I'm So Tired Of Being Tired

[redbrunja]

I swear, right now, I want to quit fandom.

No, there is nothing hugely dramatic prompting this. I am just so, so weary of the ingrained sexism and the fandom drama and the female character hate and the shipping wars.

I feel like declaring that after July, I'm going to go back to western tv and liveaction fandoms, because when two very different mangakas annoy me in exactly the same way in one fucking evening, and my own over-investment in a pairing + spoilers + the damn fandom itself is threatening to ruin the show that ruined me for anime....

Something is very wrong here.

(And then I remember that my previous happy skippy live action comedy show is killing my love, as is my current sci-fi drama, my last sci-fi drama betrayed me horribly, and my last girl-centric show was torturous near the end, and I realize I'm going to need to go back to reading books and give myself time to let the wounds heal.)

Comments

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Fandom can really suck sometimes.

But if it gets you into writing Fables fic, I fully support the decision. The fandom needs writers who have read more than three issues (#1, #10, and #27 by my guess, in a recent case . . .).

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

To be honest, at this point, Fables fails my 'feminist sensibilities' test.

And are those the most Bigby/Snow shipper issues without any of the relating background?

[studentrobin.livejournal.com]

Sorry to interject, but I'm curious, what exactly is your feminist sensibilities test?


..ignore the original, misspelled comment.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Where I read something, and the gender representation doesn't immediately piss me off/give me tummy ache AND I don't finish reading and then come back later going, 'you know, that gender representation was really traditional and full of sterotypes.'

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head, I think they're the only ones where a person could get the vaguest idea that she's a meek miss who needs her man(#10 is after she wakes up from her coma, #27 should be after she gives birth, #1 is, of course where we're meeting the characters.)

*goes off mumbling about how wanting and needing your man are different things and being happy you have him doesn't mean you weren't just fine without him*

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

#27 was the issue at the end of March of the Wooden Soldiers where Snow ran out and gave Bigby a hug. Not only did they portray Snow as meek, they portrayed Snow and Bigby's relationship this early on as being . . . well, schmoopy.

*sigh* They love each other. And as for need . . . I suppose you could say that Snow needs Bigby. But Bigby needs Snow just as much, if not more. They support each other, each makes the other stronger, makes them want to be a better person.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

By "need" I meant "be able to function and feel like a complete person" which seems to be fandoms opinions of female characters, except for when they're making justfications for pushing them aside for slash.

(He showed up and won her battle for her! She is allowed to have a sentimental, schmoopy moment! Also, she was pregnant! And leading her side in a war! And he was gone a long time! she can be schmoopy! It's the closest you can get to "tongue down the throat midbattle means 'I love you'" when one of you is a wolf!)

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

*sigh* It was an awesome, schmoopworthy moment that both characters totally earned. But the fic that I'm going WTF over is one that seemed to only see that single schmoopy moment and assumed that their entire relationship was like that, and entirely ignored Snow's many well-crafted neuroses and . . . well, pretty much everything in Storybook Love.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

No, those are just the issues that the author in question seemed to have read. Seriously. They got that Snow was in the hospital after being shot in the head, they got that Snow was pregnant with Bigby's offspring, but that was it. The part where they mentioned that it was Red Riding Hood that shot her in the head is a rather . . . distinct example of this.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Also, regarding Fables sucking with regard to feminist sensibilities . . . Fables will, in general, veer between two points. The first is "AWESOME." The second is "Punch Bill Willingham in the Face/Set Him On Fire."

Fic is to be written about the first in order to navigate around the second.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Fables will, in general, veer between two points. The first is "AWESOME." The second is "Punch Bill Willingham in the Face/Set Him On Fire."

I have too many shows that do that to me. I"m staring to get mental whiplash. It sucks.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Indeed it does. But once you've moved over to a journal based around a specific fandom, it's hard to really leave it. The good bits cling to your fandom-heart, too many people know you and would track you down and beg you to come back if you left, the authors give you admin abilities on the official message board . . . it reaches a point that you realize you're stuck in the fandom until it dies for good.

So I'll continue to love Snow/Bigby and continue to work on fics where Snow kicks twenty kinds of ass and Bigby loves her for it.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You poor girl.