Comments | annerbhp: Fanfic squickination. (It's a word. I just made up.)

annerbhp

Fanfic squickination. (It's a word. I just made up.)

Mar 16, 2013 19:28

So, there's a lot of fic out there that bothers me. Poor grammar, bad spelling, improbable (even anatomically impossible) porn, absolutely terrible characterizations, etc, etc. These bug me, sure, but they don't really upset me. It's just par for course. And it's not like I pay for fanfic. It's a place for experimentation. A place to get better, if ( Read more... )

feminism, jack/sam, rant

Comments 21

sharp2799 March 17 2013, 02:55:53 UTC

OMG there's one author I will not read because she made Jack into a "he knows best" when they're a couple. And if bad things happen to Sam because she didn't listen to him, well, of course that was going to happen!

UGH.

I guess that person missed the ep where she shot off the swinging rope in one shot. Or blew up a sun. Or even in the early days of season one, won a knife fight.

lyssie March 17 2013, 04:16:03 UTC

That is because the show writers made her a mary sue, duh. No real woman is that capable. The fic authors are just redressing the balance of reality!

traycer_ March 19 2013, 22:18:14 UTC

Yeah, but there's a limit to what most of the world considers a balance of reality. Sam Carter as a "hand wringing, weak at the knees" kind of female just doesn't cut it. She is definitely much stronger than that, as is most women.

But I can see your point. Perhaps that is why some fic authors make her out to be a simpering female. They want to write their own Mary Sue!

lyssie March 17 2013, 04:15:01 UTC

AUGH. I hate when people do shit like that. Throws me right out of anything I'm reading. There are, like, ZERO WOMEN WHO FIND THAT ATTRACTIVE.

Or at least, I don't think there are any.

Also, the "I am angry, so I shout at you and it's totally your fault" sort of thing. Bordering on abusive relationship, there. BUT IT'S SO ROMANTIC HOW SHE DRIVES HIM TO DISTRACTION.

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miri_d March 17 2013, 14:59:16 UTC

Same. And I think that's why we try to pass off their relationship in fic as "not right", because Sam behaved in ways that are only possible for what we know of her character if she was acting the way she thought she should act as a woman. ETA: I think I misread your comment, which takes skill because it was only one sentence. But YES, and then Sam was with him, because of what I mentioned above...is what I was trying to say ( ... )

missparker March 17 2013, 15:34:26 UTC

basically the very worst s/j fic i read was this one: http://sg1-heliopolis.com/adult/viewstory.php?sid=7&warning=5... )

pepper_field March 17 2013, 18:52:14 UTC

She Who Must Not Be Named warning for that link. That lady is a legend in Stargate fandom (and not in a good way). :)

thothmes March 17 2013, 18:57:59 UTC

Oh, I wandered into that one too. I needed serious brain bleach after that one! My reaction can be nicely summed up by that clip we've probably all seen of Nancy Kerrigan's reaction to having her kneecap whacked [here, if you haven't seen it, but don't rewatch if you haven't, because pain is never pretty]: "Why? Why???!!! WHY???!!!"

I really don't need to know about my fictional character's periods, their eliminatory needs, and their boils, pimples, and post-nasal drip. We all deal with such things, but adding it to fic doesn't add realism, it adds squick.

Besides, Jack was married. He should be able to handle the realities of the female body.

It all comes down to waaay T.M.I. about what the author thinks is sexy.

missparker March 18 2013, 14:11:58 UTC

tmi, indeed!

Thread 11

pepper_field March 17 2013, 18:45:23 UTC

What is currently driving me crazy is the self-justifying 'the author fancies this hot guy and so every bad/stupid thing he's ever done is forgiven or forgotten, and the woman is a COMPLETE BITCH for turning him down'. It's not that I don't want to read relationships where the people in it are faulty and broken and rub up against each other in all the wrong ways - and obviously I love a bad guy (!). But I've read too many fics where the female character isn't allowed opinions of her own if that includes not-falling-in-love-with-the-hero.

(The comment has been removed)

pepper_field March 18 2013, 17:56:53 UTC

*g* It's Jack's line, but I thought Sam needed it more.

The annoying thing about the fandom I'm currently involved with is that the woman hasn't done anything particularly bad or stupid. Her sole crime - in the eyes of certain fans - is fighting off the advances of the popular male character. He's a bad guy and has done LOTS of terrible things - and, more to the point, she's not in love with him. A lot of people hate her for that. It makes me want to shake them.