(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

Just got a review for a fic I wrote ages ago (Dec 2000!) called Building a Princess. Aaahhhh my Gundam Wing days. How I loved that show...it was my second anime fandom after SM, and it hit every Rashaka pleasure point of the time: politics, bishounen, heavy characterization, sci-fi. Still one of the only two mecha series I ever loved (Escaflowne!), and the first anime that I bought merchandise for. Deathscythe HELL Custom!

I cringe a bit at the fic now: my internal Noin voice was terrible, and I switched POV in the middle. But the descriptions weren't bad and I made a passable if amateurish attempt at actually explaining the pacifism theory. I'm pretty sure I could rewrite that bit to be smarter now that I've been through 4 years of political science majoring, but a political sciene degree has also served to give me a thousand reasons why I could never turn it into a sensible realistic argument. So I think I'll leave it to its fictional universe and signs of fandom youth.

Random GW thought: Why the Relena hate? I remember back when I ued to read GW fic I was always astounded by how much other fans seemed to despise her character, even above and beyond the normal mysogyny you see against strong female characters (::stares at Naruto manga fandom pointedly::). Although her plotlines were as farfetched as the rest, I thought she was awesome; she goes from kid to Queen of the frickin' world, and then from that to one of the most influencial political officials in the new government. She's consistantly portrayed as intelligent and brave, and the audience is told multiple times that she's equal or superior to any of the male characters in terms of power and influence. If I remember correctly (it's been a while), eventually the five other main characters (all male) eventually end up fighting for her agenda by the end of the series, or at least a shared agenda that she to some degree inspires in them (especially Heero).

Anyway, here in House Rashaka, we :heart: Relena. Hmmm... I should rewatch the show, but honestly I'm afraid it'll suck a little. My quality requirements have vastly gone up since 2000, and I'm a lot pickier; I was always in it for the characters more than the writing, anyway.

Comments

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I've thought about that assertion before, and I don't think it's true. Rather, I say this is true: girls are taught to hate girls. I've found this unexplainable hate occurs most often in anime/cartoon fandoms, and most often in younger fans. Not exclusively, but significantly. And it occurs very often in series with a higher proportion of male characters, especially characters easily slashed. Which is not to say general fans of male slash hate female characters (definitely not), just that an awful lot of female fans of male slash ages 13-20 hate female characters, particularly in anime fandoms. Enough to be an irritating trend that's kept me mostly out of Naruto ficdom and would have driven me out of GW ficdom back in the day if it weren't for the fact that the fandom was so huge there were enough non-Relena haters and non-Hilde haters to maintain a tentative status quo. And the worst part is, it's not even that I particularly need het-- I just need them not to totally hate the strong female characters, no matter who said characters get with.