InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN TWEAK!"

petronelle (petronelle) wrote,
@ 2008-05-21 19:36:00

Current mood:	still you are not satisfied
Current music:	And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
Entry tags:	dcu meta

How to tell when you're over that new canon
When a massive Spoiler (very recent DCU) happens that retcons something you've spent significant brain time denying, and your response is not, "Oh, yay!" but rather, "That wasn't what I really wanted," it's a sign.

Am I over the old canon? No. But I have no squee at all for this, and feel rather like someone looking into an empty cookie jar, searching for what should be there but has been eaten long since.

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	glossing 2008-05-21 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	I am right there with you, pushing that cookie jar aside. sigh (Reply to this) (Thread)

	petronelle 2008-05-21 11:50 pm UTC (link)
	It hurts like hell, though. Not fair. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	glossing 2008-05-21 11:52 pm UTC (link)
	It does, it really does. It's like pain's all that's left, without any hope that things might get better. ARGH. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	petronelle 2008-05-21 11:57 pm UTC (link)
	The only plus side is that, just as my writing can't affect what happens in canon, canon can't affect the stories I want either. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	glossing 2008-05-21 11:59 pm UTC (link)
	Oh! Nicely said, yes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	petronelle 2008-05-21 11:59 pm UTC (link)
	It helps less than I want to, but more than nothing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cmshaw 2008-05-22 04:01 am UTC (link)
	googles whimpers wordlessly (Reply to this) (Thread)

	petronelle 2008-05-22 10:11 am UTC (link)
	I wish it made me happy, but it doesn't fit. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	das_dingsi 2008-05-22 05:12 am UTC (link)
	"That wasn't what I really wanted," May I ask what it is that you really wanted? Am curious. (Reply to this) (Thread)

petronelle
2008-05-22 10:10 am UTC (link)

It feels like they gave up entirely on narrative integrity, and that's part of what bugs me so much.

Jason's arc: dies, is massively mourned and remembered, comes back to people who don't believe it could possibly be him, practically gets killed.

Steph's arc: dies, is faintly mourned and apparently forgotten, comes back to people who greet her with open arms and kisses and *taking off cowls* because nothing bad ever comes of acceptance in the DCU.

I wanted Steph's death to mean something the first place, but it didn't. It means even less now because it was so transparently a gimmick that it could be easily erased. Moreover, I love moments when Tim and Steph get to be happy, and moments when Bruce actually comes out (for Bruce-specific values of said) to Steph, but neither of those things fit in the current storyline. Steph hasn't done anything except keep breathing, and considering how much crap Bruce (especially, and sometimes Tim) put her through while she was working her ass off for acceptance, it seems immensely facile to give it to her now.

So what did I want? For them to tell the story that they set out to tell in the first place in ways that were respectful and true to the characters. Telling me years later that that *was* respectful because they were, guess what, telling a wholly different story, just makes me distrust their stories even more.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sockich 2008-05-22 11:31 am UTC (link)
	I've been trying to figure out why I feel the way I feel about this (which is not exactly giddy with happiness) and yeah, this is pretty much it. I don't know, the whole thing just left me feeling very 'meh'. Plus, the whole "now you know why there's no memorial in the cave" thing really made me want to punch someone in the face. shrugs (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	petronelle 2008-05-22 08:37 pm UTC (link)
	I'm glad I helped you articulate it. I'm up for punching anytime. (Reply to this) (Parent)

reshelved
2008-05-29 04:46 am UTC (link)

I wish I didn't agree with you quite so much!

Or, well, not really. Really I wish comics ever seemed to have a plan (distinct from "wild idea that affects EVERYTHING FOREVER it will be awesome let's start now I don't care if you're two issues away from finishing that storyline work on ours!" even if they really did spend months talking it out) and could handle the characters created more than 1% of the time. Also, it'd be nice if once in a while a plot twist could come organically & thus climax could be more than X + Y = Z*(shock value).

I wish they'd done this properly from the start--and you totally pinned down the wrong there. I am happy to see her back, but her whole death cycle is kind of the playbook for undercutting the impact of a situation.

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