Fuck your fantasies, really
I had a vague notion in my head that I was going to rant about fandom's insistence on prettifying characters who are not canonically pretty. (At least not in a conventional sense, not in the way that the media tells us is pretty.) But I don't really know where to go with it other than saying it bugs me. A good example of this is Snape. Snape is not attractive. Yes, you could argue that the books are filtered through Harry's POV and as Harry does not like Snape he's not going to see him as attractive, but no matter how much fucking filtering is happening here you cannot argue that Snape is canonically an ugly fucker. Maybe not as hideous as Harry sees him, but still. Ugly. Fucker. A minger, even. I'm extending this beyond ugly characters, actually, and on to plain people. Hermione? PLAIN. Ron? PLAIN. NOT GORGEOUS. And why the hell not. A part of what bothers me so much about this is ugly characters are more interesting to describe than attractive ones. Seriously, go try it! Media-attractive people tend to be quite uninteresting to write: there's only so many ways you can describe straight white teeth and symmetrical features. Ugliness, on the other hand, is much more interesting to describe, and as such I tend to find ugly characters actually more attractive in literature/fic than I do actually attractive ones. Words are sensual, and when there are more at your disposal the sexier your fic becomes. In the fic I'm currently writing I've an OC who I've deliberately made unattractive partly because of my resentment towards the No Uglies fandom rule, but also because it just made him more fun to write. Plus, you know, ugly people desire and do have sex as well, and why shouldn't fandom reflect that? Oh yes, (non-)realism. The same reason people don't want bad sex in their fics, while I crave it. Maybe my wiring's all fucked, who knows.
(Also prettifying of characters ruins one of my fluffier kinks, the one where a character in-love finds the object of his/her desire beautiful simply because he/she is in love with them, not because of any actual physical attractiveness. Come ooon don't deny me my fluff.)
Errrgh stopping there. Seriously, I can't even debate this because whereas I've an interest in sociological bullshit I am in no way able to argue why something bothers me because I've neither the words nor the education, just a vague notion that Something Is Up. I end up chasing my own tail and getting frustrated at my own inability to word things properly.
Adding to the "I am unintelligent wah" mood I've apparently put myself in: I should never, ever do multi-part fics. Oneshots I'm okay with, but I suck at the chapters. You actually need plots for those and OH GOD I can't do scene transition and passage of time to save my life and I keep INFO-DUMPING. LAME, SELF. Still, plod on young Uko.
Have this macro, because it makes me both lol and also think there's such thing as being too nice and approachable to your fans. CHRIS BB I LOVE YOU &hearts Also the glasses A+++ (Oh god it just took me forever to find the plus sign. GO TO BED.)
SERIOUSLY WHO IS THIS GUY? I WANT HIS LIFE.
(Also prettifying of characters ruins one of my fluffier kinks, the one where a character in-love finds the object of his/her desire beautiful simply because he/she is in love with them, not because of any actual physical attractiveness. Come ooon don't deny me my fluff.)
Errrgh stopping there. Seriously, I can't even debate this because whereas I've an interest in sociological bullshit I am in no way able to argue why something bothers me because I've neither the words nor the education, just a vague notion that Something Is Up. I end up chasing my own tail and getting frustrated at my own inability to word things properly.
Adding to the "I am unintelligent wah" mood I've apparently put myself in: I should never, ever do multi-part fics. Oneshots I'm okay with, but I suck at the chapters. You actually need plots for those and OH GOD I can't do scene transition and passage of time to save my life and I keep INFO-DUMPING. LAME, SELF. Still, plod on young Uko.
Have this macro, because it makes me both lol and also think there's such thing as being too nice and approachable to your fans. CHRIS BB I LOVE YOU &hearts Also the glasses A+++ (Oh god it just took me forever to find the plus sign. GO TO BED.)
SERIOUSLY WHO IS THIS GUY? I WANT HIS LIFE.