Entitled knobnuts, part #758
Jun. 17th, 2012 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
veronica_richFandom!Secrets may have moved to DW, but it's just as much fun as ever to read for venting. *G*
A theme I see brought up time and again is entitlement in fandom. As in, "I'm entitled to get to read stories/see fanart of THIS" and "I'm entitled to have what I like be the dominant force in my fandom" and "I'm entitled to do some name-calling when people waste their time on fanworks of things I don't like instead of what I want to see." Pre-Internet, I honestly don't remember fans I knew and met being so judgmental of fanfic or art beyond the usual "is it good or not?" which is fair enough. What I mean, there was none of this "quit wasting your time on slash and build me a het epic, bitch" that's become a staple at FS (which, FS is a concentrated dose of general fandom, so my guess is this maybe goes on in some individual fandoms out there to a lesser degree; I saw just a tiny bit of it back in POTC). I'm not talking about people who simply express a desire to read something specific they would like - I mean those who tear down other people for writing other things that aren't what the bitchers want to read.
And it is all het, occasionally gen. Even the femslash fans, who might have a point about not seeing enough of what they like, aren't whiny and entitled like the het fans who make these secrets or agree with them. I remember just a few occasional threads in parts of POTC where J/E fans (it wasn't ever W/E or even Norribeth or other het fans doing it) would sit around publicly wondering why anyone would like slash in that fandom. Or the few who insinuated from time to time it was down to misogyny because we didn't write Liz as much as they did. But it didn't come up with near the frequency it does on FS, and every time I see it, I wonder, why don't those people write what they want to read?
Seriously. This is how fanfic STARTED long before the Internet and even paper 'zines. Fans wrote what they liked to see and kept them to read again. Or traded with fellow fans. Or copied and passed around. Hell, this was going on into the 90s. So the bitchers who counter with "but I'm not a writer!" - well, I have no sympathy. Non-writers and professional storytellers have been telling themselves stories to beat boredom and fall asleep for tens of thousands of years; if you're so damn lazy you're the type who'd rather publicly bash because you're not getting what you want from people doing it for free, you deserve to be mocked by all of us who do it at FS and anywhere else.
A theme I see brought up time and again is entitlement in fandom. As in, "I'm entitled to get to read stories/see fanart of THIS" and "I'm entitled to have what I like be the dominant force in my fandom" and "I'm entitled to do some name-calling when people waste their time on fanworks of things I don't like instead of what I want to see." Pre-Internet, I honestly don't remember fans I knew and met being so judgmental of fanfic or art beyond the usual "is it good or not?" which is fair enough. What I mean, there was none of this "quit wasting your time on slash and build me a het epic, bitch" that's become a staple at FS (which, FS is a concentrated dose of general fandom, so my guess is this maybe goes on in some individual fandoms out there to a lesser degree; I saw just a tiny bit of it back in POTC). I'm not talking about people who simply express a desire to read something specific they would like - I mean those who tear down other people for writing other things that aren't what the bitchers want to read.
And it is all het, occasionally gen. Even the femslash fans, who might have a point about not seeing enough of what they like, aren't whiny and entitled like the het fans who make these secrets or agree with them. I remember just a few occasional threads in parts of POTC where J/E fans (it wasn't ever W/E or even Norribeth or other het fans doing it) would sit around publicly wondering why anyone would like slash in that fandom. Or the few who insinuated from time to time it was down to misogyny because we didn't write Liz as much as they did. But it didn't come up with near the frequency it does on FS, and every time I see it, I wonder, why don't those people write what they want to read?
Seriously. This is how fanfic STARTED long before the Internet and even paper 'zines. Fans wrote what they liked to see and kept them to read again. Or traded with fellow fans. Or copied and passed around. Hell, this was going on into the 90s. So the bitchers who counter with "but I'm not a writer!" - well, I have no sympathy. Non-writers and professional storytellers have been telling themselves stories to beat boredom and fall asleep for tens of thousands of years; if you're so damn lazy you're the type who'd rather publicly bash because you're not getting what you want from people doing it for free, you deserve to be mocked by all of us who do it at FS and anywhere else.
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Date: 2012-06-18 05:03 am (UTC)Slash tends to be my default setting when writing stories, but part of it could be the predominance of men/male leads in TV and movies. It's easier to pair them because they're already in the 'buddy' stage and it's sometimes easier to take them the next step or two. I know in SPN, the shift (for me) away from Dean/Sam happened when Castiel showed up, then it was all Dean/Castiel for me. If I was to write het for the show, it would be Dean/Ellen most likely (the actress calls herself a MILF :)). I can't see myself reading or writing Castle fic, because the show writers are doing pretty well with the on-screen relationship and I don't feel the need to "fix" or "see" anything else. That's what tends to drive the relationship fanfic for me - a relationship that isn't happening, that I think should be happening. Of course, I wrote a Bashir/Garak/O'Brien love triangle just to piss off a few people :) There were some slash fans declaring that writer "couldn't" write a certain pairing, so I did it a few times just to prove them wrong and annoy the smeg out of them. Don't tell me what to write; I'm not holding a gun to anyone's head making you read it. That's what the delete (when stories used to be posted to Listservs and mailing lists) or subscribe to my feed or go to that section of the archive. Why do people go out of their way to make other people miserable? I'll never, ever understand that.
I do know it can be intimidating coming into an established fandom and seeing all the stories that were written ahead of you. It's overwhelming and you don't know if your little story idea will even be heard in the chaos. I ease myself into a fandom by reading & commenting on stories. Then I'll join a list or two to see what's going on/being talked about. Then, if an idea strikes me, I have at least made myself known before I post and wave my new story around, so I'll have people more receptive to reading it. One cannot (I assume) jump headfirst into a fandom, post 20 stories and have everyone love them and declare you the best thing since (insert BNF here).
And I agree; no matter the relationship, you're going to have the same issues crop up in terms of getting them together, circumstances that are keeping them apart, reactions to their getting together, etc. etc.
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Date: 2012-06-18 02:29 pm (UTC)I too am not interested in Castle fic. The writer's do a good job. It was cool of you to prove a pairing could happen though. That's just awesome. I agree with you that people are not allowed to tell other's what to write or what not to write. Censorship is not allowed in writing whatsoever.
i find it fun to write a pairing that'd probably never happen; because it's more challenging to get them together. And, as you said, every couple has challenges to their relationships. It's something all reader's can relate to.