It's been a while since I wrote some tl;dr fandom meta...

[iamtheliquorr]

OK, I'm bored out of my brains AGAIN so I'm going to spam with a little fandom-based essay (not really a rant, since it's not angry enough IMO) that's been knocking around my head for a while.  I'm posting it here and not at fandom_discuss or fandom_rant because this subject tends to generate more wank than AlMiles during Jensen Ackles' Smallville audition.  I'm trusting

Comments

[iamtheliquorr]

And I thank you for sharing it! Wow, I never thought this would get beyond my flist... I was terrified of massive wank erupting, as seems to happen everytime the het vs. slash issue comes up in other comms. But all the responses I've gotten have been very civil and interesting to read.

I also admit that my essay is biased--I do read some slash pairings, but I'm not a big participant in the slash community. It's understandable that some of the anti-het sentiment might be backlash against haters--and I don't condone their behavior at all. I personally have never had a problem with slash... I just see it as someone else's taste, and even if I don't share it or understand it, they're not hurting anyone. So I leave them to their boylove in peace.

I think you've raised some interesting and valid points, particularly with the Mary Sue thing. I don't know if you mean Sue-ified canon characters or original characters, but either way, they're damned annoying. So i can understand the avoidance of het fic since it's more likely to contain a Sue.

About the "canon" thing, I find that interesting b/c I've had some of my favorite rare het pairings blasted by other fans for not being "canon." Yet I'll check their profile and find out they're a big slasher! Bzuh?

[airinshaw]

I actually meant that people see the fic-characters as Mary-Sues rather than the character themselves - should have made that clearer! Where there is a lack of strong female characters there is almost a begging for that character to be Mary-sued in het. I started out in het and I've read it. The best het comes about when the "weak" character is written in a way that is canon, but makes their motivations etc clearer. This is part of the reason why, in SGA, I love Elizabeth/Ronon. But then het shippers aren't reading the fics that go "hey - see all that Mary-Sueish shit? This isn't that!"