Times and people passing

I'm stunned to hear Robert Aspirin is dead. I'm... saddened but not surprised to hear that friend and fellow costumer Amanda Allen is dead. Is it okay to be a bit angry as well as sad? Because I am. She couldn't be helped now because she was already weak from not taking care of herself for years, and that is such a waste of a friend, a talent, and a vibrant human being.

Here at Media*West, I suddenly discovered that two of my panel suggestions did make it in the last second. One is Morality in Who, which I did make it onto as a panelist; the other is theories of the Time War, which is on just before it, and which I missed posting as panelist, but will doubtless attend. (Want to find me at M*W? Look for the Who and SJA panels. Not so much the Torchwood ones, only because I find a topic like "Do gay characters help or hurt slashfic" mindboggling. The bloody fandom is 95% Jack/Ianto, so I'm thinking "hurt" isn't in the equation. It's not even in the same zip code as the equation.)

Both Morality and the War - two of the panels I'm least likely to skip - are against the Vid competition. And that's bringing up conflicting emotions. The role of the vid competition itself is an odd one in a world with YouTube, where I can dial up all the vids I want for my fandom of choice 24/7. The competition is, of course, all the vidder's fandoms, and in some years there has been almost no overlap. On the other hand, the vibe of the competition is something that can't be repeated.

We'll see.

Around the rest of LJ: Remember Match It For Pratchett? Phil Fogilo is auctioning off original art based on Good Omens for the Alzheimers Fund. Neil Gaiman thinks this is brilliant.

mtgat knocks it out of the park with That Would Never Happen in My Fandom
When someone points out something unsavory about one's favorite show, it's hard. As fans, we love our shows. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here reading and discussing them all the time. ... Sometimes we squee about two characters being on-screen together. Sometimes we analyze the fire imagery as it builds over a season-long arc. Sometimes we look for symbolism in the clothing during a particular episode of a cartoon because we have free time and someone dared us to. For the most part, this process of analysis and squee is highly enjoyable. There are going to be a few "get a life"ers, but there always are. Responses usually tend to be in the range of sharing the squee to pointing out even more details that support the theory, to the simple but gratifying, "Wow, I never looked at it that way before."

And then there are the essays and posts and metas that are just as thought out and well-researched as the "Shakespearean Nods in Season Four" essays but are instead describing an aspect of the series that isn't squeeful but, on reflection, is actually pretty skeevy. Then the reactions are sure to include, "It's just a TV show!" and "You have too much time on your hands," and "You can find a problem like that in any show, so why are you complaining?" and Dr. Merlin's personal favorite, "If it bothers you so much, stop watching."

For a complete change of pace, put down all drinks and read this faintly smutty and cracky drabble.