This post is not about my new awesome icons, sadly

[briar_pipe]

*pops head up from under this here rock*

Okay, I haven't posted much lately, and I'm generally not posting publicly on this journal, but I think this needs to be said by as many people as possible, so.

Comments

[briar_pipe]

Yes, the kink meme. Specifically, this was prompted by a recent case of trolling on a fic that dealt with infidelity, both Gwen's and Arthur's, though the troll focused on Arthur's. The OP asked for a situation where Merlin and Arthur had been together for a while before Merlin suggested they have sex without protection, and Arthur decided to admit to infidelity rather than put Merlin at risk. The fic, which was a WIP when it was removed at the author's request, seemed to be hinting that some of Arthur's issues with infidelity stemmed from Gwen being unfaithful to him in the past, though this hadn't yet been clarified. The entire work was a modern AU.

I better understand why there's a debate around Gwen and infidelity, simply because of the backlog of issues and inconsistencies within the legends, as well as the misogyny of many of the accounts in general. And since we have both Arthur and Lancelot in this story, it's going to at least come up.

What startled me was the recent spate of hate against stories that showed Merlin or Arthur being unfaithful to each other. I think it started early last year, but it's gotten much worse. Rather than engaging in thoughtful discussion about tropes or just back-buttoning out of there, people are outright wanking and sometimes even bringing the wank to the author. That bothers me, especially when trolls gloat that they can scare authors into not writing things the trolls don't like.

So the witch hunt is really focused on specific types of fics, not on the canon or legends at all, which makes it much less about philosophical differences and much more about power trips, to me.

[briar_pipe]

It was interesting, and (imo) well written, and I don't usually go for the infidelity trope at all. One of the reasons I think this particular story was attacked was that, like the other 3-4 stories that were jumped on in the past few months, it stood out for both its quality and the care with which the author approached the premise. Many people found it compelling, myself included.

[zahrawithaz]

Wow. This is...well, nothing fandom does surprises me anymore, but this is sad and disturbing nonetheless. I feel awful for the author you describe, especially since it sounds like a great story!

What you said below about this being a fight between Merlin-fans and Arthur-fans sounds bizarre, yet paradoxically all too believable. But your point--that fandom should not allow trolling and power abuses of this kind, and that we should take a stand against it--is most important.

[briar_pipe]

Thanks, yeah, I think that's my final point. Because details aside, this is just like other divisions within a fandom, and there's no need to abuse people who have a different opinion.

Or as a very dear friend of mine is fond of saying in reference to fandom, "The fights are so vicious because the stakes are so small."