TV TAUGHT ME HOW TO FEEL

I will soon return from finals, but until then, here's something perfect.

eilowyn — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:16:52 GMT

This makes me gigglesnort so much not just because of the lyrics but because he looks like Freddie Highmore in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Okay. This is the Coolest Master's Thesis EVER!

eilowyn — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:31:23 GMT

I was going to post something quick saying that I was going to take an official break from LJ for a while (for realsies this time), but then I found out about this:

Fandom Then/Fandom Now

In the words of the chief investigator, Katherine Morrissey (a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaulkee):

For many people, fan fiction is as much a part of their reading as commercial literature. Fan fiction websites and archives provide readers with novels, serials, romantic and erotic stories, non-romantic stories, experimental literature, video and visual art, etc. While fan writers and readers are certainly not exclusively interested in romance, fan writing frequently explores the romantic potential between two characters and fan fiction is often built on romantic foundations. The shift to digital publishing and reading is having a dramatic impact on commercial romance literature. However, what about the kinds of romantic and erotic stories fans produce? How is fan work being affected by the rise in digital publishing? The Fandom Then/Now project presents research conducted in 2008 and uses it to facilitate conversations about fan fiction's past and future.

What do you notice in the data from 2008? What do you think about the intersections between fan fiction and romantic storytelling? Now, in 2014, what has and hasn't changed about fans' reading and writing practices?

If you dig deeper into the website, Morrissey points out that 2008, when the original survey was conducted, was right before Archive of Our Own and Dreamwidth were launched. Twitter begain in 2006, but it wasn't until the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive Festival that it began getting mainstream attention. In 2007, there were 400,000 tweets posted per quarter, but by 2008 the number had jumped to 100 million per quarter. Tumblr started in 2007, and while I couldn't find a cool statistic, fandom only began using it in 2009-2010. The technology has changed since 2008, and the investigator would really like people who have seen fandom evolve over various technologies to help participate in the new study.

So yeah. Before I leave for my break, I give you something about fan studies rather than a long essay complaining about comic book adaptations, the failure of Arrow, and why grad school applications were invented by the devil. It should be a nice change of pace.

And here's a read I just found - Henry Jenkins using a Thelma and Louise vampire AU to discuss audience theory. I figure red_satin_doll would appreciate this, and so would many others.

Oh, and this is a public post so a few non-LJ people can see it, and maybe it can be spread around somehow so more people see it? Is pimping still a thing? Do we still pimp stuff?

FYI

eilowyn — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 03:36:36 GMT

My computer has been dead since Tuesday and the LJ app kind of sucks, so that's where I've been.

Let's Talk About Manpain and Masculinity

eilowyn — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 20:02:54 GMT

I had a new idea for my grad school writing sample.

MANPAIN.

It's a fan-coined term for "when a main character in a story (always male, generally white) is written with a particular kind of psychologically painful history that causes him to behave in specific ways."

Fanlore lists some of the criteria for describing a male character's history as manpain:

It's marked by excess. The tragedies of the character's history are extreme: his reaction to them is melodramatic: his pain is tacitly or explicitly acknowledged by the story and/or other characters to be worse than anyone else's.

It is self-centered and inner-directed; events, especially traumatic events, in the narrative are typically viewed through the lens of how they emotionally impact the bearer of the manpain, who is often a figure of isolation.

The character's painful history is frequently (although not universally) created by exploiting the death/suffering/loss of a woman, or children, or both. These women and children are often not characterized as having any importance in the narrative other than as plot devices to create manpain.

Here's a flow chart to help you determine if your pain is manpain.

Manpain can also be understood as a visual aesthetic, as seen in thingswithwings's brilliant vid "The Price", complete with thinky thoughts.

pocochina has some of my favorite thoughts on manpain.

