Discussion Time!

[seraphina_snape]

It's Friday! Let's talk about icons! :D

Do you have a favourite "subject" to icon? Like a favourite character, or a favourite show? Are there people/characters/shows/movies/other things that you always come back to and make icons of? And how do you decide on a subject?

Comments

[magicrubbish]

Yup , that's it. You've nailed it . As a woman , and dare I say a quite feminist woman , I always look forward to seeing awesome female characters but rarely are they given the chance , screen space or screen time to justify their narratives . Very little character arc or even worse extremely poorly written or even if started promisingly , destroyed over the years .
This is really frustrating , when will we see true representation of what we ladies actually stand for ?? Either they're damsel in distress or insufferable boss bitches ! Can'e we have strong yet kind , vulnerable , emotionally available , resourceful, intelligent but very sensitive female characters ??
Pick any fandom , just any , and the difference in writing female characters over their male counterparts are so grossly incompetent or unsatisfactory that some times it makes me suspect whether it's deliberate. :[

[seraphina_snape]

Agreed! There is the occasional gem, but you have to go through a lot of garbage to find it and it stinks.

[magicrubbish]

Agree. There ARE some fascinating female characters out there worth rooting for but the number is usually less in the giant fandoms. There male characters solo dominate. For e.g. MCU or DCU or even potterverse.

[seraphina_snape]

You know, I never really noticed that but now that I think about it, I feel like that's true. The bigger the thing, the more do female characters fall into stereotypical boxes ("hot tough chick", "funny and possibly chubby sidekick", "bitchy ex and/or best friend", and so on.) - possibly because those franchises are geared towards making money and that means they're trying to appeal to white men between 18 and 35. :/

[magicrubbish]

Nailed it ! That's exactly the reason , they'll show whatever feeds and strokes the toxic white hetero male population. Variety what variety ?
It can not be a coincidence that most of my fav female characters are either from small fandoms or are side roles of big ones like Bonnie Bennett from TVD or Sansa Stark from GOT.

[alexia_drake]

My new obssession is the TV Series Timeless (sadly it has been cancelled after only 2 seasons) and the lead is a woman, and I think she's a strong female character.

[magicrubbish]

Is it good ?? Moi love a good female character. Why was it cancelled ?
When Hannibal was cancelled after 3 seasons I was so sad. 😭 It was such an awesome series. And then you've Supernatural, which is going on for fucking 15 seasons!

[alexia_drake]

Well, if it's my new obssession, I think it's good. lol Two other people at fandom10in30 made icons for that show, and many more at LJ so I'm not the only one. I don't know why I was cancelled, I discovered it after it was over, so I did not see the news when it happened, or felt like looking.

I'm just grateful that they were told it was ending, and that they were able to make a two hour finale to do a proper ending. I would have love to see more, and it seems that another couple would have happened that I wanted to see, but I still love it, and I've already re-watched both seasons a few times. lol

I guess you could search for reviews about the show, or look at the preview of the first season (here it is) to see if it would interest you. I mostly wanted to see it because it's about timetravel, with the actor Goran Visnjic that I loved in ER and Matt Lanter that I had never seen in a serious role. But I had never heard or seen the main girl played by Abigail Spencer before, and I think she's very good.

*** Sorrry edited because I had forgot the link! lol

[seraphina_snape]

Oh, I've heard of this. It's on my list of shows to check out because time travel is awesome and this show is about time travel. :D Bummer that they've cancelled it already. Did they at least know beforehand or does it end on a cliffhanger or something?

[alexia_drake]

Did they at least know beforehand or does it end on a cliffhanger or something?

Yes, they did a two hour finale to finish things up.

[seraphina_snape]

That's good. At least they got a chance to tie up anything major that was still up in the air at the time.

[goodbyebird]

I always look forward to seeing awesome female characters but rarely are they given the chance , screen space or screen time to justify their narratives

Fortunately this has been steadily improving year after year. My top two shows right now feature several female characters, that get proper focus and development, and they both have female leads. In Star Trek Discovery, Michael Burnham is a very interesting character, strong but emotionally available and compassionate, and with relationships to other women. The first season spent a lot of time setting up the main plot and executing it, but the second season has given us a lot more team and character bonding, which has deepened my appreciation for the tertiary ladies for sure. Killing Eve has two main characters, both female, one young and one middle aged, as well as an older female agent. The show is so well written! The women are allowed to be complex, goofy, flawed, brilliant, competent, messy. Such a gem <3

If you're looking for a drama, you can't go wrong with The Americans. Elizabeth is a deeply fascinating character, and there are several other female characters on the show as well. Would also highly recommend Sharp Objects.

[magicrubbish]

Noted . OMG ! Thank you so much for the recommendations. Well I've a huge to watch list of movies and tv shows and they are ever growing because new things keep adding to it and real life preoccupations ensure that I get to barely scratch the surface of the list. I've been hearing about Sharp objects for a while from all SNS quarters , and as it is was curious . It has a huge fan group in LJ as well.