Life, CNN eyerolling and all I know about fandom I learned from my flist

[misscam]

In the life:

I have duly gotten cards for all of you have asked and I'll be sending them out on Saturday. But writing that many by hand gave me wrist pains - tells you something about how used we are to typing these days, huh? Also, apologies for my dreadful handwriting and lame text. I was running out of clever things to say around the 30th card.

Note for Saturday - I will be having a traditional Eurosong reaction post, so bring your comments, snark and Eurosong silly for it. BRING IT ON EUROPE. (Non-Europeans are welcome to join.) Norway even managed to qualify for the finale, but alas, Ireland's turkey did not. Another semi is tonight.

After watching too much DVDs lately, I find myself trying to fast forward while watching television. Oops. Case in point, watching yesterday's BSG on Norwegian telly. "The Woman King". Some episodes so need fast forward on rewatching. That's one of them. I couldn't figure out why my constant FF-pressing didn't work until after a few tries. Fail is me.

Brother has announced his visit for the summer at the end of June. He's demanded I have season three of Doctor Who for him to watch, I've demanded he watch Battlestar Galactica as well. We came to an agreement after some Babylon 5 discussion. Hah. My family is full of geeks.

In the news:

No, CNN, it is *not* okay to call a woman 'white bitch' and then defend it with 'well, she is!' in a serious discussion on national television.

The day you have that discussion about McCain and whether it's okay to call him a white prick in the same setting, then come talk to me. I'd still smack you in the face, but you know, I'd talk to you while I did it.

American politics give me headaches of woe and argh.

In the fandoms:

Er, Supernatural fandom? Anything you wanna tell me about the show there that doesn't make it sound quite as dodgy?

Man, all I know about Supernatural fandom is based on its appearances on f_w, random stuff I see on my flist and fanfic summaries I catch now and then while skimming. That makes a rather interesting picture in my head, yes. Meathooks are involved of late.

Which makes for a meme:
Summarize a fandom you have not seen the source material of but have heard stuff about based soley on impressions from your flist, wank communities or fanfics you've seen around for it. Checking wikipedia to get things accurate is cheating.

Comments

[rionaleonhart]

You know when you're really getting into something new, and you embrace it and you love it and suddenly you realise that the fandom is completely off its rocker and everyone's going to judge you for liking it and it's too late to get out? Oh, Supernatural.

(Blacked-out spoilers for the third-series finale below; highlight to read)

I don't know whether it'll help if I tell you that,

all right, Dean calls a female demon (who has saved his life on more than one occasion) a 'slut' despite her completely nonsexual portrayal and steals her weapon and leaves her trapped in a basement, but as a result of those actions he's dead and in Hell a few hours later?

[melliyna.livejournal.com]

BSG: There's a war of some sort. And hot girls who are cylons. And Laura Roslin and Admiral Adama are awesomely flawed, the show is difficult but brilliant. And it's emotionally gut wrenching. With pretty people, who apparently all like to shag each other a lot. While fighting aforementioned war.

[bex245.livejournal.com]

Your brother's visit sounds super fun!! =D Geeks FTW!!

That CNN video makes me really angry. CNN = epic fail. :@

[mystefaction.livejournal.com]

Myself, I find my hand keeps twitching in 'Ctrl+F' motions when doing book research for essays, as if the search-page toolbar is going to pop up and help me find my key terms.

BSG is about a fleet of starships searching for Earth after the Borg the Cybermen the Cylons destroyed all the other good planets. People in this fleet have a weird fondness for classical (nick)names (Apollo, Hera etc.). Lee Adama is annoying, there's a particularly reluctant Cylon who dies a lot, Gaius Baltar gets shipped with a figment of his imagination and Kara Thrace used to be a guy. Also, you don't mess with Laura Roslin.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

YES I DO.

But Supernatural fandom sounds special even to me, and I've been around some wank. Is it the fanbase or what?

Yeah, I know the spoilers cos I saw flailed reactions around my flist, but seriously, that word? DO NOT WANT. DO NOT WANT LIKE WHOA. It makes my eye twitch. Maybe I've heard it around too many of those 'oh she's a slut she desrved it' rape justifications. NO NO NO.