So here's my problem: I can't just write an essay saying "LOOK AT ANGEL/TEN/MULDER/DEAN/BATMAN'S MANPAIN!" I need to ground this thing in some sort of theory, so I'm positing that manpain is a trope that allows "real" men to show vulnerability. If they're crying over a dead woman, it's totally legit. And I want to talk about masculinity from a gender studies point of view,but I'm having trouble trying to figure out what sources I need/can use. So basically I need some scholarly essays on masculinity in speculative (sci fi/fantasy/horror) shows/movies. I don't know if I want manpain to be the subject or if I should dissect the video to show the manpain in the shows. Any ideas for a direction I could go in are welcome.

The Mockingjay Lives

eilowyn — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 20:02:15 GMT

This is so much cooler than a short story about Harry Potter going gray.

Carry Your World :: A Buffy Summers Fanmix

eilowyn — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 21:50:19 GMT

About a month ago I promised to make red_satin_doll a proper Buffy fanmix with art and everything, and here it is. It turns out I had twice as many songs as I needed, so there might be a second volume of this coming out. I could have separated the songs with one album being angsty and one being empowering, but instead I mixed it up (mostly because I'm too lazy to differentiate between the mood of the songs). Expect a lot of Florence + the Machine, a lot of Coldplay, and some interesting covers by YouTubers I found scouring the Internet.

Download :: Listen

Now I suppose I should get back to those very important things I should have spent the past three hours on.

Because I'm Still Waiting for a Lady Doctor

eilowyn — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:07:29 GMT

Excellent piece by Vanity Fair about how Orphan Black is Buffy's heir, and that the world is ready for more strong women in geek media properties.

"Because Maslany’s performance and the show’s writing contain multitudes and run the gamut of archetypal feminine strength. We have Sarah (who covers wiliness, brawn, and a mothering instinct), Cosima (sheer brain power), Alison (cunning, heightened femininity, and another kind of mothering instinct), Rachel (ruthless ambition), and, best of all, Helena (relentless, feral strength). Helena is the show’s true gift to women, particularly in this season when she took on masculine oppression wherever she went, be it in bar fights (how Game of Thrones of her) . . . or a male-run cult community. The second-to-last episode ended with Helena literally skewering the patriarchy before torching it to the ground."

This is my thesis in a nutshell. Geeks are ready for strong women. Bring 'em on.

Also worth sharing is The Daily Show's report on sexual assault on college campuses:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

Wow. Someone Created a "Best Whedon Characters" List That I Almost Approve Of

eilowyn — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 21:14:12 GMT

The List is Here, but I'll break it down for you:

15. Dr. Horrible

I'm glad Dr. Horrible was mentioned. We only got forty-five minutes of him, but in those forty-five minutes Joss did the sympathetic villain protagonist better than anyone did before (I may be wrong about this, comment if you know of a better sympathetic villain protagonist)

14. Cordelia Chase

Cordelia should have been higher, in my opinion. If Angel was the Vampire with a Soul, Cordelia was the Mean Girl with a Heart. I think her transformation from Regina George 90's Edition on BtVS to sympathizing seer on AtS felt real to me - Regina George will eventually have to grow up, and we were granted the chance to see what Cordelia was like when she wasn't a spoiled teenager. Season 4 may have been structurally sound, but I didn't enjoy it for what it did to her. However, "You're Welcome" was a fitting goodbye after what Joss put her through - seeing her one last time gave us a chance for closure. And I only like Angel when Cordelia's around. Behold the power of Cordelia Chase.

13. Andrew Wells

This one I'm okay with. Andrew (+ Anya) was the comic relief of season seven. I've read a scholarly essay that said Andrew was a mocking mirror for fandom to see itself after chewing Marti Noxon up and spitting her out about season 6. Andrew is the fan that never grows up, and this piece argued that Joss was censuring a fandom that was so incredibly childish. I don't know if I agree completely, and I think that's a bit reductionist, because I feel he was more than just someone to laugh at/with. He was proto-Abed, someone who was aware of his reliance on popular culture to relate to people, and I'd like to think that, like Abed, Andrew finally felt comfortable in his own skin. Whether or not he's gay is another subject.

12. The Mayor

I've got no problem with the Mayor being on the list. He's another sympathetic villain, or at least a likable one, and he was one of the elements that made season 3, with the sturm und drang drama of the Bangel relationship overarching everything, bearable.

