Comments | bigboobedcanuck: Changing times

bigboobedcanuck

Changing times

Nov 02, 2013 11:09

It's so weird to see an indepth article on slash in the mainstream press. It's a good read, and the writer did his homework and wasn't judgey. I recognized the names of a few people interviewed. Stewardess! Loooove her BoB fic. :D

The Leverage creator is cool. And we've been over this a zillion times with Jeff Davis and how I get it that the ( Read more... )

fanfic, my books, why can't we have nice things?, writing, something gay no doubt, stiles/derek fic

Comments 19

mech_bull November 2 2013, 15:52:58 UTC

I haven't read the article yet, but I hear you! I don't think fans should necessarily be able to dictate plot, and there's going to be a wide variety of opinions when it comes to what fans actually want anyway. But there's no harm in trying to give even a few little things to us. And there's very much harm in actively avoiding giving us what we want. It ends up coming across as very condescending - like they're saying "Silly children (or silly women), you don't know why you're really watching and what you really want out of this show ( ... )

bigboobedcanuck November 2 2013, 19:46:38 UTC

like they're saying "Silly children (or silly women), you don't know why you're really watching and what you really want out of this show."

Totally. They shouldn't cater to every audience whim, but making the audience happy (knowing you can't please all the people all the time) is not a bad thing.

It's really only with slash ships where fans get accused of being too pushy and disrespectful of the creative process and the authors/creators' rights to their characters.

Yep. Because the notion of leading gay characters and couples is still foreign to most showrunners. Still an impossibility.

Absolutely nothing about Scott and Derek saying "Well...don't do it again" and letting Deucalion go paid off our investment of watching their conflict across 12 episodes.

YES. So true. It crosses genres and isn't just about shipping. It's about emotional payoff. The ending of The Sopranos was so controversial because many people felt they didn't get that payoff after investing so many years ( ... )

nutmeg3 November 2 2013, 17:08:01 UTC

I like you when you need caffeine. And honestly, when I've invested years in a TV show that is about relationships as well as the mystery or whatever, and when said show has teased me with the possibility of HEA, it really poisons years of joy to have the rug pulled out from under me. In Plain Sight is a prime example, not to mention BtVS. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch IPS again, and as far as I'm concerned Buffy ended with "Tabula Rasa." Otoh, when a show does it right - Burn Notice, Farscapr, even The X-Files - I'll rewatch forever, and I'll buy every new DVD version. You'd think money might speak, but apparently not. *sigh*

bigboobedcanuck November 2 2013, 19:41:18 UTC

Ha! Thank you. :)

when I've invested years in a TV show that is about relationships as well as the mystery or whatever, and when said show has teased me with the possibility of HEA, it really poisons years of joy to have the rug pulled out from under me.

Same. A bad ending or going downhill can ruin an entire show for me.

Hey, how did Burn Notice end? I stopped watching years ago (it wasn't a bad breakup -- I just drifted away), but I assume Michael and Fiona ended up together?

nutmeg3 November 2 2013, 19:52:45 UTC

Yes, they're supposedly dead (but Sam and Jesse know they're not but not where they are - "There are a lot of places in the world with C4 and yogurt") and are living in a stone cottage in Ireland. The door is clearly open for movies someday. Needless to say, my fingers are crossed.

bigboobedcanuck November 2 2013, 20:01:00 UTC

Awww, that's nice! Glad to hear it. :)

parkergray November 2 2013, 19:46:05 UTC

What really irks me is that it's not 'giving fans what they want.' It is seeing the chemistry between Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Hoechlin and fucking RUNNING with it. They have 'fans' because people see and respond to that chemistry. Who cares that it wasn't in your plan? Who cares that it came out of the blue? Freaking USE it, man. I get that it's two guys and that it's not what you imagined for them, but it happened. Embrace it! (Think back to the halcyon days of the WB and a little show called 'Dawson's Creek.' Where Dawson was the main character and Joey was his love interest. And if they'd kept to the script, that's what would have happened. However, they saw the epic chemistry between Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson and let that dictate what happened ( ... )

bigboobedcanuck November 2 2013, 19:51:22 UTC

It is seeing the chemistry between Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Hoechlin and fucking RUNNING with it. They have 'fans' because people see and respond to that chemistry. Who cares that it wasn't in your plan? Who cares that it came out of the blue? Freaking USE it, man. I get that it's two guys and that it's not what you imagined for them, but it happened. Embrace it!

