Chocolate Box Reveals
Feb. 21st, 2019 07:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerChocolate Box reveals have come! I wrote one fic, Take the T-Bird Away, which is a Henry’s-eye-view on Shawn & Gus’s friendship in the show Psych. As Henry drives pell-mell across town to save Shawn & Gus from imminent-yet-ridiculous peril, he composes letters in his head to Gus’s parents just in case he needs to explain how one of Shawn’s boneheaded schemes led to Gus’s death.
As you can imagine, Henry has composed many such potential letters in his life, probably starting when Shawn & Gus were about eight.
It’s been years since I’ve watched Psych, so I rewatched some of my favorite episodes in preparation for writing the fic, and remembered just how much I enjoyed the show - nothing has quite taken its zany mystery-solving place in the years since it went off the air. I even found the show’s persistent hammering of Shawn/Juliet weirdly nostalgic, possibly because I’ve had years to grow resigned to that ship’s inevitable sailing, although the Psych ship of my heart will always be Juliet/April MacArthur, the adorable marine biologist who only appeared in one episode, “Six Feet Under the Sea,” because Psych was never that great at female characters and probably saw no point in giving Juliet a buddy, as evidenced by the fact that actually April and Juliet only have one conversation, which is mostly about Shawn.
Although there is an earlier scene where Juliet introduces April to the chief of police with the impassioned declaration that “They [the marine biologists at the aquarium] like her, and so do I. We shouldn’t be arresting her, we should be helping her!” - while April gazes at her in admiration. So I didn’t just make the ship up of whole cloth.
(I listened to the DVD commentary on this episode and apparently the two actresses got on like a house on fire, which may be why they’re so shippable despite having so little interaction in the episode.)
But I think basically I’ve just gotten better at finding shows that do have female characters who interact on a regular basis, which means that when I watch Psych I find it less frustrating that it doesn’t offer me that - because I can get it in other shows - and therefore can enjoy more of what Psych does have, which is ridiculous mysteries, best friend bickering, and general hilarity. And I think I managed to capture a bit of that in my fic.
As you can imagine, Henry has composed many such potential letters in his life, probably starting when Shawn & Gus were about eight.
It’s been years since I’ve watched Psych, so I rewatched some of my favorite episodes in preparation for writing the fic, and remembered just how much I enjoyed the show - nothing has quite taken its zany mystery-solving place in the years since it went off the air. I even found the show’s persistent hammering of Shawn/Juliet weirdly nostalgic, possibly because I’ve had years to grow resigned to that ship’s inevitable sailing, although the Psych ship of my heart will always be Juliet/April MacArthur, the adorable marine biologist who only appeared in one episode, “Six Feet Under the Sea,” because Psych was never that great at female characters and probably saw no point in giving Juliet a buddy, as evidenced by the fact that actually April and Juliet only have one conversation, which is mostly about Shawn.
Although there is an earlier scene where Juliet introduces April to the chief of police with the impassioned declaration that “They [the marine biologists at the aquarium] like her, and so do I. We shouldn’t be arresting her, we should be helping her!” - while April gazes at her in admiration. So I didn’t just make the ship up of whole cloth.
(I listened to the DVD commentary on this episode and apparently the two actresses got on like a house on fire, which may be why they’re so shippable despite having so little interaction in the episode.)
But I think basically I’ve just gotten better at finding shows that do have female characters who interact on a regular basis, which means that when I watch Psych I find it less frustrating that it doesn’t offer me that - because I can get it in other shows - and therefore can enjoy more of what Psych does have, which is ridiculous mysteries, best friend bickering, and general hilarity. And I think I managed to capture a bit of that in my fic.
