04-30-2015, 07:38 AM
Y'know, I used to be rather interested in the idea of AUs in which Raj has a secret identity or a dark side,
(Raj is secretly a criminal/gangster/vampire/hitman, whatever). It makes sense in an ironic way because Vintage Raj is quiet and timid and gentle, at least some of the time.
But now they've given him this "girlfriend" who likes violence and has a hidden or not-so-hidden dark side, and that, to me, sort of puts the kibosh on that idea.
In the Vintage Years, the idea that Mute!Raj is not really as shy, naive, or innocent as he seems, could have a lot of fanfic potential. Having a character do unexpected things or play against type in some way can often have fanfic potential.
Of course, the whole point of fanfic, especially AU fanfic, is that it's different from canon (ahem, take note!), so it's still perfectly possible to write a fic in which sweet, quiet, Season 1 Raj is secretly a powerful druglord or a vampire or something, but nowadays this character is at the mercy of a "partner" who seems to be psycho at worst and distasteful at best, so that AU idea loses some of its appeal, to me.
I dunno who thought that a menacing character with dark secrets was comedy gold, but that's a very strange story-telling decision. I don't know how far they'll go with this Emily character and I don't care, but it seems particularly cruel and inappropriate to pair someone as damaged as Raj with a threatening person who makes him nervous.
So, he's no longer mute, he conquered his fear, only to be confronted with something worse? This storyline sounds like enough to scare him back into mutism. The writers have seemingly un-done their own message: Raj learns that the world isn't such a scary place...no, wait, it IS. This makes it seem like his fear of women was, in fact, totally justified. It's just a really, really weird direction to take. What were they thinking, putting the most frightened and psychologically vulnerable character with someone who seems like the embodiment of his earlier fears?
There's fun-dark, and then there's icky-dark. Incest jokes and murder-jokes and hints of sadomasochism are icky-dark. If they wanted a character with a flair for the dark side, why didn't they make one of those Goth girls a recurring character? Goths generally know the difference between fantasy and reality, and they're not genuinely disturbed or disturbing, they just like spooky things in a fun way. Some girl who likes black lipstick and bat-shaped cookies is far preferable to a character who is literally *turned on by violence* and has this deeply unappealing sadosexual thing going on. Some topics are just straight-up inappropriate for a light mainstream comedy, IMO, and this is one of them.
TL;DR: once upon a time, it might've been fun to read and write fanfic exploring a possible dark side of the Original Five. But now, that seems far less appealing because A, B, and E really *are* dark, cruel, twisted, and icky. TPTB have taken themes that belong only in batcrap-crazy AU fanfic and put them into the actual show. This is creepy-bad, not creepy-good. I don't feel like exploring a possible sinister side of these characters when they're being (arguably) victimized in canon and they seem more helpless and vulnerable than ever before.
It's annoying when fanfic ideas get "jossed" by the show.
"What's a little harmless necrophilia", indeed.
ETA: I still wanna see SH play Bugsy Siegal, but that ain't gonna happen.
(Raj is secretly a criminal/gangster/vampire/hitman, whatever). It makes sense in an ironic way because Vintage Raj is quiet and timid and gentle, at least some of the time.
But now they've given him this "girlfriend" who likes violence and has a hidden or not-so-hidden dark side, and that, to me, sort of puts the kibosh on that idea.
In the Vintage Years, the idea that Mute!Raj is not really as shy, naive, or innocent as he seems, could have a lot of fanfic potential. Having a character do unexpected things or play against type in some way can often have fanfic potential.
Of course, the whole point of fanfic, especially AU fanfic, is that it's different from canon (ahem, take note!), so it's still perfectly possible to write a fic in which sweet, quiet, Season 1 Raj is secretly a powerful druglord or a vampire or something, but nowadays this character is at the mercy of a "partner" who seems to be psycho at worst and distasteful at best, so that AU idea loses some of its appeal, to me.
I dunno who thought that a menacing character with dark secrets was comedy gold, but that's a very strange story-telling decision. I don't know how far they'll go with this Emily character and I don't care, but it seems particularly cruel and inappropriate to pair someone as damaged as Raj with a threatening person who makes him nervous.
So, he's no longer mute, he conquered his fear, only to be confronted with something worse? This storyline sounds like enough to scare him back into mutism. The writers have seemingly un-done their own message: Raj learns that the world isn't such a scary place...no, wait, it IS. This makes it seem like his fear of women was, in fact, totally justified. It's just a really, really weird direction to take. What were they thinking, putting the most frightened and psychologically vulnerable character with someone who seems like the embodiment of his earlier fears?
There's fun-dark, and then there's icky-dark. Incest jokes and murder-jokes and hints of sadomasochism are icky-dark. If they wanted a character with a flair for the dark side, why didn't they make one of those Goth girls a recurring character? Goths generally know the difference between fantasy and reality, and they're not genuinely disturbed or disturbing, they just like spooky things in a fun way. Some girl who likes black lipstick and bat-shaped cookies is far preferable to a character who is literally *turned on by violence* and has this deeply unappealing sadosexual thing going on. Some topics are just straight-up inappropriate for a light mainstream comedy, IMO, and this is one of them.
TL;DR: once upon a time, it might've been fun to read and write fanfic exploring a possible dark side of the Original Five. But now, that seems far less appealing because A, B, and E really *are* dark, cruel, twisted, and icky. TPTB have taken themes that belong only in batcrap-crazy AU fanfic and put them into the actual show. This is creepy-bad, not creepy-good. I don't feel like exploring a possible sinister side of these characters when they're being (arguably) victimized in canon and they seem more helpless and vulnerable than ever before.
It's annoying when fanfic ideas get "jossed" by the show.
"What's a little harmless necrophilia", indeed.
ETA: I still wanna see SH play Bugsy Siegal, but that ain't gonna happen.