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fandomsecrets2020-07-27 04:24 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2020-07-27 04:24 pm
[ SECRET POST #4952 ]
⌈ Secret Post #4952 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 39 secrets from Secret Submission Post #709.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 12:16 am (UTC)(link)But I think the final straw was something I noticed thanks to my parents’ habit of watching every procedural on TV. The CBS shows seem worse for it than most, but it just got beyond ridiculous when every episode ended up in mortal peril and there was some massive shootout complete with explosions. Every. Episode. WTF.
OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 12:40 am (UTC)(link)Besides the insane amount of chemistry and "catnip" (I love this word for this nonnie thank you lol) going on between those two, I really just enjoyed how utterly cheesecake and silly the entire show was. I was even somewhat invested in Kensi and Deeks when Deeks would have a rare mask slip moment where it was clear he was feeling way more for Kensi than his goofy act would show.
But the show just became exhausting after awhile. Like you said, it became like a game of one-upsmanship every single episode. "Callen survived TWO explosions and THREE terrorists yesterday, quick, make it THREE explosions and FIVE terrorists today!"
I find it a shame because truth be told NCIS:LA was probably my top procedural show due to the character interactions and the ship fodder/cheesecake combined with actually fun and interesting plots in the first couple seasons. I put it right up there next to my absolute favourite Criminal Minds episodes with Morgan/Reid fodder and awesome cases. :(
Re: OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 02:13 am (UTC)(link)High five, fellow fan! Yeah, I never understood why the slash fans didn’t leap on this show - there was certainly enough fodder for them! And you do propose a smoking hot subversion of the usual tropes people apply to Sam and Callen. Although I admit that I have a huge soft spot for exasperated Sam bullying semi-feral Callen into accepting affection. If anyone ever needed taking care of in an NCIS series, it’s Callen. (Which doesn’t exclude Callen from turning the tables some days and showing Sam a wild time, mind...)
I actually didn’t mind the Kensi/Deeks thing at first. And Deeks’ actor (whose name escapes me at the moment - Eric something) is good enough to pull off the moments when the goofy mask slipped, and I did enjoy that. I just miss when those two were more than just their love story, you know?
And WOW, did the over the top explosions and terrorists thing get really old, really fast. It got to the point where I was mentally clocking the once-per-episode moment where the team screeched up in their vehicles, rolled out in body armour carrying assault rifles and proceeded to shoot up a small army of goons. Every freaking episode.
And it’s too bad, because the original over the top elements of the characters’ backstories and personalities was just SO MUCH FUN. (Callen has no naaaame! And 47 foster familieeees! And mopes around pretending to be a Real Boy while Sam is aggressively normal and yet all Zen Navy Seal poking at him to eat and get some sleep.) I’d have stuck with the show if they played THAT up instead. And you’re right, it was a fantastic show when it started out. The characters and their interactions were great and the plots were ridiculous but so much fun to watch.
OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 03:51 am (UTC)(link)Oh I definitely have a soft spot for Sam's forcing of affection on semi-feral Callen haha. I guess for me I just kind of think that doesn't preclude Callen being more "toppy" I guess lol. It could even be a fun subversion, like I picture Sam probably having little to no experience with men in the past ("I haven't touched another's guy's dick since my best friend and I once jerked off each other in high school" type limited experience), and I feel like while he's falling for Callen he probably has all these kind of...how to put it, "heteronormative" ideas in mind? But then Callen is all "excuse me?" and Sam has to decide if he's alright with the fact that Callen isn't this mewling, helpless sub that he's imagined in his brain, and is he willing to...well, reciprocate in the way Callen wants him to lol. Like sure, Callen is more than happy to hop on Sam's dick, but Callen's fantasized about a hell of a lot more than just that. (Plus, unnnfff come on, big beefy guy all nervous and "please be gentle"?)
I think I enjoy that idea because besides the subversion of tropes, Callen's actor is just so so good at being all smug and eyebrow raise-y whenever he's bemused at something, and I could just picture their "old married couple before we even got romantically involved" bickering and discussion over this lol. Sam awkwardly trying to explain why he just "thought" Callen was a bottom, and Callen teasing Sam "what, you thought because you're bigger than me that I'm just going to let you bend me over the nearest surface while I beg for it?"
"I was kind of hoping...?"
"Buddy, have I got news for you."
:P
Besides, I kind of like the idea of Sam sort of...taking care of Callen in that way too. Callen's got trust issues and I feel like that's a fun subversion of yet another stereotypical trope where the bottom getting fucked is the one being "taken care of", but it can be super caring to give your partner the pleasure he wants from topping. Sam wants Callen to feel good too, and letting him just let go like that while Sam lets him take him, telling him how good he is...
