#fandom experience while doing absolutely nothing to explore my own actual thoughts and feelings yknow?

[bigskydreaming]

Tbh I appreciate when writers tag their fics with ‘character bashing.’ I mean, in an abstract way, not like “oh I’m gonna be this person’s friend now because of this,” lmao. I don’t tend to find much common ground with people who insist on character bashing in fics. Character criticism is great, necessary even, but I think all of us are perfectly able to tell the difference between criticism and just outright bashing. And I honestly can’t think of any character where actually bashing them or seeing them hated on has appealed to me. 

Like, I’ve def made the occasional venting joke about Stiles, Tony or Tim Drake, but I think anyone who follows me longterm understands that even in those cases, my venting is more about the fans of said characters shoving them down everyone else’s throats or crapping all over other fans’ fandom experiences because of them. Point is, its not really even ABOUT those characters, and its definitely not something I’ve ever carried over into actual depictions of them in my own fanfics.

(Full disclosure: I do see the appeal with actual villains who are like....literally meant to be hated, even if parts of fandom disagree. But yeah, just not gonna pretend that people hating on characters who are explicitly rendered as the Actual Bad Guy by a narrative because they’re genocidal fascists or rapists is interchangeable with people hating on the protag or main supporting cast because they failed to unconditionally Affirm and Validate a beloved character. The whole point of this post is Less Fake = More Better, y’know?)

But I’m just saying. This is why self-awareness is great. Give me a person who can be honest about their treatment of a character and just own "yeah I hate this character and I let everyone know it" over one who’s like "nooooo, I love all these characters equally, they’re all my precious babies, its just every single other character in every single one of my stories takes every single opportunity available to condemn, criticize and vilify this one particular character because.....of Plot Reasons. Its very important to the Narrative. That’s all.”

Like, I’m legit just never gonna read a fic that has character bashing explicitly in the tags. But that’s literally the point, y’know? I’m just....never gonna read a fic that has character bashing explicitly in the tags, so if you actually tag shit that way when you know damn well your bias about a particular character is on display in a fic (and if you encourage readers commenting with ‘yessss, hate this character/love the other characters ripping this one a new one’ like let’s not pretend you don’t have a clue) then like.....guess what? You’ll never have to worry about me or people of similar mindsets giving your fic a try and having Opinions on how blatant your hatred for a character is and how ugh your treatment of them is.

Just speaking for myself here, but contrary to what some people might believe, I sincerely DON’T go looking for fics and opinions that I know damn well are going to piss me off. The fact that I’ve always made an earnest effort to curate my own fandom experience and still inevitably run smack into any number of fics that disingenuously present themselves as one thing when they’re actually something else entirely....that’s usually a key contributing factor to me BEING Pissed Off when ranting about something fanfic related.

But owning your character bashing just saves any actual fans of a character time and saves you the headache of defending your right to want Character X to suffer because of what they did to Character Y or whatever. Like obviously you have that right,* but what’s your actual goal? To sneak-attack actual fans of the character with smear takes on their fave, or maybe to proselytize about how terrible the character is and convince people on the fence that Actually, This Character DOES Deserve This?

If those are someone’s actual goals then of course they’re never going to actually tag a fic with character bashing, true. But if you’re genuinely just looking to vent about a character you dislike or whatever, and be validated by other like-minded fans who feel the same way about them, then being open and forthcoming about a fic’s character bashing literally just makes things simpler for everyone, fans and haters alike. 

And its worth considering: what IS a writer’s actual goal when refusing to acknowledge an obvious bias against a character, if people are taking it for granted that there’s nothing wrong with hating any given character for any given reason and this doesn’t need an explanation or warrant an apology? Its like okay, great....so when its painfully obvious that a writer hates a given character, but they insist on bending over backwards to pretend otherwise.....might want to put some thought into what’s actually going on there, y’know? People don’t usually claim that there’s nothing wrong with a certain behavior and then refuse to claim that behavior unless the thing that has them self-conscious or defensive is their own awareness they’re just using that behavior as a smokescreen for something else entirely.

Anyway, I’m just saying. Being forthcoming about your actual stance on a character is pretty firmly in your own best interest if you’re not actually defensive about hating on a particular character and not looking to start something with actual fans. If all you want is to share a Hater’s Stance about a particular character with Haters of Like Minds? What’s the actual downside to advertising your true feelings about a character and guaranteeing you attract your actual intended audience while warning anyone who isn’t part of that audience to stay away?

Just food for thought. 

* Standard disclaimer that none of the above applies to writers or fans hating on various characters because Racism, Transphobia, Homophobia or other -isms or -phobias. Anyone who wants to defend the ‘right’ to be racist in fanworks, headcanons or comments needs to face up to the correlating admission that this means they’re okay with expecting people of color to bear an ‘onus’ of being faced with that racism, etc. None of that is what we’re talking about here, nor is it up for discussion on this particular blog. I don’t argue about whether or not water is wet, either. I’m aware there are people with different opinions on that too, but I don’t have to give a shit.

#anyway #like call me out for being an Opinionated Bitch or whatever and you'd be right to #but I'm just saying. owning your fandom experience is a two way street #and like. is it even YOUR fandom experience if you're never actually even owning your true #opinions on narratives and characters or is it actually just the popular crowd's fandom experience and you've glommed on for the ride #so you can feel shiny by association? #you do you but the latter feels like a big old waste of time to me. if I'm gonna sink as much time and energy into having a fandom #experience as I do then like. it damn well better be MY fandom experience. not putting all that out there just in service to someone else's #fandom experience while doing absolutely nothing to explore my own actual thoughts and feelings yknow? #can not think of anything less rewarding than Martyring Myself for the Internet Clout #not gonna be taking likes and reblogs to my deathbed but my opinions and memories of things I truly believed and/or enjoyed? those will #still be there