Emily Dickenson, "There is no frigate like a book"

[the_wanlorn]

OKAY SO the more I lurk in In Plain Sight fandom, the more I slowly grow to hate it more and more. It's like I'm watching an entirely different show from what everyone else is watching. It's the same feeling I had in Iron Man fandom, where I was going "...did we even watch the same movie? Are these even the same characters?" constantly during discussions.

One of the things I hate the absolute most, though (OUT OF A LARGE LIST OF THINGS I HATE), is how often, when people are writing shit from the perspective of Marshall, they put Nice Guy bullshit in his head.

And, like. Here's the thing. Marshall does Nice Guy shit. I mean, ffs, he's basically sat there for however many years thinking that, if he was just patient enough, Mary would get it. Which is such a fucking Nice Guy thing, and yet it just makes me sad. Because the key ingredient that makes something go from "Oh bb" to "Fuck off, prick" is the amount of entitlement in it. And there's just... no entitlement there with Marshall whatsoever. He's not going "I've been your best friend forever and loved you forever and I deserve to be the one you marry." He's going "You are doing this because you think it will make you happy and I want you to be happy so I'm happy for you" and meaning it, even as he's incredibly upset that whatever hopes he had of one day being the thing that makes Mary happy have been crushed.

So when fic has Marshall moaning about nice guys finishing last and what have you, I just want to kick some teeth in, because seriously, have you even watched the show? And I fall in hate with this fandom a little more.

(Sometimes, I am really glad that when I'm not writing fic specifically for me, I'm writing it specifically for one or two people. Because I'm pretty sure that if I was writing fic for fandom at large and to become a BNF or whatever, I'd have basically killed my chances by talking constantly about how much I hate everyone in this fandom.)


There is no frigate like a book
by Emily Dickenson

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul.

Comments

[amaresu]

Coming through via Network.

The more I hear about In Plain Sight fandom the happier I am that I'm not a part of it. The idea of turning Marshall into a Nice Guy is just really skeevey.

[the_wanlorn]

It is so awful I am not even kidding. I kind of get the badfic, because, well. 99% of fic is badfic, and it's understandable that there's so much shit where people have a less than stellar grasp on the basics of the characters (ie, Marshall: not a Nice Guy; Mary: not a wilting flower).

But when it's coupled with the utter point missage of 99% of the discussions I honestly have to ask myself what the fuck show these people are watching (because, clearly they are in the wrong and I am in the right). But at least it spurs good conversations about the characters with my friends. :| I guess.

[eggcrack]

I know exactly how you feel re: Nice Guy treatment in fandom. The guy character I like the best in my main fandom gets that treatment all the time too, and frankly it's disturbing that so few people see anything wrong with it, and actually believe that being an entitled shit-head is the right way to go. I swear, the best way to stay sane in fandom is to stay away from the mainstream parts of it.

[the_wanlorn]

it's disturbing that so few people see anything wrong with it

IMFNORITE??? I mean, that's what makes it so fucking creepy. It's one thing if the character is a Nice Guy in canon, and it's being written in fic as "lol this guy is such a dumbass and needs to grow up even though I do ship him with the character he is being all Nice Guy-y about." But, no, this is being written as sweet and ~sad~ and shit and it's just... no. It's fucking creepy.

This is the first time in ages that I've interacted with a fandom by myself. Usually, one of my friends is filtering it for me so that I don't get the horribleness (ie, SPN fandom: full of lolzy fic largely focused on non-Winchester characters and lots of the lady characters). So I'm just... I am sure this would bother me less if I actually dipped my toe into fandom more instead of forcing people to bring the good bits of fandom to me.

[everysecondtuesday]

So when fic has Marshall moaning about nice guys finishing last and what have you, I just want to kick some teeth in, because seriously, have you even watched the show?
So much DNW. D:

[the_wanlorn]

There is literally one readable fic in this fandom. One and it is short. And I'm just so horrified because what the fucking fuck how does anyone think that sort of shit is okay?

I am just constantly making "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" faces at every comment and post and fic. Seriously, they're watching a completely different show from what I and shadowkitty are watching.