More Oz/Tin Man meta (yes, yes, I know!)

[jedibuttercup]

First, a fic rec: this made me melt, proof that you can write amazing romance fic without any more skin touching than a simple kiss to the hand. It's "Tin Man", Cain/DG: Something to Guide You. I think it was written before the miniseries actually aired, due to the complete non-mentioning of the rest of D.G.'s family and a couple of descriptive details that aren't precisely accurate, but it otherwise fits very neatly into the continuum of the Oz/Tin Man universe.

Is it really all that sad of me to love the Tin Man universe so much? I'd say it's a product of my complete Oz-fangirliness when I was in single digits, but most of the other Serious Oz Fans I've seen commenting on the miniseries are all, "It was complete and utter crap! Though somewhat fun." And I'm all, Bwa? Dude, the original Oz books were an American fairy tale; different logic rules apply to fairy tales and their adaptations. Of course the CGI's going to be a little silly in places, the dialogue's going to be a little stilted, and the backstory isn't going to be fully explored. If it were totally realistic, I would have been totally turned off.

I also kind of liked the fact that it was a "five hundred years later" heavily paralleled sequel to the original Oz story, rather than a straight remake. It gives tons of room for viewers' imagination to play, and isn't that what the original fairy tale/storytelling genre was all about? Making people use their noggins? People are so lazy these days, it's like they chop things up into "Srz Bznz" or else "fun", and the latter is not supposed to make you think, unless you're a Crazy Obsessed Ficwriting Fan. Why must all the edges of the map be filled in?

I also want to smack the meta-writer who called Neal McDonough a poor substitute for Nathan Fillion, because "obviously" the Cain character was built on Malcolm Reynolds. And the replier who said it was just as well they didn't use Nathan, because "he has enough train wrecks on his record." Ahem. I adore Nathan Fillion. And there are certain similarities: hello, heart-wounded gunslinger. But Mal has far too many authority issues to fit into the O.Z. universe; while he can do the fierce protector, it's not what he is, unlike Cain, who is instinctively the bodyguard type despite having been in the rebellion. It's like-- I don't know, Jack Sparrow vs. Commodore Norrington, if Sparrow had a wee bit more moral fiber and Norrington had been imprisoned and forced to watch his failures over and over again instead of run through.

Besides, Neal McDonough is not anybody's poor substitute anything. And? Best-watched SciFi miniseries ever. Hardly a train-wreck, yo.
~

Comments

[avamclean.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was a lovely story. Thank you for sharing the link.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

I didn't think it was crap! I just missed Ozma, like I always do. ;-)

And where would anyone get the idea that Cain was based on Mal? *confused* They're completely different--the only big thing *I* noticed they have in common is a fondness for long coats, and if you're going to go down that road why not accuse him of being a rip-off of Jack Harkness while you're at it? *rolls eyes*

I enjoyed the miniseries. If they turn it into a full blown series, like they've done with some of their other miniseries, I would like them to at least *touch* on some of the later books at some point, but as it stood it was only based on the first one so it made sense that they wouldn't.

[fufumira.livejournal.com]

So much love for this universe and actually, for that story. In my house we all got together and watched the mini together, and everyone loved it unequivocally. And now I've spent most of last week and this, playing beta to my suddenly reinspired roomie for her Tinman fic. Watching the fic explosion in this fandom has been sort of awe inspiring.

/Glee