Fic, ships, and plain old niceness
Open post. Please be polite in comments (no bashing, etc...)
I have an f-list that's mostly full of Chloe fans who ship all different pairings and some non-shippers. And you know what's always been cool about Chloe fans? We have stuck together for years regardless of ships because we all agree on one thing: Chloe is a great character who drew us in and kept us watching (or sort of watching) Smallville. With the show ending, I sometimes feel like it's graduation and after sticking together online for years we're all going to end up at different colleges and lose touch. I hope not. I think not. And the reason I think not is fic.
I think our fic, as most of us write it, is what will keep us tethered to the show that first brought us into each other's lives (or journals). Fic is a way of having what you want when you aren't getting it, having more of what you want even when you are getting it, just getting wacky and tossing beloved characters into other worlds to see what happens, or (in my case) being pervy and making people have the sex. It should be fun, it should be supportive. It should be appreciated as fic writers aren't getting paid and are devoting hours to your amusement. And you know what another great thing about fic is? The gentle support and encouragement, the feedback and help each other grow as writers (some fic writers I've read have gone on to be pros), and the general understanding that creative works are off limits for bashing or policing.
Case in point: K-site. That forum, due to rogue mods and some level of group think and intolerance among a large number of posters is hard to be in. But I still post fic there. Why? Because of that general understanding that fic is of limits for bashing or policing. It is (and should be) a safe haven from unpleasantness or rudeness. And the unspoken, but understood "don't like/don't read" always keeps things civil.
That's not saying constructive criticism or little notes on typos are uncivil (though that can depend on author sensitivity). Even stuff on character portrayal is fine if said kindly. I've had someone come into a fic of mine and say things like "I'm kind of worried about having X say/do Y. Hoping it doesn't lead to Z." Sometimes I step back and look. Other times, my plot will be what it will be. But saying "X would never do/say Y! You clearly have no idea who X really is!" If that's where a person's thoughts lead, then the "don't like/don't read" could apply.
Cutting as this might get a little tl;dr...
Overall, I like things polite. People being rude to each other, even on the internet, is a squick of mine. It makes me want to hide my eyes and scroll down. And people being rude to each other over shipping fictional characters? I feel like no amount of eye-rolling covers it.
For a very apt (and hilarious) analogy:
How DARE you like peanut butter with your chocolate! Chocolate is not a WHORE and enjoying chocolate with coconut or red wine or cream cheese or graham crackers is just WRONG when the only OTP is chocolate with buttercream frosting! And if your OTP is supposedly chocolate with peanut butter -- and don't think we haven't seen your insulting Reese's icons -- then you canNOT really truly like chocolate with buttercream frosting and you're describing buttercream frosting like it's actually some kind of vomit.
It's your secret agenda to get everyone to prefer chocolate with peanut butter, isn't it? Even though chocolate and peanut butter have never before been combined at this table in true canon, and peanut butter only loves to be with bananas and has only ever been meant to be with bananas even after that brief time in S 1-8 where peanut butter thought he might want to be with marshmallow fluff. Ew.
Anyway. Chocolate and peanut butter together is gross and whorish and you must be oversensitive if you ever get offended when we say things like "People who like chocolate and peanut butter together are stupid idiots."
It can't be possible that chocolate is delicious with all sorts of flavors and delicious alone as well.
~~ meanjody
Words to live by.
As something very like this (but not nearly as fun to read) was said to me, I ended up defriending that person because a) I don't like rudeness and attitude thrown at me and b) I think the idea of owning a ship or a character because you feel your ideas about them are right is kind of closed-minded and c) publicly posting how you think creative works should be done is just... not done. I've never seen it in this fandom or in any other and d) this is the big one --- don't keep me on your friend's list if you're talking about me behind my back.
If I want to write Chloe with people other than Clark, it doesn't make me less of a Chlarker. And if I want to write for other ships (and I do), I'd like to feel welcome to. If someone off the Chlex forum decided to start writing Chlark, I would never say they shouldn't or don't truly understand it because they're a Chlexer first. Honestly, I'd welcome having more choices of reading material for my ship and would look forward to their perspective on it as I know it would be different from mine, which keeps things interesting, IMO.
If everyone wrote a ship with completely uniform ideas, fic would get boring and quickly.
