![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A bit of episode meta + a writing question
Gah, I'm tired. I have some sort of cold which won't break out, but won't go away either. And I've been taking a course on oral presentation and communication at work, which is actually good, but also very tiring. Plus, my shoulders and hands are all stiff. *wants a massage*
Okay, enough whining. I rewatched some due South the other day: "Dead men don't throw rice" and "Manhunt". I guess I don't rewatch canon very often, and it made my heart all glowy.
"Dead men don't throw rice":
The scene with the Borderlands is awesome. Actually, I love pretty much anytime they use magical realism stuff in the show. Also, I love it when Bob turns up. I am not fond of the Frannie subplot, though--it makes me cringe. I mean, I do like the speech she gives Fraser about how he hides behind his honor. That seems very like her. But the part where she thinks she's going to marry a guy she can't even communicate with? Please, no.
I love the bit where Dief licks Fraser in the face after he wakes up. And huh, so that's where "Ray from the material world" comes from. I'd forgotten that was a line from canon. Duh. Also, Ray is hot. Newsflash, I know, but I'd kind of forgotten. Mmm, I really like the back of his neck for some reason.
"Manhunt":
Oh, S1 Fraser. He's so...young and innocent is not the word, I guess, but I don't know what is. And god, he's beautiful. And yay, Frobisher! I would like more of this Frobisher characterization later on, please, and less of the fart jokes. Also, I really want more fic about Buck and Bob's partnership. Hmm, I've never seen Julie Frobisher turn up in fic, I think. Can anyone think of a fic with her in it? I mean, June turns up more often than her, and Julie is at least onscreen.
Also, Fraser and Frobisher are both acting like macho idiots at the end, although Fraser at least shows some awareness that that's what he's doing. But he still does it. Ray is the only one who shows some sense, at least initially. Hmm, I wonder if there's some element of Fraser trying to impress Frobisher here--he's kind of like a father figure to him, after all.
***
On an unrelated note, I find myself a little bothered by something in fic, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one. It's when names are used unnecessarily in dialog, like this:
"Ray, could you buy some milk on the way home?"
"Sure, Fraser."
In real life, people don't use names like this when there's no uncertainty about whom they're addressing, do they? At least I don't. And I get that it's an easy way to indicate who's speaking, but I think that can be done in other ways. I just recently started thinking about this, and now when I reread my own older fic, sometimes I edit out the names.
Anyway, it's just a small thing, and easy to tune out when I read, but I was wondering if anyone else had thought about this. Does anyone disagree?
For now, please comment at the LJ entry.
Okay, enough whining. I rewatched some due South the other day: "Dead men don't throw rice" and "Manhunt". I guess I don't rewatch canon very often, and it made my heart all glowy.
"Dead men don't throw rice":
The scene with the Borderlands is awesome. Actually, I love pretty much anytime they use magical realism stuff in the show. Also, I love it when Bob turns up. I am not fond of the Frannie subplot, though--it makes me cringe. I mean, I do like the speech she gives Fraser about how he hides behind his honor. That seems very like her. But the part where she thinks she's going to marry a guy she can't even communicate with? Please, no.
I love the bit where Dief licks Fraser in the face after he wakes up. And huh, so that's where "Ray from the material world" comes from. I'd forgotten that was a line from canon. Duh. Also, Ray is hot. Newsflash, I know, but I'd kind of forgotten. Mmm, I really like the back of his neck for some reason.
"Manhunt":
Oh, S1 Fraser. He's so...young and innocent is not the word, I guess, but I don't know what is. And god, he's beautiful. And yay, Frobisher! I would like more of this Frobisher characterization later on, please, and less of the fart jokes. Also, I really want more fic about Buck and Bob's partnership. Hmm, I've never seen Julie Frobisher turn up in fic, I think. Can anyone think of a fic with her in it? I mean, June turns up more often than her, and Julie is at least onscreen.
Also, Fraser and Frobisher are both acting like macho idiots at the end, although Fraser at least shows some awareness that that's what he's doing. But he still does it. Ray is the only one who shows some sense, at least initially. Hmm, I wonder if there's some element of Fraser trying to impress Frobisher here--he's kind of like a father figure to him, after all.
***
On an unrelated note, I find myself a little bothered by something in fic, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one. It's when names are used unnecessarily in dialog, like this:
"Ray, could you buy some milk on the way home?"
"Sure, Fraser."
In real life, people don't use names like this when there's no uncertainty about whom they're addressing, do they? At least I don't. And I get that it's an easy way to indicate who's speaking, but I think that can be done in other ways. I just recently started thinking about this, and now when I reread my own older fic, sometimes I edit out the names.
Anyway, it's just a small thing, and easy to tune out when I read, but I was wondering if anyone else had thought about this. Does anyone disagree?
