throw another bear in the canoe

...I'm working on my essay for a book on women in Doctor Who fandom, which necessitates discussing the difference between noir and clair sensibilities in fiction, and I just had a cross-fandom realization.

SSA Aaron Hotchner is a classic noir hero. He is the lone* ethical man, moving through a debased, indifferent, and sometimes actively malevolent world without moral compass, winning qualified and sometimes pyrrhic victories in the face of overwhelming odds.

Or as I keep saying, in Criminal Minds, prayers are answered. And you usually wish they hadn't been.

*except, this being CM, he's not alone. Bors has other knights to help out around the house.

---

Which now has me thinking about the classic debate about the perceived clash of sensibilities in science fiction versus fantasy, where fantasy is often portrayed by its critics are presenting a world that is more just and less arbitrary than reality, whereas science fiction is portrayed as being more ruthless and relentless in its portrayal of reality*. (I disagree with these assessments as generalities, though I cannot deny that in specific cases they are often correct.)

*with the implied or express value judgment that this is a better/more correct viewpoint, because Real Art Is Serious.

And now I'm thinking about Doctor Who (clair) and Sapphire & Steel (noir), and why (a) remains so insanely much more popular than (b). Because, well, after a while, (b) gets hard to take. 'Cause let's face it, killer feather pillows aren't any dumber than killer cannister vacs that can't climb stairs.

Cat:
Has yet // the hairy horror
Who stalks // the shadowed salon
Hastened heart-rent // from my household?

Monkey: ...very nice skaldic form, O Cat. Where did you pick that up?

Cat:
Perfidous monkey // scatters many manuscripts
Leaf-lying // on the loveseat.

Monkey: I see. You've been going over my corrections then?

Cat:
All the day long // document dozing
Downstairs the dog // lean and deadly
Office exile // existence I endure

Monkey: You're downstairs now. That's very brave of you.

Cat:
Not yet devoured // though dog defiant
Stalks still // and stares
Frets, flehmens  // and follows.
Fearless feline // faultless creeps
War-chants sings // wary walks
Into the lair // of the light-limbed darkness.

...and you can't deny, it looks like Grendel.

Monkey: I'm pretty sure the arms are smaller. But I admit, if something ten times my size was looking at me that way, I'd also be considering the fact that I am made of meat. You get extra pets for coming out. Just be smart and don't get cornered: I'm not sure I trust him yet.

Cat:
Crafty canine // careless dwells
Inside Other Monkey's // isolated inhabitation.
Feisty feline // freak-show braving
Ventures valiant // ventrally--ooo! Dogfood! Yay!

crunch crunch crunch

Monkey:
Satin cat-feet // softly sneak
Into broad-barred // bed of canine
Creeping onward //  kibble craving.

Cat: Your alliteration sucks.

Annoyance: had a good, if short, climbing night--I got a new 5.8+ on the 45-foot wall (which is !tall!) and came down to find somebody had stolen my camera out of my gear bag.

So alas, you will be without cute dog and cat photos for a while, because I can't afford to replace it until Tor pays me.

I'm actually more annoyed about the loss of the photos than the camera, because the camera is just stuff, but I had plans for one of the photos.

*sigh*

At least dinner was awfully good. Best Roomie Evar brought home nine-grain bread, and I made stroganoff, and we were good and hungry after climbing, so it went where stroganoff belongs.

And the cat is wandering around the house again for the first time in a week and a half, and the dog is still fascinated but far more willing to be called off her.