11. Kaylee Frye

This one? I love Kaylee. But I'd switch her with Cordelia.

10. Angelus

This is the only form of David Boreanaz on this list. Angel is not included, only his douchebag asshole self. This makes me happy.

9. Jayne Cobb

Ehh. Well, he wouldn't make my list, but I guess it's okay he's on here. Maybe not in the top 10, but he was very entertaining.

8. Anya Jenkins

Anya Jenkins being recognized as the glorious creation she is. No one ever gives Anya enough credit, so I'm quite happy with her appearance.

7. Willow Rosenberg

Willow doesn't do anything for me personally, but she did have one of the most interesting arcs and redemption stories on the show (even if it demonstrated how exclusive the Scooby Gang is - Willow kills someone and almost ends the world, and she gets a welcome home sign written in yellow crayon, but Spike has to die to finally be considered worthy? Double standard, thy name is Scooby).

6. Rupert Giles

Giles is my favorite Core Four Scooby after Buffy. I'm okay with this.

5. Faith Lehane

Faith. I loved Faith as a creation of made of self-loathing. She was so complicated, and I loved her redemption arc and the relationship she has with Buffy. Another element that made season 3 bearable.

4. Mal Reynolds

I know Firefly is the holy grail, and there would be a riot if Mal didn't make the top five. Nathan Fillion has established himself as a geek god, and his affection for the role is infectious. Also, I may be getting this shirt for Comic-Con. Smugglers ftw.

3. Spike

Spike appreciation in mainstream media goes a long way to making me happy. This article makes me ecstatic (SPIKE AS MVP!), so Spike getting the bronze medal here is a joyous occasion, and gives all the haters the middle finger.

2. Wesley Wyndham-Price

My only quibble is I'd personally switch Spike and Wes, but seriously, he has one of the best transformations on the show (pocochina can tell you all about it). He may not be one of my all-time favorite characters, but I have to acknowledge that Alexis was amazing as Wes, and he was as complicated in an almost Shakespearean way. Oh, and if you feel like crying, watch this.

1. Buffy Summers

My girl. Forever and ever amen.

So yeah. No Tara and no Dawn, but I wouldn't expect them to be on any lists anyway, because they create a more quiet kind of stanning - a warm, fuzzy, intimate kind, instead of a shout-it-from-the-rooftops kind. And they get a lot of hate, so someone trying to make a definitive list wouldn't include them. And to be honest, I can't objectively say they should be included as created characters - they'd go on my "favorite characters" lists rather than my "best characters" list.

Two AMAZING Things Are Happening Today!

eilowyn — Fri, 30 May 2014 20:10:43 GMT

1. I GOT THE SALLY CASANOVA PRE-DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP! This is the one I was working on in March, and I seriously thought I wouldn't get it because I talked about using fan fiction in education. That's $3000 towards visiting graduate schools next fall!

2. HULU IS IN TALKS WITH SONY TO REVIVE COMMUNITY! Yes, this gets me as excited as a $3000 scholarship.

Revisiting Seasons 4, 5 and 6

eilowyn — Wed, 28 May 2014 09:26:59 GMT

I was going through all of the mp4 files from my ripped Buffy DVDs, titling them in my ever so anal way, and I was using the BtVS Wikipedia list of episodes for reference. I noticed the ratings for a few particular episodes. Season 4 ended with 3.2 million U.S. viewers watching it live on the WB (tangental thought: I wonder how many more viewers BtVS would have gotten if DVR and streaming video were invented back then? I know I got TiVo circa 2005, when I re-discovered Buffy via reruns, and it was used to tape Buffy, Angel, and - wait for it - Passions; but it wasn't out there when the show was on. Were there ways to illegally download shit from the Internet back then?).

Season 5 started with 5.8 million viewers, and my guess is people heard how weird "Restless" was, and wanted to check out what was happening on Buffy (another tangental thought: I know exactly where I was when "Buffy vs. Dracula" aired: on a bus touring the Washington, DC monuments on a program sponsored by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The kid I was sitting next to kept on complaining about how he was missing such an important episode, and based on his recommendation, I checked the show out on the WB, which we had just gotten in our cable package, and fell in love with Dawn and Spike. The first episode I saw was "Out of My Mind," and I was under the impression that Buffy and Spike were the show's Sam and Diane, so Spike's dream was a BIG FUCKING DEAL. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my initiation int BtVS. ORIGIN STORIES, YO).

