It's a fairly common view that Gordon Freeman is actually mute, rather than just taciturn, from what I understand. My view is just that he has a fairly massive list of reasons why he won't talk in a given situation.
I don't know if anyone actually has opinions about Adrian Shephard. I doubt, however, that anyone else who does has headcanoned him as being from rural WVa.
I stay as far away from the majority of the Fallout fandom as humanly possible- the old-school fans are legendary for their bitterness and the newer ones tend to be the kinds of people who really really really want MOAR GUNS in their DLC- so I don't know what opinions exist about the Lone Wanderer or Fawkes. I do go with the opinion that the cut content of a particular security guard in Vault 87 finding out about the FEV experiments, then being shoved into the vats himself as punishment, was Fawkes' origin story. (Also, as far as the Brotherhood of Steel is concerned, I have a number of opinions that I'm not sure would jive up with anyone else's. I'll just start by saying that I've about convinced myself that the Founder was from the Crow Nation and joined the Army as a career rather than being drafted, which I don't think is likely to come up in anyone's discussions of the subject.)
If there are fandom opinions about Santo beyond 'he is AWESOME' I don't know them. Same goes for Varric and Stacker, although I am privately convinced that Stacker listens to Filipino speed metal when he needs to blow off steam and harbors a quiet fondness for godawful Hong Kong street food, which may be uncommon for all I know... I don't know if there are fandom opinions at all about Wee Mad Arthur.
As far as Edward Kenway goes, about the only view or opinion I can think of about him that might conflict with or be uncommon compared to other people's views of him- thumbing through the Assassin's Creed Wiki made it clear that I don't really want to get involved, I'll never see daylight again- is that I'm pretty damn sure he's situationally bisexual and does not see anything unusual about this. What happens at sea stays at sea. 'Still married in the eyes of God' just means no taking up permanently with another woman; prostitutes don't count and other sailors don't count either.
I am of the opinion Bryke needed a damn good editor for Legend of Korra. In short:
- cutting out Books 2 & 3 and folding the 26 free episodes and relevant character developments into Books 1 & 4 - cutting out Varrick, Zhu Li, Ginger, Kai, Bataar Jr. & Sr., and THOSE GODDAMN LOVE TRIANGLES - spending out more time fleshing out their villains - I don't know how they thought making Amon a bender was a good idea, and Kuvira has some amazing tragic heroine potential that's never explored beyond "mommy issues" - Bumi's a good guy and all? But if there's anybody who gets airbending after Harmonic Convergence, why isn't it Pema and the Air Acolytes? - Katara - canonically, the best waterbender in the world at the time of LoK - is basically an on-call healer, Zuko only gets in one fight (and promptly gets his shit pushed in), and Toph fights for like 30 seconds before she's like "WHOO I BETTER LEAVE THIS UP TO YOU YOUNGLINGS". What the fuck, guys.
There's also my thoughts on how shipping and tumblr ended up seriously hurting the show and the fandom, but that's for another time.
Most of mine don't have very big fandoms to go with them, and I've not been very involved in them, in any case.
I know there are some people in the Sunshine fandom (fan-artists, at least) who believe Sunshine's hair is black or brown, and I can understand that, I suppose, even if my mental image of her doesn't agree. There isn't actually a physical description of Rae in canon apart from her always wearing bright colors, and being "middling tall, skinny, weird hair because it will have just been let out of being tied up in a scarf for working in a restaurant and you never comb it, wearing a fierce look." That's it.
Hank: Based on the movies so far, I'd say the fact I think he should find some peace with his mutation is likely the biggest conflict I have. I don't know about fandom as I haven't read much by way of fanfic or seen much on Tumblr. I know I've seen folks ship him with Alex and I just can't see that as I hate the bully and victim find love trope.
Izana: Shipping them with the male lead. I know the show and writing push it too but I like them with another person more. I may have satisfaction, but I will have to wait until vol. 15.
Asajj: Her most popular OTP is likely Obi-Wan and I can see it, but I honestly see her as being aromantic. I've also seen a lot of people have her settle on Tantooine with Obi-Wan but I like her better out in Wild Space founding her own clan of Nightsisters.
