mark_asphodel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mark_asphodel) wrote2010-12-08 01:46 pm
mark_asphodel) wrote2010-12-08 01:46 pm
Entry tags:
Subverting the Dominant Paradigm
Now that I've landed on everyone's B.S. radar for the title...
When I was in Gundam Wing fandom, there were some clear-eyed and rational fans who took a moment to reflect upon how the fandom, or at least the writing end of it, got so damn screwed up. The most eloquent of these was probably tzigane, a Chang Wufei fan whose 'fics weren't my thing but whose characterization essays (warning for language and discussion of yaoi) are essential for understanding how and why a fandom goes to hell. Or, rather, how something blatantly out-of-character becomes the dominant take on a character, to the point where canon-faithful portrayals are shouted down, met with tar and pitchforks, etc. Her essay on Heero Yuy contained an "a-ha!" moment for me when she talked about how successive waves of fans essentially distort the stereotypes crafted by the prior wave.
Circa 2008 I wrote something similar for SSB fandom concentrating on themutilation desecration popular depiction of Roy and Marth. FE11 wasn't out yet to confuse people further, but as far as I can tell FE11 hasn't mattered a jot to 98% of SSB 'ficcers, so as far as I'm concerned my take on things from then still stands. I called the essay "Martian Canals" (x-ref), and my key assertion was that the 'ficcers were so far off base, even given fragmented and contradictory canon, that the "Marth" and "Roy" they were writing about essentially didn't exist anywhere outside of fandom itself.
I wisely did not post that essay. Anywhere. I still thought FE fans were jerks and already figured the SSB crowd didn't care about self-reflection.
I could probably postulate for hours about how and why SSB fandom got so screwy, and why fans latched onto specific OOC takes on Marth and Roy-- which 'fics set the pace, and who borrowed from what, and so forth. But I'm sure none of you in FE-land care; the end result is simply that we can collectively spot at once when an SSB-writer blunders into Fire Emblem fandom and slaps up a 'fic. The traits are so clear you can practically write a field guide for it.
But Fire Emblem fandom has its own evolutions and subversions, though on a smaller scale. I dunno about Tellius, but in the sub-fandoms I follow it usually consists of a couple of people who are really into one concept or one pairing, and suddenly the front page of ffnet's archive has three or four Marisa/Joshua stories on it. And I think the rise of Kent/Lyn as the dominant Lyn pairing has been discussed many times in multiple places, but the essence of that one is that someone started writing something they liked and it turned out other people liked it too.
I don't think most writers have a mind to hijack a fandom. I'm certain the early Gundam Wing writers had no idea that "their" Heero and Duo and whatnot-- characterizations based on a handful of fansubbed videos-- would mutate and devour fandom. But it's an interesting thing to contemplate, particularly when I come across 'fics involving characters I am personally invested in and think, "Is this writer deriving their take on character X from canon, or did they get this from reading other writers' fanfics?" Because coming across someone else whose take on Character X meshes with yours doesn't necessarily validate your beliefs re: Character X with regard to canon. It could just mean you were both reading the same 'fics or the same commentary. It could even mean they read your own story and liked it, and you're essentially agreeing with a reflection of yourself.
Seriously, I once found something in the Fire Emblem TV Tropes section whose wording was identical to wording in a discussion I was having with someone in the comments of my DA journal. Now, did that other person then turn around and edit TV Tropes, or did some third party come across that conversation and lift a phrase, or did multiple fans in the same small fandom reach the same conclusion independently? (Said wording is now gone, TV Tropes being what it is-- it had to do with FE3!Marth versus FE11!Marth, and the current text is pared down considerably.) I've had the same experience at least once with the FE Wiki. And some discussions in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emblanon have made the whole echo-chamber effect very disconcerting-- I've seen things that sound damn-near identical to my own beliefs, but it wasn't me. But it's an anon meme, so I don't know if that writer was being sincere, or sockpuppeting, or what.
So, dear f-list-- what fandom paradigms do you plan to subvert in the new year?
When I was in Gundam Wing fandom, there were some clear-eyed and rational fans who took a moment to reflect upon how the fandom, or at least the writing end of it, got so damn screwed up. The most eloquent of these was probably tzigane, a Chang Wufei fan whose 'fics weren't my thing but whose characterization essays (warning for language and discussion of yaoi) are essential for understanding how and why a fandom goes to hell. Or, rather, how something blatantly out-of-character becomes the dominant take on a character, to the point where canon-faithful portrayals are shouted down, met with tar and pitchforks, etc. Her essay on Heero Yuy contained an "a-ha!" moment for me when she talked about how successive waves of fans essentially distort the stereotypes crafted by the prior wave.
