I'm not like all of the other girls.

[samatethecookie]

Umm, you can comment and I will ask you five questions.

You don't have to post this meme in your journal. Answering the questions in a comment is fine.

escalove gave me these questions!


1. What do you look for most in a fandom? Like are there series you are more likely to be fan of?
Um. I'm not really sure how to answer this question. I'm all over the place and I'm not really sure what I look for in a fandom. One minute, I'll enjoy series with a lot of fluff, a lot of comedy/action, and conclusive happy endings. Then I'll have a taste for completely depressing stories with a side of horror to them. All I know is that if it has good characterization, male or female, and an interesting story, I'll attach myself to it.


2. What is your least favorite Disney film, and why?
Haha. Uhm, do sequels count? If so, I nominate two as the Worst Disney Films Ever: Hunchback of Notre Dame II and Mulan II.

Hunback of Notre Dame II not only had a weak beginning and an even weaker ending, but this sequel took everything we've taken away from the first movie - the drama, the subject of how religion can drastically cloud somebody's judgment, Esmeralda, the line between being a man and being a monster, accepting those who are different, Quasimodo finally becoming comfortable with who he is and finding friends to call his family - and turned it all completely upside down. Everyone was happy! All was well in Paris! The male goat was turned into a girl for a kiss scene with Hugo, which isn't homophobic on Disney's part at all! And don't forget to notice that Notre Dame was badly animated and how terrible the musical scores sounded!

Also, Quasimodo was happy except he wasn't happy enough because he was single and needed a woman! So what did Disney do? They got Jennifer Love Hewitt, known to me as The Kiss of Death for any animated movie, to voice an blond haired and blue eyed angsty Mary Sue who was created to become Quasimodo's girlfriend after she betrays him by attempting to steal one of Notre Dame's huge bells. Basically, she's a meeker version of Teen Titans's Terra disguised as a circus performer, and her boss (who is obsessed with his bald spot) is a mere kitten in comparison to Slade. On top of all of this, Phoebus and Esmeralda have a child who looks nothing like Esmeralda and everything like Phoebus, which genetically doesn't make any sense.

Mulan II is two steps above Hunback of Notre Dame II when you consider how well it was animated and how pleasing the music is to the ears. However, it basically did the same thing as the first sequel and turned a lot of the previous lessons upside down. I'll give Disney credit for attempting to keep one of the previous messages - which is following your heart - but when the first movie was about a young woman defying the odds for her gender and saving China as a woman, you'd expect better from its sequel.

The sequel disappointed a lot of fans by saying, "Your country is in danger and you can settle it? Forget duty! If you fall in love with three men in a matter of a few hours, run away with them and forget about China!" Not to say that there was anything wrong with the princesses following their hearts, but it made no sense that three dutiful princesses were willing to give everything up to be with peasants in a matter of hours/days. (Not to mention the only reason why Mulan was willing to go in their place and settle the conflict herself was because she thought Shang was dead.) That, and the movie was basically created so three of Mulan's comrades from the war can get paired up and live happily ever after. Because nobody is happy in Disney unless they're all married.

As for classic Disney films, Peter Pan for the way the Native Americans were portrayed (big, red-nosed savages), and Alice in Wonderland because I was never a fan of the story to begin with.


3. Talk to me about Senshi/Shittenou pairings from Sailor Moon? Tell me why they are such a bad freaking idea.
It... it just is, okay?

I don't think it's a bad idea as much as it is a underdeveloped and poorly executed canon idea. There was no build-up or closure whatsoever. It's a little obvious that Naoko Takeuchi wanted to do something with them, but she never went anywhere with it. If I remember correctly, the only Shittenou to feel anything but distaste towards a Senshi was Jadeite, towards Rei when she was knocked unconscious. The rest of the Senshi killed the Shittenou without any remorse, even after they regained their memories of the Silver Millennium. (Venus was the only Senshi to show visible affection towards a Shittenou; she blushed in Kunzite's presence in their previous lives. Kunzite never shown any signs of returning these feelings.) I'm not saying that they have to love the Shittenou after regaining their memories, but the pairings still make no sense to me when the idea was never developed in the first place. Fanon, sure, but I would never consider them to be canon.

Plus, seeing Nephrite with anyone other than Naru makes me want to weep.

Although, these drawings by Bri-chan are hilarious when you truly look at how they were matched by Takeuchi. Hee-larious!


