From the inthewildwood comm: A Commentfic Meme

[valiha]

I want to read about awesome women, dammit!

Comments

[dj-aida.livejournal.com]

Here's BobbyHobbes!:

With the only man who could have removed the Gland (his brother) dead, and a secretive government operation known only as The Agency his only source of Counteragent, Darien became a reluctant secret agent. Partnered with cynical ex-FBI man Bobby Hobbes, answering to The Official at the "Department of Fish and Game", and relying on the Keeper for his doses of counteragent, his cases would see him encounter the villainous Chrysalis organisation; Catevari, another experimental agent whose touch was deadly poison; Allianora, a Chrysalis operative who could drown men with a kiss; China's invisible woman; and of course, the evil Arnaud De Fehrne. However, some of Darien's most interesting cases included him discovering two rather interesting details about the Quicksilver gland; namely, where the gland had been before, and where the Quicksilver had come from."

And Allianora, aka Aquamama:

There's much banter between the characters, coming from both good writing and a lot of improv by the two actors. At first, BobbyHobbes! resents Fawkes' higher pay grade, and is not impressed by his ability to turn invisible, but they soon become good friends who would do anything for each other. Hobbes takes Fawkes under his wing, and teaches him about the undercover world ("Was I in Beirut? I was Beirut!"). He carries a torch for the Keeper (Terry Greer from "Safecracker", hee!), but since they work together, he won't make a move. ("BobbyHobbes! doesn't fish off the Company's pier, my friend.") There's nothing in the world Darien wants more than to get the gland out of his head, which has a 90% chance of killing him, and even if it weren't that dangerous, The Official isn't keen on letting him go. There's a lot of angst all around (Darien: "I believe the glass is half full. Unfortunately, it's filled with blood."), as Darien gets extremely violent when under the influence of Quicksilver Madness and remembers everything once he comes out of it.

Most of the hate against Allianora is justified by saying that her ability is ridiculous: she is basically an assassin for a terrorist organization, and was surgically altered to breathe under water and hold large quantities of it in her stomach, using it to drown men she kisses. She was drawn as an ambiguous character, sometimes foiling Darien's plans, sometimes helping him, and she saved his life on two occasions. She got recruited in a hospital, where she was dying of lung cancer. Once Chrysalis had her, there was no way to walk away ("You know, you once asked me if I regretted it, what they did to me... I don’t need to bond with you, okay? We already did that when they cut us open and they took out the part that makes us normal."). The writer who mostly wrote her character has publicly stated he hated her, which, WTF?? Also, I just realized the character is played by a woman of color, so that may have had something to do with the hate. I don't know, since living where I live I'm not exposed to questions of race.

[slavelabour.livejournal.com]

You know, I recognise both of these actors! I'm a total sucker for old-school comic book type heroes and the IM has such interesting history to him but this is a total reboot, obviously. I like what they did with the chemicals and the madness (and his need for a Counteragent). It's somewhat similar to something in one of my video games (part of the Metal Gear series) how what makes you stronger WILL kill you, eventually. Tragic but dramatic, too. Bobby Hobbes is reminding me of Stark from Farscape (who was also paired with Crichton but Crichton/Aeryn were one of my big time ships), what with the crazy but hardcore friendship. :)

I have to say that Allianora is GORGEOUS. So she's a siren with crazy abilities and this is somehow less viable than the IMan's? She's as much a victim of what is going on as Darien, isn't she? If she chooses strength over the bitching and moaning and endless why me, well heck, I love her just for that, lol. But serious WTF about the creator who hates her?! How can anyone create a character they hate? So is the fandom based mostly here in America or the UK?

[dj-aida.livejournal.com]

Watching Vincent Ventresca go through the whole range of emotion is just amazing, and Paul Ben-Victor is just as good. If you ever find yourself with some extra time on your hands, I'd recommend getting this and spending 42 wonderful episodes with The Agency.

Yes, she is, and I love her muchly. She's known as the Mermaid, a.k.a. Aquamama. And, yes indeed, WTF at the writer. He wanted to create a character with vampiric powers, but apparently TPTB, didn't want to go that route; they wanted a beautiful woman instead. Hee, Fawkes is often all "Why me?" :) But I love him too! ♥ Go and find the show! Wait no more! Not seeing is believing!

The show is long gone, it was on in 2000, I think, and I wasn't involved with the fandom then. I came in when it was all over, but the virtual season was going strong. There were fans from all over the world. It seems to have died out, but every once in a while I hear some news about the fans trying to get some sort of a reunion film going.