Again, this was fantastic! I'm nodding and nodding all through this. And omg, what you say about RayK vs. Billy Tallent is so true. Especially when it comes to the use of the word "buddies". RayK uses "buddy" a couple of times, but Billy and "That's not buddies" go hand-in-hand. I guess it's such an important part of HCL that it throws me out of DS fic when I see the word used more than once.
And god, inconsistent canon makes me SO SAD. Like, Stella in Strange Bedfellows rocks my socks. We see her home. We see her being conflicted and smart and stupid and annoyed with good reason. We see all this wonderful history that she has with RayK and her struggle to be friends with her ex-husband. I love THIS Stella. I don't love other appearances, where she's bitchy/cruel without cause. So, in my head, Strange Bedfellows is the real (complicated, multi-layered) Stella. And when she's unaccountably bitchy, I figure she's stressed out, having a rotten day, is swamped with cases, has cramps, Ray's a convenient and habitual target who she can unload on and trust not to take it too personally (as one does with someone one has known for 2/3+ of one's life).
But this is also because I was in DC Comics fandom before DS, and in comics fandom, you HAVE to pick and choose your canon (because periodic retcons make "canon" fluid).
no subject
Again, this was fantastic! I'm nodding and nodding all through this. And omg, what you say about RayK vs. Billy Tallent is so true. Especially when it comes to the use of the word "buddies". RayK uses "buddy" a couple of times, but Billy and "That's not buddies" go hand-in-hand. I guess it's such an important part of HCL that it throws me out of DS fic when I see the word used more than once.
And god, inconsistent canon makes me SO SAD. Like, Stella in Strange Bedfellows rocks my socks. We see her home. We see her being conflicted and smart and stupid and annoyed with good reason. We see all this wonderful history that she has with RayK and her struggle to be friends with her ex-husband. I love THIS Stella. I don't love other appearances, where she's bitchy/cruel without cause. So, in my head, Strange Bedfellows is the real (complicated, multi-layered) Stella. And when she's unaccountably bitchy, I figure she's stressed out, having a rotten day, is swamped with cases, has cramps, Ray's a convenient and habitual target who she can unload on and trust not to take it too personally (as one does with someone one has known for 2/3+ of one's life).
But this is also because I was in DC Comics fandom before DS, and in comics fandom, you HAVE to pick and choose your canon (because periodic retcons make "canon" fluid).