Full moon?
So last weekend I broke one of my own rules and randomly started trolling some of the PotC comms. It resulted in some frustration and a nice little rant. But I'm feeling better now thanks.
I have gone back to avoiding the comms. Why? Many of them seem to be mostly frequented by J/E shippers and frankly, I am fundamentally in discord with this particular faction of fandom. I don't like J/E (shocking!) and it's really pretty simple. I just don't see this 'ship. Any and all interaction that we see of these two characters, they are lying, using or manipulating the other, with the exception of when they first met and Jack saved Elizabeth (convenient plot point, Jack needed to know where the last piece of cursed gold was). Call me boring, pragmatic or unromantic, but I just don't see any kind of believable, long-term relationship forming out of this interaction. And no one has been able to explain how they over come the whole her murdering him thing, all I seem to get is that Jack is just so darn proud of her for chaining him up like an animal and leaving him like a goat for slaughter. You say tomato, I say pissed off pirate.
If this thing ends J/E, it will be because it's Johnny, because Keira is the current 'it' girl, and because Orlando seems to be universally reviled. That Disney, Jer-Bear, Gore, Giggles and Creepy Pete are caving to popular opinion (although I'm not convinced that fandom is a proper barometer of 'popular' opinion) not because it has to end this way, that 'nothing else would be believable' or that it's even good story telling. While some suggest that all the flirting and compass pointing in DMC suggest AWE can end no other way than J/E (why bring it up in the first place if it goes nowhere), the counter point to this is all the W/E that happened in CotBP and DMC (by the same logic, why bring it up if it means nothing). To suggest that some forced-feeling flirting and a Judas-like moment (be it with significantly more tongue) at the end negated all of the W/E text is short sighted. The W/E thing exists, much as some may hate it, and while the W/E relationship and Will are often negated and disregarded quickly and easily in fandom, I'm not convinced that the Terror twins subscribe to this particular chain of thought.
While the 'ship thing may be the end all be all to some, I'm not convinced that Jer-bear, Gore and the Diz-knee exec sit around and fangirl J/E, or even think in those terms. Gore wants to make a big shiny movie, with lots of action and the occasional gross out moment/joke. He wants to torture as many of his cast and crew as possible at any given moment and do things that no one has seen before or that were thought to be impossible, and he wants to do it, as much as possible, in the old fashioned way. Jer-Bear and Diz-knee want this thing to rake in piles and piles and piles and piles of cash that make them look good and a completely out-there ending, unless extremely well done, will hurt more than it helps.
Giggle and Creepy Pete are another story, they seem to spend a lot of time hanging out on message boards and comms. But ultimately I think they want to provide an ending that knocks the socks off of everyone (good or bad) and I wouldn't put it past them to be creating and nurturing misconceptions, again good or bad.
But this was not really the reason for my post (I may still be feeling a little frustrated, and God knows I'm a long winded wanker). The point was supposed to be that I don't really get fandom. While innocently trolling about today I stumbled upon a bit of a shit storm brewing in the 'Supernatural' fandom. This was once a nice little fandom (much like PotC) cheerfully split down the 'brother' line, with fans either being a Dean!Girl or a Sam!Girl and the wank and meta fast and furiously proclaiming their fave the most put upon/angsty/appreciated/unappreciated/daddy's favorite, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah. I admit I mostly avoided, I like both characters and listening to why one is better, more selfless/selfish or what not is just aggravating. But the fandom has recently exploded and today's rant/wank seems like a big old set of growing pains.
I learned a new term from this today though, BNF. Had to wikipedia this to figure out what it meant and why BNF's would have been singled out and seemingly attacked in this post (actual names/pseudonyms were used). BNF means, according to what I found, 'big name fans', and the rant was along the lines that people only read BNF fanfiction, and/or only comment on BNF fanfiction in hopes of climbing the fandom hierarchy, that story quality can only be gaged by comment mass, and because the BNF get all the comments their stories get more 'play' and the up-and-comes can't catch a break (the OP even noted that she writes for comments and to gain popularity). Needless to say the so-called BNF's singled out took umbrage at being singled out and feelings were hurt, crankiness and nastiness ensued.
I didn't really get the point of the whole thing, it seemed bitter and petty, and designed to get things riled up (which it did fairly effectively, I must say). How can one tell that a show is on 'hiatus'? Pooh flinging, that's how.
This is why I sit in the corner and mutter to myself excessively.
And can I have my 'dude' moment. I love and hate that 'Supernatural' is bringing back and making cool my catch-all phrase. I started down the 'dude' road when I was first at my current job almost four years ago. The dude in the cubicle over used it all the time, and it actually drove me nuts. But then we were decorating the office for Halloween and in an effort to harass said 'dude' we all started 'dude'ing everything and since then it had been firmly entrenched in my limited lexicon. It is so firmly embedded that everyone calls me dude, (I was/am adamantly anti-dudette, cause that's just stupid *g* but it took no small amount of effort to quash others belief in 'dudette'ing a female). Within hours of meeting my carpool mate and good friend, she had picked it up (much to the chagrin of her husband, he still growls at me about this, all the while calling me dude. Hee!) and I always giggle when I hear her fighting with someone over something, calling them dude. My first meeting with our current, new-at-the-time, CFO, included me looking him in the eye and calling him dude while I explained the mess fixed assets/capital was/is in. He looked at me like I was completely insane, everyone else in the meeting, Controller, mass of managers, didn't even flinch, expecting nothing else of me (the CFO calls me dude now too). But just remember, like Crystal Gayle, 'I was 'dude' when 'dude' wasn't cool'.
