vanillalime

Title: Secret Meetings
Main Characters: Victoria Beecher, Swanny, Gaetano Cincetta
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,808
Summary: With the help of a friend, Toby's mother delivers the payment to Pancamo's hitman hired to kill Hank Schillinger.
Notes: Both Swanny (Harrison Beecher's private investigator) and Gaetano Cincetta (Pancamo's hitman) are named-but-never-seen, canon characters from Oz. This story takes place in the same universe as the Angus Beecher story I wrote for the most recent oz_magi (Putting the Pieces Together), but it can also stand on its own. Thanks to drsquidlove for the original prompt that inspired the stories.
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( Secret Meetings )

Just an update on where my head is at these days.

1. Oz

Yeah, my love for this show isn’t going away any time soon. I envision myself participating in Oz Magi 2032, even if I have to fulfill my own wish. Heh.

The current Oz drabble tree reminded me that the very first Oz fic I wrote was for a drabble tree, back in February 2013. So this month is my 5-year anniversary of writing Oz fic! In some ways, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing in the fandom for that long. But on the other hand, when I go back and look at all the things I’ve written, there’s actually quite a lot there. Which leads me to…

What I really want to do this year is stretch myself and try writing a long fic. (Although I said the same thing last year, too, and the farthest I got was opening a document and giving it a title, LOL.) I’m too chicken to sign up for a big bang, but I’ve been poking around the 1_million_words comm that cmk418 has mentioned, and it might help by giving me the push I need. For a while now, I’ve had three different ideas for a long Oz story, and I’ve pretty much settled on which one I want to write. I have no idea how long it actually might be, but I always seriously underestimate my stories’ lengths (generally, they turn out twice as long as I think they’ll be when I start). So if I’m thinking the story is going to be long (over 10k? 15k maybe?), chances are it’ll be long.

Unfortunately, though, I’m a slooooow writer, and I constantly edit and re-edit (which is absolutely necessary because I’m not good enough to get anything right the first time, or even the first dozen times). In addition, I find it difficult and counter-productive to work on more than one story at a time, and I won’t do WIPs, either. So if I do this, it would likely be the only thing I write this year, and I’m not thrilled about the idea of that, especially if it turns out to be a big fail and I never even finish it.

Wow, it kind of sounds like I’m trying to talk myself out of the whole thing, doesn’t it? :|

Also, oz_daily. *sigh* I don’t want the comm to die, but after nearly 3 years, my LJ scrapbook is at 90% capacity, and I’ve sort of lost my enthusiasm for doing it. The thing that really set me off was Apple’s latest iOS update, which now prohibits me from taking screencaps from HBO (or Amazon or Netflix or whatever), which pisses me off to no end. If I want to take a screencap now, I have to use my old original iPad which is still on an earlier iOS. But that thing is agonizingly slow and doesn’t create very good quality caps. In addition, the traffic here at LJ isn’t what it used to be either, obviously, and at this point I don’t know how many peeps were even seeing the pics I was posting. If I bring it back, I think it’ll just be on a weekly basis, or maybe just do occasional themes, because those were always fun.


2. Homicide: Life on the Street

I got the DVDs for Christmas, and I just finished Season 1. (Yes, I’m the slowest binge-watcher in the world. Actually, I'm not even "binging," I'm just "watching.")

The show’s really good! I particularly love Melissa Leo’s character and, in a surprise, Daniel Baldwin’s. And Ned Beatty, as always, is just a delight. (I’m still not good with the character names.) The highlight was probably the classic "Three Men and Adena" episode, for which Tom Fontana won his third writing Emmy.

I get a little thrill whenever an Ozzie makes an appearance on the show. Lee appeared in five S1 episodes (albeit briefly, in some cases). He seemed so sweet and wholesome and YOUNG (I guess he would’ve been about 27?). I can see why all those casting agents back then wanted to cast him in boy-next-door roles, because he certainly fit the bill:


(credit: leetergesen.com)

Lee was incredibly moving in his scenes after his character has been shot. Edie Falco was in a few eps as his wife, as well as Sean Whitesell (Donald Groves), who played a doctor. (I think there was even a scene with the three of them together.) Luis Guzman also guest-starred in one ep, and Zeljko Ivanek has a recurring role as a prosecutor.

In summary, S1 Ozzie count: 5

Interestingly, the bi-annual New York PaleyFest, which hosted the Oz reunion last fall, just announced last week that they they are holding a Homicide reunion in May. I guess Fontana enjoyed himself so much at the Oz reunion, he wanted to do something again. ;)

Now, onto Season 2! It’s a truncated season of only 4 episodes, so I should be able to get through them a little quicker. :D


3. Stranger Things

I watched Season 1 in the fall and finished Season 2 a few weeks ago. I really liked Season 1 and LOVED Season 2.