Circa 2008 I wrote something similar for SSB fandom concentrating on the
I wisely did not post that essay. Anywhere. I still thought FE fans were jerks and already figured the SSB crowd didn't care about self-reflection.
I could probably postulate for hours about how and why SSB fandom got so screwy, and why fans latched onto specific OOC takes on Marth and Roy-- which 'fics set the pace, and who borrowed from what, and so forth. But I'm sure none of you in FE-land care; the end result is simply that we can collectively spot at once when an SSB-writer blunders into Fire Emblem fandom and slaps up a 'fic. The traits are so clear you can practically write a field guide for it.
But Fire Emblem fandom has its own evolutions and subversions, though on a smaller scale. I dunno about Tellius, but in the sub-fandoms I follow it usually consists of a couple of people who are really into one concept or one pairing, and suddenly the front page of ffnet's archive has three or four Marisa/Joshua stories on it. And I think the rise of Kent/Lyn as the dominant Lyn pairing has been discussed many times in multiple places, but the essence of that one is that someone started writing something they liked and it turned out other people liked it too.
I don't think most writers have a mind to hijack a fandom. I'm certain the early Gundam Wing writers had no idea that "their" Heero and Duo and whatnot-- characterizations based on a handful of fansubbed videos-- would mutate and devour fandom. But it's an interesting thing to contemplate, particularly when I come across 'fics involving characters I am personally invested in and think, "Is this writer deriving their take on character X from canon, or did they get this from reading other writers' fanfics?" Because coming across someone else whose take on Character X meshes with yours doesn't necessarily validate your beliefs re: Character X with regard to canon. It could just mean you were both reading the same 'fics or the same commentary. It could even mean they read your own story and liked it, and you're essentially agreeing with a reflection of yourself.
Seriously, I once found something in the Fire Emblem TV Tropes section whose wording was identical to wording in a discussion I was having with someone in the comments of my DA journal. Now, did that other person then turn around and edit TV Tropes, or did some third party come across that conversation and lift a phrase, or did multiple fans in the same small fandom reach the same conclusion independently? (Said wording is now gone, TV Tropes being what it is-- it had to do with FE3!Marth versus FE11!Marth, and the current text is pared down considerably.) I've had the same experience at least once with the FE Wiki. And some discussions in
emblanon have made the whole echo-chamber effect very disconcerting-- I've seen things that sound damn-near identical to my own beliefs, but it wasn't me. But it's an anon meme, so I don't know if that writer was being sincere, or sockpuppeting, or what. So, dear f-list-- what fandom paradigms do you plan to subvert in the new year?
Re: I got a little long-winded [Part 1/2]
...
*replaces Marth's and Roy's names with Heero's and Duo's*
holy crap, why did I not see this?
No wonder I hate those types of fics, lol.
Re: I got a little long-winded [Part 1/2]
"But if you’re going to take fantasizing about the Prince of Altea to a more active level and start (dear lord no) writing new adventures for him, where exactly to you turn for the characterization?
Well, you can do what a lot of people seem to do and just rewrite old Gundam Wing fics. One Hikaru Midorikawa character can be interchanged for another, right? So the Imperfect Soldier (Heero Yuy) and his long-haired comic sidekick (Duo Maxwell) are repurposed as Prince Marth and his red-haired sidekick Roy of Pherae, who doesn’t even belong in the same continuity as far as Fire Emblem is concerned. But we’re not concerned with Fire Emblem here, are we? And comedy, or sentimental mush, ensues.
I’d bet Gundam Wing was the entry point into fandom and fanfiction for many a fangirl, so it’s not at all surprising to see the same tired Gundam Wing ‘fic-tropes being recycled into various other media bases. And the fanon clichés are usually as inaccurate and inappropriate in the new fandoms as they were in GW to begin with. The flowery descriptions of silken hair and sapphire eyes are bad enough (what teenaged boys even think in those terms?), but at least in GW, the depiction of dour, intense Heero and happy-go-skippy Duo had some vague basis in canon. Well, actually the original Duo Maxwell isn’t happy-go-skippy at all, but by the time you get to the Ground Zero manga, he’s blatant comic relief and drawn like a girl to boot. Does that make it fanfic-for-hire? Could be."
Re: I got a little long-winded [Part 1/2]
One Hikaru Midorikawa character can be interchanged for another, right?
As much as I hate to say it, I honestly think people think this. Does this mean I can switch Marth for, say, Zelgadis, or Schuldig, or Tamahome, or Xing-ke, or Sou, or or or... Never mind they all have different personalities and the only thing they share is being voiced by the same guy?
Pffffff.
There is a reason why Rule #1 of fandom for me is: "If Midorikawa was in the anime, it is automatically like Gundam Wing."