I have gone back to avoiding the comms. Why? Many of them seem to be mostly frequented by J/E shippers and frankly, I am fundamentally in discord with this particular faction of fandom. I don't like J/E (shocking!) and it's really pretty simple. I just don't see this 'ship. Any and all interaction that we see of these two characters, they are lying, using or manipulating the other, with the exception of when they first met and Jack saved Elizabeth (convenient plot point, Jack needed to know where the last piece of cursed gold was). Call me boring, pragmatic or unromantic, but I just don't see any kind of believable, long-term relationship forming out of this interaction. And no one has been able to explain how they over come the whole her murdering him thing, all I seem to get is that Jack is just so darn proud of her for chaining him up like an animal and leaving him like a goat for slaughter. You say tomato, I say pissed off pirate.
If this thing ends J/E, it will be because it's Johnny, because Keira is the current 'it' girl, and because Orlando seems to be universally reviled. That Disney, Jer-Bear, Gore, Giggles and Creepy Pete are caving to popular opinion (although I'm not convinced that fandom is a proper barometer of 'popular' opinion) not because it has to end this way, that 'nothing else would be believable' or that it's even good story telling. While some suggest that all the flirting and compass pointing in DMC suggest AWE can end no other way than J/E (why bring it up in the first place if it goes nowhere), the counter point to this is all the W/E that happened in CotBP and DMC (by the same logic, why bring it up if it means nothing). To suggest that some forced-feeling flirting and a Judas-like moment (be it with significantly more tongue) at the end negated all of the W/E text is short sighted. The W/E thing exists, much as some may hate it, and while the W/E relationship and Will are often negated and disregarded quickly and easily in fandom, I'm not convinced that the Terror twins subscribe to this particular chain of thought.
While the 'ship thing may be the end all be all to some, I'm not convinced that Jer-bear, Gore and the Diz-knee exec sit around and fangirl J/E, or even think in those terms. Gore wants to make a big shiny movie, with lots of action and the occasional gross out moment/joke. He wants to torture as many of his cast and crew as possible at any given moment and do things that no one has seen before or that were thought to be impossible, and he wants to do it, as much as possible, in the old fashioned way. Jer-Bear and Diz-knee want this thing to rake in piles and piles and piles and piles of cash that make them look good and a completely out-there ending, unless extremely well done, will hurt more than it helps.
Giggle and Creepy Pete are another story, they seem to spend a lot of time hanging out on message boards and comms. But ultimately I think they want to provide an ending that knocks the socks off of everyone (good or bad) and I wouldn't put it past them to be creating and nurturing misconceptions, again good or bad.
But this was not really the reason for my post (I may still be feeling a little frustrated, and God knows I'm a long winded wanker). The point was supposed to be that I don't really get fandom. While innocently trolling about today I stumbled upon a bit of a shit storm brewing in the 'Supernatural' fandom. This was once a nice little fandom (much like PotC) cheerfully split down the 'brother' line, with fans either being a Dean!Girl or a Sam!Girl and the wank and meta fast and furiously proclaiming their fave the most put upon/angsty/appreciated/unappreciated/daddy's favorite, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah. I admit I mostly avoided, I like both characters and listening to why one is better, more selfless/selfish or what not is just aggravating. But the fandom has recently exploded and today's rant/wank seems like a big old set of growing pains.
I learned a new term from this today though, BNF. Had to wikipedia this to figure out what it meant and why BNF's would have been singled out and seemingly attacked in this post (actual names/pseudonyms were used). BNF means, according to what I found, 'big name fans', and the rant was along the lines that people only read BNF fanfiction, and/or only comment on BNF fanfiction in hopes of climbing the fandom hierarchy, that story quality can only be gaged by comment mass, and because the BNF get all the comments their stories get more 'play' and the up-and-comes can't catch a break (the OP even noted that she writes for comments and to gain popularity). Needless to say the so-called BNF's singled out took umbrage at being singled out and feelings were hurt, crankiness and nastiness ensued.
I didn't really get the point of the whole thing, it seemed bitter and petty, and designed to get things riled up (which it did fairly effectively, I must say). How can one tell that a show is on 'hiatus'? Pooh flinging, that's how.
This is why I sit in the corner and mutter to myself excessively.
And can I have my 'dude' moment. I love and hate that 'Supernatural' is bringing back and making cool my catch-all phrase. I started down the 'dude' road when I was first at my current job almost four years ago. The dude in the cubicle over used it all the time, and it actually drove me nuts. But then we were decorating the office for Halloween and in an effort to harass said 'dude' we all started 'dude'ing everything and since then it had been firmly entrenched in my limited lexicon. It is so firmly embedded that everyone calls me dude, (I was/am adamantly anti-dudette, cause that's just stupid *g* but it took no small amount of effort to quash others belief in 'dudette'ing a female). Within hours of meeting my carpool mate and good friend, she had picked it up (much to the chagrin of her husband, he still growls at me about this, all the while calling me dude. Hee!) and I always giggle when I hear her fighting with someone over something, calling them dude. My first meeting with our current, new-at-the-time, CFO, included me looking him in the eye and calling him dude while I explained the mess fixed assets/capital was/is in. He looked at me like I was completely insane, everyone else in the meeting, Controller, mass of managers, didn't even flinch, expecting nothing else of me (the CFO calls me dude now too). But just remember, like Crystal Gayle, 'I was 'dude' when 'dude' wasn't cool'.