A brief aside...

[graculus]

Blair Sandburg is not, by any stretch of the imagination, 'exotic'.

Likewise Daniel Jackson is not 'willowy' or 'frail' or anything similar. At no point in the show's run (or even in the movie) could he be accurately described that way.

Ditto for Ezra Standish.

And let's not get started on the whole subject of competent, self-sufficient individuals bursting into tears at the slightest opportunity (be it running out of coffee, stubbing their toe, their favourite pot plant dying...).

Doesn't reading something like that just make you want to go "Have you actually *seen* the show?"?

Comments

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I mean, can't anyone just be handsome anymore? Shouldn't the canonical things that made an author love a character be the traits that show up in the actual story?

I don't even want to get into what they've done to Snape.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I think my personal favourite was the story where Snape was really handsome but used a glamour to make him unappealing because, as we all know, nobody could possibly love someone who's ugly...

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes - why can't Snape have greasy hair and bad teeth? In the words of the immortal Ani DiFranco - You don't have to be a supermodel to do the animal thing :-P

My favourite is the story where Snape is supposedly turned into a 'hermaphrodite' (although his penis is never mentioned,) grows D-cup breasts, allows himself to be raped thrice daily, and spends most of the intermittent hours curled up in a small ball, weeping. I mean...that's not Snape. At least let the poor fellow keep his penis!

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

That is incredibly disturbing. Sure, people can write whatever the heck they want, but it's still disturbing.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

The disturbing thing is that they're so very very serious about all of it.

[blktauna.livejournal.com]

oh yes!

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes - why can't Snape have greasy hair and bad teeth?

For the same reason, I guess, that Harry always has a six-pack and Quidditch-toned muscles (whatever those are - I wouldn't think that clamping your legs round a thin piece of wood would give you all that impressive upper body development, myself).

Nobody is allowed to be ordinary in fic.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

You're forgetting all that time Harry spends hanging off his broomstick when he's been attacked by some enemy.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Furthermore, Snape *allows* people to do things to him he doesn't want? Personally I'm with your scenario on that one (the Snape/Filch slave fic you posted the other day).

They'd wake up with important bits missing from their anatomy. If they woke up.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

They'd wake up with important bits missing from their anatomy. If they woke up.

*grin* Precisely. This is the guy who kept himself from being killed both by the Ministry and by Voldemort. Who's not afraid to throw a tantrum at the slightest affront, who apparently lives for revenge. And yet some writers seem to enjoy turning him into a pushover. Go figure.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

But he's not evil, he's just Misunderstood! ;)

[xochiquetzl]

Ewwwwww. That sounds like a seriously me-unfriendly fic.

There does seem to be an attitude in some places that, you know, ONLY SLASH THE PRETTY! It's sometimes combined with a butch/femme dynamic that mimics bad bodice-rippers.

I mean, okay. It's porn. I can see people wanting to read porn about people they find attractive. OTOH, one of the things I enjoy about written porn as opposed to movie porn is the more realistic body types/physical appearances. People without silicone boobs need luv, too! ;)

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Ewwwwww. That sounds like a seriously me-unfriendly fic.

Er, yeah. But to be honest, it's not the content that gets to me..it's that everyone in it is so damned out of character. *cough* That, and the fact that despite not even being edited for spelling and grammar, it gets gushing praise.

There does seem to be an attitude in some places that, you know, ONLY SLASH THE PRETTY!

The odd thing about Snape is that people seem perfectly content for him to be not-pretty, so long as he's slashed with someone who is. Even when these someones are people he's none too fond of in canon - Harry, Lupin, Black. But when he's written with equally un-pretty characters - Dumbledore, Filch, Hagrid - people give you the hairy eyeball.

Personally, I like giving the average, unattractive, interesting joes some attention too :-P

[xochiquetzl]

It's very sad. Fics are never labelled, "Warning: Appalllingly bad characterization!" Mainly because, well, if the author knew the characterization in a story was appallingly bad, they wouldn't post it. Occasionally you do see, "unbeat'ed cuz im a sucki riter NEway LOL!"

*resists urge to mock "unbeat'ed" by offloading rant randomly to own journal*

Um. Where was I? :) Oh, yeah. Again, that's a nice thing about fic--people are attractive for reasons other than, say, "He looked in the mirror and admired his broad chest, his flashing blue eyes, his perfect teeth!" Oy. Like, you know, because they're interesting.

Also, I like Snape/Hagrid, so nyah. ;)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Personally, I like giving the average, unattractive, interesting joes some attention too :-P

Like, oh, Frohike slash?

*evil grin*

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Yes!

Oh, I love Frohike slash. Especially Frohike/Langly. But Frohike/Byers is all right too. Mind you, the best is Frohike/Langley/Byers :-P

Geek Love!