another rant about fanfic/fancontent and characterization
ive been on FIRE with hot takes the past week it just all started bubbling to the surface i guess. people are gonna hate me for this one but i have to address the elephant in the room
i think a lot of ppl need to read this quote. this is….exactly fucking it. what ive been trying to articulate this whole time. this is why so much fanfic pisses me off and drives me away. they explained the phenomenon PERFECTLY
Decades ago, Devra Langsam (coeditor and publisher of SPOCKANALIA, the first Star Trek fanzine, beginning in 1967) codified this in what came to be known as "Langsam's Law." In an essay published in WARPED SPACE 50 (1984, T'Kuhtian Press), Paula Smith described it thusly: “In writing media-based fiction there is a special caveat: Langsam's Law, or, ‘Don't Make Him Say That.’ Don't make an established character do or say something out of line with his established character, or if you must, give good, solid reasons why. If you must write a Darth-Vader-is-really-a-pussycat story, explain in the story why he also strangles crewmen when irked.” And the debate has raged ever since. For my own part, I initially was somewhat startled to realize, upon reading my first fanzine those many decades ago, that other people could and did interpret these characters somewhat differently than I did. After a while I concluded that there was a continuum of logical characterization—always demonstrably rooted in canon—along with the who-the-fuck-are-these-people "interpretations." As far as I can tell, these are based on projection, wish fulfillment, and/or what I call "spackletext" (as opposed to genuine subtext) from writers (well, story posters, at least) who want the characters to meet their specific desires in emotional/physical/therapeutic gratification and are completely oblivious or simply uncaring as to how that is achieved.”
seriously. the way so many people treat characters as like empty-calorie junk food instead of getting genuine gratification from properly understanding them in canon, without selfishly appropriating them, as if they were real people with depth makes me sick. how do you consume content in that way?? and moreover, why do so many other people enjoy it????
this is what i've been thinking for years but i didnt know how to say it without people flipping out on me. like it's ALWAYS empty wish fulfillment it makes me wanna EXPLODE. that's why those boring nonsensical ships always exist in every fandom: it's for projection. so they’re as easily gratifying to their desires as possible. it sucks so much because like. i can't imagine what kind of catharsis they expect to achieve from something like this????? it's not even using these characters therapeutically as much as it is just using them as comfort junk food
i made a domino’s vs new york slice analogy to a friend the other day: “it’s enlightening to me that people don’t think about him this way. like what do you mean “wow”. you have all been fed garbage characterization. that’s like people who all they know is domino’s and think they know what real pizza is and have never had a new york slice”. so imagine if new york pizza wasnt bound to the new york area and you could get new york style pizza anywhere in the world, it just takes longer to prepare. it’s like these people are consistently choosing domino’s because they want it now and fast without regard for method or depth of care put into the art of pizzamaking itself because their bar for quality food is at the ocean floor. its like fast food to them they just want instant self gratification no matter how shitty the texture and taste are
why you people enjoy consuming empty fucking calories i will never understand to save my life. i WANT to understand but nobody, NOBODY can give me a well-reasoned answer. the only one that answers this is the one in the above quote, that that too many people are afraid to admit: “it’s based on projection, wish fulfillment, and/or what I call "spackletext" (as opposed to genuine subtext) from writers who want the characters to meet their specific desires in emotional/physical/therapeutic gratification and are completely oblivious or simply uncaring as to how that is achieved.”
see that’s like fucking sacrilege to the character, original work, AND audience to me. how would the canon character feel about this. if you hate the original canon so much that you turn it in its head why are you writing about it in the first place??? what the hell is even redeeming about the media in general to you?? if you do that, i’m not emotionally attached to anything in the story anymore, you have to resell it to me. but even then i’m not here for whatever weird ungrounded from canon au youre trying to write i’m here to see a deeper exploration of the same ideas presented in a given piece of media. that’s why i’m reading. fanfic. and not. an original story
i just think that not only is proper characterization an artful discipline that shows you can step out of your own impulsive wants, but proper characterization also displays an author’s genuine love and devotion for a series or a character. it shows you how much someone cares about this thing, you know they put their heart and soul into caring to get it right. it’s made with real love, time, devotion, like a samurai mastering his blade. going into understanding their inner workings and spending so much time to properly understand it because they care about it so much. and it’s very obvious when you see it. accordingly, the opposite is true—sloppy characterizations made out of wishful thinking and self-gratification without bothering to understand the character, feels… well, rather cheap. like fast food. you don’t get the same strong sense of devotion to deeply understanding that thing. so the question bears repeating: why do people want this empty-calorie fast food? in fics with proper characterizations, the people in the comments act as if they saw heaven and praise the author. they way they comment suggests it’s such a rare occurence. but why. why is it a fucking rare occurrence. shouldn’t this be the norm? is it really that rare for people to be devoted to properly understanding the depths of a media and its characters? am i the fucking weird one here for having this kind of discipline and getting deep satisfaction from the art of understanding characters????? do other people find it too hard and i’m confused because i expect it to be as easy to see as i do? or do they just simply not give a shit about the principle?
when people turn canon on its head, it makes me wonder: how much do people actually like the media they consume? do they like the actual characters themselves? or do they merely like the idea of these characters and ignore what is manifest about them for their own ideal interpretations that serve their own desires?
on one hand i'm like “it's not hurting anyone, the world already has enough pain in it, you can't judge people for wanting to escape it for a bit”. cause like, if it makes them happy then i shouldn't be upset about that. i'm glad people are able to find joy in these things that i can't, and i don't want to spoil something that causes genuine happiness for these people. then on the other hand i'm like “okay but all those empty calories can't possibly be good for you. you can consume media in much richer and satisfying ways”
dailybridgerton
prguitarman
izzy806
pixelskylines
stormborns
vaporwave