God I wish there was some semblance of a fandom lol.
The Kensi/Deeks things was definitely better in the beginning. Kensi is probably my least favourite though. I get tired of the "stuck up snotty" vibe she gives off a lot of the time, like even when she jokes around she can't "let loose" like the rest of the characters, she's got this sort of wall of sarcasm built up. It's a shame because the actress is so wonderful and she does such a good job, it's just the character they gave her was frustratingly hard to like at times. I wish they would have let her be a little warmer more often like they let the rest of the cast be.
LOL, exactly! The premise of the show from the beginning was just pure stupid fun. It reminded me a whole lot of the Hawaii 5-0 Reboot (another show they ran into the ground damnit) where it was all very obviously tongue-in-cheek and poking a little fun at the overly dramatic elements. Callen's woobie past is played both for laughs and serious, so it had a good balance I feel, not taking itself TOO seriously but also not being so over-the-top with the humour that you feel your immersion breaking.
I kind of wonder what they're all up to on the show now. I was honestly surprised when I checked a couple of weeks ago when I first thought of this secret to find that it was STILL RUNNING. I would have thought it was canceled after the 7th or so season, but nope. I wish they'd played up more Sam/Callen, but I feel like after the incredibly slashy first couple of seasons that for some unknown reason they almost made a concerted effort to push them apart from one another, you know what I mean? Like we didn't even know Sam was married until what, like the second or third season? And even then that felt kind of...hamfisted.
I dunno.
Re: OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 05:01 am (UTC)(link)I hear you on Kensi though. I really wanted to like her more than I do, for precisely the reason you mention. The stubborn and sometimes standoffish sarcasm they write her using so often is kind of off putting, and you’re right that it’s an utter shame they didn’t let her actress play it softer and warmer at times. They could have done it too - I remember a first season episode where one of the team goes missing, and there’s this lovely scene with Hetty and Kensi outside talking about it, and it would have been so nice if they’d let her keep up with that sort of interaction.
Right? I mean, SURE, it was over the top and ridiculous, but that’s why we LIKED it. And they did such a good job of walking the line between entertainingly over the top and unbelievably stupid in that first season or two. And DO NOT get me started on H-50. I am still so very very pissed at what they did to that show. I similarly adored the first season, and just could not believe how bad it got, so fast. And each season just kept getting worse. Like, how do you do that without it being deliberate??
I think it’s still running? I caught an episode of it while visiting family sometime within the last year or two, anyhow. It really doesn’t feel like the same show. And yeah, I was pretty irritated when they dragged Callen and Sam out of each others’ pockets and gave Sam a surprise family. Having said that, I’m pretty sure some of their appearances in later seasons - before they decided Sam needed to be the angsty one, did you get that far? - made it pretty damn clear that Callen had been thoroughly adopted by Sam’s family and that was adorable. And they did still permit us the occasional moment between them, despite the distance. There’s one episode in season...six, I think? Where Callen gets infected with a deadly virus, and the end of that episode must be seen to be believed.
OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 09:14 am (UTC)(link)I'll think about writing fic, honestly I enjoyed this show so incredibly much that I probably will try and watch some newer seasons. And hell, I should write the fic just to have something besides the uh...how to say this without being mean but...less than quality stuff that's there? If I remember correctly one of the only smutfics I found for these two was an ABO fic with a RIDICULOUSLY uke acting Callen, like it definitely had the vibe that it was written by a thirteen year old girl who just binged on yaoi manga.
I remember that episode you're talking about! And yes, Kensi was so, SO good when she was given that sort of quiet intensity and emotional vulnerability. Like I'm not trying to say "she's a girl, she needs to act more ~emotional~" or anything like that, it's almost the opposite honestly, I feel like they gave the male characters all the openness and vulnerability and they left Kensi as this frigid, sarcastic wall most of the time. So frustrating.
Lol no no feel free to rant about Hawaii 5-0! I dropped it because I got so tired of the...I don't know, I almost want to say they queerbaited us and then did that thing that some showrunners do where they almost deliberately punish you for reading into the queerbaiting they KNOW they put in there? Considering how bad the later seasons got it sounds like I jumped ship just in time.
It was running as of like....2-3 months ago I believe? Also no I don't think I got as far as angsty Sam, although I think I got far enough that I was like...starting to see that change? I remember him in some later episodes being annoyingly broody and kind of meanish? Very un-Sam like.
Okay now you've got me curious, what happens at the end of the season 6 episode? Haha if it's anything like the Morgan/Reid "oh no he's been poisoned/virus infected" Criminal Minds one I'm sure I'll get a hit of slashy goodness out of it.
