A fandom is a community that surrounds a particular television show, movie, book, or other medium. Fanfiction writers, artists, poets can all be members, but one does not necessarily need to write to belong to a fandom, sometimes we are just fans. Fandoms often consist of message boards, i.e. livejournal communities or people who share the same interest. Here is a list of my favorite fandoms, although I admit the ones I usually write for are Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Chuck, but someday I hope to branch out.
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I just purchased my plane ticket to Atlanta, Georgia to attend DragonCon Labor Day weekend. This will be my second time attending DragonCon and my fifth con. I had an amazing time in 2008 with my baby sister, Cathy. I wish she were coming, too. I'll be meeting up with several girlfriends, and I’m really looking forward to spending the weekend with them and listening to panels, acquiring autographs and photos from some of my favorite actors, and attending writing workshops. I’m having a serious fangirl moment because I discovered Bruce Boxleitner and Adam Baldwin are supposed to be there. Squeal!! The only question I have is—when did I become a groupie?
I love Chuck! I love it for the humor, the action, the romance. I love the wit and charm. Until a few days ago, I thought this would be the last Chuck episode ever. Needless to say, I was excited when NBC decided to renew Chuck for Season Five, albeit for only 13 episodes. I would have killed for 13 more episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, so I was thrilled Chuck fans would get closure.
However, this morning I have mixed feeling about the Chuck Season Four finale. I thoroughly enjoyed the episode. I cried, I laughed, I screamed, I nearly peed my pants, I wanted to throw things, then I laughed and cried again. . . and finally the twist. . . and I hated it! Up to the point, it was a wonderful and delightful episode; Casey being a bad ass, Sarah's perfect vows, Chuck’s wiliness to give up everything, including his life to save Sarah, all the flashbacks were brilliant, Awesome punching out the CIA agent, and Timothy Dalton being near perfect in his dual role as Winterbottom and Volkoff. I loved that Chuck, Sarah and the gang are going into business for themselves, sort of as rogue spies, and how they are the new owners of the Buy More. The episode had just the right mix of humor and suspense. . . and then the lame twist. Whatever were the writers thinking? First, they rehashed a number of scenarios and lines. “Guys, I know Kung Fu” has been used three times and twice just this season. Chuck lost the Intersect already and now he has lost it again. In addition, how many times has the Army swooped down for the sky to save the day? It’s like shampoo. Wash, rinse, repeat. My biggest concern and gripe is Chuck is supposed to be special, only his brain was capable of handing the Intersect. Hence the removal of the Intersect for the two G.R.E.T.A.s. earlier this season. The “twist” ruined the idea that Chuck was "special" since now everyone can get the Intersect. Did Chuck just “jump the shark?” Taking a deep breath now. I've been with Chuck from the beginning and I'm not about to give up now. . . . . . I shall wait and see how this all plays out next season. Scarecrow and Mrs. King season two was released for purchase on DVD today. Yeah! What I dislike is the DVD did not come with any extras. . . again. Boo! I also did not like I had to stop at three stores before I found the DVD's on the shelf. Neither Target nor Walmart had it available for purchase at their stores. . . epic FAIL! However, Best Buy had several copies on the shelf. I'm just excited to finally have the series available on DVD and hope Warner Bros. releases season three and four soon. (My two favorite seasons).
I watched Chuck last night, and although there were funny moments the show has been disappointing me more times then not this season. In a lot of ways, it is similar to SMK's final season. A great episode followed by several uninteresting, unoriginal and unwitty episodes. I was talking with some friends a few weeks ago about Chuck and how this season is so much more violent. Yes, I understand he is a spy now and there will be more violence, but the show has a lot of the charm that made me fall in love with Chuck. From what I understand there are new writers this season and I don't think they have a clue what makes Chuck work. Even the humor at the Buy More has fallen flat. Certain fans are saying it 'jumped the shark,' because they finally have Chuck and Sarah together, further proving to these naysayers romance can not work and keep a show interesting and fresh and exciting. To them I give you a big raspberry!!! However, the show is hemorrhaging viewers. Last night was another drop in the rating. . . dipping to a new low. It is even losing its 18 to 34 demographics fanbase. Even my husband and oldest son have lost interest in the show. I will continue to support Chuck and watch it every week, and continue to support Subway. . . whatever it takes; however, it will require a miracle for us fans to get a fifth season. Well, I have competed the SMK/Chuck crossover story Chuck versus the Weekend.
As a side note, I find it ironic in the story I mention the Yosemite Theater. The theater produces a one-man show about naturalist John Muir and the actor who plays Muir is--Lee Stetson!! I can't make this stuff up. Scarecrow and Mrs. King season will be released on March 22, 2011 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Loving my muse has decided to come back and he seems to be sticking around at the moment.
I haven't written any fan fiction in over a year, except for a VSS SMK story about Lee's feeling about wedding rings, that I posted a couple of weeks ago (Lee versus the Rings). I just wrapped up a first draft of a Chuck/SMK crossover story and gave it to my beta reader this afternoon. This is my first Chuck story and first time I have written for a different series. The fic should be about 10,000 words when all is said and done. Have one scene I need to rework, but the rest I feel good about. Once my beta finishes, I'll send it on to my editor friend, she's always good at finding typos, missing punctuation and grammar errors. I hope to be posting soon, depends on the turnaround. I'm still plugging away on a screenplay I have been working on about an FBI agent who works and lives in a small rural town in Idaho. I'm excited because I have been able to contact the Bureau itself and they have referred me to the public affairs specialist, and hopefully I can obtain some information which should help keep the story grounded and real. Yes, I am excited!! Also linked a new music video Annette and I worked on together. It can be found under the heading music videos. It's Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and dedicated to season one Lee Stetson. In other news, my frozen shoulder still does not seem to want to move, although I do seem to be getting my range of motion back. Physical therapy, chiropractic care, and exercises seem to help, but not enough. Six months of this--and I have had enough. The arm from my shoulder to elbow is experiencing pins and needles sensations and my left hand now goes numb. Makes it very difficult to type or get house work done. However, I am surviving. :-) The boys are back on school, my writing class does not start until the end of the month, I have some free time on my hands, I am bored and none of the writing groups I belong to or had belonged to seem to do writing challenges any more, I'm open to suggestions for what I should write next.
I admit I haven't written any fan fiction in about a year, other then the short story I wrote yesterday, so I am open to more fan fiction from either Chuck or Scarecrow and Mrs. King, or perhaps a suggestion from another genre. Throw out a writing challenge, a one line challenge or five or ten word challenge or writing prompt. What have you got? Have some ideas floating around in my head. . . I would like to write another Scarecrow and Mrs. King screenplay--based on how Lee and Amanda's marriage would have been revealed if we had seen a fifth season. How do you think they marriage would have come out in the open? I'm also kicking around a fan fiction crossover story between Chuck and Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I was given a suggestion on Lee and Amanda being on vacation in California (thinking maybe this is the first time they have been back to California since the accident) and they witness something (don't know what yet) and they come to help or they are called in as consultants on a past case. The possibilities are endless. I'm open to ideas, suggestions or story prompts. -Anne "WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got a full season of CHUCK baby!!!!!!!! Yeeeee
Hawwwww!!!!!" I could not have said it any better, Annette, you expressed my feelings exactly. :-) Yes, NBC has order another 11 episodes of Chuck, giving us fans a 24 episode season. Far more than what I expected or even dreamed. One more note on Chuck, last Monday's episode, "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock" was the best episode of the season. The episode brought back the old formula, comedy mixed with drama and a little romance, Morgan having a chance to play the hero, great one-liners, the crazy zaniness of the Buy More, and I loved the nod to the A-Team, in addition, one of the best Casey lines ever, "You break her heart, I break your everything." Looking forward to next weeks episode and the return of Mama B. Is it Monday, yet? I’m not ashamed to acknowledge I’m lousy at math. Read statistics to me, and my eyes will glaze over and my head spins, thus I confess I don’t understand television rating and the whole numbers game. What I do know is I am sick and tired of NBC and what I feel is them purposing trying to sabotage my favorite television show Chuck.
I read earlier this week, Josh Schwartz, one of the executive producers of Chuck, tweeted that NBC isn't running promos for Chuck anymore. It seems NBC has accepted that the Chuck audience is the Chuck audience and isn't expecting anything more. Such a shame. I love Chuck! I love Chuck, because I can watch it with my boys, and there is little on television nowadays I can watch with my children. I love the ability the writers have to mix humor with drama, and the formula works well for this show. I ship Chuck and Sarah! I love the ensemble cast, Chuck's relationship with not only Sarah, but also his sister, Ellie, and his best friend, Morgan, and even his co-workers at the Buy More. I think the show has a great ensemble cast. The characters are all unique, creative, and well drawn. I love all the cultural, movie, and comic references sprinkled through-out the episodes. I LOVE John Casey, he tickles my funny bone. I like a show that does not take itself too seriously; i.e. during the premiere episode from season four, Chuck said to Morgan, "This is not the opening of a TV show. This is real life." I love the whole fish out of water spy training Chuck has gone through and where he is today; he has grow as a person and a spy. I love the guest stars and am excited about who is on tap for this upcoming season. I love this show so much I have actively participated in several save our show campaigns, including sending boxes of Nerds to NBC and eating Subway sandwiches on Monday nights, which I have NEVER done for another television series. I’m a loyal Chuck fan and according to the Neilsen Co. numbers, Chuck has an Audience Loyalty Index rating of 95.7, which means of all the people who have tuned in to see Chuck, nearly 96 percent of them have returned for every episode. Yet, why do I feel being used by NBC? I’m tired of the show always being on the bubble and them threatening not to renew, or even worse, not finishing the season. Back in May, if I am understanding the numbers correctly, Chuck ranked in the top twenty TV shows in the SocialSenseTV ratings report of social media interactions, measuring posts and reads on forums, blogs, and other social media over a three-month period, including numbers from On Demand, iTunes downloads and streaming episodes via NBC.com or Hulu. Taking those numbers into account Chuck does very well, but all the television brass seems to care about are the Neilsen ratings, which to me is an antiquated way of counting. To keep us rabid Chuck fans happy, NBC agreed to a fourth season, but a shorten 13-episode season, with the possibility of six, maybe nine more episodes, although with the numbers so far this season and with only an average of 3.4 rating, it does not look good. Yes, I am wringing my hands already over the fate of Chuck. Honesty, I could live with season four being the last season, because creatively, I don’t know how much further the writers can take the characters, without changing the characters we know and love. Fine, if they are seriously thinking of canceling after this season, but please let us have a full season to tie up loose ends. I really hope Chuck does not finish the way Scarecrow and Mrs. King ended. I NEED CLOSURE!! **Warning contains spoilers.
I’m excited about another season of Chuck, although disappointed in this half-ass 13 episode season, with the possibility of an additional nine. I really wish NBC would realize what a true gem they have in Chuck. This last weekend at San Diego ComicCon during the Chuck panel discussion, information about season four was ‘leaked’ to the fans. The first surprising revelation was Linda Hamilton has been tapped to play Mama Bartowski. I was surprised to hear she approached the producers for the role, because fans wanted her. Really? Not that I don’t think it’s a bad idea, just took me for surprise, because all the fan sites I have been on have been hoping for Lynda Carter or Kate Jackson. Kate Jackson would have been great. An 80’s icon, who played a spy on the television series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, can be kick-ass, and I think even looks a bit like Ellie. I would have loved to have seen her on the television series again. Although I am a bit disappointed, I do like Linda Hamilton. I was a Beauty and the Beast fan back in the 80's, and enjoyed her in the Terminator movies. I think she can pull it off, even though I still think Kate would have been a better choice. The second thing I read was that Morgan was going to continue spy training. Get out of here. Not sure where this is going, but I would think for more comic effect it would be better if he accidentally got involved in missions. The whole training Morgan to become a spy, I just don’t buy, but I’ll hold out final judgment until season four. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Nicole Richie will be back wrecking havoc for Chuck and Sarah. John Casey’s daughter, Alex (Mekenna Melvin) is going to be a recurring guest star. Really looking forward to seeing the father-daughter dynamics play out this season. I hope the ‘Awesomes’ make another appearance this year, I think it would be awesome to see them, especially around the holidays. Rumor has it that Ellie might be expecting a little baby ‘Awesome.’ Chuck returns September 20th with a brand new episode titled "Chuck vs. The Anniversary." I know some are not going to believe this, but I really don’t watch much television. Sure, I have my favorites, but I much rather read or write, so don’t be surprised when I say I never even heard of the television series Chuck until a friend of mine told me Bruce Boxleitner was going to have a guest role in season two, and I needed to watch the show.
So the summer before the beginning of the second season, I found the episodes on-line, watched them, and immediately fell in love with the show. Now, I’m a faithful Chuckaholic. Chuck is an action/comedy/romance hybrid television show, a lighthearted spy drama, mixed with comedy and romance. The show is witty, full of action, with a spark of romance. . . in lots of ways like Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but in reverse. You know, danger, excitement. . . intrigue. You have an average, ordinary civilian, dragged into the world of espionage by extraordinary circumstances, but instead of a package passed to him at a train station, he is passed government secrets via an opened email. Hello and Welcome. My name is Anne, and I have finally decided to start my own blog. Even if no one reads my blog, I decided I would do this for my children and for my own record. Of course, anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge Scarecrow and Mrs. King fan and most of my writing revolves around that series, but I also love other espionage stories, especially NBC's television series Chuck.
I will often write about Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but also Chuck, family history, silly things I might hear my children say, rants and raves, and random thoughts. This will probably come across more like a personal journal than a blog, but time will tell with more entries. I love directing community theatre and wish I had more opportunity to direct. I also miss performing, but have had health issues, which keep me closer to home, and to keep from getting bored I started writing. I am not a professional writer. This is a creative outlet, I know there will be errors, especially with the dreaded comma. I attended college in Monmouth, Oregon, where I earned a degree in Secondary Education, and had a double major in language arts and theatre arts. I also have a Masters of Arts degree in theatre from Western Washington University. I married my best friend eighteen years ago and we have three very active boys. Two of my boys are special needs children, having a mild form of autism, and much of my time is spent shuttling them around to their activities and doctor's appointments. I have told friends I am not a stay-at-home mom, but a stay in the car mom. Thanks for visiting my site, and I am always open to suggestions, comments, and feedback. |
"Hey. . . it's me."I live in the shadows of the Olympic Mountains in the state of Washington and I love camping, boating, kayaking, hiking, and hanging out with my husband, our three adult children, and our Bernese Mountain dog, Henry. Tags
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