On futility

[moonwise]

Every time I see someone posting long-winded screeds about how slash is raping their childhood heroes and Character X is SO NOT GAY and HOW COULD YOU EVER THINK THAT, I want to pat them on the head and say, "You're new to the Internet, aren't you?"

Comments

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I don't know how to link to individual posts on a MB, sorry. But here's the thread - it's the most recent post by JECrazy.

HE-MAN IS TTLY NOT GAY, BARBARIANS DRESSED IN FUR SPEEDOS, IT ARE A FACT. (http://www.ectozone.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=233&sid=3003b0029f00e3ffb946d063427b834b&start=15)

[morgi.livejournal.com]

Just the title of that makes me laugh.

But then I don't find gay people scary so...

[arafel.livejournal.com]

There's a certain wisdom to "If you don't like it, don't read it." Slash isn't my thing; I don't read it, but I have no problem with it. If people want to ship Peter/Egon, go nuts, I'm all for it; arguing that they shouldn't is one of the fastest ways to find yourself on Fandom Wank.

[morgi.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly even into slash (and I think the use of the term for strictly gay partnerships is stupid... I see a slash in "Harry/Hermione," don't you?), but I think it can be entertaining. I don't necessarily want to read explicit porn of certain pairings, though.

I think the reflexive "OMG [favourite character] ISN'T GAY HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT???" is kind of juvenile and silly. That's what fandom is: an exercise in interpretation.

Real-person fic, on the other hand, freaks me right out.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I've got a live-and-let-live philosophy regarding fanfic, except when it comes to RPF. Picard/Riker is okay; Patrick Stewart/Jonathan Frakes is not. IMO, the character is separate from the individual, and to write gay or straight fics about people who exist is disrespectful, to my mind.

But, it doesn't stop the Domlijah tinhats.