Ahsoka: Her and Rex is a serious NOTP for me. I sorta see her with Lux or Barriss but both those have serious baggage. I also don't think she should die and if she ever faces Vader, they should be left as a draw or her barely escaping. The galaxy is a huge kriffing place folks, she could have been running other missions while Leia, Luke and Han were doing their thing.
Luidaeg: Based on other RPG journals I've seen, I'd say that I see her appearing much younger than other folks. I like the idea of her seeming like a teen ager in looks, perhaps even being mistaken for a girl before she snarls at you.
Selina: I like Gotham. I think of it as an Elseworld and thus not confined by comic book canon. I do wish Ivy had more of a presence. Maybe in the second season.
Hannibal - I'm pretty sure all of my opinions are unpopular, because usually if I'm not defending one character I'm somehow defending another. (Except Hannibal! That's kind of nice.) But I think that kind of goes to the nature of the show, in that all of the characters fuck up in various ways, so it's easy to both harp on and easily forgive flaws, as one is inclined to do.
I'm also not really a shipper when it comes to this show, which seems to also not be... the most... popular opinion. I do actually really like all of the relationships, there just aren't that many I necessarily want to see be defined romantically/sexually. (And I may be the only insistent bi!Will Graham proponent who feels that way??? >___>) Weirdly my only shipping inkling at one point was kind of... Will/Bedelia, not even like I wanted it to happen it was just like "I guess... you guys... are similar levels of unhealthy." I feel SUPER WEIRD about that now.
(I don't think I've ever seen another genderfluid!Will, but that's just something that worked super particularly for me, so.)
I'm also not much for the sort of dark!Will AU thing because in my mind the show really pushed him so far that if that wasn't enough, I can't imagine what would be. So it's hard for me to picture it? I would like to see the murder family AU, but I can't really get to it like that.
A:TLA/LoK - I really hate the Equalist!Asami concept. Her character was so defined by not being an Equalist that I just can't imagine a characterization for her that works for it, and it undoes two of my favorite aspects of her season 1 story: that it inverts the typical revenge trope (in other words, she's sort of the opposite of the Batman narrative – something terrible happened to her, and she knows this, but she knows that it also doesn't entitle her to be destructive toward others. If she's going to be some crime-fighting badass, it's going to because that's the right thing to do, not as a means of dealing with her own issues), and that it involves someone recognizing that serving their self-interest may not be okay if doing so would be actively harmful to others (I guess I actually take it in a kind of anti-Ayn Rand sort of way – it might be in her interest if everyone only had the same abilities she does, or less, but the welfare of others is very important to her). Both of those are completely undone by any kind of Equalist!Asami thing, and those are both focal points of her character for me.
I also don't really like it when people take her makeup off for no other reason than… to do so, I guess. Like there are legit reasons for her to not wear it at certain times (and yes somehow she's always wearing it, come on guys, it's a cartoon), but when it's just for the sake of it – would you put makeup on Korra? If not, why are you taking it off Asami? Feminine gender presentation is also okay, guys!
And I also get kind of resentful when people act like Korra/Asami only came from fandom. I'm sure the fan reaction probably helped create an environment for them to feel as safe doing as much as they did, but it's not like two people getting together romantically is really a radical thought. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. I do actually trust that it probably entered the creators' heads before the show started airing.
And hating season 2 of LoK is not unpopular, but my issues with it seem to be like the opposite of everyone else's! So. Also I don't get where Zuko/Katara came from. Like I get it, but not with the idea that the show ever actually teased it. But Katara in my mind is pretty firm on "nope, no way, not happening."
I can quite see why you'd see Will as somewhat genderfluid; his empathy means that he can put himself into anybody's shoes including those of women. We just haven't seen the show do it. But yes, his identity is somewhat open, and that would most likely include gender identity.
