Ardwynna's Place

coniello:

ardwynna:

coniello:

weconqueratdawn:

ardwynna:

I wonder where the break happened that such wide swaths of younger fans don’t grasp fandom things that used to be unspoken understandings. That fic readers are expected to know fiction from reality,  that views expressed in fic are not necessarily those of the author, that the labels, tags and warnings on various kinkfics are also the indication that they were created for titillation and not much more, please use responsibly as per all pornography. The ‘problem’ isn’t that so-called ‘problematic’ fic exists but that some of the audience is being stupid, irresponsible, at worst criminal, at best not old enough to be in the audience to begin with. And that’s on the consumer, not the author who told you via labels, tags, ratings, warnings and venues what their fic was about and what it was for.

I can’t stress enough how important this post is

i think it’s less on the audience being irresponsible and not understanding fiction than it is audiences turning around and going “hey, maybe if you’re writing violent torture and rape (or those euphemistic Old Fandom terms noncon and dubcon) fic for ~titillation~ because it’s ~just fiction~ that’s maybe NOT a good thing?”

if anything i think it’s audiences becoming MORE responsible and thinking critically about what they consume in fan-created media as well as “legit” media. just because a piece of art is a fanwork it doesn’t mean it’s immune to people saying “hey, putting this shit on the internet for people to read, even if you ARE putting warnings in place, is kinda concerning and you need to think about why you feel the need to write, much less PUBLISH it”. in fact i think the inherently freer, escapist, wish-fulfillment-esque nature of fanworks, where you’re not necessarily trying to make High Art or Make A Statement, makes it even more worrying when people feel the need to write about their favourite characters in such situations.

Also, just because it’s What Was Done In The Fandom Days Of Old doesn’t mean it’s immune to criticism on those grounds either, and we need to stop this attitude of the Old Ways of fandom being automatically superior just because they’re the Old Ways

These aren’t just fandom’s old ways, these are the ways of literature since literature was a thing. There’s everything from gangrape to bestiality in mankind’s storytelling tradition and the world continues to turn.

That discomfort you’re feeling when you find fanwork that disturbs you? That’s just you finding out where your personal tastes lie, not a harbinger of the end times. Go read a few more books and stop clutching your pearls so hard.

and here’s where you missed my point about fanworks versus “legit art”. when people write original fiction, make movies, draw comics featuring gangrape or bestiality or whatever other examples you want to throw at me, there’s a high chance they’re doing those things to make a statement about society, either our own or the one where the work is set, or because it’s an important part of the characters’ arc. and if they’re just throwing it in because they can, just because they want to be Edgy or have some Torture Porn in their art, then that’s still gratuitous and unnecessary and should be thought about with a critical eye and not just accepted because “it’s fiction”

but the thing is there’s a difference between doing that in an original work of fiction and doing it in fanfic. because, like i said, although fanfic can be beautifully written and in terms of quality be on a level with good original fiction, people are primarily writing it for fun, escapism, wish-fulfillment. when you write a fic you’re taking other people’s characters and saying “hey, what would i love to happen to this character?”. it’s far more an extension of personal wishes and desires, it’s far more something you do for YOURSELF for the readers. so yeah, i think if your answer to “what do i want to do to my beloved characters?” is genuinely “i want to write 10k about them getting raped” then, yeah, that’s fucking concerning.

and of course those things can serve a literary purpose just as they do in original fiction! but i’d wager that 90% of people writing rape fics aren’t doing it to craft a thoughtful and sensitive depiction of what it means to be a survivor through the lens of one of their favourite fictional characters, they’re doing it because, what, like you said, kinkfics (and i KNOW in old fandom terms shit like noncon and dubcon falls under “kinkfic”, which is DISGUSTING, by the way) are made for “titillation”? writing a fic that’s just “my favourite character gets raped, but it’s, like, SEXY rape, or alternatively it’s just so my OTHER favourite character can give them kisses and make it all better” is ABSOLUTELY something that should be criticised??? i don’t know how else to explain this and if you can’t see anything wrong with that then i literally want nothing to do with you or anyone else who thinks that’s okay.

but frankly, i don’t know why i’m even bothering to argue with you, because it’s very clear from your tags and your pearl-clutching comment that you’re dead set on dismissing anyone who thinks that something being fictional isn’t an excuse for it being absolutely vile on moral grounds is a sensitive moral police sjw snowflake or whatever. and if you think that anyone who doesn’t want to read or write graphic torture porn about their favourite characters is just “dull” then… well. maybe you’re the one who needs to read some more books and figure out that art CAN be compelling and interesting and touching (and “titillating”) without needing to resort to shock value

Have you never heard of the genre pulp fiction? Have you never watched mainstream porn? Titus Andronicus? A Serbian Film? All mainstream media is NOT trying to make an artistic statement and even some that does goes to extremes to do it. There is a lot out there that simply aims to entertain. Fanfic has no obligation to be more artistic than anything else, even if it can be on occasion, and an author’s intentions are not yours to know or control either.

Stop confusing your personal discomfort with actual social harm. Stop pretending your literary tastes are so much nobler and better than anyone else’s. Stop pretending that your comfort level should be law unto anyone else. There is a lot of shady stuff out there, in the mainstream and fandom, and in both you have a CHOICE to partake of it or not. If you can’t manage that respectfully, fandom is not for you. Take your faulty armchair psychiatry and juvenile judgment with you when you go.