[ SECRET POST #6009 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6009 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 29 secrets from Secret Submission Post #859.
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: Tumblr and attraction to men?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know if I've ever gone as far as writing paragraphs excusing the behavior of my hot villain fave, but I can attest the thirst is real, and it's especially real when there are no men IRL that I find myself attracted to or going out with, etc. I cannot speak for everyone, of course, but I'd I was more present online and active in fandom, I'd probably have a dedicated Tumblr or something to each of if my faves. I have enjoyed the pages and fic lists others have made on Tumblr, because nothing's more fun than enjoying the same hot fave with others who understand how badly you want that character. And so you read fic, you write fic, and you squee! Probably other things too!

Maybe everyone you're running into is that thirsty! Maybe your attraction is in fact muted. But what is even the "normal" level to begin with? Maybe we're all just extra on that fandom dick specifically because it doesn't exist irl, and will only exist as we imagine it to --as a writer and reader, we're having control over this character and how he treats the other half or your stand in. Who knows!

Re: Tumblr and attraction to men?

[(Anonymous)]

Does being extra on fandom dick have to involve hating women though? It just seems so toxic and patriarchal.

Re: Tumblr and attraction to men?

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Oh, sorry, definitely glossed over that part! It might for some? When I first got into fic (12-14 years old) I would read fics with my fave that definitely had character bashing -- particularly the female character that could be the romantic interest. In the very beginning I was down for it because I too disliked the female character because I did not identify with her, rather I saw her as a threat, a contender for the love of my fave, and how dare she?! Again, I was about 13, and drinking the patriarchal punch.

Again, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but well into later, any female character that stood as a possible romantic rival got that treatment. Later of course, I got over that, and I just don't write the characters I don't like in the story. No need for the hate. I write the Black Widow as Cap's bff because she's cool! Peggy was dope, but she's in the past! No need to hate.


But sometimes, I still get that small creeping feeling of "that bitch is gonna steal my man". And the basis of that is insecurity, awareness that these two characters have a deeper relationship or attraction than what I could write (if I was doing a self insert, would the MC like me). And it's territorial and possessive. It's toxic. It's fear the MC would never reciprocate the way he does with the female character in question. My fave is mine and I'm not going to share. It's not hating all the female characters, just the ones that stand in "my" way from being with the MC. Does that make sense? As a kid, I hated Bela from Supernatural because she and Dean had chemistry, because she was cool and badass. And I wasn't (I was a kid lol), and so I disliked her because she was what I wanted to be and what I wasn't. Now, of course, I'm like she's a badass, and when they killed her off (I saw it later) I was bummed out. It's a mixture of jealous and immaturity and insecurity that leads to this toxic behavior, IME.

Re: Tumblr and attraction to men?

[(Anonymous)]

DA

See ... as a villain-fan also, I'd put to you that women are often used as the Voice of Conventional Morality in stories. The ones making a disapproving face and angsting about the innocent victims and clamoring for our guys to be punished for their transgressions are overwhelmingly likely to be women. I've never hesitated to rake a man over the coals, when they're cast in that role (including the main heroes), but patriarchy has given us the shitty stereotype that the ones who are supposed to voice the conscience of society are women.

And it's presented as a binary - you have good, healthy girls that disapprove of villainy, juxtaposed against us degenerates who are disparaged explicitly for FAILING to disapprove of villainy. All that sneering talk about how "girls love bad boys" is literally society speaking out of both sides of its mouth. Because when it's not holding forth about women being so much kinder, more moral, and more likely to hear the pain of the downtrodden and crusade against injustice, it's pretending the only reason we could possibly respond positively to villains is because they make us wet. It can take serious work to maintain cordial relations in fandom when "the hero's female fans are doing it right, while the villain's fans are setting themselves up to have abusive relationships" is what passes for social commentary from canon creators. I really appreciate that the people writing manga and anime largely refuse to make moral pronouncements this. But I'm fed up to the teeth with it from American creators.

In my case it's never been about feeling threatened by onscreen women, per se. A lot of the time I would love it if there was some character who would voice the sorts of things I feel like saying and be there for my faves when otherwise they have to make do alone. Emotionally or literally. But ... it's not one content creator in a hundred in the US who can do that with a female character in a way that I feel represented, as opposed to dragged onscreen to be ridiculed. Like, "look at this stuuuupid girl with her stupid crush, even the object of her affections is disgusted with her!" You know? Solidly supportive, functional relationships are a rarity for villains anyway, but more so still if their dragon is female. The last one I can think of that was even sort of like that was the dynamic between Magneto and Mystique in the X-Men movies. But if more women were being represented like that, I think you'd find that a lot of villain fans would love them and write them and respond so much more positively to the fact that they exist than to these piles of in-canon girls who are either there to oppose the villain or there to be exploited by him.