Oh yeah, absolutely, canon Will Graham is straight and cis the end. But yeah, I just meant even in terms of going off-canon, which is a pretty popular thing to do. And I guess part of my insistence on non-canon bi!Will beyond wanting to do it is Fuller equivocating more on Hannibal being bi, as he's this fallen-angel-kind-of-otherworldly character, and me feeling like, but being bi (or genderfluid) is not otherworldly, so I want Will to be a more grounded counterpart to that.
(And the Margot OOM is the only time I've touched on it and that was specifically different from canon. Though actually after I'd written it I found this cut scene in the original script from Naka-Choko I thiiink where Margot tells Hannibal she slept with Will and Hannibal says "Will Graham is not a lesbian" and Margot answers something like "he gave it his best shot." And I was just thinking okay dudes, there are really only so many ways for that to work.)
In case you haven't seen them, the production company put all the shooting scrips up online. I like to read them because they have cut scenes and other notes. Which:
And also sometimes I find the action notes hilarious:
I guess I... don't want to see Amascut dead? Or cured of her "madness"? I dunno, I kind of want her to become a very complicated villain and the one who always gets away rather than see her brushed aside.
Also, I have OPINIONS on "a wizard did it, I don't have to explain shit" explanations.
I didn't even know TB had ended; I stopped watching after they turned Tara into a vampire. Perhaps I should catch up, or at least read spoilery recaps.
He's a Viking, of course revenge is a powerful motivator; we saw that in the season with Russell Edgington (that was S3, right?) already! I think I watched until the first or second episode of S4 and then quite suddenly lost all interest, dunno why. Perhaps Sookie had become too much of a Princess Sparklypoo for my liking.-
'Ending up' is a dogdy concept anyway. There is no end, there is only the point where you stop telling the story -- or, to quote "Welcome to Night Vale": Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.-
MCU: I play Thor as having a lot of emotional intelligence (albeit with some significant blind spots) and a lot of diplomatic savvy and awareness (albeit ditto). Fandom really, really loves Thor The Dumb Jock who bull-in-a-china-shops around the world and has to be managed by his teammates like a combination of drunk frat boy and overgrown exuberant toddler.
Les Mis: Ahahaha. Well, I don't ship Enjolras/Grantaire as requited boyfriends even post-death, let alone in life? That's one of the fandom juggernaut pairings. I love their complicated weird dynamics, but I don't see them ending in makeouts. Also, I don't write Enjolras as shouty and short-tempered and hectoring, or as acting as the group's sole leader at all times in all situations. (In the musical, you can make a case for all of that, depending on how an actor plays him. In the book... no. No.) Basically I write Enjolras at odds with how a lot of fandom does, although part of that is just by being firmly canon-era and book-based instead of going into modern AUs.
I'm not sure I have many unpopular opinions about Cosette except remembering she exists in canon era.
I am 100% sure I have unpopular Gundam Wing fandom opinions, but I'm not sure how many of them are about Trowa per se. Quate or Heero or Relena, heck yeah. I'm not sure how much of an active fandom The Enchanted Forest Chronicles even has, though I know lots of people love it; I definitely don't know the prevailing fandom opinions about Kazul. Ditto Claymore, except that I know it has an active fandom; I'm just not in it enough to know what fanon is. Firefly is a pretty dormant fandom these days, and I was always pretty much on the periphery, so I'm not sure what my unpopular opinions are other than not having River sleep with any crewmates (and definitely not with her brother.)
- I like Fanon Bumi more than Canon Bumi. By a large margin. Don't get me wrong, I love that Canon Bumi is a goofball, and that he's a grown man that makes "duty" jokes. I just...have no patience for incompetent comic relief, especially comic relief that's attained a level of importance in the show. Bumi's a damn Commander and I refuse to believe that the military would promote someone ineffectual to a command position.
(shhh. lemme live in my little world where merit earns promotion)
- Katara and Aang were not together their entire lives. In fact, I strongly subscribe to the belief that the reason that Bumi and Kya are so far apart age-wise is because they took some years apart after Bumi was born. Raising kids is hard enough, but raising kids in a culturally blended family must have been really REALLY hard for Aang, who only had Katara's family to really fall back on.