YES, good god don't get me started on the "surprise family" thing. I did think it was somewhat cute with the whole Callen being adopted thing but the whole thing just felt so...weird. And Sam's relationship with his wife felt similarly strained and uncomfortable. That's one of my stumbling blocks for writing a fic too lol, it's not like White Collar where I can totally see Peter and his wife being interested in Neil together. Either Sam like...has permission from his wife, they break up, or they're cheating together. To be fully transparent I could see the last one happening, like Sam and his wife are having one of their...off moments, and after some really rocky case where one of them was in serious danger or something Sam and Callen have a sort of desperate "thank god you're alive and I didn't lose you" fuck where emotions are running high, but I'm also kind of iffy on writing that sort of thing lol!
Re: OP
(Anonymous) 2020-07-28 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)You should absolutely think about writing fic. There never has been all that much for this show, and a lot of it...favours a very different interpretation of the show than I have, let’s say. I cannot even with weepy uke Callen, so I’m all in favour of more fic with ballsy semi-feral Callen. Go ahead and check out the newer seasons - it may well not be as bad as I remember it. (I’m just super cranky that the B-plot of the last few episodes I saw was usually someone’s romance story, usually Kensi and Deeks, sometimes Nell and Eric. I’m not kidding that the focus of Kensi and Deeks’ characters now is the fact that They Are In Love.) I did enjoy getting to see Sam and Callen on screen together in the few eps I have seen, though.
Yeah, I don’t know why they leaned so hard into Kensi being tough and sarcastic. Maybe letting the guys have soft spots means they wanted to go the opposite route with the lady character? Personally, I think they use it as a counterpoint to Deeks in their relationship, since he’s usually the softer, goofier one. Unfortunately, I feel like their interactions are sometimes unflattering for her character - she comes off as more mean-spirited than teasing, sometimes. Maybe if the show keeps going a while longer, they’ll figure out that easing up on the defensiveness won’t turn her into a girly girl? These shows are not great about balance (or character growth, honestly), but we can hope!
OH MY GOD, HAWAII FIVE-0. The first season was GREAT. Danny and Steve were hilarious, I loved Chin and Kono, everyone had great chemistry and there was so much glorious queerbaiting. Then came Steve’s mother and the RIDICULOUS TRAGIC SPY backstory and mysterious mentor-figure Joe. And the endless Wo-Fat stuff. (Too bad, I like Marc Dascascos, but that storyline was too much.) And endless will-they-won’t-they with Danny and Rachel. And the cast turnover, for pretty unfair reasons. And if you think the NCISes are bad for exhausting over the top drama and shootout and explosions, H50 is EVERY BIT as bad, if not worse. I gave up on the show years ago, but caught a bunch of the last season or two because it broadcast on nights when I was visiting family who watched it. It was just BAD. And I don’t know if Scott Caan and Alex McLoughlin had a falling out or the PTB decided to no-homo the show as strongly as they could, but a lot of the time, Danny and Steve weren’t even on screen together. And some of the interaction we did get didn’t have that affection the earlier seasons did. And have you heard how it ended? I’m so glad I didn’t see that. I’d have hurt my throat yelling at the screen.
Yeah, they made Sam the angsty one. And they kind of took the cheap route to get there. I wasn’t pleased when I heard. (It involves fridging a character.)
OH HO HO. Yeah, I saw that episode of CM (watched and loved the early seasons of that one as well, though I did bail a number of years ago) and I think you’d like this episode as well. Short version: Callen seals himself into a lab with a bioweapon to keep it from spreading to the building/city outside while Sam looks on in horror from the other side of the glass door. The last scene before the cut to the final commercial break is a medical team in hazmat gear taking Callen away while people try to console Sam that he’s got a chance of surviving. The final scene of the ep? Shows Callen waking up in the hospital with Sam all relieved smiles at his bedside. And I am kicking myself because I can’t remember the lines that lead up to this but as Callen protests with, “You wouldn’t,” Sam starts singing to him. It is all things wonderful. *hearts*
Yeah, I never got what was behind the surprise family thing. I mean, other than making SURE we couldn’t canonically point to Callen as Sam’s real love interest, I guess? It really did feel forced, not helped by the fact that she was also supposed to be a badass agent. I never really worked out in my head how to balance his obvious affection for Callen with the happily married man thing, but when I did try to slot some explanation into place, I usually went with Sam and his wife have an arrangement. (The permutations of that arrangement tended to vary with my mood.)
I also loved White Collar! (...For a couple of seasons. You may notice a trend here.)
OP Again! You still here fellow nonnie?
(Anonymous) 2020-07-29 04:46 am (UTC)(link)Re: OP Again! You still here fellow nonnie?
(Anonymous) 2020-07-30 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)Still checking, and still happy to keep chatting if you are. I’ll check back over the next day or three to see if you got this one!