Kinda rant/kinda honest question, fandom stuff

[summer_skin]

I do the spnnewsletter Thursday nights and I enjoy it most of the time. I get to see a lot of things I normally wouldn't and I like being involved in what's become a big part of fandom. But there are some things that I come across that drive me nutty that have nothing to do with the newsletter itself, I just get to see this stuff more than I would normally because I AM doing it so it sticks out to me.

Why, why, why, WHY when people are putting their headers together do people feel the need to put something like- "Dean/OFC but Sam's in it and if you twitch your nose just right and sneeze five times you'll see Sam/Dean"? Why? If your MAIN PAIRING is something else, if the main point of the fic is a pairing that's NOT SAM/DEAN (or anything else, for that matter) and you've written the fic from the first pairing standpoint and someone will only see Sam/Dean (or whatever) if you MENTION THAT IT MIGHT BE THERE- why do it?

Does this fall under the mistaken belief that the majority of fandom revolves around Wincest and the majority of fans are Wincesters so by putting "Sam/Dean if you sneeze right" the fic will be read by more people? This is NOT a chance to rehash that old argument, I'm just seriously trying to figure out why this happens. Is it a way for the authors to cover more bases in fandom? Is it so can cover their own asses in case they get accused of writing a Sam/Dean fic and it brings all the wank to their yard?

It just bugs me because AS SOON AS someone mentions Sam/Dean as a pairing, it goes under the Sam/Dean category in the newsletter. So even if a fic is 99.8% another pairing and Dean smiles at Sam once so the author feels the need to say there's a chance there could be Wincest- it has to go in Sam/Dean. This throws off the actual Sam/Dean fic count, it probably annoys more than one author because that's NOT the point of their fic even though they create their own header- ugh. If you build it, they will come. If you suggest the idea of Sam/Dean- people will SEE Sam/Dean. THEY'RE the authors of their fic, if they say it's a certain pairing it'll BE a certain pairing. No one can come along and say- you wrote this fic for this pairing but CLEARLY it's another pairing. Unless someone says a fic is gen and then puts a pairing in their fic, but that's a rant for another day.

I'd just really like to know why people feel the need to do this because it doesn't mesh with my logic. I feel like I'm stepping into a bit of a landmine about this, for some reason, but I just don't understand why people feel the need to do this. If you've done it, please explain why because it drives me batty.



1. Who has been your favourite guest star so far in season 2?

Hmm. Possibly the guy that played... uh, the guy. You know? The hunter guy? Al or Frances or whatever his name is? Or Bobby. I like Bobby.

2. Sam and Dean clearly have a hard time expressing their feelings, but they do say writing things down is oftentimes a very good, easy way to express yourself. If Dean were to write a letter to Sam, what would he say? How about vice versa? Feel free to list out contents of the letter(s) or write full-blown letters.

Sammy, you need to get laid by someone fun [aka: someone who won't die three hours later]. I get that you're scared but stop being such a pussy and quit the emo, dude [You mope a lot and it gets on my nerves, but I know why you do it and while it's valid I need you to be strong for both of us]. You're a funny drunk but you get a little handsy and surly. Bring back soy latte Sammy [you lost control and it scared the shit out of me. I didn't know you were that close to losing it]. Stop asking me to kill you; you've still got years of my older brother torment left to endure [I will never kill you, never take a gun to you. The day you die, I die with you]. Stop asking, I'm not letting you drive the car today [you're not touching my fucking car today]. Hugs and puppies [shot guns and whiskey shots], Dean.

Dean, sometimes I wonder how you made it this far without killing yourself, being killed by someone else or setting yourself on fire [once you mentioned you wanted to be a firefighter it all made sense, but seriously dude- stop almost getting killed!]. I want to beat you in your sleep sometimes because you're so damn smug and think you're right all the time [you're my big brother and I've learned a lot from you, even if I never tell you]. You're wickedly high strung and it bugs the shit out of me - relax [you're tense and on-edge and I worry about your safety]. Eventually you're going to have to let me go, so stop trying to treat me like chubby Sammy [the less you rely on me as your baby brother and stop thinking of me as someone you have to protect, the easier it'll be for you to kill me when it's time]. You can let me drive more than once every blue moon, which is actually a naturally occuring phenomenon [even if you never let me drive the car, you jerk, I'm still smarter than you], Sam.

3. What is the one song that never fails to remind you of Supernatural, even though it isn't connected to the show in any way? (ie. hasn't been used in any episode)

Probably "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" by Death Cab for Cutie because it's been used on SO MANY fanmixes and I totally can see Sam and Dean in that song.

4. If you had the chance to change an ending in one episode, which episode would it be and what would you change? (If you want, you can write out the alternate ending.)

Probably, off the top of my head, the end of "Roadkill". I wouldn't have had whatshername go into the bright light. Instead I would have had her fade out with aprehension because they'd just spent a bunch of time establishing that Sam and Dean didn't know what was in the great beyond and it was all a mystery to them even though they send spirits there all the time.

5. If you could see John Winchester in one outfit (ex. security guard, priest) of your choice, what would it be?

A tuxedo? Something very suave and debonair and he'd have to be all charming and shave a little more so woo someone off their feet for a job. Mmmm.

