turn-ons and turn-offs / free stuff redux

[oiran]

There's a thread going on in a stranger's journal about what Anonymous Anyone hates about fandom. There are some names named, but it's mostly bitching about general categories of people who 'ship one way or another, write men as girls, etc., and it is mostly Buffy-related, so I don't recognize many of the people who aren't going anon. I'm wondering how this thread is any different from just bitching in your own LJ under your own name. I certainly understand that if you're going to attempt to harpoon a BNF, you might enjoy the anon, but if you're just complaining about 'ships...who cares? Or is that a huge issue in Buffy fandom? Like, if you pick the wrong 'ship, it will go on your permanent record, and thus your opportunities in life will be diminished? Unfortunately, the converse doesn't seem to be true, and picking the "correct" 'ship never delivers the riches and acclaim that really ought to be forthcoming from involvement in a pyramid scheme of media-derivative bickering. Or maybe it's only the BNFs at the top who benefit...you should have gotten in on the game sooner.

If there have been those kind of wars in SV, I missed them. Not that we haven't had plenty of stupid wanks in SV, but I just don't remember this particular version. If you 'ship Lex/Lana, you won't get as much attention or understanding as those who 'ship Clark/Lex, but it seems more likely that you'll be ignored than villified for thinking that way. Not that being ignored feels nice, but it's usually fairly neutral in intent.

Bitching is easy. But so is being positive.

Thinks I Like About Fandom:

• Source material. When it's good, it's really, really good, and when it's bad, it's horrid. But usually pretty, which is why it still has fans despite the quality issues ;) In fact, often the more horrid the source, the better the fandom.


• Community. Hmmm...I'm a woman who likes to read "erotica" about two guys gettin' it on. I wonder where I could meet other women who share my interest without ending up in a chat room talking to a dubious "woman" who will end up stalking me? That place would be fandom. Finding other commonalities with fans makes it even better, but simply having one weird/perverted/dirty thing in common with hundreds and hundreds of people is...validating.


• Encouragement and Support. Write, post, get responses. Do art, post, get responses. Prove to yourself that you can produce material people are interested in. Try new things. Improve through doing more work. Meet other people who do similar work, then discuss and/or collaborate. And if you whine about your life every now and then, people tend to sympathize.


• Inclusion. Anyone can play. It's more chaotic than democratic, but it's open, at any rate. I know there are jerks who do try to keep others "out" or curtail other fans' involvement, but it's really not possible to quash someone entirely if they're determined to participate. Everyone can find someplace within fandom, as involved or uninvolved as they wish to be.


• Insidious cross-breeding. My next potential fandom or burning passion may be as close as my f-list.