I'd kill the word with napalm if I could.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I'd say you got the essence there, yes.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

My brother and I get along very well and usually have quite a lot of fun with stuff. We tend to share tastes too, which is why everything I like, I try to get him into.

Though I always worry when he asks to read my fanfic...

Yeah, totally. I'd expect it from Fox News: Biased and Leer, but is all media over there going to the shits or something?

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Hah. I found myself missing copy+paste when doing the cards yesterday. All the things a computer does and your brain can't, woe...

Your summary is amusing and hits key points, yes. Particulary I must agree with the last sentence.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Smallville: This episode, someone will end up in hospital. While Clark and Lex make out.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Ever since I heard Clark/Lex is known as Clex, the mere mention of Smallville somewhere makes my right eyelid twitch a little.

Also, there is mpreg and some crazy fan from Chile.

[rionaleonhart]

I think the problem with the Supernatural fandom may just be the fact that different sides of the fandom seem incredibly unwilling to listen to each other. To take an example: I and some other fans liked Bela and Ruby, the two recurring female characters introduced for the third series; many people disliked one or the other (particularly Bela), or both. The difference in opinion wouldn't cause so many problems were it not for the fact that the two sides are so completely dismissive of each other: if you read fandomsecrets, you'll have seen a startling number of secrets saying 'IF YOU LIKE BELA I LOSE ALL RESPECT FOR YOUR OPINION' or 'I GENUINELY BELIEVE PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO LIKE BELA ARE SPIES FROM THE NETWORK TRYING TO GET US TO LIKE HER'; on the other side, many Bela fans believe that all non-Bela fans are shrieking fangirls who hate her just because she's a woman, even though many of them have legitimate reasons for disliking her.

And yes, much though I love Dean, I can't really deny that he is A Bit Misogynistic. I think part of the problem is that female characters have been making his life incredibly difficult this series, so you can understand that he would insult them, but non-sexist insults such as 'fuckers' aren't allowed past the censor. Essentially, he's forced into using sexist insults because they're considered 'mild' enough to be shown on television. Which says some pretty appalling things about society, really.

Of course, there's every chance that I'm wrong and Dean would ignore 'fucker' in favour of 'slut' even without the looming shadow of the censor, but I like to hope not. And I know I can't really excuse Supernatural by saying 'IT'S ALL THE CENSOR'S FAULT, LEAVE MY BELOVED SHOW ALONE'. Dean's sexism is a problem. Perhaps the writers will tackle it somehow in the next series? We can only hope.

[skybound2]

I'm consistently amazed by the kind of wank that goes down in SPN fandom. I love the boys, and I love the show. But it's one of those fandom's that takes itself WAY too seriously at times. I'm lucky in that most of the people on my flist are SANE so this is actually the first I've heard of this wank going down.

The boys are FLAWED. Their lives SUCK. No, really. Dean is in HELL and Sam has been groomed to be the Anti-christ. Everyone either of them has ever cared about is either dead or has abandoned them (except for Bobby). Why do people think that this kind of a plot will lead to hugs and puppies?

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I might try Firefly/Serenity. There's a ship, it used to be military but then it went freelance. Now they do piratey things.

There's a captain who's misogynist because he makes everyone subordinate call him captain, and there's a prostitute who's set up shop somewhere and services the crew even though she doesn't want to. Oh, and someone called River who's psychic, maybe.

And you can guess where I got most of that...

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds so painfully like Doctor Who fandom in many ways, with the rabid Rose fans and rabid Martha fans having the exact same 'U SUX' 'NO U DO' conversations over and over about which characters is made of awesome and which is made of fail. It's like both sides claim to be completely right and other completely wrong and therefore just can't even concede one point for the other side. It's not an argument, it's a screaming match and you can get denied membership to comms based on your flist. I mean, come on!

So yeah, I feel you there. Painfully.

/start detour about cencorship in the US

What is and isn't allowed on the main channels in the US is just totally dumb. How the hell is slut less offensive than fuck? In what galaxy? Slut is actually demeaning, fuck is just going for crude. And why is violence a-okay but a naked breast not? I do not get it at all. But then, in Norway swearing and nudity on national telly just ain't a big deal.

/end detour

I shall hope with you, then. For television in general, really.

