Dept. of Memes

[kaffy_r]

Frankenstein Meme, Day 8

Squicks - What are some things that squick you in fandom - not necessarily "icky", though it can be. From anything involving blood, to bad grammar:

Let’s take it as a given that poor writing and editing in any story, especially one that might have a really intriguing plot and interesting characters, is extremely frustrating. That’s not really a squick, I suppose, but as someone who made her living writing, it makes me crazy to see an carelessness in that regard.

In terms of other things, I guess something that bothers me enough that I could call it a squick is when fic writers so obviously hate a character that they will write stories in which the character is killed off — generally so that the writer’s favorite character can be paired with someone else — or stories in which that character is bad-mouthed, dismissed, or hated by other characters who, in canon, wouldn’t think of acting that way toward them.

I don’t even have to like the character myself; if it’s a story that seems as if it was written deliberately to disparage him/her/them, I will probably back-button.

I notice that in all types of relationship fics; f/m, m/m, and f/f, although far less in f/f and, I think, possibly a little more in m/m. I’m sure more than a few academic papers have been written on the whys and wherefores. I just don’t like it.

I do appreciate writers who are honest and say “You should know I hate _____, and this story is going to reflect that.” At least that gives me the chance to avoid the story.

Sadly, I’ve given up on some talented writers in past years when it’s clear they want to primarily write hate!fic around their choice of negative focus.

I am also going to back-button out of transphobic or homophobic stories, and out of racist or xenophobic stories.

Comments

[kerk_hiraeth]

Two easy ones; well three actually as I really hate the word squick :-)

Never understood why people wanted their hero to be with centuries old mass murderers; likely rapists too rather than be single until they figured out who they were. Maybe that may not sound as though it fits the word, but it prevented me from voicing some things at times for sure.

Wincest; managed to make a joke of how much I hated that when i wrote one of my Faith & Andrew friendship fics, but uncomfortable doesn't even to begin to cover it.

kerk

[kaffy_r]

I really hate the word squick :-)

Heh.I understand, especially after learning what the word supposedly means. Eurg.

Never understood why people wanted their hero to be with centuries old mass murderers; likely rapists too rather than be single until they figured out who they were.

Power imbalances like that are things that I never really thought about until I joined online Who fandom. I still have my OT3, but in ny head and in my fic, I've worked hard to make the relationship more equitable.

On the other hand, I've seen so many stories that have noncon or partially noncom plots in almost every fandom (and probably all of them; I've just not investigated that much) ... I backbutton out of those faster than a New York minute. I've read discussions and even comments from authors that this is something they use to work through trauma, and if that's their reason for writing, OK. I certainly don't have to read it, and I'm always thankful when those authors warn for it.

Oh god, Wincest. I rarely watched Supernatural and never entered the fandom. I actually only read a few SPN fics, most of which were crossovers with one of my fandoms, with no Wincest. That's one relationship that I can't fathom.

[promethia_tenk]

especially after learning what the word supposedly means. Eurg.
Right, excuse me while I never look that up and attempt to forget that I should.

[kaffy_r]

Heh. I am manfully resisting the urge to put a link in my reply. You're welcome.

[lilacsigil]

Oh, yes, character-bashing. I hate reading that so much, even about characters that I hate myself! Much better just to leave them out or give them only a minor part in the fic.

[kaffy_r]

So much of the character bashing is only because writers want to break up a canon relationship so their fave relationship can take its place. OK, writer, but can you not take such obvious relish in fridging a character? Even a one sentence thing that says "Character A was still mourning the loss of Character B when they realized they were falling for Character C." Is that so difficult? Do you really hate a character so very much that you have to trash them?

[kerk_hiraeth]

I actually stopped reading the Buffy comics; still have not read the final five, Spike-heavy, issues of the S8 comics because I really hated the way they treated one of least favourite characters of anything I've been a fan of, Angel.

I've stolen a few characters from that season; mostly Satsu I've written though (even created an original character for her). Just ideas so far for a couple of others.

Also as much as I took a dislike to Willow the longer away the TV series got I cannot imagine writing a story just to hate on her; seems like the worst reason to write a story to me.

kerk

[kaffy_r]

I stopped watching Buffy early on; no dislike, it just fell off my radar. (Today I'm not sure I could start watching it again, knowing what we now know about Whedon.) I take it that the writers of the comic trashed Angel? Even though he didn't impress himself on me in the few episodes I watched, he was a sturdy character, and important to the narrative. Was the trashing simply because everyone wanted Spike to be Buffy's soulmate? (And here, I'm not disparaging Spike; just wondering.)

I cannot imagine writing a story just to hate on her; seems like the worst reason to write a story to me.

Agreed. Definitely agreed.

[sideways]

Blargh, hatefic :( I can respect writing coming from a place of frustration, but it's not fun when people are just working out a personal grudge (and lbr, it's so often against a woman).

Conversely, it also grates on me when the opposite occurs sometimes - when a writer is crafting a love letter to their fave that involves erasing or dismissing their flaws. I don't particularly want to read fics about how every moment of criticism or error was actually because they're just so misunderstood, ugh.

[kaffy_r]

(and lbr, it's so often against a woman)

Indeed. One reason I was so disappointed with the final run of "Sherlock" was the decision by the showrunners to disparage Mary Morstan, when she was a strong, complex and intriguing character. They kept her alive only as long as she was providing her husband with offspring, and then killed her off. I know that Doyle had a habit of killing off or otherwise disappearing Watson's spouses, but it was shame when that impulse was carried through to the show.

I later ran into a situation where a writer I truly admired wrote fic that was clearly verging on hate!fic, and I found myself unable to read any of their fics from then on - even those outside of Sherlock fandom - because of that. The writer did do the honorable thing and warn for their extreme dislike of Mary, which I respected. But I just couldn't continue to read their work.

[a_phoenixdragon]

Yes. Yes to all of this.

Though I must say the word 'squick' squicks me, lol!

*HUGS*

[kaffy_r]

Heh. The word is kind of icky, but it definitely gets the point across.

*hugs back*