Comments | clarrisani: Meta: Dispelling the Myths

clarrisani

Meta: Dispelling the Myths - Part One (Jack/Ianto)

May 22, 2009 13:23

Dispelling the Myths

Okay then, as most of you well know I am a Torchwood fan. Any of you who really know me will know that I'm a multishipper no matter the fandom (except Star Wars - Jaina/Kyp all the way in that).You'll also know that I love to analyse things, and have an interest in fandom. Anyway, I've decided to get together a list of things ( Read more... )

meta, torchwood

Comments 15

esporamor May 22 2009, 06:10:17 UTC

I've just skimmed over this and I wish I had the time (RL is kicking my ass now) to read this carefully, but I just wanted to say thank you because it has very interesting points.
It's in "Memories" now for future reading.

clarrisani May 22 2009, 23:28:32 UTC

I know what RL can be like it's been about three weeks since I wrote this but RL prevented me from having the time to post it. I actually posted this on a day I was home sick from work and couldn't move around much. RL is evil in regards to time.

I do hope you get the time to read it and maybe come up with a meta of your own. Thank you for adding this to your Memories.

fiwen1010 May 22 2009, 10:03:58 UTC

Ooo, thank you for sharing ts with us. I did my usual checklist thing, and I'm stupidly happy about how many of these I've managed to avoid or even reverse completely :D Obsessed fangirl is obsessed.
And I will be using this to avoid the tropes in my future scribblings :)
Gxxx

clarrisani May 22 2009, 23:31:43 UTC

I tended to avoid them anyway, but it's rather scary how many of them there actually are. I've seen most of them used either in fics or during discussions, and it can be rather disturbing how much people support some of them (eg. abusive Rhys). Glad you're avoiding them, because including certain ones from the list dump you straight into the "badfic" category and having people hitting the back button I've found.

Thank you for reading this huge meta, and glad you liked it.

fiwen1010 May 22 2009, 23:51:40 UTC

The idea of abusive Rhys had me completely astonished, it's amazing what people can invent from no evidence whatsoever. Little brother also basically went "What?". Kinda glad he's not into fandom seriously, because he'd flame madly.

And as for Badfics, I'm an FF.net regular ;) Most of these tropes would, sadly, have you deluged with reviews. Strangely, I've not seen most of them there
Gxxx

clarrisani May 22 2009, 23:59:30 UTC

I could dig up the abusive Rhys stories but I think they're buried on that forum now because they were a while back. Was a single writer who had a mass of people saying "I can see this!" and "I hate Rhys!" and the like. I read the fic for the sole reason of not being able to believe it and needing to see the whole thing. I think a couple of people picked up with it and went with it themselves, but thankfully it's a phase that's starting to ebb away.

I no longer post to FF.N as I was on there during the great culls and had some fics deleted. Why I came to LJ. ;)

Mind you, there are some fics on Teaspoon that fit the tropes that I've mentioned, and it is interesting that the ones that do tend to have the most reviews. Is odd. Then again, a lot of badfic tends to have a cult following of people who apparently like it while the good fic gets buried amongst the badfic and you have to go digging for it. It's a pity - some of those good fics deserve way more praise and attention than they get.

Thread 7

aierea May 22 2009, 15:11:42 UTC

Thank you. I love your analysis of the series and the issues that arise from people writing things that are not true to what really appears on the screen.

clarrisani May 22 2009, 23:35:13 UTC

I really need to get back to my analysis of the series. I've started the next one but RL keeps biting me whenever I try to do any work on it. I think it is possible to write a good fic by twisting the canon slightly into AU, but by that I only mean the events, not the characters. You can screw with personalities.

I know of one fic writer who, when I called them on the way they wrote a character and a comment they made, told me straight up that they're fictional characters and their personalities aren't fixed and can be screwed around with. As you can guess all their characters were completely OOC but they could see nothing wrong with that.

Thank you for reading and commenting on this. It is exceptionally long. Sorry about that.

aierea May 24 2009, 18:07:33 UTC

"Fictional characters"... I don't agree with that either. To me the characters and their personalities are set by the writers of Torchwood. They have envisioned these "people". To me in writing, when you compose and create, those characters must become 'real people' to those who are writing the story. Otherwise the story does not have that aspect that lures you in.

We have all read novels that are "so so.. just mediocre" because the the characters involved in the plot just do not jump out at us and enthrall us. That is what makes Torchwood and a few others so intriguing, because the writers of Torchwood have created those characters with a depth that they become real people to us.

I wish fan writers would understand that concept. Give them an AU, but do not morph the personalities of the characters.

lawsontl May 27 2009, 04:25:54 UTC

I really appreciate all of this, it goes into detail without being too tetchy. I don't think it's too long at all considering all it covers ( ... )

clarrisani May 27 2009, 04:46:35 UTC

Honestly, I think Jack and Ianto switch it up. They take it in turns with who is more dominant and who is submissive, depending on the night. In their professional life Ianto is the more submissive one whereas Jack is in a dominative role of being the head of Torchwood, so I can see Jack on allowing them to trade places in their personal life, although this is not 100% of the time. We know Jack does like it when someone else takes charge (see "Utopia"), but it depends entirely on just who is giving the orders and what scenario. So as I said, he and Ianto would change it up.

Is this how you see it? Or do you have a different take?

lawsontl May 27 2009, 12:04:34 UTC

I agree! And I think either GDL or JB have said they think Ianto takes the lead most of the time in bed for just those reasons, but I could definitely see a switch up. Hello, variety? I was just confused as to how that particular scene established Ianto as dominant - at least that's how I read what you said - and I wasn't sure I saw it in that particular content.

I get a giggle out of the idea that Jack's tied up while Ianto's making coffee, though. Not a whit of proof for that, either, but it's funny! :)