RL news! + another year's thoughts on some fandoms I ought to leave alone

[ravenclaw42]

First, some RL things! I should have posted about this ages ago, but I have an Etsy store up and running under the name RavenCrossing, selling my origami jewelry. I did the April craft fair mentioned a few entries ago and it went okay-ish - I was one of the sellers who did the best business there, which isn't saying much as there were loads of

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[ravenclaw42]

Don't feel bad about introducing me to DW! I'm sorry I've been rather alarming about it. My serious issues with the Whoniverse on the whole are far outweighed by the number of episodes I either think are works of genius (Blink, etc) or else flawed but fun. Unfortunately I do seem to inflate the negative since I'm generally only driven to blog about something when it bothers me. I need to get in a better habit of dropping an entry when I find something excellent. :) I DO intend to watch the new seasons, since I've always loved Moffat's mind-screwy sorts of plots, although I agree that he isn't quite as strong in characterization. Davies is truly very good at characterization but also seems to be incredibly smug and self-indulgent sometimes, which is what makes me get irritable with his storylines, even though his writing is generally good.

Indeed, I love characters with depth! For example I tend not to like characters who are jerks for no reason, just jerkish for the sake of conflict, but as soon as they're given another layer or two they usually jump right into my "favorites" camp. Like Zuko, who I ignored entirely for the first season of Avatar and then went "OH WAIT HE'S AWESOME" in "Zuko Alone" and afterwards. It's only the characters who pretend to be happy and/or confident for the sake of not burdening others with their own insecurity who strike me as very similar to myself. (Hence Tohru, though I can see how she comes off as bland. This character type comes off as bland or cold to a lot of people, but then, so do I IRL, and it's often an uncomfortable state to be in. Much like with Remus, it's easy to be too much of a doormat when you want people to like you because you're afraid you'll never have any friends otherwise.) I mean, I do know they're just fictional characters, but if you strip away the story elements then it's just that hidden insecurity that I find difficult not to feel in sync with. And there is an overwhelming tendency for that type of character to be killed off or damaged horribly "just because" - just to make an abstract point, to create atmosphere or to motivate another character. Joss Whedon does it - Tara, Wash - RTD does it, a lot of comics writers do it, Remus was a glaring case. I suppose that, more than making me angry, I really just find it... tiresome? Every time I get into a new work I can point out the character I most relate to and about three quarters of the time I can guarantee that they are the "expendable" one, especially in an ensemble.

I suppose I consider Ianto's death a classic case of "fridging," from the whole women in refrigerators phenomenon wherein a love interest is killed off for the sole purpose of making his/her partner motivated to do something else that is completely unrelated. "Oh no, Lois has been dismembered and stuck in the fridge! Instead of freaking the shit out about that, I feel incredibly motivated to go fight Lex Luthor now!" And so on. Comics writers are the worst about it. But IDK, I know it's only my opinion!, but Jack's reaction after episode 4 of CoE, and his actions in episode 5, felt very flat and not at all in character. Like they'd just killed off Ianto via the most inane contrivance they could think of in order to justify some more inane contrivances that only get a free pass because, well, "Jack's sad now." But that's only one opinion in a sea of opinions.