fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2631 ]

[ SECRET POST #2631 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2631 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 048 secrets from Secret Submission Post #376.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Are there any shows/books/movies you haven't seen and are curious about but you still aren't sure you want to try? Tell them here or convince people why something is awesome.

The Wire. Convince me please? I know it's supposed to be good, but is it addictive?

It is addictive like crack. Not because there is "cracky" (nonsensical) material, but because there are literal crack addicts and deals in it. And some of will wind up your favorite characters, I almost guarantee it.

The thing you have to know going into The Wire is that it's in there for the long haul. You may find it too slowly-paced for your usual taste, but the strength of the writing and acting should be enough to keep you around. My main problem with The Wire was that I wanted a scorecard with all the characters names (rather like this one! And yes, that is Littlefinger at the podium in the fourth row.)

there are literal crack addicts and deals in it. And some of will wind up your favorite characters

TRUTH. I don't know if there's anyone out there who dislikes Bubbles but if there is, I don't want to know about it. Bubbles is the best.

I didn't watch The Wire because people would talk about how "good" it was and how it dealt with serious subjects like Poverty and the Failure of the American Dream. I wish someone had told me that it had fascinating and complex characters, and sharp dialogue that is often funny. It can go from funny to tragic and back again very quickly. Episode 4, McNulty and Bunk investigating the crime scene, that was where I was hooked.

The thing I wish someone had told me is how funny The Wire was, and how gripping. The way people talk about it makes it sound like a big serious-issues expose of the dark underbelly of the American Dream, with grim gritty hopeless subplots and Serious Acting all the way. And those elements are definitely all there. But it's also a wickedly funny show. And the characters aren't just representations of human failure constantly being betrayed by their flaws or the institutions around them. They're also complex and deeply likeable, human, sympathetic, endearing. And this is true for characters across every part of the show! Detectives, crack addicts, stick up men - everyone is not just realistic but enjoyable. The plot isn't just a slow demonstration of how everything good falls apart - it's also gripping and even thrilling as you watch people trying to put the pieces together and work out what's going on.

So, yeah. I would say it's definitely not just good but addictive. Because it's not just good in the Serious Critical way. It's just fucking good. It's slow moving but once it gets its hooks into you, it is deeply enjoyable and satisfying.

Pretty much the best TV ever.

It hurts my heart. It's hard to watch sometimes. But it's seriously amazing.

Sailor Moon. Don't know anything about it, but people keep mentioning it and I'm curious.

Pretty much THE definitive magical girl warrior show for America.

In an era forgotten by the ages, magic had made the colonization of the galaxy possible. The seat of power for this utiopia, known as the "silver millenium" was the moon.

However, an ancient sealed evil was re-awoken, and it and it's forces laid waste to the entire kingdom.

They were finally sealed away, but the devastation had been wrought already.

In the modern day, all of this lost to time, a young girl discovers a small cat, who begins talking to her and telling her that she is the reincarnation of one of the great warriors of that time, the champion of the moon. The evil that was sealed away has re-awoken, and now, so must she...

She... might not be quite as good at it in this life.

The cast grows, predictably adding a champion from each planet, and eventually new threats arise, some old, and some entirely new.

It's also rather infamous in the initial dub in the us for editing an obvious gay couple into a man and a woman, since they were too relevant to the story to edit out.

Adorably Evil

This bad decision is multiplied tenfold later on, a lesbian couple are "cousins" in the dub, but with the way they physically interact with each other and some still iffy dialogue, all this accomplished was making them apparently incestuous lesbian cousins instead.

They are pretty much Butch and Lipstick couple personified.

Edited 2014-03-18 04:35 (UTC)

I don't know how long you spent grabbing all those different images, but this ended up being my favorite part of the whole thing:

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

insanenoodlyguy - 2014-03-18 10:49 (UTC) - Expand

The U.S. Sherlock

That doesn't exist...

I think they mean Elementary.

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

(Anonymous) - 2014-03-18 04:07 (UTC) - Expand

If you mean Elementary, you will probably like it best if you don't think of it as "the US Sherlock". Let it exist on its own terms. They're different takes on modern-day Holmes and Watson, and are narratively and stylistically very different.

Elementary is slightly hindered by the long seasons of a network hit. Some of the cases are better than others, but this will be true of ANY mystery series ever. The best part of Elementary is the Holmes-Watson friendship. JLM and Lucy have a wonderful rapport, and the way it grows and changes from client/employee to partners and close friends over the first season is really nice.

And if you're at all interested in sober culture, either from personal experience or from outside the scene, it's the single best depiction of that circle that I have ever seen on US tv. It's hard, but it can be done and more people need to know that there's a net out there for them. ♥

And not only do Holmes and Watson have a great relationship with each other, they have a friendly and respectful relationship with the detectives they work with.

This Holmes is probably the most self-aware of any canon.

Noragami? It's being praised even by the friends of mine who are hard and tired anime fans sick of 99% of what's put out these days, but when I see gifs or pages from the manga, it just looks like another collection of the most popular anime tropes.

Welcome to Night Vale. Everyone loves it, but an audio-only show with no visuals sounds like something I'd have to work to really like. The premise (from what I've gathered of it) does sound kind of interesting.

I'd love to hear the sales pitch.

My sales pitch?