So, whatever.

~~~

Also, I added a few more FREE things to my last post. See if there's something you want.

Comments

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Ship wars can get very heated in Buffy fandom, as I understand it, what with the whole Spike trying to rape Buffy thing, etc., etc., *yawn* HP is the same way, but mainly on the het side H/Hr vs. R/Hr, etc., etc., *yawn*

I don't think it was an issue in SV because Clex is really the only valid ship here on LJ. People may play around with other pairings, but even most of those have Clexy undertones.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

You know, I never thought about the attempted rape thing as drawing an absolute line between a Spike who has a certain charm and a Spike who is utterly monstrous and irredeemable. I have been on both sides of what might reasonably be termed sexual violence, but those incidents didn't always end a relationship, nor did they always mean that the aggressor was a permanently bad person. Context, context, context. Anyway, I've always seen layers and shades with that scene - and I'm now watching S7 and seeing how it plays out. If I were part of Buffy fandom, I guess I'd have to join up with the Not Hating Spike team.

There's het in HP? :)

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Not on my flist. Icky. ;)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I guess I have to read the 4th and 5th books now, if only so I can understand who the girls are (besides Ginny and Hermione), or how Neville turned into someone sexually viable at all in anyone's imagination. Or how Sirius and Remus are sexy, for that matter. Because, clearly, something big happens in those two books to make people squee over a couple of middle-aged teachers/fuck-ups.

[fairy-tale-echo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Buffy is one of my fandoms and I love it, but I swear to God, the shipping gets so ugly it hurts. Most of it is centered around SPIKE and who you chose to 'ship him with/if you like him at all. I remember when it was annouced that he was going to be on Angel and some people were actually happy about that. *Naturally* that led to a whole group of people forming a "We Don't Give A Fuck About Spike! AT ALL!" club and then...yeah. And that's not even factoring in the 'shipping!

What I love about Smallville is that it is genuinely a pretty calm fandom. I mean, yeah, there's been whining and wanking, but for the most part, I think it's definitely the most sedate of all the (major) fandoms I dabble in. I remember the fanfic_hate thread for it, where everyone stopped posting anon and pretty much just started discussing totally-non-fic-related things. Also? We have Les Luthor who is at least as bad as Spike if not more so, and yet we are all pretty much united in our affection for him. I love that.

I just read the best essay on remembering to love the source material of Harry Potter and it goes perfectly with this post, which is a lovely reminder of all the good things about fandom. Especially #2! :)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I love Buffy, but I'm a latecomer and not part of the fandom at all. In fact, I'm only now watching S7 (on DVD, along with the Mr., who keeps going out of town so we can't finish!). I can certainly understand why people would be anti-Spike following the assault on Buffy, but personally I see a bad action in a certain context, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, I can understand how that could get ugly about Spike just as a character without pairings even coming up.

After more exposure to other fandoms, I would agree that SV is comparatively sedate. I have seen SV referred to as the "bitch" fandom, and also as a self-righteous fandom (the way the hate thread died without really ever starting was cited at one point). However, it seems that SV BNFs, such as they are/were, are fairly low-key and not as prone to collecting and directing minions as it appears BNFs are in other fandoms. So, maybe our battles are boring, but at least we have the really hot porn ;)

[roquelaure.livejournal.com]

Is my home fandom misbehaving again? Where? :P

Also, I think you're giving people too much credit for decency when you wonder why they don't just complain in their own journals. People like to complain anonymously because they're cowardly - not just about something tangible like BNFs, but even about expressing their own ideas/opinions. I haven't seen this latest example of pettiness, but in general group hate-fests aren't even bitching about valid things. They're just venting for the soul pleasure it gives them, with no regard to the targets or victims of their vitriol (checking your compunctions at the door is part of the fun, of course). Plus! They get to do it in a group for maximum self-validation.

Wow... do I sound terribly jaded? Let me temper the above by saying that I don't think the participants in these kind of kerfluffles are necessarily "bad" people. We've all got a bit of nasty in us. ;)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Is my home fandom misbehaving again? Where? :P

Heh. I can't remember the person "hosting" the thread, actually. It's somewhere back in my f-list, through someone else's post...

As for giving people credit for decency...I don't think I do give much credit for that. I have a fairly tepid opinion of most people, and definitely don't have high hopes for the behavior of people acting in groups. I guess I just don't understand the seemingly rampant fear of expressing one's opinions in an honest way. I feel like I'm very opinionated, but I don't get in "trouble" for that, or at least never receive responses that feel particularly threatening to me. I would much rather that people like or dislike me for things I have said or done instead of basing their opinions on assumptions about my position or on who I'm friends with.

Of course, I don't go around telling people that I dislike them, but that's because it would serve no purpose except for stirring up shit. I mean, if I tell someone I don't like them, do I expect them to do something about that? Would I even like/appreciate it if they did?

Gah. I'm doing my "why don't people make more sense?" speech. And maybe I'm a big hypocrite, because when someone bugs me, I filter them instead of defriending (sometimes temporary, sometimes not). My intention is to avoid irritation, not to keep someone else from reading the few friends-only posts in my journal if they want to do so.

Fandom has been really...different for me. I was always the butt of group attacks in RL, had few friends, was considered very strange, etc. Here on LJ and in SV fandom, I was a very popular writer for quite some time. For all I know, I'm still regarded fondly. However, being on the popular side of the equation didn't made me any more able to understand groupthink or time-wasting social backbiting.

So, I don't get it. My petty jealousies and dislikes in fandom shame me. They're the sort of things I'll admit to people I know and trust in RL, but here on LJ I don't even want to share them anonymously.

[roquelaure.livejournal.com]

Gah. I'm doing my "why don't people make more sense?" speech.

LOL! Wow. I do my own version of that speech all the time.

They just don't.

Le sigh. :)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Of course, I think the real message of my "why don't people make more sense?" speech is this: If I were in charge, everything would be so much better. Because it's totally true ;)

[roquelaure.livejournal.com]

Hey! I have a version of that speech, too!

Hmm. *eyes you up and down*

This world ain't big enough for the two of us.

*g*

[park-hye-in.livejournal.com]

Spot-on, as usual. : D

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Heh. Thank you ;)

[vylit.livejournal.com]

Hee! *pets my wanky ass fandom*

Ships are a big deal in Btvs/AtS and a lot of the current wank stems from a group of people that believe that women who slash men do so because they hate their own sex and bodies, and how people slash because they're trying to make a statement about how transgressive they are. That got the fandom riled up, and since then, it's been one wank right after another.

Also, there are issues between certain groups (Angel/Buffy shippers and Spike/Buffy shippers have had some infamous wanks) that lead to reoccurring wank every time they get into the same online space. Although, right now, it seems as though the biggest issues are cropping up between the Lilah/Wes shippers and the Angel/Wes shippers (that would be me). It's ridiculous and tiring if only because it's the same arguments repeated over and over and over and over again.

[amberwitch.livejournal.com]

Insidious cross-breeding. My next potential fandom or burning passion may be as close as my f-list.

Heh. Yes.
I never meant to, but somehow I've ended up reading HP/DM (and liking it:-) due to rec's on f-list.