[ SECRET POST #2825 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2825 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #404.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Stupid things to get mad over

[dreemyweird]

I wouldn't actually mind such enthusiasm in itself. It's other things that I mind -

1) Much of this enthusiasm is weirdly gleeful "lol those people with different opinions are idiots" posts. E.g. "how can anyone think they are not in love???", "how do you even watch the show if you don't think they're a couple?? XD". Things like this.

2) Devaluation of friendship and platonic interactions. "Omg character A saved character B's life, how can it be platonic?!", "Character A is jealous, jealousy only exists in romantic relationships!"

The "they're canonically in love!" kind of squee-y enthusiasm I'm actually pretty chill with, even if it annoys me mildly because it's factually incorrect.

Re: Stupid things to get mad over

[intrigueing]

Both of these points X100000. I don't get why "omg they're so gay/in love!" must so frequently be coupled with sneering "lol right, this is SO platonic *eyeroll*" bullshit. IMO it just comes across as massively insecure.

And it's not just a gen vs shipping thing. A friend of mine who's a giant slash fan once went on a rant to me about how much she hates this stuff in her own OTPs, because it undermines her enthusiasm for the ship by making her go "well, no, not really" and defend the non-shipping side. And I can totally see that too. I rarely ship a couple because THEY NEED TO BE IN LOVE OR ELSE WHAT'S THE POINT. I ship them because I like their relationship so much as it is that I also ship them in addition.

Re: Stupid things to get mad over

[dreemyweird]

Awww. I admire shippers who are like this. Unfortunately, all too often I see even the non-aggressive part of the fandom make ~funny~ posts about how "very heterosexual" some of their OTP's interactions are. One person in my fandom, a harmless, very well-meaning guy, recently wrote a fic where the main plot twist was that the protagonists suddenly realized that all their canonical interactions were actually evidence of their being a couple. Like, "we held hands, cared about each other, drank beer together, watched silly films- oh wait. We're totally dating". Made me cringe.

So I'm happy about the fact that some shippers are uncomfortable with this attitude, too. I have a couple of friends who hold the same opinion.

Re: Stupid things to get mad over

[intrigueing]

The thing is, that friend I mentioned is a lesbian. I don't want to put words in her mouth so I'm a little wary of trying to say exactly what she likes, but as far as my conversations with her go, she ships slash and femslash so much precisely because slash and femslash fanfic lets her see lots of gay and lesbian fictional characters whose lives don't revolve around being gay, and gay and lesbian couples whose relationships are built on friendship, rather than entirely about Sex and Being Gay and Not Being Straight like most gay and lesbian couples in mainstream media. She compared it to how Ellen Ripley in "Alien" was such a good female character because she wasn't originally written as a female character, but as a male character who was then gender-flipped.

I think straight people may be less likely to feel that way about slash and femslash couples, and more likely to ship or slash in this narrow-minded fashion because they have rigid socially-conditioned views about how human beings are allowed to love each other. I don't want to generalize about all straight people, because I'm straight too and I know other straight people who don't feel like this, but I think the motives are frequently different.

Re: Stupid things to get mad over

[dreemyweird]

I would sort of agree with you here. Some straight fans do have this tendency precisely because they are straight.

On the other hand, AFAIA, many aggressive tjlc-ers are queer, which is... sad, really. If their treatment of fictional relationships is anything to go by, they may have some serious RL emotional issues.