Killjoys + Snowflake Challenge, days 2-5

[hamsterwoman]

An assortment of fannish things!

1) fandom_stocking extended its deadline to Wed, 1/11. I am usually impatient to see all the goodies revealed, but this year I'm greatly relieved, because between the stockings going up pretty late, crazy work, holiday, and feeling sick, I haven't actually managed to do anything yet, beyond browse and take notes,

Comments

[egelantier]

hooray, a writeup! johnny is absolutely my favorite too - if there's a character tailor-made for me, it's him, with his cheerful martyrdom and practicality and surprise badassery and easy, unshakeable, solid trust in dutch. s2 shakes it up some - it's sadder, overall - but also adds a lot of layers, and i'm very interested in how you see it. and i love dutch, but i realize that i love her in conjunction with johnny, within the structure of their relationship

[hamsterwoman]

Are there people whose favorite Johnny isn't, and what is wrong with them if so? :D (He is not even the type of character I normally fall for -- I would've expected D'avin to be more my type, probably, because I tend to have a thing for stoically fucked-up soldier boys, but Johnny just... he is such a treasure, with his taking care of everyone and, as you say, cheerful martyrdom, exactly.

until i realized that the show isn't peddling D'avin The Manly Dude to me, it's quite aware of D'avin The Human Disaster.I was apprehensive about that, especially D'av and Dutch UST early on (incidentally, one of the things I was pleasantly surprised by in the show is how readily the principals are shown sleeping with random people and it's not a big deal or a plot point, it's just, you know, of similar moral value to getting drunk -- something to do to take the edge off; IDK, maybe this is an artefact of watching a show that's not 20 years old for once, but I found it refreshing) -- anyway, I was apprehensive about D'av at first, too, especially

[egelantier]

s2 is definitely sadder and darker, and there's a couple storylines i could do without or at least wanted done in a different way. but there's a lot of funny/touching/badass/hot/amazing moments there - man, pree alone is worth a price of admission - and i think you will especially appreciate the development and resolution of khlyen storyline.

re: d'avin/dutch and the fallout; i'm actually very much in love with how the show approaches the usual tropes from unusual side. like, normally you'd expect the 'i stabbed you/i beat you/we fear you' angle, but here johnny doesn't give a fuck about the stabbing but is really angry about the fallout of their relationship, and dutch believes that he's innocent but is enraged about how he IS innocent, non-complicit in his dark past, unlike her (as she sees it); it was a wonderful little piece of complexity

[hamsterwoman]

I'm now 2.3 episodes into season 2, and definitely agree about Pree! I always liked his cameos in the first season, and it was so great to see more of him! (and now I wanna know about his criminal/warlord past. I hope there's fic, at least!) And I think I like the way the Khlyen thing is headed, if that's not a misdirection. (Also, Khlyen being a badass and stone-cold ruthless is just kind of nice to watch.)

with how the show approaches the usual tropes from unusual side.

I agree! (Also, I just love the "Sorry for stabbing you. Thanks for not dying." exchanges between the brothers XD)

dutch believes that he's innocent but is enraged about how he IS innocent, non-complicit in his dark past, unlike her (as she sees it); it was a wonderful little piece of complexityYes, it is! Mostly Dutch works better for me on the pretty + ass-kicking than deep emotional level, but she really got me in that scene

[egelantier]

oh, and unrelatedly: i've read coldfire trilogy for that one yuletide, and i'm... not a fan. the worldbuilding is really fascinating and it's well-written, but it's chock full of weirdly detached misogyny - i mean, one of the protagonists literally gets off on torturing and killing women, and the narrative is a bit... relaxed about it, and there are all these deaths, and just - and it's very very very very slashy but no-homo in a WEIRD way (apparently the author does not understand, after writing a scene in which one dude literally runs through literal hell with a literal other-dude-inspired boner, where do the fangirls get this weird "slash" thing from her pristine writings), and all combined, i don't regret reading it, but it weird me with a very weird taste.

[hamsterwoman]

a scene in which one dude literally runs through literal hell with a literal other-dude-inspired boner

Whaa.... XD

I am OK with a lot of deaths (especially if I know it's that kind of a book going in), and very dark protagonists (although how well they work for me really depends a lot on the writing style, it seems).

The worldbuilding sounds interesting (although I tend to be picky about how SF/fantasy blends work for me or don't), but IIRC, I was originally sold on Coldfire by people talking about Gerald Tarrant (in I forget what context, but based on what I do recall, I doubt it was "characters who are good people" :P)

Anyway, it's been on my to-read list for, IDK, probably 8 years, so who knows if I'll actually get around to it. But I'm rather heartened by the fact that I have several people on my flist who love the series and several who do not, so I guess regardless of whether I end up enjoying it or not, I'll have someone to talk about it with. XP