Just a few days left to vote in the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfic Awards
Voting in Round 28 of the SunnyD Awards ends June 30th, so hurry over, check it out and cast your ballets now. Quite a lot of the stories and authors were entirely new to me and I would never have known about otherwise, which is one of the best things about these fanfic awards.
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I know folks who ship Tara/Spike, and the idea is definitely 'Spike deserves better than Buffy (that b*itch), and Tara is the nicest'. She accepts Spike! She even says he's good and Buffy should love him (that b*tch)! I didn't read the thread, but I can pretty much imagine how it goes. Everybody has their filter they view the show through?
With regards to some people thinking their every word is precious... I started a story yesterday that was *coughterriblecough*, and the author's notes were filled with admonitions not to flame or complain about the story. Normally I just quietly hit the back button, but boy did I want to leave a review suggesting the use of... oh, I don't know. Spell check. A dictionary. A beta. A grammar book. All of the above. :) If my 11yo is a better writer than you, you should not be so proud of your skillz. Sorry. Not everyone deserves a medal.
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I guess. I think the distinctions bother me on an ethical/social/personal level as I've said (and you're the first person I've said all that to. Lucky you, being the guinea pig for my meta-splurge!) So I think well, ok, just smut, romance, fluff, and gen are fine with me. But then, what about the story that incorporate smut and particular pairing with gen and romance? How do we break that down? And those stories are kind of rare, or maybe I haven't heard hard enough? Like, the canon verse has all of this stuff, but we focus on what we like and leave out the rest. But what happens when a writer doesn't? Actually, 3Hours Spirit of the Woods is a pretty good example of being true to canon, I think. Gen with an implied pairing, etc. (I'm glad you nominated it.)
I guess for me the bottom line is, I want a good story, whether or not it conforms to any "Category" - and categories can be limiting to writing as well as providing a focus or guide - but I also want "different relationship" (same sex, etc) to not be put in different categories. Thats why I hate DOMA and really dislike the very term "gay marriage". It's about marriage, period and end of sentence. a 'ship is a 'ship is a 'ship.
Also I'm trying (again) to expand my reading beyond Buffy&Spike - again. I fall back into habit until I get sick of the tropes.
the idea is definitely 'Spike deserves better than Buffy (that b*itch), and Tara is the nicest'. She accepts Spike! She even says he's good and Buffy should love him (that b*tch)!
angearia said the same thing the other day to me (ie the why of the pairing), but you just hit on one my biggest fandom pet peeves: Tara recognized that Spike had "done good things" and "he does love you" in DT (although she didn't go out of her way to praise him or hang with him); but she NEVER said Buffy "should" love Spike, that she was somehow obligated to do so. NEVER - which of course you know, but I've seen that opinion stated as fact. How do we get from "He's done good things and he does love you" and "It's ok if you do love him and it's ok if you don't" in DT, to "should love him"? In OAFA she protects Buffy and Willow from other people pressuring them. "You might want to put some ice on it" is more subtle than blocking Anya fTranslation: Cool it, mister. Same with Willow re: Anya; the message is the same in both cases: "Back off." (Someone else in fandom on Wordpress actually made the parallel btw. I wish I could claim it as mine.)
But you know all about wonky interpretations not supported by the text, don't you? :0
I started a story yesterday that was *coughterriblecough*, and the author's notes were filled with admonitions not to flame or complain about the story. Normally I just quietly hit the back button, but boy did I want to leave a review
Holy sweet potatoes, do I know that feeling. "Don't flame" - ie be mean, spiteful, attack the author, etc - is a legitimate request. "Don't complain"? is not. Not if the review is polite, fair, objective, constructive, etc. And I know constructive crit can be hard to find, but if you are putting something up on the internet you are inviting a response of some sort. Telling the reader they can't complain is honest I guess - the writer only wants hugs and puppies and praise. What are they going to do in the RW if they try to get published?