THIS. So much! When you strike gold, you don't continue mining for nickel. Great example with DC, and it was the same with Veronica Mars. Duncan was designed to be her OTP, but they realized the chemistry with V and Logan could not be contained and it would be stupid to deny it. The whole show changed midway through S1 because of it.

And yeah, a universe without homophobia is swell. Danny's swell! But LGBT characters on TV (with only a couple of exceptions, including Glee) are teritary characters. They are still not leads. Why not? Why on earth not? Especially on a show with a young, accepting audience. What is stopping them ( ... )

Hijacking the thread mech_bull November 2 2013, 20:07:47 UTC

Who cares that it wasn't in your plan? Who cares that it came out of the blue? Freaking USE it, man. I get that it's two guys and that it's not what you imagined for them, but it happened. What's funny is Jeff Davis did exactly this, or how else can you explain Allison and Isaac becoming something more? So, he'll run with chemistry when it produces unexpected het relationships but ( ... )

Re: Hijacking the thread bigboobedcanuck November 2 2013, 20:39:00 UTC

I suppose it's possible Jeff has always planned on another werewolf getting into a love triangle with Allison and Scott, but yeah, it seems rather unlikely he planned Allison/Isaac.

I agree about Jeff and Stiles, and his refusal to abandon course with Stydia. I don't even mind Stydia since at least it's been a slow build. Holland and Dylan are cute together, although granted, Dylan has chemistry with the door.

It's interesting what Jeff said about the majority of fans not even knowing what Sterek is. It's true that we live in a fandom bubble to a certain extent. But even if they don't know, it doesn't mean they'd be opposed to it. (And even if they were -- he's not out to meet fan desires, heh.) I just feel like chemistry should be capitalized on when it happens. It's pretty rare to really have magic between two characters/actors.

the first person who's actually willing to go there with two "read-as-straight" leading/major characters based solely on chemistry and fan interest is going to be amazing and pretty much a god among ( ... )

Thread 6

svilleficrecs November 2 2013, 21:05:43 UTC

I will always be on your side with the whole 'depressing doesn't automatically equal better' debate.

bigboobedcanuck November 4 2013, 16:42:01 UTC

Thank you! It drives me nuts.

qafaddiction November 2 2013, 22:05:24 UTC

It's funny, but I just happened to be watching John Oliver doing standup on the Comedy channel this morning, talking about slash fiction, and it got me thinking about how it's becoming more mainstream... or at least, more people outside of fandom have heard of it ( ... )

bigboobedcanuck November 4 2013, 16:48:59 UTC

There is definitely still a stimga. Times are changing, but heteronormative still rules the day.

I can see both sides of it, and how some authors, actors, showrunners, etc. might feel a bit put out by fanfiction in general.

For me, as long as fans aren't profiting from other people's creations, I don't see the problem. We write and read fic because we love the show/movie/whatever. The anti-fic creators (e.g. Anne Rice, George R.R. Martin) don't seem to get that love is the driving force behind the vast majority of fic.

qafaddiction November 4 2013, 22:11:32 UTC

I agree with you that love/appreciation is the driving force behind the majority of fanfic, and I think that it is generally a good thing for both fans and the original creators because it encourages more loyalty for authors and perhaps even more ratings for showrunners because in many cases, it can keep the audience interested between books or between seasons, or in some cases, even draw in new fans who never watched the show or read the book but discovered it because of fanfic, and then decide to check out the "original".

That said, I can also understand how protective someone might be of an original character they created, and don't feel comfortable with someone else putting their own characterizations and scenarios on that person. I would suspect that those who have the greatest problem with it are likely fiercely attached to their own creations and don't want anyone else "messing with them".

as long as fans aren't profiting from other people's creations, I don't see the problemThey're not profiting monetarily, no, but one might ( ... )