Round 8 Hour 42

[studyofrunning.livejournal.com]

If I had thought to make random LOST references earlier, the last one would go here.

Also, yes, fic and stuff. I mean, you could talk about that. If you wanted to.

Comments

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

... I don't know LOST from a hole in the wall, but I thought 42 was a HHGTTG thing. (Mai lacks of geeky knowledge, let me show you dem...)

I have been teaching my sister how to spin. She's improbably good at it - as in, nobody but nobody makes yarn that nice without practicing a few weeks first. OTOH, this is the sister who built me a model TARDIS out of kleenex boxes and aluminum foil; she's kind of magic. ;-)

I have also been reading up on MacGyver backstory on Wikipedia. Which is research for this crossover thing. But what I really need to do is a major rewatch, and I honestly don't feel like starting that right now.

I think I need another nap. o.O

[lullabymoon]

I've got some words down but I'm struggling so I think it's time for a break. Plus my dinner is on it's way. :D

[lullabymoon]

That's the only explanation. Must be Magic. :D

Naps are good. *nods*

[studyofrunning.livejournal.com]

It is, but the Guide isn't two weeks away from a finale right now. LOST has these creepy cursed numbers that keep showing up: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. The numbers themselves were actually scary at one point.

Your sister sounds awesome.

You could break your rewatch down into a series of minor rewatches.

G'night, I guess?

[studyofrunning.livejournal.com]

Hurray for dinner! And words. And hey, sometimes taking a break is the best thing to do.

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

Good night. It's only half past one here, so I may be back for the finish... but for now, good night. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

[lolmac]

Remember, you also have an eager accomplice who's always willing to answer MacGyver questions. And I'm highly motivated to assist in this crossover!

[lolmac]

I am awake. I need coffee. I checked my computer and confirmed that I really did write stuff last night, so it wasn't a dream. Yay!

[studyofrunning.livejournal.com]

Oh, see, I dreamed that I had a really fun job and now you're just making me all sad. :P But still, yay fic & coffee!

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't want to bother you, but...

Basically I'm having trouble figuring out: 1) what the heck Mac thought about the Cold War on the show (all I've got is that S1 seemed to consist entirely of helping scientists defect, with little or no moralizing about why) and 2) how his attitudes would have differed 20 years before.

So, long story short, I can't remember which eps are heaviest on Cold War political stuff, or which ones have the most of "what Harry taught me about people and life in general". Both of which I need to review. Would you mind putting together a bit of a list for me?

[lolmac]

Glad to help! What age is Mac in the fic, and what year is it? You'll be dealing with not only Harry but his mother; and his late father to a certain extent, since that death took place not long before.

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

It's around the end of MFU season 1 - early spring 1965. Mac's supposed to be a year younger than Rick, right? *rolls eyes at unnecessary complications* So he'd be... thirteen, turning fourteen.

According to the Wikipedia bio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_MacGyver#Biography), his father died when he was ten. Is there any other actual info on his parents apart from the "ice cream" anecdote and their scenes on the Osiris cruise ship?

And there was that episode where he went back to his hometown - that's when they did all the flashbacks about the gun thing, right? I stink at episode names, but I definitely need to rewatch that one.

[lolmac]

The episode is "Blood Brothers" S4.

At thirteen, Mac is hockey-mad, and considered potential Olympic and professional material. He hasn't yet had the broken arms that knocked him off the rink. I don’t remember just when Harry left; a lot of Mac’s childhood had squidgy details.

Also rewatch DOA: MacGyver for Mac/Harry dynamics, and a sense of the 'patriotism' level in the family. Mac probably won't be terribly politically focussed at that age, but like everyone else alive in the northern hemisphere, he'll be affected by the shadow of the Cold War. (I speak from personal childhood experience.)

Mac's general attitude is likely to have been:

- We live in a small town with big woods nearby. I can survive in the woods. Good, because if WWWIII starts, I can keep myself and my family (mother) alive.

- I feel sorry for people who are forced to live under Communist rule, because they are denied the freedoms that I have. (He'll distinguish between the rulers and the ruled. He'll cling to a deep-seated hope that a peaceful solution will be found to the nuclear standoff; but this is only three years after the Bay of Pigs.)

- When I’m older, I’ll see what I can do to help. Yikes. I don’t want to have to shoot anybody. I hate guns.

- I wish all the nuclear bombs in the world would disappear. Science is cool; why don’t we use it for something better than finding new ways to kill more people?

As a hockey player and Olympic prospect, at that age he'll regard the USSR as a foe to beat in sports, not on the battlefield.

Bear in mind that he served in Viet Nam and Afghanistan -- you can assume that he joined the military voluntarily. (In my fanon, he volunteered right out of high school, and then went to college after serving overseas for a few years.) This indicates a willingness to Fight the Commies and Free the Oppressed -- but (according to the first season bible) he was in Special Forces and did bomb disposal and intelligence work. You can assume that he never killed an enemy combatant, and that he viewed his service as preventing death, not causing it. The attitudes underlying this will already be in place at this age.

How's that for a start?

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

Awesome as usual - thanks! ;-) You always have such a lot of information!