Also, shipper tolerance is, I think everyone would agree, always for the good. I don't mean ship tolerance. You can hate a ship to your heart's content. But it's one thing to say "I just can't stand ____ with ____!" and a whole other to say "I can't stand those _____ers. They ruin everything!" or "Those ____ers shouldn't be writing for my ship!" You know what I mean? Thinking it is fine. Saying it to people you know share your opinion under filter is even fine. But publicly saying it on twitter and whatnot knowing that group would read it is rude and not mindful of others' feelings. And it's even worse if, after you do so, you do it more and louder, then call people whiny for having hurt feelings. Of course they have hurt feelings! You said something hurtful!
Also, if any of you that ship differently or have opinions different from my own come into my journal to politely discuss your POV, you are welcome to. I understand this is my journal with my opinions, but if someone comes in the spirit of tolerance to say "I think ____ because ____," I never have and never would reply rudely or try to make you feel small. Honestly, I never see an excuse for outright rudeness.
As for multi-shipping Chloe, I'm all for it. It's fun to explore. And if you only ship her one way, then I admire your tenacity. You know what you like and, as long as you don't run around saying everyone should like what you do or that multi-shipping turns Chloe into a whore, you're a-okay. Hell, I'd like to think someone is free to write her with the entire JL in a vat of wet noodles if they want to (twistedlyn, you should get dibs on that one). How does it diminish anything? It's fanfic!
Anyway, I truly am upset I defriended someone and never, ever, ever want to do it again. So I guess this whole post is just to say if you find yourself sliding into group think, shipper bashing, fic policing, or fan-baiting... step away and think about others' feelings. You'll only make yourself or others unhappy and we've come so far together. I want to say we made it to the end.
Love to all my friends. You follow your bliss, ship what you like, write what you want, please continue to treat me as politely as I would you, and please don't lose touch just because we're graduating.
As for me, I'll be summering in True Blood after grad, then majoring in V, Vampire Diaries, Misfits (even without my Nathan. Sob!), Being Human DWTS, Downton Abbey, anything NBC gives me on a Thursday, and will continue to keep in touch with my roots by writing Smallville fic. I hope to see you guys around!
I have an f-list that's mostly full of Chloe fans who ship all different pairings and some non-shippers. And you know what's always been cool about Chloe fans? We have stuck together for years regardless of ships because we all agree on one thing: Chloe is a great character who drew us in and kept us watching (or sort of watching) Smallville. With the show ending, I sometimes feel like it's graduation and after sticking together online for years we're all going to end up at different colleges and lose touch. I hope not. I think not. And the reason I think not is fic.
I think our fic, as most of us write it, is what will keep us tethered to the show that first brought us into each other's lives (or journals). Fic is a way of having what you want when you aren't getting it, having more of what you want even when you are getting it, just getting wacky and tossing beloved characters into other worlds to see what happens, or (in my case) being pervy and making people have the sex. It should be fun, it should be supportive. It should be appreciated as fic writers aren't getting paid and are devoting hours to your amusement. And you know what another great thing about fic is? The gentle support and encouragement, the feedback and help each other grow as writers (some fic writers I've read have gone on to be pros), and the general understanding that creative works are off limits for bashing or policing.
Case in point: K-site. That forum, due to rogue mods and some level of group think and intolerance among a large number of posters is hard to be in. But I still post fic there. Why? Because of that general understanding that fic is of limits for bashing or policing. It is (and should be) a safe haven from unpleasantness or rudeness. And the unspoken, but understood "don't like/don't read" always keeps things civil.
That's not saying constructive criticism or little notes on typos are uncivil (though that can depend on author sensitivity). Even stuff on character portrayal is fine if said kindly. I've had someone come into a fic of mine and say things like "I'm kind of worried about having X say/do Y. Hoping it doesn't lead to Z." Sometimes I step back and look. Other times, my plot will be what it will be. But saying "X would never do/say Y! You clearly have no idea who X really is!" If that's where a person's thoughts lead, then the "don't like/don't read" could apply.
Cutting as this might get a little tl;dr...
Overall, I like things polite. People being rude to each other, even on the internet, is a squick of mine. It makes me want to hide my eyes and scroll down. And people being rude to each other over shipping fictional characters? I feel like no amount of eye-rolling covers it.
