fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2780 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2780 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06. [repeat]

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

__________________________________________________

10.

__________________________________________________

11.

__________________________________________________

12.

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 034 secrets from Secret Submission Post #397.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm the same way, anon. I don't get the idea of self-inserting yourself onto a character or into a universe at all and in fact I find it rather creepy. I don't care how much I like a character, I'm not them and they're not me and so their thoughts and actions and experiences are something entirely separate from my own that I'm viewing through the lens of the canon. I like the character as a character, not as a stand-in for myself.

An anon below mentioned knowing exactly what it's like to be that female character, but... that still doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know what it's like. I'm not that character. I can understand their emotions and why they react the way they do but I would never say I understand what it's like to be that character because I can't.

It just kind of blurs IC/OOC lines to me and crosses into creepy territory.

See, I don't even mind that het fans self-insert in some cases (to each their own I suppose).

But I really hate how it seems like slashers get stereotyped as horny fangirls who just want to watch guys fuck or who are hating on and ignoring the female characters while the het fans are treating female characters "right" by including them in the pairing.

But…if you self-insert, you're basically scooping out that woman's brains and identity and turning her into an empty shell so that you can use her to project your desire for the male character. And I don't see how that's respectful at all. It's not wrong -- a lot of fic is about fantasy, after all.

But it doesn't make you better than slashers or more considerate of female characters either.

And it frustrates me that this idea seems so prevalent among certain parts of fandom.

That's part of why I find it creepy, really. You're making that character into something that is no longer themselves just so that you can project onto them - turning them into a blank slate, in a sense. But that isn't what they are. They're a character with their own motivations and emotions and goals and you're erasing all of that.

People who do that claim to love female characters but what they really love isn't the character, it's the opportunity to self-insert onto that character.

I feel like you guys have taken this in a completely weird and absurd direction.

I like reading porn that involves women because I know what it feels like to be a woman having sex, so it's hotter to me than porn that doesn't involve women. I'm not projecting my desire for the male character; half of the time, I personally wouldn't want to be with the male character. On top of that, I also go for femslash, so there's often not even a male character to desire. It's just easier for me to relate to female sexual pleasure than male sexual pleasure, and so it turns me on more.

That's, honestly, what most people are talking about. You're taking a very, very extreme view, and it kinda strikes me as disingenuous, because relating to a character is nowhere near comparable to stripping a character of her identity.

It's not about porn. Like I said, I don't see anything wrong with preferring het fiction or relating to it more (I ship lots of het ships myself).

No, my post was more about how some shippers get on slashers' case for "ignoring" or "erasing" female characters and then act as though they are treating female characters right and respectfully.

And I think that's bull considering the number of het fics that are just using the female character as a proxy to get into a male character's pants.

That's not to say it's ALL het fic mind you or that slashers don't bash female characters (because some do).

But I think the contention that het inherently treats female characters better than slash needs to die. Because when I see those self-insert fics, I don't think it's respectful at all. In fact, in some ways, I think it's worse than just ignoring the female character (the way slashers do) because the author s destroying her personality to use her as a conduit.

Note that this isn't ALL het fics -- I'm specifically talking about self-insert fics and why their popularity means I have a problem with people who contend that slash inherently treats women worse. I think it's really a case by case basis.

I agree totally.

I would read a lot more het fics if the female characters didn't come across so often as a rather creepy self-insertion by the writer so they can get with the hot guy.

Now I think of it, out of hundreds of het fics I've read, only a handful didn't do this. I've pretty much been put off het fanfics entirely by now, sad to say.

Slash is usually much better for treating the characters as actual people.

[ SECRET POST #2780 ]

Re: DA

Re: DA

Re: DA

Re: DA

Re: DA

Re: DA