Plus, I just don't believe in one-true-love, which I know makes me a cynic...but here we are.
- I think LoK could have done with some editing. I loved all the Big Plot Points, but not exactly how the show got from one to the next. I loved Varrick and the Movers stuff...but, the season needed to be a bit longer.
- Also I very much understand why Katara wasn't in it more, even if I am still butthurt about one glaring absence of hers which I don't for the slightest believe would have actually happened.
TMNT:
- Orientalism is bad. TMNT is based on an Orientalist premise. My faves are problematic.
- I don't know why everyone insists that Michaelangelo is incompetent, and it frustrates me to NO END. He's not stupid, he's gifted...but lazy. He'd much rather make people around him happy than push himself to some nebulous goalpost. That's Leo's Job. Mike's Job is to keep his family together, and make sure they're happy.
- The new movie was horrible, but damn...if they didn't get Raph right.
I am not a fan of people thinking foolish behavior equals incompetence either. Comic relief characters that are vital to plot for other, more skilled reason, I am all over though.
This is one of the main reasons I loved the show, "Burn Notice." Sam Axe, as played by Bruce Campbell, was THE BEST COMIC RELIEF...and he kicked ass. In a Hawaiian Shirt, no less.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
I don't know if anyone actually has opinions about Adrian Shephard. I doubt, however, that anyone else who does has headcanoned him as being from rural WVa.
I stay as far away from the majority of the Fallout fandom as humanly possible- the old-school fans are legendary for their bitterness and the newer ones tend to be the kinds of people who really really really want MOAR GUNS in their DLC- so I don't know what opinions exist about the Lone Wanderer or Fawkes. I do go with the opinion that the cut content of a particular security guard in Vault 87 finding out about the FEV experiments, then being shoved into the vats himself as punishment, was Fawkes' origin story. (Also, as far as the Brotherhood of Steel is concerned, I have a number of opinions that I'm not sure would jive up with anyone else's. I'll just start by saying that I've about convinced myself that the Founder was from the Crow Nation and joined the Army as a career rather than being drafted, which I don't think is likely to come up in anyone's discussions of the subject.)
If there are fandom opinions about Santo beyond 'he is AWESOME' I don't know them. Same goes for Varric and Stacker, although I am privately convinced that Stacker listens to Filipino speed metal when he needs to blow off steam and harbors a quiet fondness for godawful Hong Kong street food, which may be uncommon for all I know... I don't know if there are fandom opinions at all about Wee Mad Arthur.
As far as Edward Kenway goes, about the only view or opinion I can think of about him that might conflict with or be uncommon compared to other people's views of him- thumbing through the Assassin's Creed Wiki made it clear that I don't really want to get involved, I'll never see daylight again- is that I'm pretty damn sure he's situationally bisexual and does not see anything unusual about this. What happens at sea stays at sea. 'Still married in the eyes of God' just means no taking up permanently with another woman; prostitutes don't count and other sailors don't count either.
no subject
- cutting out Books 2 & 3 and folding the 26 free episodes and relevant character developments into Books 1 & 4
- cutting out Varrick, Zhu Li, Ginger, Kai, Bataar Jr. & Sr., and THOSE GODDAMN LOVE TRIANGLES
- spending out more time fleshing out their villains - I don't know how they thought making Amon a bender was a good idea, and Kuvira has some amazing tragic heroine potential that's never explored beyond "mommy issues"
- Bumi's a good guy and all? But if there's anybody who gets airbending after Harmonic Convergence, why isn't it Pema and the Air Acolytes?
- Katara - canonically, the best waterbender in the world at the time of LoK - is basically an on-call healer, Zuko only gets in one fight (and promptly gets his shit pushed in), and Toph fights for like 30 seconds before she's like "WHOO I BETTER LEAVE THIS UP TO YOU YOUNGLINGS". What the fuck, guys.
