(so first of all, there's been a bunch of art added to the gallery since my last journal entry, and if you want to see previews of chapters when they're partway done, look no further than the SRU Tumblr and Facebook, where I also post artworks as they get finished and even sometimes WIP)
[link][link]- "I don't want you listening to this distracting nonsense!" -
So in light of yesterday's fangasming about a certain Korra spoiler, and how it just served as another example of things that really bother me in fandoms (in general) it got me wondering why.Why I bother to even respond to such things, why they upset me at all in the first place. I think I've figured it out.
Part of it is that I am a writer who works hard and takes my writing somewhat seriously, so from that perspective, seeing people choose to read or not read based on nothing to do with my writing and only to do with the ships - that's discouraging. Watching someone who -used- to be a reader and support the story leaving negative comments on SRU art because it's not Taang shipping? That's childish and irritating.
But it's more than that.
The race stuff? About Korra's skin color? I hate it. Korra's skin color is not important. She's a Water Tribe girl, that's what is. And yes, she is not caucasian, but NO, I have not, ever, seen anyone portray her as such, so people need to chill out and stop doing things like stealing other's artwork and modified it to make themselves feel self-righteous. The more we focus on skin color, the more we're making it a big deal out of something that shouldn't be. It's like Toph's blindness - the show AND Toph herself made fun of her blindness and in doing so humanized it, made it just an aspect of her character rather than her defining trait. Same with Zuko's scar. Normally those would be politically incorrect things to discuss.
There is kind of a reference to Korra's ethnic appearance (indirectly) in episode 2 of Korra, and yet its sole purpose is to point out that people shouldn't jump to conclusions.
The race stuff bothers me because I'm Caucasian and grew up in an environment where I was the minority, where I got picked on, ridiculed, socially locked up, physically beaten,just because of the color of the my skin.
And the shipping stuff. Do I negatively overreact to fangirls overreacting to it? Yea, sometimes I probably do. I figured out the real reason for that last night, too.
It's because of my sexual history. How I was molested and beaten as a child, and how that has caused a psychological impact that had a detrimental effect on my marriage and made me feel unwanted by my spouse, who then cheated on me instead of working on our sexuality. I'm still a virgin - after a marriage and a divorce. Sexuality is a very meaningful subject for me.
So watching teenage girls twist characters whose story I value and objectifying them into nothing more than sex idols? That hurts a lot for me, personally. Because I've been used in the past. It's disrespectful, from my perspective. It's degrading.
And that's not to say "oh woe is the fandom, how dare you have your fun" or anything like that. No, no. What I'm doing here is explaining why it bothers me, personally,as much as it does.
For a long time I feared joining the Avatar fandom because that kind of creepy obsessive behavior weirds me out and now, I realize, offends me on a personal level (which is not anyone's fault, BTW, I'm not trying to blame anyone here).
At the end of the day, my entire frustration boils down to one single thing: I am really into Avatar, I have been consistently fascinated and interested in it more intensely for a longer period of time than any other franchise. I want to be interacting with other people like that, but…but…then when I go trying to find people like that, 98% of them just care about Korra's boobs, or how Zuko 'should have' been with Katara, or how Mako is such an amazing piece of manliness (before we even knew anything about him) and the only focus is sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Which, BTW, makes up a very small percentage of all Avatar story we've seen so far.
So there's that. I don't expect anyone (especially on Tumblr) really cares but I guess I just had the need to explain myself. It seems I really do need to try being more careful about what I'm exposing myself to on the internet…=/
I guess I should learn to be calm and be the leaf. ^_^;
`ChewedKandi has certainly gone out of her way to keep the vector community on the right path. Always making sure that her talents are infinitely scalable, Sharon has put her bezier curves to excellent use, and firmly anchored herself as an inspirational leader. We're absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for June 2013 to `ChewedKandi. Congratulations, Sharon! Read More
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I totally get where you're coming from.
Although I don't write for fandoms, Avatar has captured me and changed my view on some things.
The things we make important shouldn't be Korra's skincolour, Toph's blindness, Zuko's scar or any of the guys's looks.
I admit, I'm guilty of disliking a pairing and quiting a story, until I found out that nothing's different. The persons you would like to see together might not end up together, but that doesn't make a story any less wonderful or worthwhile.
I learned that no matter what pairing they bring, it makes sense for them and it isn't like it's the end of the world to see a change in a good story that you don't like. It's like life, it doesn't always go according you're way, but then you don't quit it.
I feel truly sorry about your sexual history and I'm sorry you had such a wrong person as your spouse.
He/She shouldn't have done that and should have been there for you.
Sorry if it hurst to talk about it!
I hope I gave enough support and love to last a while
XXX
But if I'm following a story it's very rarely just for the romantic aspect.
I appreciate the sympathy. We worked fine as roommates and friends but not so much as a married couple. We loved each other but not in the way a husband and wife are supposed to, and add sexual incompatibility on top of that, cheating, and it just wasn't working.
I agree, things should've been approached differently, but things happen.
Thanks for your support.
Unfortunately it's the most annoying voices that are the loudest, here. There are others who think like you, it's just a matter of finding them. In fact, given the popularity of SRU and how outspoken you are about this, I bet you find people coming to you.
I love you, Bruthah. It'll get better, and until it does, you have friends here to lean on (and vent to). ~hug~
I'm with you on the Avatar fandom shipper-over-eager-fangasmers issue; it's one of the reasons I myself never threw myself into the Avatar fandom so zealously and mostly stuck with the handful of people I knew who liked Avatar and weren't are "OMG X ship rulz beyond awesomeness" as the first words out of their mouth.
I have my own ships, both cannon, fannon and my own crazy pairing schemes, but like you Smasher I like to have logic behind them somehow or if it's a ficlet or RP story I'm working on, there's context and substance to equate how the ship works be it using cannon material, AU or whatever.
I'm also a HUGE, MAJOR, DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN BIG Transformers fan, probably my biggest and ultimate favorite franchise out there; yet there's plenty in the TF fandom who make me faceplam as much as the Avatar fans who incite a similar response.
What you've done as a fan of Avatar with your writing has been one of the THE best fan works I've seen come out of the fan writing aspects of the fandom. You GET the characters at their cores, even if they're in a modern setting with no powers and are just normal college students, and you even take side characters barely given development and make them shine. Hell you gave Korra substance before we even knew of a date of the series release would be, and your takes on Mako and Bolin have been faithful even without knowing what to draw upon for them. (Plus it's just dang nice to see the three in a none fangirl//boy's pairing harem fantasy setting)
You even showed you can DO the cannon stuff with Worst Field Trip, I at first thought you were Bryan or Mike using an alias with how well written and deep you made Toph's plight, problems and the interactions of the crew and worked within their established core personalities without making me once think "yeah that's way ooc".
You sir are a credit to the fandom in giving back something with substance and awe that draws us in like it you were blessed by the creators themselves. That's why I at least keep coming back, you sold me your world is alive and the characters are the Gaang I love, merely in another setting, and heck you made me fall in love with your version of SmellerBee you took a side character and breathed a full history, and life into her beyond the scope of her original existance. Not many can do that.
Now then, fan-gush off; short and sweet dude, you're not the only one irked by the fans being...idiots and you need to rant, rant. You got a few ears willing to listen, mine included.
We maybe just two dudes on opposite coasts who interact via DA and email on occasion, but to me every human being can stand to open a portion of their heart for others and just, ya'know equally spread the goodwill and let their fellow man know they aren't alone in the world, even if it's just a small comment stating "I know how you feel", just showing someone gives a dang in some form goes a long way.
Thanks!