Chloe rant with a side order of Dean/Castiel and J2 and comparisons to Buffy fandom
1. First things first, I like Chloe. She's a great character on Smallville and loads of fun to see with Clark, but....
I have zero interest whatsoever in Chloe centric crossovers that focus solely on Chloe.
It's like Xander centric Buffy crossovers that don't have any of the other scoobies (or you know, even more importantly, Spike) in them.
It often feels as if stories like that aren't even crossovers.
Far too many of them seem to be centered around using Chloe (or in some cases Lois) as a stand in for an OC, because of the bad name that most OC's have in fandom. Far too often the character doesn't feel like Chloe (or Lois), the stories don't use Clark, or if they do, it's only in a very minor supporting role with little or no prominence paid to Clark's powers.
I don't know, for me, Smallville is and always has been, the story of Clark Kent. Chloe's a nice supporting character, but she's not the point of the show, she's not the reason to watch it and she's not what Smallville is all about. Now I don't mind Chloe centric stories, but if I read those, then I want them to be about the Chloe on the show. And that includes her connection to Clark.
Because as I just mentioned, it's all about Clark.
Now I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hypocrite.*g* My focus in Buffy fandom is Spike, Buffy comes a close second, but Spike's the main reason I watch Buffy. But at least he's still a vampire and thus part of the focus on the show. And though I prefer fics that have Buffy and the scoobies as well as Spike, but more importantly than that, when I do read Spike fics, I need the background he comes from. AU fics that just have Spike and that exclude his background don't interest me. I don't want to read au human fics, because they ignore the main focus of what Buffy fics should be about. (Spike or no Spike)
And to be entirely honest, I think it's that more than the Chloe centricness itself that annoys me about most Chloe crossovers. Because they ignore what makes Chloe interesting. (her being best friends with the boy/man who will become Superman) and turn her just into a Mary Sue investigative reporter.
I wouldn't even mind Dean/Chloe fics so much, if they used it as an outside pov on the Winchesters. But most of them seem to be an excuse to just ignore over half of the story, and just throw a ten in a dozen type of blond at Dean and expect us to just see it as a huge romance. Not because we get to know what Dean would see in Chloe. (because we're supposed to like her without anything shown as a reason why we should) But because it's 'Chloe'.
I wouldn't want to read a Spike/any char in any fandom fic, if you don't give me a reason why the character would get together with Spike. (no matter how hot he is) and I wouldn't want any such thing from either Chloe or Dean.
2. And then there's my second problem. I want to like Dean/Castiel. I want to like Dean in slash relationships that aren't with Sam. But damn it. Write Dean with Castiel, not with bland lover boy who's totally in love with him...
What makes Castiel interesting is his inhumanity, his otherness... His devotion to God and to Dean are a part of that and they shouldn't just be written as a romance where them ending up in bed together is the beginning and the end of the story.
I like Spike/Angel because it's more than just two hot guys together. I like them because of their bond, because of the vampireness, because it makes them more than just two guys.
In the same way, I like Dean/Castiel not because Dean and Cas are hot, but because they're a hunter and an angel.So if you take that specialness, that otherness away. And make them just regular people, then the story goes away with it.
I like that Dean is Sam's brother, John's son, he's the guy who gave up his soul to save his brother and hated his father for doing the same thing for him. I love that Cas wanted to obey God more than anything and that it was a struggle for him to start to doubt.
I love that there's more in their life than just the other. If all they had in the life was the other guy, they'd be boring and just standard fill in the blanks fic. And I'm not interested in that kind of stories.
3. And that brings us to my last annoyance. J2 fic.
Yeah I know it's popular as hell in SPN fandom. And I just don't get why. Most of it isn't even about Jensen and Jared. Not really. Ninety percent of J2 fics seem to be little more than original fic with two characters who look like the main stars of Supernatural.
I have nothing against original slash. Hell, I love reading original stories. But if you do, at least have the guts to admit it and call it what it is. That and I really really don't get what makes it so popular. Yes, the boys are hot, but come on, ... what's so interesting to read about two regular guys? And if you make them supernatural beings... why claim it's the actors. Why not just say you're writing an original sci fi fantasy story?
I guess it's easier to write J2 fics, since well it's not really based on anything and no one knows them enough, so you don't have to worry too much about characterization. While on the flip side. People do have a basic idea of what they think the boys are like, so they fill in the blanks themselves, which makes such stories less than they could be if the writers were willing to go full out and just write them as original characters.