Anyway, "Buffy vs. Dracula" had 5.8 million viewers, and the numbers jumped to 6.2 million for "Real Me." My guess is word got out about Dawn's introduction, and everyone was going WTF? and decided to see what was going on.

When season 6 started, BtVS got its highest ratings with "Bargaining I & II", each getting 7.7 million viewers. My guess is everyone wanted to see how they would bring Buffy back. I think the nearest equivalent was between seasons 3 and 4 of Supernatural, when everyone was wondering how they would bring Dean back.

So, my question is this, for you old-timers who were there: why the jumps in numbers from "Buffy vs. Dracula" to "Real Me" and in the lead-in of season 7? Are my guesses correct? I'm trying to figure out textual reasons for audience viewership, in case you were wondering if I'm talking out of my ass and reminiscing about my introduction to the show. This is for scientific purposes. I can re-write this into the form of a research question if you want, but today I went to a workshop where we did that for two hours, so I really don't feel like it.

Because I Know Kelsey Needs This

eilowyn — Thu, 22 May 2014 04:00:04 GMT

FIX-IT FICATHON

Because Alison Didn't Deserve to Die

(This one already made me pretty happy.)

Amber Benson Remains Amazing - Lessons Learned From My Research # 231

eilowyn — Thu, 15 May 2014 02:25:46 GMT

Fake Geek Girls, Part I

In Part II, Amber Gets Drunk

COMMUNITY IS CANCELED!!!

eilowyn — Sat, 10 May 2014 01:50:00 GMT

Here's to the memories.

My Girl Kerry Made an Orphan Black Video to One of My Favorite Songs!

eilowyn — Thu, 08 May 2014 05:58:46 GMT

You know that "Gravity" vid that I've done papers and conference presentations on? Well the vidder just came out with an Orphan Black vid!

Just had to share the wow.

My New Best Friend

eilowyn — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 03:27:12 GMT

Have you heard about Marie-Pierre Renaud? She's known as The Geek Anthropologist, and she blogs about fandom from the perspective of a cultural anthropologist. I contacted her for my paper on "Fake" Geek Girls that I'm doing for a gender and communication class (and hopefully turning into a conference paper for next year), and I've spent the last six hours going through her blog. This post was personally relevant. Because I am a dork.

Anyway, she's been doing anthropological research on the "fake" geek girl debate, and I'm a little in love with her right now. She started with this call for help, and followed with these updates on her research. She's now doing a series on her findings, with a forward called As Always, It Started with Star Trek.

She begins this series by describing her methods, then goes on to describe the "rants" she'll analyze. She then goes on to explain why we should care. Her latest piece is about why now. This is a fascinating series that I'll definitely be following.

Marie-Pierre also co-created a panel on nerd culture at the American Anthropological Association's conference, and one of the panelists discusses my boy de Certeau and his "tactics vs. strategies" argument.

I'm still not sure what I'm going to say about shippers. I know I want to touch on how examining the UST of Kirk/Spock is just as valid as knowing grammatically correct Klingon, how the skills shippers use in fan works have real-world value, and how shipping forces us to think critically to defend our ships ("I prefer Spike's somewhat queer masculinity over Angel's alpha male masculinity because it allows for Buffy to be the hero, not just the girlfriend.") Any new ideas?

Also, I haven't seen the Orphan Black premiere or last Sunday's Game of Thrones (though I know why we're all displeased with Jaime right now), so that's why I haven't commented on anyone's posts about said properties.

We should all watch China Beach together, and I'm told I did good

eilowyn — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 12:06:22 GMT

My presentation went pretty well! My advisor tweeted that I did a good ethnography of Community fandom, and people told me I did well, and didn't qualify it with "for an undergrad." I was in a really neat panel with people who presented on online fan practice. I went first, and the lady who went after me presented on a vid for Lord if the Rings set to set to a song by the Wu-Tang Clan to illustrate how the books and movies were racialized.