For a very apt (and hilarious) analogy:
How DARE you like peanut butter with your chocolate! Chocolate is not a WHORE and enjoying chocolate with coconut or red wine or cream cheese or graham crackers is just WRONG when the only OTP is chocolate with buttercream frosting! And if your OTP is supposedly chocolate with peanut butter -- and don't think we haven't seen your insulting Reese's icons -- then you canNOT really truly like chocolate with buttercream frosting and you're describing buttercream frosting like it's actually some kind of vomit.
It's your secret agenda to get everyone to prefer chocolate with peanut butter, isn't it? Even though chocolate and peanut butter have never before been combined at this table in true canon, and peanut butter only loves to be with bananas and has only ever been meant to be with bananas even after that brief time in S 1-8 where peanut butter thought he might want to be with marshmallow fluff. Ew.
Anyway. Chocolate and peanut butter together is gross and whorish and you must be oversensitive if you ever get offended when we say things like "People who like chocolate and peanut butter together are stupid idiots."
It can't be possible that chocolate is delicious with all sorts of flavors and delicious alone as well.
~~ meanjody
Words to live by.
As something very like this (but not nearly as fun to read) was said to me, I ended up defriending that person because a) I don't like rudeness and attitude thrown at me and b) I think the idea of owning a ship or a character because you feel your ideas about them are right is kind of closed-minded and c) publicly posting how you think creative works should be done is just... not done. I've never seen it in this fandom or in any other and d) this is the big one --- don't keep me on your friend's list if you're talking about me behind my back.
If I want to write Chloe with people other than Clark, it doesn't make me less of a Chlarker. And if I want to write for other ships (and I do), I'd like to feel welcome to. If someone off the Chlex forum decided to start writing Chlark, I would never say they shouldn't or don't truly understand it because they're a Chlexer first. Honestly, I'd welcome having more choices of reading material for my ship and would look forward to their perspective on it as I know it would be different from mine, which keeps things interesting, IMO.
If everyone wrote a ship with completely uniform ideas, fic would get boring and quickly.
Also, shipper tolerance is, I think everyone would agree, always for the good. I don't mean ship tolerance. You can hate a ship to your heart's content. But it's one thing to say "I just can't stand ____ with ____!" and a whole other to say "I can't stand those _____ers. They ruin everything!" or "Those ____ers shouldn't be writing for my ship!" You know what I mean? Thinking it is fine. Saying it to people you know share your opinion under filter is even fine. But publicly saying it on twitter and whatnot knowing that group would read it is rude and not mindful of others' feelings. And it's even worse if, after you do so, you do it more and louder, then call people whiny for having hurt feelings. Of course they have hurt feelings! You said something hurtful!
Also, if any of you that ship differently or have opinions different from my own come into my journal to politely discuss your POV, you are welcome to. I understand this is my journal with my opinions, but if someone comes in the spirit of tolerance to say "I think ____ because ____," I never have and never would reply rudely or try to make you feel small. Honestly, I never see an excuse for outright rudeness.
As for multi-shipping Chloe, I'm all for it. It's fun to explore. And if you only ship her one way, then I admire your tenacity. You know what you like and, as long as you don't run around saying everyone should like what you do or that multi-shipping turns Chloe into a whore, you're a-okay. Hell, I'd like to think someone is free to write her with the entire JL in a vat of wet noodles if they want to (twistedlyn, you should get dibs on that one). How does it diminish anything? It's fanfic!
Anyway, I truly am upset I defriended someone and never, ever, ever want to do it again. So I guess this whole post is just to say if you find yourself sliding into group think, shipper bashing, fic policing, or fan-baiting... step away and think about others' feelings. You'll only make yourself or others unhappy and we've come so far together. I want to say we made it to the end.
Love to all my friends. You follow your bliss, ship what you like, write what you want, please continue to treat me as politely as I would you, and please don't lose touch just because we're graduating.
As for me, I'll be summering in True Blood after grad, then majoring in V, Vampire Diaries, Misfits (even without my Nathan. Sob!), Being Human DWTS, Downton Abbey, anything NBC gives me on a Thursday, and will continue to keep in touch with my roots by writing Smallville fic. I hope to see you guys around!