For now, please comment at the LJ entry.
no subject
And I didn't even think about the name thing being a cultural difference--I just thought it was a fan fiction (or more general writing) convention. Very interesting.
no subject
But they do it all the time on dS. Ray especially. He's very much with the "Frase" and "Fraser"s and "Buddy" and all of that. And Fraser does it with both Rays, although in his case, it's usually a mild chastisement, etc.
In conclusion, yes, I've noticed. Yes, it's weird. :)
no subject
And huh, so it's a canon thing (or a TV thing in general, as
I think recording podfic was what made me think of it, because there, you're trying to make the dialogue sound as natural as possible.
no subject
I included a letter from her to Fraser in my F/K/V fic, Mosaic, Piece by Piece. Other than that, no, I haven't see her mentioned, I don't think.
In real life, people don't use names like this when there's no uncertainty about whom they're addressing, do they?
No, but they do it a lot on TV and in movies, to give the viewers a chance to learn and remember the names, I think. (Heh --
Though, otoh, in canon, you can often tell who someone's talking to by eyeline/body language, whereas in fic you have to somehow make that explicit.
no subject
No, but they do it a lot on TV and in movies, to give the viewers a chance to learn and remember the names, I think.
Yes, I guess that would make sense. Hmm, it's interesting with the different theories about this...
no subject
no subject
no subject
I second the comments above about the name things happening more often on TV. I think on dS it's partly done for comedy. Wodehouse does this in the Jeeves & Wooster books; "I say, Jeeves," "Really, Jeeves," "Well I never, Jeeves," etc.
I think I'm also more inclined to use someone's name when I'm making a point or trying to stress what I'm saying. In canon, we see fewer of the "Hey, can you pick up some milk?" lines and more of the "Fraser, the building's about to blow up!" lines. Which is maybe why in context it seems less weird.
no subject
In canon, we see fewer of the "Hey, can you pick up some milk?" lines and more of the "Fraser, the building's about to blow up!" lines.
Oh, that's another interesting explanation.
no subject
I am bit guilty of Fraser using Ray's name more than typical in RL, but to be fair, the TV writers did that, too, at least some of the time.
no subject
And yeah, I'll have to think about the use of names the next time I rewatch canon.
no subject
I am constantly editing out name s in my stories, buecause oh yeah, I do love to overuse them. Not sure why, but I am definitely guilty of it. And it isn't something I do in RL, just writing. In fact, it kind of throws me when close friends actually call me by name. As in really and truly stops me for a second, trying to decide why they needed to use my name - is this a Serious Conversation and that's the cue? kind of thing.
Co-workers, acquaintances, etc it makes sense somehow, as it does when I'm in a group and someone's trying to get my attention. But one on one - not so much.
no subject
Also, I actually did nor remember Julie Frobisher at all. Does that make me a bad fan?
Hi, btw! This is my LJ alias, used mainly to stalk people with.
/medrin
no subject
Yeah, that's true. That and the mix of whimsy and seriousness, I think.
Also, I actually did nor remember Julie Frobisher at all. Does that make me a bad fan?
Well, I hardly remembered her, either, and I write a lot about Fraser's past. So no, it probably doesn't make you a bad fan.
no subject
I buy that. Fraser idolized the Mounties, based on his father and Buck's partnership, enough to join them. Of course he wants Buck to think he's manly enough! ;-)
The very first fanfic I wrote, I was lucky enough to have for a beta a woman who is a screenwriter IRL. One of her first notes to me was that I was using names in dialogue too often, and that I should "listen" to the dialogue in my head--people don't really say names as often as they are written in fic. Ever since then it's popped out in reading! (Though I have noticed that in the Due South canon names are used more often than average.)
no subject
Yeah. I mean, Fraser risking his life is nothing new, but I feel that usually, he does it because someone is in danger, or because of some important moral principle. Here, it's just that they don't want to lose face.
The very first fanfic I wrote, I was lucky enough to have for a beta a woman who is a screenwriter IRL. One of her first notes to me was that I was using names in dialogue too often, and that I should "listen" to the dialogue in my head--people don't really say names as often as they are written in fic.
Huh, that's interesting, because many of the other commenters were saying that using names a lot is a TV thing. Hmm.
no subject
On TV, you often see the characters in the midst of extraordinary circumstances, when one person does have to capture the attention of another (Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray ...). TV also often has a character use just a name along with a tone of voice to be a whine, or a plead, or an admonishment, or an order, or a warning. (Like when you were a kid. "Mooom.") It helps illustrate the intimacy of two characters, that they only need a tone of voice to communicate with each other.
I think the use of names in address goes like this:
real life < most TV < Due South < fanfic
:D
no subject
real life < most TV < Due South < fanfic
Ha, yes, that looks very probable.
no subject
Re names - Yeah, normally I can tune it out but my pet peeve is when names are used during love declarations (especially if it’s full names, surely no one does that in real life?).
no subject