Small, out-of-nowhere fanfic rant

[electricland]

Far be it from me (well, normally) to crap on other people's innocent or not-so-innocent diversions, but inspired by this post from discworld, I'm gonna do it anyway.

(Nota bene: I don't read fanfic unless someone plunks it down in front of me and says "Here, read this." Frankly, there is so much else out there that I haven't got around to reading yet and want to, it seems like a waste of time. And most of it is just not worth the effort. But I do kinda understand the appeal of it, when it's well done. I can even see that there are worse things to get obsessed with, although fanfic snobbery just baffles me. That said...)

If you are concerned about your childhood memories being desecrated by fanfic, there is a simple solution. Don't seek it out. If you come across fic involving your treasured childhood memories, don't read it. Come on, people, that's what they put all those ridiculous rating symbols on them for in the first place -- what the hell are you expecting? And why, for the love of God, are you reading Transformers fanfic anyway?

Thank you, that is all. Carry on.

Comments

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

There's Transformers fanfic?

Call me uninformed, but just what would/could robots in disguise possibly do?

[electricland.livejournal.com]

ooogh... do we really want to find out? (she asked, visions of Akira spiraling madly through her head)

I'm for cravenly preserving my own innocence. Now, Thundercats or G.I. Joe slash, that could be different. ;)

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

"Don't ask, don't tell."

...

[monkeycommando.livejournal.com]

What I found more egregious about that thread (rather than the playful mock complaining--at least that's how it read to me) was the people talking about Crawley/Az slash seemed shocked that people might enjoy hentai or scat.

I mean, kink yeah, yuck, but slash ain't much different.

I think Transformers slash is probably the only kind of slash I can picture being interesting, because I'd want to see how well the writer could capture the "voice' of a character like, say Megatron or Starscream, and deliver an erotic situation.

In the Transformers cartoons, the change in size of megatron when he transforms from pistol to robot could be used in TransF slash situations. And the way the cassette transformers flew entirely inside the boom box transformer. Robots in disguise must have private lives too.

To me, there's something weird about writing slash, or even fanfic, based on properties who have primarily appeaed in prose to begin with. Unlike TV/Cartoon/Movie fanfic, where novel style narrative fills in psychological gaps left open in the screen version, fanfics based on other prose works seems redundant. But, I guess that's why I don't do it, and have yet to read it.

Re: ...

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. Playful yes. But still, complaints that "these dastardly fanfic writers have ruined my childhood memories and put horrible images into my head that I can't erase" -- which I do hear more often than I would like -- irritate me. DON'T READ IT. There are normally a few clues if a fanfic is gonna be traumatic for you. (I'm not talking about slash in particular -- any kind of fanfic will do.)

I like your Transformers notion, though. You should try it.

Hm, I just realized I lied -- I read and considerably enjoyed some of BagEnders (http://bagenders.stormpages.com/episodes.html) on (I think) ladyjestyr's recommendation. But it's almost parody at that point, really. If you're allowed to read and enjoy Bored of the Rings, no problem there.

Re: ...

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Thinking it over I think what actually irked me most was the original poster saying she got only 100 pages into the book before getting all excited by the slash possibilities.

Bit of an insult to the book, if you ask me, and shows she's not really paying attention.

...

[monkeycommando.livejournal.com]

Of course, the one slash that I will like to read as soon as I finish writing it is Vampire Willow/CJ from the West Wing. (There'd be some sort of intership involved). That seems about right, 'cause the fate of the world could hang in the balance and stuff.

Re: ...

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Works for me... but you'll have to do a damn good job of convincing me...

I'm just totally lost

[iagofan.livejournal.com]

I'm way out of this conversation about fanfic and slash. What are they? And Robin, you used to talk about the books you were reading. I haven't seen that in a while. I can't imagine you being between books.

Re: I'm just totally lost

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Fanfic = fan fiction, i.e. stories written by fans set in established fictional universes (Star Trek, Buffy, etc.) or crossovers, or about real people (ack, NSync).

Slash is fanfic featuring sex, often between two male characters (Kirk/Spock for example).

There are also endless subclassifications. Very often you just don't want to go there.

Re: I'm just totally lost

[iagofan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that you are right. Kirk and Spock? Shocking.

don't get me started...oh, you did

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

Even when you don't seek it out, you sometimes canna help reading that crap. I've become so afraid of slash that I don't read any fanfic anymore. This is mainly my own fault because I didn't know what the "slash" warning meant when someone tole me I should read this piece of fanfic on the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the Gargoyles.... That admittedly caused a couple of nightmares and two of my fave comics I couldn't watch for a long time afterwards. Boy I hate slash. Especially since someone told me there's Vimes/Vetinari slash out there. How sick does it get? And how homophobe? Does my head in.

Re: don't get me started...oh, you did

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in your "how homophobe" comment Mrs. C, mostly 'cause I hate slash and I do sometimes worry if this is just me reverting to Anglo-Irish-Catholic-bigot type. Care to elaborate?

That said, I've done my own "won't read slash 'cause it's almost always PWP crap" speechifying on LJ so won't go any further here. That said, why doesn't anyone write fic about gay characters? Like where is all the Willow-romance fic that should be out there now that she's officially gay-for-life? I used to see tonnes of Buffy/Willow slash back in the Oz days but now that she's out? Nothing? Or maybe I just don't surf deeply enough into Buffy fandom.

Re: don't get me started...oh, you did

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

Kinda hard to elaborate the point, CG, mainly because I've had this discussion before and lost the basis for my argument somewhere. It's only a feeling I have, and it is: People who write gay slash about non-gay characters are latently, disguised homophobes (The grammar here is all wrong, but the English language just deserts me sometimes. Sorry.) Anyway, the truth is, I have neither facts nor words to prove this...

The former discussion was about how most guys spot alleged homoerotic hints and references much quicker than girls. I don't know why this is, but experience indicates the validity of this my claim. And I think it's because said guys are homophobes, whether consioucly or not. This phobia, of course, only extends to gay guys. I haven't yet met a guy who was even remotely adverse to lesbians...

I don't make much sense, do I? I have to put some thought to this. Maybe I'll come up with something more definite. In, say, a couple of years :)

Re: don't get me started...oh, you did

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

And I do apologize for my ruthless torture of an innocent word like consciously. Man....