Continuation: Why the Queer as Folk fandom is so Wanktastic

[pluvial_poetry]

This essay was a hard one for me to write just because I needed to do some exposition up front before I could broach my actual point. I didn't do this in the first part but now it's become necessary. I hope you'll stay with me here...

Oh, and you might want to read Part 1 if you haven't already

Comments

[bravelove]

It seems like we have completely different views when it comes to shipping (I love Be/M and B/J, heh), but nevertheless, I'm still really liking this essay. Looking forward to reading the next parts! :)

[pluvial_poetry]

*lol* I'm glad you liked the essay! (Even in the face of my shipping preferences) :D Hopefully the next parts are coming soon.

Thanks for commenting!!

[bouncykeira]

way to be logical even in the face of alternate opinions :) You are so good at these essays. I'm not so good at logic where the boys are concerned.

huggles

[pluvial_poetry]

Well illogical is cool sometimes too, *lol*.

Thanks for commenting and for the compliments!

:D

[citizenjess]

How many B/Jers hated season 2 because of all the Justin/Ethan business? Come on. You know you did!

You don't want to see that - you hate that!

Mmm, not really. It was numbing to see Justin so dissatisfied with Brian from a Brian/Justin-shipper standpoint, but it was obvious that they both missed each other sososo much, and so the angst of going through the motions of finding their way back to each other was delicious. I mean, B/Jers may think Ethan's kind of a turd, but there isn't any real animosity between them and the handful of J/E-ers out there, and DEFINITELY not to the degree of animosity that exists between B/J-ers and B/M-ers.

I think a huge part of it is that J/E isn't simply scouring the subtext; it's like being a diehard Angel/Buffy shipper - be playfully bitter that Buffy bangs Spike after the fact, but don't forget that your pairing still happened, or something.

[pluvial_poetry]

Are there Justin/Ethan shippers? Interesting! But when I wrote that, I wasn't thinking that the B/Jers and the J/Eers were having intense fandom battles or anything. Although that might have been cool to see. ;) But just to clarify what I actually meant:

It's more the idea that even though you knew that Brian and Justin would eventually get back together, could you really enjoy Justin/Ethan being together? When they were having sex were you thinking, "Whatever, Justin and Brian will be back together in no time!"? Or was it more, "Wow, if Justin and Ethan do it one more time while poor Brian pines away I'm going to scream

[citizenjess]

I think there are probably people who enjoy Justin/Ethan, but I haven't gone searching for any support groups, hahaha.

When they were having sex were you thinking, "Whatever, Justin and Brian will be back together in no time!"? Or was it more, "Wow, if Justin and Ethan do it one more time while poor Brian pines away I'm going to scream!"?It was mostly, "Ethan needs to shave his chin", to be honest. Except for the episode where they're in the bathtub and he answers the phone, then it was "I hope he doesn't drop the receiver -- at least, not with Justin in there with him

[pluvial_poetry]

It was mostly, "Ethan needs to shave his chin", to be honest

Mmm, true. Poor Fab. He looked much better on Buffy.

I get that feeling a lot more from Brian/Michael shippers

That might be true. But for me anti-shipping (for the most part) has nothing to do with the pairings that I do ship. For instance, I hated Justin/Ethan together. Mostly because it was phony and overdone. Obviously it was Justin lashing out against Brian's motto of "love is for straights". But hating Justin/Ethan does nothing for me as a B/Mer if you get my meaning. I just hated them for the fun of it.

On the otherhand, yeah, I think anti-shipping can be found more in fans who aren't getting what they want canonically. (Although I've definitely heard it from B/Jers and Be/Mers as well.) But the point of this section of the essay (and all the other sections) was to discuss the various reasons why people in the QaF fandom wank. Maybe all of these ideas won't apply to every person. But in general, I think my point stands. Sometimes hatred of a pairing can lead to

[rachelmap]

Actually, the shipper wars in the QaF fandom between the B/M fen and the B/J fen remind me a lot of the shipper wars in the Buffy fandom, and for much the same reason. Buffy/Angel is canon, Buffy/Riley and Buffy/Spike are canon too, and the extremists on all sides just can't seem to acknowlege the validity of the others, and they all excoriate Joss Whedon for not pandering to their desires. (Although the Buffy/Riley crowd seems to be fairly quiet about it. Maybe they're kind of like the Michael/Ben shippers.)