The next talk was about social media and teen audiences, focusing I the WB and CW. The girl presenting was a Dawson's fan, not a Buffy fan, but we were from the same generation (post-Gen X, pre-Millennial) so we could relate.

The last talk on my panel was about two scholars re-watching China Beach, which they claimed was a great feminist show in that it was about women in the Vietnam War. They tweeted back and forth about it, and convinced me it would be something fun to watch as a group.

I was up at 3:30 am to get to my flight in St. Louis, and I plan on crashing as soon as I get home. Tomorrow is the kickoff of Undergraduate Research Week at school, and I decided it would look good on my CV, so I'm on the committee. I go to Chicago for another conference Tuesday night, so don't expect replies for a few days. I have read every comment and message, though, so keep 'em coming.

Quick, important question for Supernatural fans

eilowyn — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:38:36 GMT

I can't recall correctly, but is Becky considered to be a Sam/Dean shipper? Are the words "ship" or "shipper" used to describe Sam/Dean or Becky? Thanks guys!

A Vindication of the Rights of Shippers (The "Good Parts" Version)

eilowyn — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:43:39 GMT

I've been reading a bunch of French post-structuralists the past couple weeks, and I think I understand the problem with fandom: we over-identify with our favorites (be it ship, character, show, narrative device, whatevs), so when someone insults that ship/character/show/narrative device, we take it as a personal blow. De Certeau* (the guy I've been reading the most) has this thing about "strategies" and "tactics" - strategies are the ways "the system" or "the man" or hegemony makes us conform to the dominant narrative, and tactics are developed by individuals to navigate those strategies. We are given a media narrative and told the strategic meaning by the dominant culture. You can "buy in" to the message given, or you can deconstruct it and take what meaning you want from it.

Fandom is a tactic against the strategies of mass media. Star Trek is a very masculine narrative. Except for the awesome Uhura, guys get to do most of the fun stuff. However, fans say "thanks, Star Trek, for your masculinist narrative, but I'm going to ship Kirk/Spock and create my own narrative that isn't confined by your heteronormative story." Thus, slash shipping is a tactic meant to navigate the strategy of the masculinist narrative. Fans are deconstructing the message and creating a version that appeals to them. You see it done in fandoms based on very masculine narratives, from Sherlock to Supernatural.

Another tactic is in picking and choosing what we identify with. In Harry Potter, it can be what house you're in or what you ship. I am a troubled Ravenclaw shipping Tomione like it's nobody's business, you can be a Gryffindor shipping Cho Chang and Minerva McGonagall, Whatever revs your engine. Likewise with Buffy fandom. I am a late-season loving, Dawn adoring, Buffy-centric Spuffy shipper. I identify with the B-Team of Spike, Dawn, Anya and Tara more than Giles, Xander and Willow. When I say I am a Browncoat, I am making a statement not just about Firefly, but about myself. I use these identifiers as my tactic to make meaning of mass media - they become who I am and how I see myself.

So when someone insults Buffy, I want to get into their face about it, because I feel internally that insulting Buffy is like insulting me. People say shippers see the entire series through their shipper-shaped lenses. My answer? OF COURSE THEY DO! The thing they identify with most in the show is that particular relationship, so of course it's going to color the way they see the show. What bothers me is when people dismiss shippers as all being "problematic" or "troublesome" or "the reason why fandom is so terrible."

Let's say you're a Lost fan. You're in it to solve the mysteries and make sure all the questions are answered, not to see who Kate ends up banging back at the Dharma station. You're unhappy with the finale, because it wasn't about the mysteries--that finale was all about character relationships. Maybe you're into Buffy for Xander's wisecracks. You really don't have a horse in the race for Buffy's ~~vagina~~ heart. In both these scenarios, you're a gen fan - someone who isn't in it for the shipping. Why should we privilege how you view the series over the shipper? You have your tactic to make sense of Lost or Buffy, and they have theirs, and neither is an invalid or incorrect way to approach mass media.

