I'm someone who watched, while not from the beginning of the show, but I started watching during the airing of S3 and onward and Dawn's introduction didn't hinder my watching experience at all. I loved her the moment she appeared on the screen. And I never understood people's hate for her. I can understand a level of dislike or disinterest, sure, but Dawn unfortunately got, and in ways still gets, some much passionate hate swung her way and I never quite understood the reasons why. I mean, in the early days it could've been just really intense hate (to the point where, during a song-along night for "Once More, With Feeling", people actively booed when Dawn's part came on....that is something that really sticks with me when it comes to the undeserved hate she got/gets within the fandom
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to the point where, during a song-along night for "Once More, With Feeling", people actively booed when Dawn's part came on....
Wow! That's really harsh. O_o
, it did create an interesting mystery surrounding Dawn's character, the dynamic that followed and the understanding of what it means to be a family. We got that with Tara in the same season, as well. Dawn might have just been created with false memories, but those memories are very real, the emotions and feelings attached to them were very real. And Buffy's instincts to protect her were very much real. And I think that is what the Monks were probably banking on, while protecting an object would've been one thing, but the human instinct to protect another human being with your life is another. And seeing that sisterly dynamic between Buffy and Dawn was incredibly special.
I agree! I liked their dynamic a lot. And I think that fans fail to realize that she is very real to Buffy. I read a comment somewhere asking why Buffy didn't just let her die, and why they couldn't have all
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Yeah, I wasn't that deep into the BTVS fandom during those days, but I remember the recalling of these incidents over the years and it just boggles my mind. But then, every fandom has a nasty side.
Because it didn't matter when she really became; she was always there to them.
Exactly. People who really wanted that were just people who hated Dawn and wanted her gone and forgotten from the show. I've noticed this as a pattern, though, in most shows where newer characters are introduced midway through a show and most fans will want to dismiss them for not being of the "original cast" and just want them gone in any way possible. And this is done mostly to female characters, unfortunately. Dawn sadly fits this for most BTVS fans who hated her since they used the "well she's not really real and can be disposed of" excuse as if that justified their hate.
Yup. I was the youngest kid in my family and could relate a little.
Same here.
On an interesting note, I dabbled in the Firefly fandom for a while, and
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But it makes me think that, while I do miss the sense of community fandom used to have, I so don't miss the fandom wars and the internalized misogyny that was more widely accepted back then.
Me either, and I think that's why it was even a thing to make fun of OCs. Don't get me wrong, there were some... serious Mary Sues. But some of the Mary Sue litmus tests (NOT the original, IIRC the original was fine) came across as "just don't write a female character." Which I found deeply problematic even then. And anytime a female character had feelings and opinions, she was portrayed as terrible. I definitely love that that's being discouraged now. Even flawed OCs weren't necessarily Sues (I had an OC who I will contend wasn't a Sue, but who also made no sense in the context of the Harry Potter universe), and the same goes for flawed female characters. You're right that it's not something to boast about now.
And honestly, as an original fiction writer it's a relief too, because back in the day it definitely crossed my mind, that my
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and I think that's why it was even a thing to make fun of OCs.
Oh, absolutely. But I like how not only is that not acceptable anymore, the general fandom has embraced OC fics, even reader insert fics which have become quite popular in recent years for various fandoms. While not my thing, personally speaking, but I like how instead of the mocking them it's actually being encouraged. Which is a good kind of progression.
Mainstream media definitely has a long way to go when it comes to writing female characters, but fandom has gotten much better than how it used to be when approaching the topic, for sure.
Reply
Wow! That's really harsh. O_o
, it did create an interesting mystery surrounding Dawn's character, the dynamic that followed and the understanding of what it means to be a family. We got that with Tara in the same season, as well. Dawn might have just been created with false memories, but those memories are very real, the emotions and feelings attached to them were very real. And Buffy's instincts to protect her were very much real. And I think that is what the Monks were probably banking on, while protecting an object would've been one thing, but the human instinct to protect another human being with your life is another. And seeing that sisterly dynamic between Buffy and Dawn was incredibly special.
I agree! I liked their dynamic a lot. And I think that fans fail to realize that she is very real to Buffy. I read a comment somewhere asking why Buffy didn't just let her die, and why they couldn't have all ( ... )
Reply
Yeah, I wasn't that deep into the BTVS fandom during those days, but I remember the recalling of these incidents over the years and it just boggles my mind. But then, every fandom has a nasty side.
Because it didn't matter when she really became; she was always there to them.
Exactly. People who really wanted that were just people who hated Dawn and wanted her gone and forgotten from the show. I've noticed this as a pattern, though, in most shows where newer characters are introduced midway through a show and most fans will want to dismiss them for not being of the "original cast" and just want them gone in any way possible. And this is done mostly to female characters, unfortunately. Dawn sadly fits this for most BTVS fans who hated her since they used the "well she's not really real and can be disposed of" excuse as if that justified their hate.
Yup. I was the youngest kid in my family and could relate a little.
Same here.
On an interesting note, I dabbled in the Firefly fandom for a while, and ( ... )
Reply
But it makes me think that, while I do miss the sense of community fandom used to have, I so don't miss the fandom wars and the internalized misogyny that was more widely accepted back then.
Me either, and I think that's why it was even a thing to make fun of OCs. Don't get me wrong, there were some... serious Mary Sues. But some of the Mary Sue litmus tests (NOT the original, IIRC the original was fine) came across as "just don't write a female character." Which I found deeply problematic even then. And anytime a female character had feelings and opinions, she was portrayed as terrible. I definitely love that that's being discouraged now. Even flawed OCs weren't necessarily Sues (I had an OC who I will contend wasn't a Sue, but who also made no sense in the context of the Harry Potter universe), and the same goes for flawed female characters. You're right that it's not something to boast about now.
And honestly, as an original fiction writer it's a relief too, because back in the day it definitely crossed my mind, that my ( ... )
Reply
Oh, absolutely. But I like how not only is that not acceptable anymore, the general fandom has embraced OC fics, even reader insert fics which have become quite popular in recent years for various fandoms. While not my thing, personally speaking, but I like how instead of the mocking them it's actually being encouraged. Which is a good kind of progression.
Mainstream media definitely has a long way to go when it comes to writing female characters, but fandom has gotten much better than how it used to be when approaching the topic, for sure.
Reply
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