I’ve always been a sucker for coming-of-age mystery stories (supernatural or not), especially if they’re set during an earlier time period—Stand By Me, IT (the 90s miniseries, anyway, I still haven't see last summer’s movie), Super 8, even Now and Then (a not-so-good, all-female Stand By Me rip-off).

Heck, when I think about it, To Kill a Mockingbird fits the category, too.

Anyway, I loved this show so much, I was actually feeling *fannish* about it, a feeling I haven't experienced since watching Oz. I’m not interested at all in shipping anyone from it, but I love so many of the general/platonic relationships within the show. I was seriously impressed by the acting abilities of all the kids, but my favorite character by far was Dustin. The actor has such great comedic timing. I also floved the whole redemption arc of the teenaged Steve character that began at the end of S1 and continued through S2. So then, imagine my excitement when the show developed a Dustin-Steve subplot in S2 that had this delightful "little brother-big brother" dynamic to it.

I was actually thinking of writing fic for the show, and I had an idea for a nice, short (HA!) Dustin-Steve missing scene story that would’ve been easy to write, something that I thought would be a good way to get my feet wet in a new fandom. Then I checked AO3, and I saw that there were already three versions of my missing scene fic written by three other people! Within the last month! Heh. That’s when I realized how big the fandom was and how many people were writing fic for the show. Some of which was very good, but much of it… not. There also seems to be a lot of fanfic with all kinds of weird out-of-character and/or underage pairings (a by-product of having such a large/young cast, I guess). Anyway, at that point, I got scared away and scurried back to the safe confines of Oz. Maybe I’ll try again later, but I’m not sure big fandoms are for me. LOL

Title: One of Us
Main Characters: Chris Keller, Vern Schillinger, Chucky Pancamo
Rating: PG-13 (mild language and images of violence)
Word Count: 1,700
Creature Prompt: Clown
Summary: Circus AU. After Pancamo disrespects Bonnie, Chris Keller makes him pay the price. But then Chris must pay a price, too.
Notes: Written for the 2017 Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon. The artwork prompt used for the story is included within the text.
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( One of Us )

SO!

As you may remember, this summer I had planned to see Lee (& Dean & Tom) perform in a stage reading of Tom's play at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, alongside some other Lee Peeps. But then, at essentially the last minute, Lee had to drop out of the event, LeeFest was canceled, and I was basically devastated.

But then! Last month, the Paley Center for Media announced that they were going to hold an Oz reunion! With Lee & Dean & Tom! And Terry & Edie & Eamonn & muMs! A panel discussion and audience Q&A! In New York City! Which is a place that neither me nor my husband have ever been to and always wanted to go!

Sounds like fate, amiright?

So, tomorrow morning, my husband and I are flying to NYC for a fun-filled, touristy weekend, culminating in the PalyeFest Oz reunion on Sunday evening. Also attending the PaleyFest event are tobyfan, shabby86, and miltil (the same group of women who had planned to attend WTF), as well as a fifth woman who's attended LeeFests in previous years (discreetmadchen?). And then, if things go according to plan (which they don't always do, mind you, so I will try to keep calm until it actually, physically happens), we'll be hanging out with Lee afterwards.

YOU GUYS I'M GOING TO MEET LEE TERGESEN ♥

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

(so much for keeping calm)

I'll try to take lots of pictures, and take lots of notes, and not make a fool of myself, because this reunion thing by itself should be totally awesome, regardless of what happens afterwards.

ZOMG

As I mentioned already on oz_rapsheet...

To commemorate the 20th anniversay of Oz, Yahoo TV compiled an "oral history" about the premiere using interviews with Tom Fontana, Lee Tergesen, Dean Winters, and several other cast & crew members and HBO personnel. It is VERY long, but EXTREMELY interesting. For example, did you know that Jennifer Grey played Dr. Nathan in the original presentation to HBO? And that Mos Def played Augustus Hill? And that HBO had reservations about Lee as Beecher(!)? And that it was Lee's idea to perform The Last Duet with JK in the "Variety" episode?

I strongly recommend checking the whole thing out, because it's pretty fascinating. Here's the link again:

Return to ‘Oz’: An Oral History of the Pioneering Prison Drama

One of the quotes that really caught my eye was this one from Tom Fontana:

Fontana: I have to say, over the course of the series, there was only really one actor who lied to me and said he would do whatever I asked him, and then when it came time he said, “No, I’m not going to do it.” But he wasn’t a regular and I was able to kill him off fairly quick. Let them guess who that was!

Now, I'm one who generally takes internet gossip with a big ol' grain of salt, but when I read that, I immediately remembered something that I'd seen on Tumblr, posted about a year ago by an Oz fan. (I don't really know her, but she follows me on Tumblr and Twitter and "likes" some of my stuff.) And, I gotta say, 2+2 pretty much equals 4 here:



How the hell can someone not want to kiss Lee Tergesen? Moron.

