A bit of episode meta + a writing question

[luzula]

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.

Comments

[luzula]

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! ;-)

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.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Well, IRL you use someone's name to catch their attention (kids get that a LOT! ;-), or when there's a bunch of people in front of you and you want to address one in particular (though the latter is actually usually accomplished with a direct look or gesture).

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

[luzula]

I think the use of names in address goes like this:
real life < most TV < Due South < fanfic

Ha, yes, that looks very probable.