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Well well, it almost looks like a real post!
Today, I went to check ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fanficrants for the first time in a long time, and saw this post about WIPs and how to write them. I didn't agree with all of it, but I thought it was very interesting to read. Then I looked at the comments and got annoyed.
I understand that not all people who write fanfic want to go pro. I understand that you might not want to put the same effort in a fanfic story that you would put into something you want to represent to a publisher. This distinction is something I see as necessary, in fact.
However, the implication that you shouldn't try to make your fic as good as possible just because it happens to be fanfic? Settling for lesser quality and not trying to become better because it's just fanfic? The implication here is that I, a reader, should accept that bad or average fic is all I'm going to get in fandom because writers have the right to be lazy and uncaring. Sorry, but NO.
I'm not going to apology for not wanting to read crap. Does that make me an elitist? Probably. But I'm not going to apology for hoping that people would put more effort in their writing, just like I'm not going to apology for wishing that people would write more about women, or that people would go against conventional characterizations more often, or approach their fandoms critically through their writings. I love it when a fic slaps me in the face with how good it is. I'm not going to be ashamed for wanting that.
Related to this subject, I've been thinking of class in FFVII, and how assumptions of class seem to affect how certain characters or pairings are approached. Here are some examples:
1. Rufus/Tifa. This pairing is actually the reason why I'm even thinking of this; in just about every Rufus/Tifa-fic I've ever come across there's been a strong emphasis on Rufus's power and wealth, and how it's such a huge difference between him and Tifa. Now this is only expected, since they come from very different backgrounds, but it has also led to this unpleasant dynamic in Rufus/Tifa where Rufus is portrayed as someone who is entitled to Tifa's love, no matter how negatively she may feel about it, and therefore is allowed to mock her and even touch her (non-violently, though; it's romance we're talking about) against her will.
2. Scarlet. Although a lot of fics claim that Scarlet comes from a privileged background, she's portrayed as the opposite: Someone who is out of her league, whose co-workers secretly despise her, who is ridiculous. She just thinks she's elegant. She just thinks she's equal with the others in lead of Shin-Ra. In reality, she's lower than them.
To be fair (ha!), this sort of portrayal is largely connected to her unpopularity, but also gender - Hojo, though hated and bashed too, still doesn't get put down in a way Scarlet does - and the implication is nevertheless clear: She's below others. Never mind that Rufus actually treats her with more respect than Heidegger, for example.
3. Cloud. Though not in the same extent as previous two examples, Cloud's class is a factor both in how Cloud/Tifa and Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack are portrayed. In canon, I think it was clear that Tifa came from a wealthier family than Cloud, and I think it can be said that was also the reason why other children shunned him. This, of course, gets twisted into Tifa looking down on Cloud, although canon speaks of her ignoring him. As for Zack and Sephiroth, Zack's often portrayed as coming from a middle-class back while Sephiroth is portrayed as a high class person, and along with the SOLDIER hierarchy, this gives them right to patronize Cloud in fanfic.
4. Barret and Cid. Although Barret was influential in Corel and was in fact blamed for making lives of others miserable rather than his own, he gets regularly portrayed as one of the cruder and less intellectual members of the AVALANCHE. Same with Cid, who was canonically a rocket scientist and was still influential, in Rocket Town when Cloud and co. came across him. Is it because of their dialect? Question of race with Barret?
Yet, although class seems to influence a lot of characterizations, it's rarely acknowledged directly in fics. In some cases, it's actually pushed in the background: Sephiroth/Aeris is usually seen as a relationship of equals, although they come from very different backgrounds. Why not explore the darker side of upper-class Rufus courting Tifa, who is so different in background from him? Why not show a Scarlet who has to fight her way up and fight assumptions on her way? How well does Cloud identify with the working class? How did drop in status affect Barret and Tifa? Things like these make interesting fiction. So why not write?
fanficrants for the first time in a long time, and saw this post about WIPs and how to write them. I didn't agree with all of it, but I thought it was very interesting to read. Then I looked at the comments and got annoyed.I understand that not all people who write fanfic want to go pro. I understand that you might not want to put the same effort in a fanfic story that you would put into something you want to represent to a publisher. This distinction is something I see as necessary, in fact.
However, the implication that you shouldn't try to make your fic as good as possible just because it happens to be fanfic? Settling for lesser quality and not trying to become better because it's just fanfic? The implication here is that I, a reader, should accept that bad or average fic is all I'm going to get in fandom because writers have the right to be lazy and uncaring. Sorry, but NO.
I'm not going to apology for not wanting to read crap. Does that make me an elitist? Probably. But I'm not going to apology for hoping that people would put more effort in their writing, just like I'm not going to apology for wishing that people would write more about women, or that people would go against conventional characterizations more often, or approach their fandoms critically through their writings. I love it when a fic slaps me in the face with how good it is. I'm not going to be ashamed for wanting that.
Related to this subject, I've been thinking of class in FFVII, and how assumptions of class seem to affect how certain characters or pairings are approached. Here are some examples:
1. Rufus/Tifa. This pairing is actually the reason why I'm even thinking of this; in just about every Rufus/Tifa-fic I've ever come across there's been a strong emphasis on Rufus's power and wealth, and how it's such a huge difference between him and Tifa. Now this is only expected, since they come from very different backgrounds, but it has also led to this unpleasant dynamic in Rufus/Tifa where Rufus is portrayed as someone who is entitled to Tifa's love, no matter how negatively she may feel about it, and therefore is allowed to mock her and even touch her (non-violently, though; it's romance we're talking about) against her will.
2. Scarlet. Although a lot of fics claim that Scarlet comes from a privileged background, she's portrayed as the opposite: Someone who is out of her league, whose co-workers secretly despise her, who is ridiculous. She just thinks she's elegant. She just thinks she's equal with the others in lead of Shin-Ra. In reality, she's lower than them.
To be fair (ha!), this sort of portrayal is largely connected to her unpopularity, but also gender - Hojo, though hated and bashed too, still doesn't get put down in a way Scarlet does - and the implication is nevertheless clear: She's below others. Never mind that Rufus actually treats her with more respect than Heidegger, for example.
3. Cloud. Though not in the same extent as previous two examples, Cloud's class is a factor both in how Cloud/Tifa and Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack are portrayed. In canon, I think it was clear that Tifa came from a wealthier family than Cloud, and I think it can be said that was also the reason why other children shunned him. This, of course, gets twisted into Tifa looking down on Cloud, although canon speaks of her ignoring him. As for Zack and Sephiroth, Zack's often portrayed as coming from a middle-class back while Sephiroth is portrayed as a high class person, and along with the SOLDIER hierarchy, this gives them right to patronize Cloud in fanfic.
4. Barret and Cid. Although Barret was influential in Corel and was in fact blamed for making lives of others miserable rather than his own, he gets regularly portrayed as one of the cruder and less intellectual members of the AVALANCHE. Same with Cid, who was canonically a rocket scientist and was still influential, in Rocket Town when Cloud and co. came across him. Is it because of their dialect? Question of race with Barret?
Yet, although class seems to influence a lot of characterizations, it's rarely acknowledged directly in fics. In some cases, it's actually pushed in the background: Sephiroth/Aeris is usually seen as a relationship of equals, although they come from very different backgrounds. Why not explore the darker side of upper-class Rufus courting Tifa, who is so different in background from him? Why not show a Scarlet who has to fight her way up and fight assumptions on her way? How well does Cloud identify with the working class? How did drop in status affect Barret and Tifa? Things like these make interesting fiction. So why not write?