Then again, "don't complain" seems pretty pervasive nowadays even amoung successful (creators, politicians, CEO's etc?) Joss, Baz Luhrmann, etc - it's a rather immature stance. "Don't say mean things to me, don't point out that I'm racist/sexist/my plots make no sense/underage children in other countries work in my factories etc, 'cause you just don't understand me and what I have to go through, waaaahhhhhh." In business the model as far as I can tell isn't "the customer is always right" (which, untrue) but "the customer doesn't matter at all." So maybe we shouldn't be surprised to see it in writers on the internet. That's pretty much the cultural model nowadays: "Nothing I do is wrong".
If my 11yo is a better writer than you, you should not be so proud of your skillz.
You know it!
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I'm not sure either how we get from Tara affirming Buffy's feelings are valid and not entirely 'monstrous' to encouraging all things Spike. Her behavior with Spike is distinctly discouraging, IMO, and for a good reason. As James Marsters says himself, over and over, Spike was the wrong boyfriend for Buffy (at that time). *Forces mouth shut before a rant starts.* There are many, many times I think I must have watched an entirely different show from everybody else.
Don't even get me started on "Nothing I do is wrong." A little guilt/insecurity/humility is a good thing. :P On the other hand, so is knowing and using your talents - and being appropriately proud of them, instead of always putting yourself down when you get well-deserved compliments.
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That's it exactly.
As James Marsters says himself, over and over, Spike was the wrong boyfriend for Buffy (at that time).
Did you get a chance to read infinitewhale's meta on Buffy's dream in Dead Things that I linked to on another post? It's f'locked now, but tell him I sent you. ;) His view of Buffy&Spike in S6 is pretty blunt and truthful in terms of how fucked up it was, especially Spike's behavior. He's actually gotten me looking a bit more deeply at Spike's behavior through S5-6 - ME - and realizing just how creepy it is. I mean, I knew but even I've missed stuff. Or rather, I'm getting back in touch with how I felt about it watching last year, with no preconceived notions, before I got into fandom, I guess?
http://infinitewhale.livejournal.com/29995.html
*Forces mouth shut before a rant starts.*
PREACH, SISTER. Rant away - you know I've got your back.
There are many, many times I think I must have watched an entirely different show from everybody else.
elisi had reminded me of the article/concept "Your friends are not watching the same show as you and that's ok" but - honestly? I don't entirely agree with that. Don't ruin a friendship over something like a tv show, but there are limits to how a given text can be stretched and distorted. That's different from "this is what I would have liked to have happened instead." (The Barbverse, for instance.) If you're not interested in what the story has to say, why are you watching it?
On the other hand, so is knowing and using your talents - and being appropriately proud of them, instead of always putting yourself down when you get well-deserved compliments.
That's an excellent point. And I know a lot of people - myself included, as you've no doubt seen - who err on the side of doubt and insecurity. Oddly enough, when I've seen other people put down their own writing over the years (on the internet) I've got no problem saying "Don't put down your work because there will always be someone else who is happy to do so. Be proud of it. You're being too modest, you're better than you think you are. " etc Easy to say to someone else, not so easy to apply to myself.
I think some of it may be a pre-emptive strike of sorts? "I'll insult myself before anyone else has a chance to." I think there's an element of that in my humor on my posts, which I realize is often self-deprecating. But I've read that's often true of female stand-up comics over the decades. Because we've been taught not too appear to be immodest? And/or being allowed a voice and a spotlight in public, or careers on par with men, is still pretty new to us? There's a cringy-ness there sometimes. Full confidence doesn't come naturally, even when I get a lot of positive response to my writing here and in other venues. (Whereas my cooking? Oh hell yeah I'm a terrific cook. I have room for improvement, but my assessment of my strengths and weakness in that area is pretty accurate; there's no cringing there. Maybe writing is more personal?)
I don't think I see that "Cringing" in your posts or writing, btw, but you know that. You don't suffer fools gladly. and that is something I really admire; and I admire it in my sister. And why I enjoy watching certain so-called "bitchy" female characters like Buffy, Jordan Cavenaugh and Renee Walcott on Crossing Jordan, Temperance Brennan on Bones.
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