I've signed up for too many fic challenges, I can already tell. svmadelyn's Kink and Cliche ficathon, dooooooom, a fic for the person who won me for Sweet Charity, I REALLY want to do sevenfists Evil!Sam ficathon and oxoniensis Hugs, Kisses and Cuddles fic thing, I'm still contemplating the spn_summergen ficathon and I have the sinking suspicion I signed up for something else but I can't remem- oh, right. I signed up for two requests at slashfest. OH. AND highwaymiles just re-opened. AND AND AND I have this little thing called spn_j2_bigbang happening. super_summer has to be started somewhere in the midst of all these due dates, too. [ETA] Riiiiiight. AND I signed up for the apocalyptothon. Yeeeah.

Um.

I HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT MYSELF. Oh, fuck.

LOVE MEME over at jellicle's! Pimp this mofo out, eh?

HI BEST MANIPS EVA! *squishes lostt1*

ALSO! spn_iconathon participants! Please to be getting your icons in ASAP, mmkay?

Comments

[fly-meaway.livejournal.com]

When I read your above rant, the first thing that comes to mind is that they do it to attract more people, to cover more bases. That's my initial thought, but honestly? I have no idea.
I can understand that it bugs you when people do that sort a thing. Especially if that immediately places the fic under a category where it's really not suppose to be in. But that happens in more fandoms, I think, where people put a pairing and it's really not a pairing at all.

Hah at those letters. Pretty damn good!

And omg you really have signed up for a lot of challenges. I really hope it's not too much, but you might want to stay away from signing up for more challenges ;)

[researchgrrrl.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. You want for me to link to this? Or is this going to be an awkward thing for folks not on your flist to be answering, given current tensions in our fandom?

Your call, obviously, but I'm a bit leery. That said, I also agree with you like you wouldn't believe about the squintfics. They do no one any favors because the author is ultimately short-changing herself. The people who want the Wincest don't get it and the people who don't want the Wincest are now stuck with it in mind.

Also, coding the spnnewsletter takes long enough as it is without people making us think while we're working, dammit. :D

[summer-skin.livejournal.com]

Oh, no. This is nothing I wanted in the newsletter. I was just ranting to get it off my chest. I was seriously looking for an answer as to why people do it though, cause it baffles the hell out of me.

[researchgrrrl.livejournal.com]

I kinda figured you'd want this to be an open conversation you could have with folks who follow your journal regularly. I wanted to give you the option, though, in part because I feel your pain on squintfics the way few others do. *g*

[summer-skin.livejournal.com]

If it were any other time of the year maybe it would be alright but as you said, given the current... stickiness of fandom and the whole Sam/Dean thing it's probably not a good idea. I was going to post it flocked initially just because I didn't want to poke too many people with it but then I re-worded it a little to be less inflamatory.

[researchgrrrl.livejournal.com]

Were we not in the throes the latest permutation of our Regularly Scheduled Hiatus Wank, I wouldn't have hesitated to link to it. FWIW, you did a nice job of wording it in a way that explains the exasperation without climbing up anyone's butt about it. (How's that for a visual, btw?) Without prompting, the people who want to see subtext will see it just fine and the people who'd rather not will comfortably miss it.

I had an argument discussion with someone about this a while back who was, IIR, arguing from the POV "...but what if you, as the author, meant for it to turn out gen but it's slashy or slash but it's gen?" Or something like that. It's been a little while. If I can find the link to it, I'll pass it along to you. A number of interesting and extensive conversations evolved in the entry, if memory serves.

[summer-skin.livejournal.com]

I've heard some Wincest authors say in the past that they've wondered why their gen pieces don't get the same response as their Wincest ones. Some have suggested that it's the idea that because they're known as a Wincest writer even if they post a gen piece the non-Wincesters are still going to have the idea that it was written with Wincest (or whatever pairing, for that matter) in mind and that's all they'll see.

It sounds like all these fandom Haley Joel's need to take a step back from "I see incest fic" and stop being so damn paranoid. But on the other hand the authors need to stop a) trying to accomodate more facets of fandom than they technically can or b) stop being so damn worried about offending people and let the crazies roll off them.

[researchgrrrl.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware that there was that kind of odd bias wherein fic from a certain author, because she's primarily written a pairing instead of gen, is automatically assumed to have A Sekrit Subtext. We're fortunate to have a great many writers in the fandom who can comfortably and convincingly write gen and Wincest.

And, no, I don't read Wincest because my kinks can be satisfied without that layer to their relationship, but when ignipes or trollprincess (just off the top of my head) posts a gen story, I don't go in fretting.

And, actually, I tend to be guilty of the blurred boundaries because I write what I find hot (the boys wrestling and writhing with each other while they bitch about whether feels are being deliberately copped (http://researchgrrrl.livejournal.com/120840.html#cutid1), for example), often in gen scenes that are about as physical and anatomically challenging for the characters as any porn I've ever written. I write it because that aspect to Sam and Dean that just makes them so Sam and Dean happens to be what rings my bell.

However, I'm not going to promise or deny the existence of subtext in my headers. The folks who want to read the stuff I write will find their way to it and they'll take out of it what they want. I just wish more authors (and this has nothing to do with coding the newsletter) would trust that their audiences will find them.

[amchara.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you about the fanfic labeling.

"Wincest if you squint" as a label has got to be one the most annoying trends in SPN fic, in my eyes. It seems like people want it both ways- they want the gen people to be reassured that the incest is only there if they want to see it and they want the Wincest readers to read it because hey, it's Sam/Dean and they'll get it more reviews because it. They want to eat their cake and have it too.

I hope that didn't come out sounding too snarky. I'm kind of on a short fuse these days. *sigh* Anyway- yeah, I wouldn't say you're alone in thinking that.

Oh, and your spn_fridayfive letters by the boys are ♥