4. What are things that could turn you off a tv show/anime/movie instantly?
You're probably going to be disappointed that a lot of my turn-offs are actually petty, but I'm going to be honest and put together a list. Here we go. (Also, I'm mostly talking about anime/manga and movies. I don't want TV shows.)
→ If it's animated or drawn, I won't even try to get into a series if the artwork is horrendous to me. It's a very petty taste - and I assure you that it doesn't happen often - but if I can't get past how ridiculous it looks, it's not going to work for me. The only series I can honestly say that work against me on artistic merit is Hetalia: Axis Powers. I can't get into the series for numerous of reasons, but the facial expressions are a major turn off for me.
→ I can no longer make sense out of the story or the characters. I kinda lost interest in Heroes because of this. Mostly because of the characters Sylar (I have a love/hate relationship with the character; Zachary Quinto himself is okay) and Mohinder (definitely Mohinder; he used to be my favorite character in season one), and the second/third seasons.
→ I'll stop watching/reading if I really, really can't stand a main character. Male or female, it doesn’t matter to me.
→ The small cast of character explodes into a million and one other pointless characters; or it was large in the first place, but continues to expand, and some of the characters are only brought up again for a stupid plot. Bleach is guilty of this, as well as Naruto.
→ The score music, especially for movie. Especially if isn't appropriate for a particular scene. This doesn't happen very often, though.
→ Too much action and not enough plot/character development. This applies to EVERYTHING. Also, poor characterization and gender stereotypes.
→ "DURR, I'm a single male virgin at the tender age of 18 who, for some inexplicable reason, needs to live in a house with about a dozen bitchy women who beat me up every time I walk in on them changing 'cause I don't know how to knock, look at them funny, accidentally get into strange and awkward positions with them, and sometimes for no reason whatsoever, DURR." (Love Hina, I'm looking at you.)
→ "DURR, I'm a happy-go-lucky damsel in distress who becomes part of a group with several male characters who all like me/fall in love with me and have to save my ass every ten seconds, DURR." (Ouran and Fruits Basket are excused, because the damsel-in-distress part is non-existent.)
→ Yaoi/sexuality stereotypes. I hate them.


5. If you could go back in time and meet one person, who would you meet?
I'm not going to say anything corny or lame like Jesus Christ, mostly because I can't think of anybody other than relatives I've never met, such as my father's parents or the great-grandfather I apparently inherited my love for writing from. Any of them would be great.

Comments

[samatethecookie.livejournal.com]

All right, they're not the best questions ever, but I hope they're okay with you. If you don't want to answer a specific question, let me know.

1. I really love that you're passionate about the mistreatment of female characters in fandom, and you're not afraid to discussing why it's wrong. Were you always concerned about hated female characters and the gender stereotypes applied to them through fandom, or did it take some time for you to notice how often it happens?

2. Two in one, but they're connected: Do you consider yourself to be an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist? Did your view on the world significantly change in the past few years, or is it relatively the same?

3. If you can be famous for anything - and I mean, anything at all - what do you want to be known for?

4. Pretend it's a perfect world and you can have any animal as a pet, and you have the room and necessities to care for it. What would it be? Is it an animal IRL or from a fictional world?

5. I'm not sure if anybody's asked you this question, so I apologize if you're repeating yourself. I want you to tell me about your favorite piece of writing. It can be fanfic or original. It can be recent or even your first story ever. Explain the plot or scenario, and tell me why you love it.

Broken into 2 comments because this is long

[escalove.livejournal.com]

No, those are amazing questions really.

1. I have pretty much always been passionate about it, and I have seen it since I first entered fandom, even though I have much more and general experience with its extent. And it all started with Relena from Gundam Wing. I can't tell you how much Relena as a character and her arc inspired me and moved me, and when I came into fandom and saw how she was ridiculed, how there were entire fics and sites dedicated to how horrible she was and basically to killing and hurting her in the most demeaning and sexist ways possible, I knew that this was more then just simple dislike of one character.

And when I saw similar things happen in other fandoms and it was mostly directed at women, I just got fed up with it, which is why I speak out about it a lot. And I have gradually kind of brought it through into how I feel now.

It is also probably tied because I seem to be the opposite of fandom in that I am more interested and connected with female characters then with male characters, and that I have trouble getting involved in stories that lack women in them, so of course I am more focused to how they appear in fandom, because they most of the time, are the characters I care most about.

2. I think I would classify as a realist, mixed in with a bit of optimism. I don't find much use in pessimism, because to me it is very stagnant view, and how can you expect to change everything if you think it is always going to suck.

I haven't had a major overturn of my world view, rather I have had gradual broadening and tweaking to it as I learn new things. My major, major change in world view is when I lost my faith. (Although I hate phrasing it that way, maybe I should say a change of faith, although to everybody else it would seem to be a loss, but to me, I gained so much from it that it doesn't feel like I have lost anything( I now identify as an atheist and I have for quite some time, and it has more to do that I rather put my faith in the human spirit, rather then in a God or a religious doctrine. I have identified as an atheist longer then I have identified as gay, and it is at this moment the one part of my identity that I feel least comfortable in talking to people about because of all the stigma that goes with it.