There's also my thoughts on how shipping and tumblr ended up seriously hurting the show and the fandom, but that's for another time.
no subject
I know there are some people in the Sunshine fandom (fan-artists, at least) who believe Sunshine's hair is black or brown, and I can understand that, I suppose, even if my mental image of her doesn't agree. There isn't actually a physical description of Rae in canon apart from her always wearing bright colors, and being "middling tall, skinny, weird hair because it will have just been let out of being tied up in a scarf for working in a restaurant and you never comb it, wearing a fierce look." That's it.
no subject
Izana: Shipping them with the male lead. I know the show and writing push it too but I like them with another person more. I may have satisfaction, but I will have to wait until vol. 15.
Asajj: Her most popular OTP is likely Obi-Wan and I can see it, but I honestly see her as being aromantic. I've also seen a lot of people have her settle on Tantooine with Obi-Wan but I like her better out in Wild Space founding her own clan of Nightsisters.
Ahsoka: Her and Rex is a serious NOTP for me. I sorta see her with Lux or Barriss but both those have serious baggage. I also don't think she should die and if she ever faces Vader, they should be left as a draw or her barely escaping. The galaxy is a huge kriffing place folks, she could have been running other missions while Leia, Luke and Han were doing their thing.
Luidaeg: Based on other RPG journals I've seen, I'd say that I see her appearing much younger than other folks. I like the idea of her seeming like a teen ager in looks, perhaps even being mistaken for a girl before she snarls at you.
Selina: I like Gotham. I think of it as an Elseworld and thus not confined by comic book canon. I do wish Ivy had more of a presence. Maybe in the second season.
no subject
I'm also not really a shipper when it comes to this show, which seems to also not be... the most... popular opinion. I do actually really like all of the relationships, there just aren't that many I necessarily want to see be defined romantically/sexually. (And I may be the only insistent bi!Will Graham proponent who feels that way??? >___>) Weirdly my only shipping inkling at one point was kind of... Will/Bedelia, not even like I wanted it to happen it was just like "I guess... you guys... are similar levels of unhealthy." I feel SUPER WEIRD about that now.
(I don't think I've ever seen another genderfluid!Will, but that's just something that worked super particularly for me, so.)
I'm also not much for the sort of dark!Will AU thing because in my mind the show really pushed him so far that if that wasn't enough, I can't imagine what would be. So it's hard for me to picture it? I would like to see the murder family AU, but I can't really get to it like that.
A:TLA/LoK - I really hate the Equalist!Asami concept. Her character was so defined by not being an Equalist that I just can't imagine a characterization for her that works for it, and it undoes two of my favorite aspects of her season 1 story: that it inverts the typical revenge trope (in other words, she's sort of the opposite of the Batman narrative – something terrible happened to her, and she knows this, but she knows that it also doesn't entitle her to be destructive toward others. If she's going to be some crime-fighting badass, it's going to because that's the right thing to do, not as a means of dealing with her own issues), and that it involves someone recognizing that serving their self-interest may not be okay if doing so would be actively harmful to others (I guess I actually take it in a kind of anti-Ayn Rand sort of way – it might be in her interest if everyone only had the same abilities she does, or less, but the welfare of others is very important to her). Both of those are completely undone by any kind of Equalist!Asami thing, and those are both focal points of her character for me.
I also don't really like it when people take her makeup off for no other reason than… to do so, I guess. Like there are legit reasons for her to not wear it at certain times (and yes somehow she's always wearing it, come on guys, it's a cartoon), but when it's just for the sake of it – would you put makeup on Korra? If not, why are you taking it off Asami? Feminine gender presentation is also okay, guys!
And I also get kind of resentful when people act like Korra/Asami only came from fandom. I'm sure the fan reaction probably helped create an environment for them to feel as safe doing as much as they did, but it's not like two people getting together romantically is really a radical thought. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. I do actually trust that it probably entered the creators' heads before the show started airing.
