oh, the end of series three. That finale was probably one of the most stunning pieces of television I've ever watched. I'd never been so shocked by a work of fiction before.

The finale was edge of the seat stuff, I couldn't believe how Patrick dealt with the whole situation. I kinda thought it would be Craig from earlier on, so that wasn't too much of a surprise, but I really felt for poor Grace.

Does anyone have ideas I can borrow?

You could always cop out with a Pokemon crossover. Those are your default setting, right? (Or a 'Pony crossover. Those work just as well.)

Or bodyswap adventures.

Or something where Patrick Jane suddenly develops actual psychic powers of some sort and is incredibly upset.

Or something where someone tries to manipulate Van Pelt into thinking she has psychic powers as part of some elaborate scheme to trick her into doing something or being somewhere, and Patrick Jane is trying to show her it's a trick and she keeps going "I'm not saying it is true, just that it might be true" right up until the big reveal.

And zombies is always a good route.

Or dragons. Dragons make everything at least 40% more awesome. True story.

Or zombie dragons. It combines coolness upgrades.

I'm not entirely surprised that only one of the combined concepts you and Wolfy have thrown at me is actually possible in the world of The Mentalist. I have rather pigeonholed myself, haven't I?

If you're going to limit yourself to what's possible in the world you're writing in...

Then what in the world is your excuse for everything else you write?

I'm certainly not limiting myself to in-universe plausibility! I'm just amused by the fact that I ask for fic ideas and immediately get 'POKÉMON. BODYSWAP. SILENT HILL. DRAGONS.' You guys know me too well.

Don't forget 'PONIES. ZOMBIES. AUs.'

You might also consider ninjas, vampires, and ninja vampires.

And hey, I'm giving ideas for a show I know next to nothing about, so, you know. Go with the broadest spectrum.

Or something where Patrick Jane suddenly develops actual psychic powers of some sort and is incredibly upset.

Oh, this would be fascinating.

I'm not entirely sure how he would react to being actually psychic all of the sudden, but he wouldn't take it well.

By the way, have you thought any more about that multi-fandom non-romantic not-necessarily-friendly-either ficmeme?

Well, if I do it, it'll have to be after November. I might hold a ficmeme early next year, actually, to give people a little time to recover from all the writing. And I might, after all that musing and consulting my flist, shamelessly ignore the majority's advice and go with the family theme after all, because I'm worried that the other theme might be too broad. We'll see.

I really hope you don't limit it to just familial relationships. I don't think non-romantic love gets enough of a focus in fandom (or indeed, non-sexual love) and limiting it to family relationships might also be. er. Limiting.

And... and you wouldn't be able to have any Perry-Doof prompts! *tempts*

I can understand why you're waiting, though. I didn't even think about it being November, though that probably explains why my flist is suddenly so quiet.

especially considering how few of you actually watch The Mentalist.

Everyone I know seems to watch The Mentalist. REALLY.

I WOULD LIKE TO MEET EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

I LOVE THE MENTALIST. This is something which I feel must be shouted around a lot! Every week while watching it my tweets turn into the Teresa Lisbon Appreciation Space. I love them all in their ways, but Lisbon is my favorite, hands down. I just wish she got more "I beat you at this case, ha!" which I feel like is a criticism for all crime shows with a Special Consultant. They just keep solving the cases and you then just go, BUT BUT THE COPS?
Although she continues to beat him in lots of other fields, like basic human decency and ass-kicking, so there's that.

I just have a lot of Lisbon-based feelings.

LISBON IS AMAZING. She'd easily be my favourite character if she were up against anyone other than Jane. I love how no-nonsense and eye-rolling she is and I love her well-hidden playful streak and I love her trust issues and, yes, I wish she had the opportunity to solve more cases; I've been thinking recently about how nice it would be if Jane weren't always the one to solve it, actually. BUT NEVER MIND, BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING REGARDLESS. I always enjoy hearing you talk about her.

She just holds so much badassery in such small amounts of space. She's got a lot of depth, and although the focus is on Jane I feel like she's been developed very well as a character, and grown in a lot of ways, which sometimes in shows with such a big main character can be ignored. Are you watching as the show airs in the UK? I don't want to spoil you since we've aired up to 407 here.

I will continue to be the president of the Lisbon Appreciation Threads on

rionaleonhart's Posts about the Mentalist. Alas, I only have the one icon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Then I Was Thinking About A Sandwich.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject