Burn Notice, and other stories

[osprey_archer]

DANIEL JACKSON IS ON BURN NOTICE. He is not the least bit Daniel Jackson like, not even like the Daniel Jackson in that episode where he had a vision of Evil!Daniel, who had uploaded the accumulated knowledge of the Goa’uld into his brain and instantaneously became morally corrupted. I’m impressed by his acting skills.

Also, the opening to Burn Notice now describes Sam as someone who “used to inform on [Michael] to the FBI,” instead is someone who “is informing.” The Dream Team will remain intact! Yay!

***

I've been skimming through Trickster’s Choice in the hopes that this will stimulate my Aly/Taybur fic. As there is no Taybur until Trickster’s Queen (which I don’t own), this isn’t quite working.

As there is no Taybur to hold my attention, I've been wondering how Alanna and George named their children. Surely, George lost friends and family members while he was growing up rough in the Lower City of Corus. Wouldn’t he want to commemorate them? But the kids are named Thom and Alianne and Alan: two named after Alanna, and one after her brother.

Alanna has flaws but raging Roger-style narcissism doesn’t seem to be one of them, so megalomania can’t explain the children’s names. My theory is that everyone George might have wanted to commemorate was named the Tortallan equivalent of Billy Bob Joe and Mayella—lower-class names.

I like the idea of lower-class Tortallan names. It explains the total lack of overlap between the names in Terrier and the other Tortall books, which otherwise seems unlikely. Names usually have staying power.

Besides, George probably wouldn’t want to rub it in to the conservative families that Jon gave a fief to a guy who’s basically a guttersnipe mafia don. I can hardly believe Jon got away with this--I’m sure there were many fulminations in the gap between the Alanna and Daine books, because every conservative and/or law-abiding noble (or, for that matter, law-abiding citizen or lesser criminal who got in trouble for anything) must have been royally pissed.

I bet Aly would have had trouble getting married if she stayed in Tortall. In the eyes of half the kingdom she’s the daughter of Mr. Jump-up Gutter-scum and his unnatural warrior-woman; and that half of the kingdom would probably scorn whichever family sacrificed a child in matrimony to the impure, ill-bred Pirate’s Swoop clan.

And just to show how right they were about her lack of breeding, Aly up and married a crow. Her children aren’t even entirely human. And that, quoth the conservative knights, is what happens when you let guttersnipes into the peerage. Let your daughters marry commoners, and they'll move right on to bestiality.

Comments

[silksieve.livejournal.com]

Let your daughters marry commoners, and they'll move right on to bestiality.

OMGGG I am laughing so hard right now. If I were graphics-talented I would so be slapping this up on an icon.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

The words, not a visual aid to them, right? :p

[silksieve.livejournal.com]

I think you would be correct about that. :D

[troublems03.livejournal.com]

Bahahaha. This post totally made my day. Though, personally, I am freaked out by Aly/Nawat - it's wrong on so many levels. Just seeing the name "Taybur" in a post made me grin.

Any inspiration for the fic yet?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Taybur's found out that Aly is Alianne of Pirate's Swoop. (The story is set just after Dunevon dies, so it's not like anyone knows this.)

I know George was trying to keep her disappearance a secret, but really, he lives in a house full of servants, and servants talk. I bet anyone who is anyone in the spying world knows that George is the head spy of Tortall, and they would be very interested in her disappearance.

Not quite sure what he plans to do with this knowledge, though.

[troublems03.livejournal.com]

Perhaps he plans to use the knowledge as some sort of *cough* leverage?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think he thinks that she's somehow responsible for Dunevon's death--like she called on her parents' god helpers to drown him, so she could throw the Copper Islands into chaos, because she's actually an agent for Tortall.

What I really need is a good reason why he isn't going to just kill her; it's the logical thing to do if he thinks she's a Tortallan agent. :/

[visualthinker11.livejournal.com]

god, now i wish i had read tricker's choice/queen more recently. i haven't picked them up in atleast a year....

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Eh. They aren't really that good--they have a few good characters and a good setting and otherwise are so-so or worse.

[visualthinker11.livejournal.com]

I think I enjoyed Choice better than Queen... regardless I would still like to understand some of the related coversation... : P

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

Not a big fan of Aly/Nawat - weird and not in a good way.

Maybe if she stayed in Tortall she would have married for political reasons, or married a foreigner for spying reasons. That last one makes me feel like some crack!fic is called for...

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think TP designed Nawat as the Love Interest and failed to notice that he didn't quite work, and Taybur was a much better (or at least more interesting, given that Aly/Taybur would be a difficult relationship) match.

Would Aly be spying on this foreigner she married, or would she be marrying a foreign spy so they could form the awesome spy duo of awesomeness?

For some reason I'm imagining Aly/James Bond now. Or, better--Aly/Michael Weston from Burn Notice. Except that would break up Michael and Fi.

Besides, Aly might not be woman enough to deal with Michael.

[anait.livejournal.com]

Michael Shanks! <3
I loved Burn Notice this week. Bruce Campbell was especially great, and Michael Shanks was wonderfully bitchy and irritating:

VICTOR: 'I don't like your tactics!'
MICHAEL: 'Well, I don't like your whining.'

I think he must be overjoyed to be playing a new character. He's probably terrified to take any sort of job beyond a recurring extra, in case (horrors!) it turns into a 10-year run.

I bet Aly would have had trouble getting married if she stayed in Tortall.
Yes. Also Alan and Thom junior, although there seems to be some Alan/Lianne fic around.

And that, quoth the conservative knights, is what happens when you let guttersnipes into the peerage. Let your daughters marry commoners, and they'll move right on to bestiality.
Oh, hah!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that playing the insanely beloved Daniel Jackson was a scarring, scarring experience for Michael Shanks. Anything to stay away from that kind of gig again!

Even when he's playing a psychopath, though, his charisma comes through.

As for Alan/Lianne--clearly, their love is so forbidden, and they have to hide it from the conservatives who want Lianne to marry someone with a decent bloodline, and it's angsty.

Actually, as long as the author didn't pile on the angst too heavily, that might make a really good story.

I wonder why Alan gets so much more fic-love than Thom junior. Alan has a fanon OTP, while poor Thom just languishes in the background...

[anait.livejournal.com]

Not angsty, no. It's May and a friend of hers who write it, and it's generally very sweet. But it could be angsty, if you went the forbidden love route.

Thom junior gets painted as Thom Sr.-lite. A little more well adjusted, but basically the same (I'm pretty sure this is canon). He definitely deserves more fic and an OTP of his own.

I am so excited for this Aly/Taybur of yours!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Thom does need an OTP. There aren't many girls of his generation in the books, aside from the princesses (and his brother already has a princess so that would be so derivative) but as he's Thom Sr.-lite a slash OTP is fine.

Thom/Owen? Thom/Cleon? Thom/Neal? (well, they could have met at university and had a fling.)

No, no, I've got it. Thom/Joren.

The fact that Joren is dead just makes the Thom Sr. parallels more obvious, although I don't think Joren would have the willpower to overpower Thom. Compared to Roger, Joren is a villian lite.