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

[avidbeader]

I'm a very het person when it comes to the written word. I can enjoy a good episode of Queer as Folk when I'm in the mood for it, but when it comes to reading, whether it's fiction, fic or pr0n, I prefer reading het.

The only slash fics I've ever read more than a sentence of are by mijan and marksykins. And I actually haven't finished reading mijan's big opus Eclipse yet, bad me. What hooked me about her story was how absolutely in character she kept Harry and Draco and how slowly she built the relationship between them, making it utterly believable rather than some OOC pr0n with a couple of HP names thrown in just to get the built-in audience (which, to be fair, can happen just as easily in het fic).

I honestly get the feeling sometimes that many people who are so into slash to the exclusion of anything else are trying to make themselves seem edgier than they are. To be even more different than just being a major fan of something.

I'll stick to reading fics about the characters I care about. Only so much time to spare.

[surrexi]

thankyouthankyouthankyou.

I hate the way slash fans have developed this sort of elite mentality, like they're better/cooler/smarter because they read slash. Whatever. Pr0n is pr0n, whether there's two kinds of "bits" involved or not, lol.

I also sort of feel like being a slash fan has taken on some of the same "consciously edgy" or "consciously different" attitudes as, for example, goth/emo/punk types irl who are so worried about being different from non-goth/emo/punks that they don't realize they're all exactly the same.

[iamtheliquorr]

I also sort of feel like being a slash fan has taken on some of the same "consciously edgy" or "consciously different" attitudes as, for example, goth/emo/punk types irl who are so worried about being different from non-goth/emo/punks that they don't realize they're all exactly the same.

This is a very good point, and I definitely think there's some truth to it. Generally, I'm struck by the irony of "cool kids" existing in fandom, considering that fandom is so inherently geeky in nature.

I know I said this before, but fandom... it's like being in junior high forever!

[thirdblindmouse]

I know I said this before, but fandom... it's like being in junior high forever!

Absolutely. Including those of us who occasionally look up from where we were reading in the corner and ask, "So what's this 'drama' you all are on about?", then conclude it has something to do with hormones and human interaction, and think, "Thank god we don't go in for that craziness." ;D

[angiepen]

I hate the way slash fans have developed this sort of elite mentality, like they're better/cooler/smarter because they read slash.

I'd like to point out that this kind of attitude, labelling all slash fans as jerks when pretty clearly only some subset of the group has actually done you any injury, isn't likely to help at all in calming things down or solving the problem. Rather, this sort of comment could be taken to underscore that het fans have their own share of less than nice people, or at least people who hit [Post] before they've thought through what they've typed.

Just as a data point, I'm primarily into slash these days (although I used to be mostly into het) and I don't consider myself to be better, cooler or smarter than het fans. We enjoy reading and writing different things, that's all.

Angie

[amireal]

Here via metafandom. *waves

[iamtheliquorr]

Oh wow, I never thought this would go past my flist... but so far everyone here's been cool about it. I should've warned you that my essay is rather biased... I'm not particularly active in the slash community, beyond reading a few fics about pairings that intrigue me.

Personally I find most hetshipping fics to be... grossly mischaracterized. It could be my fandom, it could be that hetshippers and slashshippers just have diametrically opposed veiwpoints on how these characters would act.I definitely think certain pairings are worse than others, particularly when you get into rare or non-canon pairings. The farther you take a character away from their "comfort zone" and put them into situations you're unlikely to see in canon, the harder you'll have to work to "sell" their actions to readers. Most badfic!authors can't be arsed to do that, so they'll just write the characters like their own OCs who happen to share the canon characters' names. IMO most fanfic is badly characterized, period. But not having read a lot of slash I

[carmarthen]

Personally I find most hetshipping fics to be... grossly mischaracterized. It could be my fandom, it could be that hetshippers and slashshippers just have diametrically opposed veiwpoints on how these characters would act.

I think it has a lot to do with the type of fans a given fandom attracts--a lot of fandoms (especially anime fandoms aimed at young girls) attract fans who are (in general) younger and less interested in characterization. I will note here that I wrote my first fanfiction at 14 (it was AWFUL) and put my first fanfiction online at 15 (it was bland and pastichey). I'm not opposed to young fans--hey, you have to start sometime, and I'm glad they're having fun--but most teenagers worry less about characterization and "improving their craft."

Other fandoms seem to attract fans who are very interested in characterization. I'd say that in Firefly most of the het fic I've read, especially about the canon pairing of Zoe/Wash, is very much in character.

[airinshaw]

Hi there - just sauntered in from Metafandom and thought this was an interesting discussion

[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

[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!"

[few]

Also here from metafandom.

What I more feel is that het is not what I'm interested in so I, personally, get bored.

Which is perfectly understandable to me, since that's how I tend to feel about slash.

I've read some, and I've even written a couple of fics that could be defined that way, but the pairings I'm interested in are almost all het*--and since I'm something of an OTP kind of person, I tend not to read pairings that don't interest me.

Since I nearly always skip over sex scenes in fic (so few of them, IME, are necessary to the story and/or characterisation, and smut itself frankly bores me--yes, I know I'm a freak), whether the people involved have similar or different physical characteristics really doesn't come into it. I'm perfectly fine for slash to be out there, and for it to be popular; no one's making me read it when I don't want to.

In fact, the only problem I have with slash is actually with that subset of slashers who imply I'm repressed or homophobic or just plain boring simply because my reading tastes differ from

[iamtheliquorr]

Cedric and Hermione are so prettyyyy.... erm, sorry, got distracted, lol. That is an intriguing pairing, one I might consider checking out. :p

It's really not about WHO the partners are. It's about the skill of the author to construct a viable, interesting, compelling relationship.

Absolutely, and that's why I tend to think all the mudslinging that goes on on both sides of the het-vs-slash thing is pointless. Hell, if an author's good enough, they could probably sell me Hogwarts/Giant squid. :p

So anyway, I pretty much agree with your whole comment, and I found it very interesting. :P