Title: The Traffic Warrior
Rating: PG (mild language)
Word Count: 1,248
Summary: Oz staff members carpool together!
Prompt: "We need to fight the traffic."
Note: Written for the 2017 Oziversary Fest at oz_wishing_well.


( The Traffic Warrior )

I have a long, rambling tale to tell! It's a little exciting, even if the ending is rather anti-climactic.

Using the Wayback Machine, I've been poking around HBO's old official Oz website, which includes their old fan message boards. The whole experience has been frustrating at times, probably because I have a limited understanding of how Wayback really "works" (some of the website's pages were captured, while others weren't; some of the captured links work, but many don't, etc.).

BUT I was able decipher from several posts at the message board that APPARENTLY never-before-seen (not legally, anyway) additonal episodes of Oz exist! The details are still murky on how they came about, but I can explain the gist of it. (It's been like trying to put together a puzzle when you only have a handful of pieces.)

These so-called lost episodes of Oz can be divided into two distinct categories: (1) episodes made from additional footage that was created during the course of the show (!), and (2) at least four episodes of a Season 7 that was filmed after Season 6 had aired (!!!).

( The Story Behind Season 7 )
( The Story Behind Fontana's Additional Footage )

Title: Living the American Dream
Main Characters: Sean Murphy, Tim McManus, James Devlin
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for language and references to offensive stereotypes
Word Count: 1,565
Summary: A slightly cracky story in which Sean receives a much-deserved award. Set in present day.
Note: Written for the Murphy Appreciation Month fest at oz_wishing_well.
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( Living the American Dream )

I'm so excited for oz_magi! The quality of work in this fandom is just amazing, for both stories and art, especially considering how small we are. I hope this fest helps keep this fandom going for many more years to come!

On a (slightly amusing) related note... I think probably like everyone, I try to guess at who wrote what before the reveals, and I'm always terrible at it. Even if I've read every bit of Oz fic that a participant has written, I usually still have problems identifying that author. On the other hand, I'm usually pretty good at identifying who made what wish. I think the fandom is small enough so that I've kind of been able to zero in on who has what particular area/character/pairing/trope of interest.

This year, so far, I've gotten every wisher wrong. Every. Single. One. (Except for myself, of course.)

I guess I don't know y'all as well as I thought. Ha!

ALSO, I don't usually share personal stuff, but... say hello to the newest member of my family! :-)



We've named him Indy (as in Indiana Jones), which replaces his rather unimaginative birth name of B-1 (short for Black Cat Number 1, given to him to distinguish him from his litter-mates). He's 18 months old, and he's adorable. He still has a lot of playful kitten in him, even though he is BIG. He barely fits in my lap. And, boy, is he heavy, even if he doesn't look it at first (must be the slimming effect of all that black fur).

Our most recent cat died nearly 3 years ago, just a couple of months shy of his 20th birthday, which was a very traumatic experience for everyone involved, even though he'd obviously led a full life. And I've been very resistant to getting another cat because of FEELS, but I was talked into it, and I'm glad I was. Indy's a total sweetheart. ♥

Something a little different for today's pentultimate advent post: a bit of meta discussing my absolute favorite moment in all of Oz.

Perhaps surprisingly, it has nothing to do with Beecher/Keller. It's the moment in the season 2 episode "Animal Farm" when all the different groups of inmates join together to donate money to Rebadow so that his dying grandson can go to Disney World. Tumblr's ryan-oreily made a wonderful gifset of the sequence of scenes that make up the moment, which can be seen HERE. This is a screencap of it:



I'm generally a feel-good kind of person (which is kind of ironic, given the nature of this show), and I found it incredibly touching that these hardened criminals could show so much compassion, that they still possessed the basic decency to do something so kind.

However, the first time I watched it, it was also with growing apprehension, because this was Oz. I kept waiting for something horrible to happen, for someone to rob Rebadow, or kill him, or for him to lose the money somehow. And then, sure enough, Wangler proposes to Adebisi that they steal the money, and I thought, "Here we go..."

BUT THEN

Adebisi (ADEBISI!! of all people) rejects Wangler's plan, explaining:



And THAT is when I lost it, and it made me realize how incredible this show was and how amazing its characters were. I loved how Fontana showed that someone as despicable as Adebisi could still have a conscience and a sense of humanity. That all the people in Oz, as horrible as they might be, were still people at heart.

This moment has always reminded me, in a roundabout way, of my favorite passage in "A Christmas Carol," when Scrooge's nephew says,

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round... as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!

I think, given recent political events, it is apparent that a lot of people still need to learn the lesson of this passage. I live in hope that the seasonal atmosphere of Christmas at least gives them pause to consider its message.