[zinke.livejournal.com]

The day you have that discussion about McCain and whether it's okay to call him a white prick in the same setting, then come talk to me.

Thank you for this. I couldn't agree more.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

All your wank is belong to us?

I saw some of it on my flist before it hit f_w, but mostly in a sort of 'Oh no this will get wanky' way. Hiatus and season finales really get the wank out - see CSI, fandom of.

Um, because they like to write hugs and puppies and incest?

[misscam.livejournal.com]

That insane essay wank thing?

[skybound2]

Hiatus and season finales really get the wank out - see CSI, fandom of.
It does seem to bring it out in droves. I'd find it hilarious that it's already begun and we aren't a full week into hiatus, but it's just too depressing.

Um, because they like to write hugs and puppies and incest?
Hah! Ain't that the truth o_0

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Mm. Though I'm not sure 'bitch' really has a male equal. Or 'slut' - probably says a lot right, really. Bah. We got long ways to go still.

[skybound2]

I completely agree with you in regard to the censorship thing on that show. Dean has MASSIVE hate for ALL Demons, NOT just female ones. It just so happens that a large chunk of the evil!Demon's this year were female (which I think was probably done SPECIFICALLY because the past two seasons followed a story-arc surrounding a MALE demon. Equal opportunity and all ;-P).

Personally, don't think that Dean is sexist, I just think that his interaction ON SCREEN with females is mostly limited to adversaries, so we aren't getting a full picture (and considering how badly fandom flipped out when they thought that the show was bringing on actual LOVE interests for the boys, I can't imagine we will see that level of interaction change any time soon.) Some might bring up Jo, and his not wanting her to hunt, but I think that was more him being an over-protective brother type then him being sexist. Especially given his level of respect for Ellen.

I think that he just hates all Demons regardless of orientation.

[bex245.livejournal.com]

That's cool. Me and my sister watch most of the same stuff which is nice. And we have similar tastes in music.

HAHA. Yeah, I'd worry too! :P

Hmm. Well, you say that, and I would've agreed, but I just watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snigO9i5ev4

[skybound2]

And why is violence a-okay but a naked breast not? I do not get it at all.
Because a breast=sex, and sex=bad? Which is why "slut is okay as it means that sex=bad, whereas "fuck" COULD mean that sex=good. And we can't have THAT on TV o_0

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

Bingo! Think my perception might be warped?

[misscam.livejournal.com]

If sex is bad, you're doing it wrong. Let me course you, American executives!

Slut isn't just sex = bad, slut is specifically going after women being able to enjoy sex. Grrr.

[rionaleonhart]

You're right; Dean respects Ellen utterly, and I never thought there was any sexism at all in the way he treated her or Jo. A lot of the kerfuffle is over the fact that he thoughtlessly uses sexist language when he's speaking about women he doesn't respect, and that shouldn't really be brushed aside entirely, but it is significant that his lack of respect for Bela isn't because she's a woman; it's because she, y'know, nearly killed his brother.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I had a bit of a freak-out over that one, but then again, I'm used to weird experiences concerning my fanfic. Not sure all the romance-angled stuff is entirely to his liking, but hey, he does like 'Shakespeare in Love' and that sort of thing.

OMG HELL HAS FROZEN OVER AND PEOPLE ARE SKIING THERE.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

It's something about how people have a whole season of tension to release come the break. And there's no new episode to distract, just the endless cycle of wank...

[skybound2]

Slut isn't just sex = bad, slut is specifically going after women being able to enjoy sex. Grrr.
True. And considering the lack of a comparative word for men that has the same kind of connotations ("player" just doesn't cut-it), it makes it stand out all the more.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Noooo, that chick was a bastion of sanity in that essay...

[skybound2]

and that shouldn't really be brushed aside entirely, but it is significant that his lack of respect for Bela isn't because she's a woman; it's because she, y'know, nearly killed his brother.

This is my point. I think that had it been a MAN who attempted to kill his brother, and then betrayed their trust multiple times, he would have acted just as harshly. Possibly more so.

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I was a bit worried.

I had to teach year 10 sex ed today. Definitely a moment in my career!