I hate audiobooks and podfics. Yet, I really like Welcome to Night Vale. The writers are aware of the medium they are working with and write accordingly. Every episode is technically self-contained but you will find that there is an overall plot if you pay attention. There are many reoccurring characters that you can get to know and get to enjoy as you see their stories slowly unfold. The main character, the narrator, is a very interesting person who changes as time goes on.

I happen to like the narrator's voice. It's smooth and nice to my ear. As a warning, you may find his voice a bit flat in the first few episodes but he very quickly starts emoting quite a bit and is definitely someone you can get attached to.

This is something you can get emotionally invested in beyond "cute boys in love" and "creepy thing happening". The last episode I found myself pausing due to a section of foreshadowing that caused me to freak out in both excitement and fear.

Also, if you need something to look at while you listen there are many people who have written transcripts so that you can follow along.

Lastly, it's fun. It's something I look forward to and use as a reward for myself for thing. It's refreshing and each episode is only about 30 minutes long. In the end, it's nice.

Edited (Typo) 2014-03-18 01:28 (UTC)

I don't actually have much to add to this other than to say I completely agree and find this accurate and well said. Cecil does have a nice voice but I've listened to some of the earlier episodes again recently and you're right, it is a bit flat at first. It gets much, much better; Cecil's voice makes me smile.

(I paused the last episode in fear and had to steel myself for what came next. That's never happened to me with WTNV before.)

I LOVEEEEEEEE the self-contained plots, they're easy to follow and all quite intriguing on their own right, but when the overarching story starts coming together it's possibly even better.

A lot of other things I look forward to either have a super long wait (some games) or can be difficult to keep up with because of the frequency of the release (tv shows, especially ones with longer seasons); I like that WTNV updates twice a month, it's perfect for me and gives me something to look forward to.

(IMO it's better and more entertaining than a lot of things I'm currently into as well.)

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

forgottenjester - 2014-03-18 02:02 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

elaminator - 2014-03-18 03:54 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

diet_poison - 2014-03-18 02:48 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

forgottenjester - 2014-03-18 02:51 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

diet_poison - 2014-03-18 12:37 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

forgottenjester - 2014-03-18 18:25 (UTC) - Expand

Breaking Bad

I've heard about a million and one people say it's the most amazing thing ever but as far as I know it's just about meth labs and uh, that doesn't really sound that interesting to me.

Sell me on it, please!

ohhh my gosh, I just finished breaking bad (I know, late to the party) and I loved it. it's very character driven, both on the individual + the relationship between them. it thematically runs on good vs. bad and the moral grey line in between and the consequences that result. the writing also has a lot of high tension so it's consistently exciting to watch. if that sounds like something you might enjoy, I'd give it a shot.

It's definitely on meth labs. Just watch the 5 min intro into the first episode. I also like the music.

Re: Give Me the Sales Pitch

(Anonymous) - 2014-03-18 05:56 (UTC) - Expand

The initial pitch for the show is said to be "You take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface." The Mr. Chips in this case is an unassuming but discontent high school chemistry teacher who turns towards cooking meth at a desperate time in his life, and ends up compromising more and more. As pulpy as the setup is, the main characters are well-written and extremely well-cast -- when they make terrible or wrenching decisions, those decisions feel organic and human. It leavens tension with humor; it keeps a steady pace and the stakes high throughout the seasons. And it knows how to do a hell of a cliffhanger.

Sleepy Hollow, Game of Thrones

Sleepy Hollow - I've heard lots of good things about the characters. Are they well-written? Also, I haven't heard much about the plot in comparison - is this because there isn't much of a plot/the story is extremely character driven, or is there a plot and it just sucks? (And if so, does the characterization make up for it?)

Game of Thrones - due to time constraints, I stopped watching around the middle of season 2 and never really got back into it (and I haven't watched the books and I honestly probably never will). I watched mostly for characters like Renley, Daenerys, Sansa, Bran, and Arya, though I was also starting to get into the Lannister family and Brienne. Either couldn't care less about the rest of the characters or honestly flat-out dislike them (in terms of entertainment value, not personality). Are they - or characters like them - prominent enough in the show to bother with the rest of it?

I can't help with Game of Thrones since I've never watched it, but I like Sleepy Hollow.

The plot is pretty convoluted so it'd take forever to explain it all (plus it's late and my brain isn't working at full speed!) but it's basically about a reanimated time traveling Revolutionary War soldier who, along with a female police lieutenant, investigates supernatural-based crimes in a small town in upstate New York.

The two lead characters are pretty well-written, or at least I think so, and one of the most interesting things about the show for me is their dynamic. They click right off the bat and have great chemistry pretty much right away. Not necessarily in a romantic way (although a ton of people ship them) but they just work really well together and end up becoming close friends. I don't know if you watch Elementary or not but a lot of people have compared the two shows because of the leads' dynamic, and I agree that it's pretty similar.

(This next part could *maybe* be considered kind of spoilery if you don't want to know any further details, but if you do...)

There's a lot of the kind of stuff you'd find in "historical" mystery type things like the National Treasure movies or the TV show Decoded (or basically anything you'd find on the History Channel since it became the Conspiracy Theory Channel): the very early days of America, the Founding Fathers, documents with hidden codes that contain prophecies, secret societies/Freemasons, etc. That's mixed with more traditional supernatural type stuff like witches, demons, spells, various monsters/creatures, and the apocalypse, and of course the overarching good vs. evil theme.

Anyway, imo it's essentially a mix of Elementary, National Treasure, and the X-Files/Supernatural. I would say check it out if that appeals to you!

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