I love good guys

How often in canon does an FK episode deploy vampiric hypnotism to make a character do something against his or her will or nature?

That is, we very frequently see it used to make a character forget something, or to accept an interpretation or explanation, or to not feel pain (up to even the extreme of not trying to stop a vampire character from killing). Those can perhaps be classed as negative actions, the absence or reversal of actions. What is there on the other side, positive actions, presence of action, that the hypnotized individual is not inclined to do? There are incidents of Nick using hypnotism to strongly encourage -- compel -- perpetrators to confess and reporters to back off. There's the time Nick unquestionably abused his ability to get Schanke to both drive him home and wash the Caddy. There's perhaps Natalie letting Spark into her apartment (but lots of interpretive complications there, from being a documented resister, of course, to apparently having intended to let him in had things gone as she planned). And there's Emily ceasing to write her Vampire Sagas books (presumably going on to write other books, I hope), but again this is stopping something rather than starting, and may have been something she was inclined to do, anyway, under the circumstances.

Off the top of my head, though, no episode incident of vampire hypnotism approaches compelling the action that the human/technology hypnotism of "Strings" does, where the victim commits murder under its influence. Or even "Faithful Followers," where the motivation situation is more complex than in "Strings," but fundamentally similar.

(Real-life hypnotism, both for stage and therapy, is scientifically controversial, a quick glance at Wikipedia confirms. Yet it seems generally uncontroversial to say that whatever else it is, there is heightened suggestibility, but not too heightened. That is, a cooperative patient and therapist together may accomplish something, but there's zero documented proof of military, intelligence, or criminal application in real life to date.)

Back in September, sholio dove into a certain meme about how people (real and fictional) may habitually express and accept love (all kinds) in very different ways. For example: touch, words, deeds, gifts, time, etc. (The meme originator also went over how not all "love languages" are compatible for all people, leading to mistranslations, as it were, and also noting that while many individuals give and accept love in the same language, not all do.)

Sholio wrote that it's "an interesting tool to have in your characterization toolbox, especially for characters who come down really hard in one category or another... or absolutely suck at certain categories."

Ever since, I've wanted to try this paradigm on my favorite fandoms. Yet FK could be the worst fit for this. A fictional character with a single creator, or a solid "story bible," could well be as consistent as — or more than! — a real person. But FK? Different writers, directors, editors, networks? Seasonal reality adjustments? No more of a show "bible" than the opening-credits voice-over? Not to mention the differences in acceptable interactions and their interpretations across eras and around the world? Eeek.

Let's try anyway. :-D

( Nick: Touch )
( Natalie: Time )
( Schanke: Gifts & Deeds )
( Janette: Deeds )
( Lacroix: Words )
( The 3rd-Season Characters: Hard to Say )

I've left off the Captains, and many other characters. What are your readings of them? And what do you think of my constructions for the main characters — do you have telling examples I missed that would support or redirect...?

Please don't misinterpret this post as inviting contemporary politics to my fannish blog. This post is about FK.

That said, I've been wanting to share with you that FK's difficult episode "Dead Issue" had been a comfort to me in the misogynist ick circa the latter two US presidential debates. Maybe it can offer something similar to you, if you need it?

Few women don't have something buried raised by that indefensible stupidity and its defense. I found that certain swells of anxiety and sadness subsided when I remembered "Dead Issue," and thought on what Nick knows, and learns, and remembers. It's just a story, of course, but such reach and resonance in contextualizing and positioning reality is part of why and how we love stories, and why and how we love FK.

"Dead Issue" and its difficulties are one of the happy reasons that I've never been remotely able to reconcile to the fourth of Ophelia5's "Flowers" stories (the series that starts with "Physical Therapy," probably FKdom's most famous NC-17 story). Ophelia5 was such an outstanding writer that she could make feel natural and compelling many things from which I'd otherwise recoil, but that? No. Not. That.

Just remember "Dead Issue." In the flashbacks, Nick is but an observer of Ilsa's predicament. By the present, he is metaphorically Lynn, or she him; he's been there, too.

"Dead Air" is often remembered more for its guest stars than its content. But the episode showcases certain elements of investigative technology of the day. It has first-season's wry humor. And it is rich in thematic reflections on attachment and betrayal, fidelity and independence, guilt and forgiveness, and the ability to start over.

Recap: This is the episode in which an escapee from a psychiatric hospital twice, while on the air with a radio call-in show, murders women because of unresolved issues with his mother. In flashbacks, Lacroix tortures and murders a man, with dialogue implying unresolved issues with his father. Schanke discovers the perpetrator in the hospital's files; Nick saves the radio host. In the end, the radio host leaves what she sees as degrading entertainment and returns to clinical practice.

( some thoughts on DA )

What do you think?

Next: S1E11 "Hunters" (one of the few episodes with no standard abbreviation on ForKni-L)

"Cherry Blossoms" is another of early FK's many excellent episodes, and one of overall FK's very few episodes with genuine "ripped from the headlines" elements. It achieves an outstanding balance and mix of police and vampire storytelling components. It keeps a commanding rein on a number of dynamic themes. And it hands out character insights and banter with deceptive ease.

Recap: This is the episode in which one witness escapes a murder attempt by Hong Kong mobsters. Badly wounded, the witness finds refuge in a warehouse under the eye of an elderly acupuncturist. Nick finds the witness and her protector while Schanke escorts a Chinese-speaking immigration agent. Fearing a mole, Nick secretly brings Natalie to help treat the witness. The elderly acupuncturist misremembers Nick as his mother's murderer, and plans to execute Nick once the witness is safe. Janette helps the acupuncturist recover his true memory of Lacroix as the killer; he lets Nick go. In the end, Natalie happens to enter Nick's loft just as Nick and Janette are in each other's arms.

( some thoughts on CB )

What do you think?

Next week: S1E09: "I Will Repay" (IWR)