But through this, I have in a way been able to better examine things within myself that I want to change. Right now I am learning so much about my own privilege and how that harms people and working to become a better and more just person, and I don't know whether I could have ever done that if I hadn't have "lost my faith".

3.I would love to be a famous social activist. There was a time when I selfishly wanted to be famous for something like my writing or acting, but now I would rather be known for reaching out and helping people and doing something to make the world a better place, I think that is so long reaching and inspiring. (Not that I begrudge the more traditional forms of "famous" because they can help too", but they are so corporate and held that I wouldn't feel comfortable in those roles.

Re: Broken into 2 comments because this is long

[samatethecookie.livejournal.com]

1. I knew that this was more then just simple dislike of one character. Pretty much, yeah. That's what breaks my heart about the girls in fandom bashing female characters like Relena. I don't know where they pick up the behavior, or why they place so much negativity into a fictional character, but for me, it's disappointing that they would ever demean a female character in such a manner when they're young women themselves. Especially if it's because the character is getting in the way of a beautiful boy/boy romance that isn't even canon anyway.

It's the same as to why fandom labels certain people "fandom feminist", as if how you feel online is any different offline, or if it holds the same meaning IRL. I mean, I can understand that looking for sexist undertones in everything can kill a lot of people's enthusiasm for a fandom; I'm usually in fandom for the escapism from RL, for instance. However, if something is completely fucked up in a fandom - such as the bashing towards female characters - and it keeps you from enjoying something to its fullest, it should be pointed out. How fandom sees female characters and their actions - and insults them for it - is very reflective of how women are seen IRL if they don't meet certain standards. Simply labeling you or anyone else who points these things out "a fandom feminist" really isn't fair. You're there for the squee, for the same reasons why everyone else is there. It's just that there shouldn't be a limit to what you can seriously discuss, especially over something that genuinely bothers you, on or offline, y'know?

2. Maybe it's more of a loss of religion rather than faith itself? Either way, as long as it's a positive change - and it's opening your mind to all sorts of problems in the world and wanting to do something about it - there's nothing wrong with it. I don't like that people place so much of an emphasis on faith being connected to religion when, really, faith is more complicated than that.

3. Man, I can really see you as a social activist, actually getting shit done and kicking ass while doing it. XD

2nd Part

[escalove.livejournal.com]

4. The only pet that I want is a dog. I have this thing where wild animals should never be pets ever, so I would never want any of them to be a pet. And while there are a few fictitious animals that I love, there is no replacement for a dog. In fact that the only reason I ever want to own a single family house is so I could have a dog (because I am not a fan of small dogs, but rather mid to big sized dogs). I used to think I was a cat person, but I realize that despite my sharing of certain neurotic antisocial traits with cats, I just love the love that comes from dogs, to me they are a perfect companion.

5. My favorite piece of writing has to be this one shot creation story for Avatar, I wrote it soon after the finale aired and it was just something that hit me. It is basically a possible (not the true) creation myth that could exist in Avatarverse and deals with the Lion Turtle from the finale. I love this fic because it is the closest I have yet to come to translating what I see in my brain to words, and I love that I for the most part captured a distinctive style which is something that I struggle with a lot as a writer. I was also proud of both of the fics I wrote for Yuletide which were for a Diana Wynne Jones book and Eureka Seven, but the creation story is my favorite just because it is like the only thing that I have written that I can reread and not wince.

Re: 2nd Part

[samatethecookie.livejournal.com]

4. Aww. As a dog owner, that makes me happy to hear you say that. I'm more of a cat person, but dogs are wonderful companions. They're not only affectionate, but their loyalty is unlike anything else. What kind of mid to big sized dog breed would you want? My eldest brother owns a black lab, and she has to be the sweetest dog ever.

5. Ooh, I read a little bit of the creation story, and I really loved what I've read. :D I'm going to sit down and read the rest of it tomorrow when I get some sleep.

Re: 2nd Part

[escalove.livejournal.com]

I want to save a dog, so I would be looking for a nice mutt or mix, just because I am not going to seek out a pure breed. I am living with a Chocolate lab now, but I would rather adopt a large older dog from the SPCA or other Humane Society.

Re: 2nd Part

[samatethecookie.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea, 'specially since a lot of animals in humane societies don't find good homes. Mutts or mixes don't get a lot of attention as the pure breds do. :/ Mutts make nice dogs, too; they're typically easier to take care of, since pure breeds have a lot of specifications to meet for a lifestyle. We own a dog that's a mix of Cocker Spaniel and Poodle, and she's an easy dog. We had another one, Spike, and ... simply put, he was stupid (he bit through an electrical wire and shocked himself. He came out all right but, uh, he barked about everything since then), but he had a big heart. xD;