[kittycatness.livejournal.com]

Supernatural is actually a pretty good show. I've the first season on DVD and I got my brother and sister turned onto it when they would come by. But the fandom is kind of... not really dysfunctional, because I've friends involved in the fandom and they're super chill about opinions and they're in it for the love of the show/hotness and don't necessarily participate in wank. But, like every fandom with two extremely attractive male leads, there's a certain amount of wank that comes along with it.


Veronica Mars: Er... there's this blonde chick. And she solves crime. Not unlike Nancy Drew, but VM is apparently older.




(You'll have two cards in the mail. One is a graduation thing-ish and the other one is the Guam post card.)


♥;

[starsong24.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that my entire knowledge of the Supernatural fandom comes from reading episode reviews by fans, chhecking out fanfic, and viewing the first episode of Season One on YouTube.

That said, why does everyone always go to extremes? Is it not enough to say 'okay, this guy makes jerky comments sometimes but is not necissarily the root of all woman-hatred'?

[rivrea.livejournal.com]

I've never felt any particular desire to watch SPN, although I did toy with the idea, but now I think I've lost any willingness to start doing so. It might be better for my blood pressure, my nerves, my general health and sanity.

In your fandom summary meme, I'd come up with the following description anyway: It's all about brothers who hunt demons. And sexism. And violence against women. And incest fraternal love. Or something.

Smallville is about Clark and Lex having sex for seven or more seasons. And most folks don't like the female characters very much, either.

I can't tell SG-1 and SG-A apart, but they are about portals to other worlds. There are military missions, and one of the teams has MacGyver in it. On one of the shows, a nerd called Rodney is shagging a guy called Daniel, and Ben Browder and Claudia Black from Farscapeare in the other. Sam is a woman who kicks ass and Teal'C an alien. Unless it's actually the name of a hip-hop group.

[starsong24.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the meme: A show about two brothers who had their mother killed by a demon; their father brought them up to kill supernatural beasties, the youngest went to college until the same demon killed his girlfriend, at which point he hooked up with his brother again.
They travel around in a Chevy Impala with their now-absent father's journal killing supernatural things. They also try to track down A) their father and B)the creature responsible for starting all this in the first place.
Their father dies after being possessed by The Demon (makes a trade to keep the oldest alive), the youngest turns out to be psychic and possibly the Antichrist, they eventually kill The Demon only to find a whole host of others got let loose. At some point just before The Deamon bites the bullet, the younger one gets killed and his brother, in the best of family traditions, sells his soul to a demon to bring him back. He ends up with one year to live.

[doubtful-salmon.livejournal.com]

I hate that shit. My dad's idiot friend is an idiot. I say this because the other day the news was on and they showed Hillary and he went, "I hate those pantsuits. Who wants to vote for a woman who wears pantsuits all the time? They're so ugly." That's right. HE'S ACTUALLY NOT GONNA VOTE FOR HER BECAUSE SHE WEARS PANTSUITS. I thought that was disgusting. You're voting for the President of the United fucking States, not the editor-in-chief of Vogue. I'm still so pissed that people actually wouldn't vote for her because they don't like the way that she dresses. I've NEVER heard anyone say, "Well, I'm not going to vote for him. Did you see that tie he was wearing?" I mean, come on.

[princess-spygal.livejournal.com]

He's demanded I have season three of Doctor Who for him to watch, I've demanded he watch Battlestar Galactica as well. We came to an agreement after some Babylon 5 discussion. Hah. My family is full of geeks.
Sounds exactly like my family. Subsitute brother for Dad though. We have yet to convert my brother to the ways of BSG and science fiction.

Eurovision! I haven't even heard the UK's entry. It can't be as bad as previous years, although naturally, I expect us to get a maximum of 6 points. My reckless optimism knows no bounds!

[amazingblazes.livejournal.com]

I honestly feel that as long as you don't involve yourself in the Supernatural fandom, it's a pretty good show. Sure, there are a bunch of rabid fangirl-types out there who intrinsically hate any recurring female character, and sure, there are those few who enjoy the thought of the two brothers messing around with each other, but really, it's a well-written show with snappy dialogue and engaging plotlines. The actors (for the most part) are fantastic and have great chemistry together, and it's not a stretch to believe that they could be brothers. I, for one, really, truly, deeply love the show and am holding out hope that season four will be less...offensive.