I suppose that's a large part of the reason why to me "slash" doesn't mean "gay relationships" per se, but rather it means "ships that never had any real chance of happening in canon."

[pluvial_poetry]

Huh, I've never heard that definition of slash before. I guess that kind of makes sense... but then I've never heard anyone refer to Melanie/Brian as slash, though that's obviously an impossible pairing. But I've definitely known people to use the term slash in reference to all the male/male couples on the show.

Anyways - I was comparing QaF to other fandoms that look for homosexual relationships between characters. Obviously in het. based fandoms you have more canon possiblity to base your shipping preferences on. So whereas Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Angel, etc. all happened in canon - Angel/Xander fans are still waiting. So unlike the Angel/Xander fans, QaF watchers have the possibilty of their dream male/male pairing actually becoming canon.

But yeah if you wanted to compare the het. part of the Buffy fandom to the QaF fandom, there are a lot of similarities there. :D

Thanks for commenting!

[citizenjess]

"slash" doesn't mean "gay relationships" per se, but rather it means "ships that never had any real chance of happening in canon."

That's partially true - for instance, you wouldn't call Brian/Justin slash, even though their relationship is gay. But if you were to ship Brian/Melanie, you wouldn't call it slash because it's not homosexual, in nature -- it'd be het. At least, that is how I understand it.

[bonobochick]

Well, it's a misnomer to call B/M shippers docile, eh? =P

** And just in case you didn't get it- I hate Be/M!!!

So how do you feel about Be/M?

I have no problems with others shipping who they want, cause it is all a matter of personal taste, but I get irritated when others try to re-write history to prove a point or they have a revisionist memory when it comes to recalling events we've seen play out on the show. I also get annoyed when people try to downplay the importance of Michael to Brian. Even if a person doesn't believe that there are romantic feelings between the two men, to dismiss Michael as being irrelevant or unnecessary to Brian is ludicrous, yet I have seen that happen time and time again.

Also, the whole thing that Brian and Justin are the two lead characters? Come on, that is so falacious. QAF-US is about Brian & Michael an their friends & lovers which is why Brian and Michael have the most screen time and why everyone on the show is connected through them. As caseylane loves to point out, cause she's right on this, Justin

[pluvial_poetry]

Docile? HAHAHAHA!! Hardly. :D

Anyway, I agree! I don't have problems (exactly) with people shipping they way they do. (Though I reserve the right to privately think it's weird.)

But when people say that Justin is the most important person in Brian's life I just want to scream, "What? Why? HOW?"

And don't even get me started on the whole - "Brian and Justin's relationship is the basis of the show" argument. I don't need to get angry right now. :D

P.S. Was my Be/M hatred not coming across clearly enough? Should I edited some more in? ;)

[bonobochick]

But when people say that Justin is the most important person in Brian's life I just want to scream, "What? Why? HOW?"

And don't even get me started on the whole - "Brian and Justin's relationship is the basis of the show" argument. I don't need to get angry right now. :D

These things are often what annoy me as well as it's completely revisionist to everything we see and know about.

For the longest time B/M shippers we considered docile and when we started "fighting back" we became arrogant. Whatever... both are incorrect.

Ah yes, I got that you hate Be/M quite easily. =)

I am not a fan either (remember my LJ comments with the S5 press pictures) mostly cause I think Michael deserves better than Ben and it's not even about Brian that I think that. Without bringing Brian into the equation I have my own reasons for disliking Ben and Be/M.

[pluvial_poetry]

True! We're not docile or arrogant! We're... empowered. *lol*