And hating season 2 of LoK is not unpopular, but my issues with it seem to be like the opposite of everyone else's! So. Also I don't get where Zuko/Katara came from. Like I get it, but not with the idea that the show ever actually teased it. But Katara in my mind is pretty firm on "nope, no way, not happening."
no subject
no subject
(And the Margot OOM is the only time I've touched on it and that was specifically different from canon. Though actually after I'd written it I found this cut scene in the original script from Naka-Choko I thiiink where Margot tells Hannibal she slept with Will and Hannibal says "Will Graham is not a lesbian" and Margot answers something like "he gave it his best shot." And I was just thinking okay dudes, there are really only so many ways for that to work.)
no subject
But really, you're completely right!
no subject
And also sometimes I find the action notes hilarious:
no subject
no subject
Also, I have OPINIONS on "a wizard did it, I don't have to explain shit" explanations.
no subject
no subject
Which - I mean -
What show had they been watching?
How they managed to turn Eric into practically the hero of the story still baffles me. It's not like he acted better than the other vampires.
no subject
I didn't even know TB had ended; I stopped watching after they turned Tara into a vampire. Perhaps I should catch up, or at least read spoilery recaps.
no subject
Just like they forgot what a powerful motivator revenge is for him.
no subject
no subject
I'm not saying characterization was totally consistent at all (ha!) but that particular aspect was fairly consistent.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Les Mis: Ahahaha. Well, I don't ship Enjolras/Grantaire as requited boyfriends even post-death, let alone in life? That's one of the fandom juggernaut pairings. I love their complicated weird dynamics, but I don't see them ending in makeouts. Also, I don't write Enjolras as shouty and short-tempered and hectoring, or as acting as the group's sole leader at all times in all situations. (In the musical, you can make a case for all of that, depending on how an actor plays him. In the book... no. No.) Basically I write Enjolras at odds with how a lot of fandom does, although part of that is just by being firmly canon-era and book-based instead of going into modern AUs.
I'm not sure I have many unpopular opinions about Cosette except remembering she exists in canon era.
I am 100% sure I have unpopular Gundam Wing fandom opinions, but I'm not sure how many of them are about Trowa per se. Quate or Heero or Relena, heck yeah. I'm not sure how much of an active fandom The Enchanted Forest Chronicles even has, though I know lots of people love it; I definitely don't know the prevailing fandom opinions about Kazul. Ditto Claymore, except that I know it has an active fandom; I'm just not in it enough to know what fanon is. Firefly is a pretty dormant fandom these days, and I was always pretty much on the periphery, so I'm not sure what my unpopular opinions are other than not having River sleep with any crewmates (and definitely not with her brother.)
no subject
- I like Fanon Bumi more than Canon Bumi. By a large margin.
Don't get me wrong, I love that Canon Bumi is a goofball, and that he's a grown man that makes "duty" jokes. I just...have no patience for incompetent comic relief, especially comic relief that's attained a level of importance in the show. Bumi's a damn Commander and I refuse to believe that the military would promote someone ineffectual to a command position.
(shhh. lemme live in my little world where merit earns promotion)
- Katara and Aang were not together their entire lives. In fact, I strongly subscribe to the belief that the reason that Bumi and Kya are so far apart age-wise is because they took some years apart after Bumi was born. Raising kids is hard enough, but raising kids in a culturally blended family must have been really REALLY hard for Aang, who only had Katara's family to really fall back on.
Plus, I just don't believe in one-true-love, which I know makes me a cynic...but here we are.
- I think LoK could have done with some editing. I loved all the Big Plot Points, but not exactly how the show got from one to the next. I loved Varrick and the Movers stuff...but, the season needed to be a bit longer.
- Also I very much understand why Katara wasn't in it more, even if I am still butthurt about one glaring absence of hers which I don't for the slightest believe would have actually happened.
TMNT:
- Orientalism is bad. TMNT is based on an Orientalist premise. My faves are problematic.
- I don't know why everyone insists that Michaelangelo is incompetent, and it frustrates me to NO END. He's not stupid, he's gifted...but lazy. He'd much rather make people around him happy than push himself to some nebulous goalpost. That's Leo's Job. Mike's Job is to keep his family together, and make sure they're happy.
- The new movie was horrible, but damn...if they didn't get Raph right.
no subject
no subject
Sam Axe, as played by Bruce Campbell, was THE BEST COMIC RELIEF...and he kicked ass. In a Hawaiian Shirt, no less.