In regards to the meme...
Doctor Who: So there's this guy that apparently has existed forever, and sometimes switches bodies. And his job is to safeguard time and keep trashcan-like robots from taking over the world. Meanwhile, he also has to navigate a torrid love affair with a certain female who has attracted his interest. Said female must also deal with her own misgivings about the body-switching thing.

[crisiks.livejournal.com]

Okay, so there's this Doctor, and I think every time - or season? - he dies, he's reincarnated into a hotter version of himself and he's, like, a Timelord. Presumably his last name is Who.
He travels around in a phonebooth named the TARDIS and he gets wound up in random times and universes to... er, correct things, I think? Save people? Do superheroey-stuff?
The main villains are robots who are foiled by stairs.
Oh, and he has female companions, the last two named Rose and Martha, and I think he can only have one around at the same time, because the two women carry a giant hatred for one another, because it's nearly impossible to like both which must mean they are complete opposites. And they have a merely platonic relationship with the emotionally-stunted Doctor, although things can get pretty orgasmic when they hold hands.
Also, there are creepy kids with gas-masks. Brr.

[tinwetari.livejournal.com]

What? The turkey's out? Oh noes :( ^^

I find myself trying to fast forward while watching television.

Haha, happens to me all the time.

[lady-rilwen.livejournal.com]

Supernatural's actually quite good.
Yes, Dean makes insulting comments, but he is actually somewhat of a jerk on occasion. As many people can be.
(First season especially is good.)

Ehmmm...Buffy:
Blonde girl runs around with her buddies killing various hellish monsters, dealing with a destiny that endangers her and gives her power. She alternately sleeps with and tries to kill vampires. Jokes are made. An entire town attempts to ignore being Ground Zero of monsters turning up constantly.

[cazrolime.livejournal.com]

Anita Blake (or whatever the series is called; good start, I know): woman gets superpowers by screwing vampires, and saves the world, in between screwing the vampires. She screws vampires a lot.

Supernatural: there are demons, ghosts and incest to rival that of the Petrelli family.

House: there's a doctor called Greg, who has a walking stick painted with a racing-fire design, and who may or may not resemble Scrubs' Doctor Cox. And he has a gun at some point. And pulls funny faces. And is amusingly mean to people whilst curing them of their various ills.

:D?

[bluerosefairy.livejournal.com]

I had to comment, since I know all three canons:

Anita Blake (or whatever the series is called; good start, I know): woman gets superpowers by screwing vampires, and saves the world, in between screwing the vampires. She screws vampires a lot.

. . . yeah, that just about covers it. She doesn't so much save the world as just save St. Louis, which is her city. There's also various were-things she screws in between screwing the vampires.

Supernatural: there are demons, ghosts and incest to rival that of the Petrelli family.

BWAHAHAHAHA, YES.

House: there's a doctor called Greg, who has a walking stick painted with a racing-fire design, and who may or may not resemble Scrubs' Doctor Cox. And he has a gun at some point. And pulls funny faces. And is amusingly mean to people whilst curing them of their various ills.

Very few people call him Greg. He tends to hit people with his cane who do - except for his parents. He does have a cane with fire painted on it. He doesn't really have a gun, though he is shot by one in the S2 finale. The last two sentences are accurate - especially the meanness. :p

[bluerosefairy.livejournal.com]

CSI: Everyone wants to sleep with Grissom. You must hate either Catherine or Sara, and pair Grissom up with the woman you do not hate. This is hard, because Catherine is an ex-stripper hobag who sucks as a mom, and Sara's a whiny emo bitch who can't take no for an answer. Meanwhile, Nick and Greg are sleeping with each other, and Warrick and Brass have apparently taken a train to Siberia, because they are nowhere to be found.

Twilight: Edward is either a vampire or a werewolf, and he is destined to be with Bella, who is beautiful and rich and perfect in every way. In fact, she's so perfect, she's got another guy/vampire/werewolf, Jacob, lusting after her as well. It doesn't matter, because Edward/Bella OTP LIEK WHOA!!!11!!ELEVENTUYONE!! There may, possibly, be some other people? That are vampires or werewolves - because god forbid we have supernatural pretty-types that are anything other than werewolves or vampires (this is why I actually like the ABVH series - were-rats! were-hyenas! WERE-SWANS!).