I guess that J2 fic are pretty much the SPN version of Human AU highschool fics in Buffy fandom. And quite honestly, I personally have no interest in either of the two.
I have zero interest whatsoever in Chloe centric crossovers that focus solely on Chloe.
It's like Xander centric Buffy crossovers that don't have any of the other scoobies (or you know, even more importantly, Spike) in them.
It often feels as if stories like that aren't even crossovers.
Far too many of them seem to be centered around using Chloe (or in some cases Lois) as a stand in for an OC, because of the bad name that most OC's have in fandom. Far too often the character doesn't feel like Chloe (or Lois), the stories don't use Clark, or if they do, it's only in a very minor supporting role with little or no prominence paid to Clark's powers.
I don't know, for me, Smallville is and always has been, the story of Clark Kent. Chloe's a nice supporting character, but she's not the point of the show, she's not the reason to watch it and she's not what Smallville is all about. Now I don't mind Chloe centric stories, but if I read those, then I want them to be about the Chloe on the show. And that includes her connection to Clark.
Because as I just mentioned, it's all about Clark.
Now I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hypocrite.*g* My focus in Buffy fandom is Spike, Buffy comes a close second, but Spike's the main reason I watch Buffy. But at least he's still a vampire and thus part of the focus on the show. And though I prefer fics that have Buffy and the scoobies as well as Spike, but more importantly than that, when I do read Spike fics, I need the background he comes from. AU fics that just have Spike and that exclude his background don't interest me. I don't want to read au human fics, because they ignore the main focus of what Buffy fics should be about. (Spike or no Spike)
And to be entirely honest, I think it's that more than the Chloe centricness itself that annoys me about most Chloe crossovers. Because they ignore what makes Chloe interesting. (her being best friends with the boy/man who will become Superman) and turn her just into a Mary Sue investigative reporter.
I wouldn't even mind Dean/Chloe fics so much, if they used it as an outside pov on the Winchesters. But most of them seem to be an excuse to just ignore over half of the story, and just throw a ten in a dozen type of blond at Dean and expect us to just see it as a huge romance. Not because we get to know what Dean would see in Chloe. (because we're supposed to like her without anything shown as a reason why we should) But because it's 'Chloe'.
I wouldn't want to read a Spike/any char in any fandom fic, if you don't give me a reason why the character would get together with Spike. (no matter how hot he is) and I wouldn't want any such thing from either Chloe or Dean.
2. And then there's my second problem. I want to like Dean/Castiel. I want to like Dean in slash relationships that aren't with Sam. But damn it. Write Dean with Castiel, not with bland lover boy who's totally in love with him...
What makes Castiel interesting is his inhumanity, his otherness... His devotion to God and to Dean are a part of that and they shouldn't just be written as a romance where them ending up in bed together is the beginning and the end of the story.
I like Spike/Angel because it's more than just two hot guys together. I like them because of their bond, because of the vampireness, because it makes them more than just two guys.
In the same way, I like Dean/Castiel not because Dean and Cas are hot, but because they're a hunter and an angel.So if you take that specialness, that otherness away. And make them just regular people, then the story goes away with it.
I like that Dean is Sam's brother, John's son, he's the guy who gave up his soul to save his brother and hated his father for doing the same thing for him. I love that Cas wanted to obey God more than anything and that it was a struggle for him to start to doubt.
I love that there's more in their life than just the other. If all they had in the life was the other guy, they'd be boring and just standard fill in the blanks fic. And I'm not interested in that kind of stories.
3. And that brings us to my last annoyance. J2 fic.
Yeah I know it's popular as hell in SPN fandom. And I just don't get why. Most of it isn't even about Jensen and Jared. Not really. Ninety percent of J2 fics seem to be little more than original fic with two characters who look like the main stars of Supernatural.
I have nothing against original slash. Hell, I love reading original stories. But if you do, at least have the guts to admit it and call it what it is. That and I really really don't get what makes it so popular. Yes, the boys are hot, but come on, ... what's so interesting to read about two regular guys? And if you make them supernatural beings... why claim it's the actors. Why not just say you're writing an original sci fi fantasy story?
I guess it's easier to write J2 fics, since well it's not really based on anything and no one knows them enough, so you don't have to worry too much about characterization. While on the flip side. People do have a basic idea of what they think the boys are like, so they fill in the blanks themselves, which makes such stories less than they could be if the writers were willing to go full out and just write them as original characters.
I guess that J2 fic are pretty much the SPN version of Human AU highschool fics in Buffy fandom. And quite honestly, I personally have no interest in either of the two.