Here's my line of thinking: I've been known to get up in people's grill about particular ships and characters. Disliking these ships and characters (I'll leave what these ships and who these characters are up to the reader) is also part of how I differentiate myself from other mass consumers - it's part of my identity as much as being a late-season loving, Dawn adoring, Buffy-centric Spuffy shipper is. So when I say something passionate against said ship or character, I'm saying it because something fundamental inside me objects to them. I don't need to be rude or mouthy about it--much fandom conflict is because people get rude and mouthy--but disliking something doesn't necessarily relegate me to the realm of "haters."

So this brings us to ship wars. You have people who over-identify with ship A, which goes counter to those who over-identify with ship B. "A" shippers object to ship B because we're all rapist lovers (was that too specific? Okay, we're all bad people who like problematic characters). When "A" shippers and "B" shippers meet in discourse, of course there's going to be conflict. I think it's extremely naive to believe that two groups of people who firmly believe and identify with two contrasting things won't have some conflict.

That doesn't mean we dismiss shippers completely, and some of the people dismissing shippers would be the first ones out of the gate with a chainsaw if their favorite character was disparaged or dismissed. WE ALL IDENTIFY WITH OUR FAVORITES. It's how we differentiate ourselves from every single other mass media consumer. When I write my list of fandoms and ships on my tumblr page, I'm making a declaration about who I am. So it really annoys me when people place all the blame about fandom conflict on shippers. If your favorite was threatened, wouldn't you rally to support them?

So yeah. I support the shippers because they have every right to identify with what they end up identifying with. That is their tactic to understand mass media. That doesn't give them (or me) the right to be a jackass about it, but shippers shouldn't be looked at as some lesser being because their distinguishing identifier is a romantic relationship, and when you say "shippers ruin fandom," you're privileging your own way of reading media. You're not some monolithic bastion of objective truth because you don't ship anyone in a show. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE. And the way fans operate is to take their subjective experiences and apply them to media, making their own meaning through whatever means they find appealing.

So don't hate the shippers.

*de Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.

Note: This is an expanded version of this post, edited for coherency and content for Watercooler Journal, and to address some things that came up in the comments of the original post.

Also, if you know what the title of this post is referencing (not the Wollstonecraft part), you are my new favorite.

A Vindication of the Rights of Shippers (and fans in general)

eilowyn — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:50:56 GMT

This was originally a comment on red_satin_doll's journal, but I decided to expand on it a little bit.

Remember all of the research I was doing in Community fandom? Well, when I went to write up what I learned, the thing people were the most passionate about were shippers and shipping. Love 'em, hate 'em, everyone wanted to talk about shipping. So my research ended up focusing on that, and I actually got into the California State University system-wide student research competition (woohoo!) with my paper on shippers.

I needed to go heavily in depth into theory on this paper, and I began reading de Certeau. De Certeau is the guy who originally said readers "poach" when they appropriate something from a media work, and Henry Jenkins used the term "poach" to describe what fans do with fan fiction and fan works. And I've been reading up on deconstruction and bricolage and humanistic literary theory and my brain will likely explode by the end of this semester, but it has really got me thinking about fandom and the way we see shippers and OTPs and favorite characters. So here's what I wrote on red_satin_doll's journal:

I've been reading a bunch of French post-structuralists the past couple weeks, and I think I understand the problem with fandom: we over-identify with our favorites (be it ship, character, show, whatevs), so when someone insults that ship/character/show, we take it as a personal blow. de Certeau (the guy I've been reading the most) has this thing about "strategies" and "tactics" - strategies are the ways "the system" or "the man" or hegemony makes us conform to the dominant narrative, and tactics are developed by individuals to navigate those strategies. We are given a media narrative and told the strategic meaning by the dominant culture. You can "buy in" to the message given, or you can deconstruct it and take what meaning you want from it.

Fandom is a tactic against the strategies of mass media. Fans say "Thanks, Star Trek, for your masculinist narrative, but I'm going to ship Kirk/Spock and create my own narrative." Thus, slash shipping is a tactic meant to navigate the strategy of the masculinist narrative. Another tactic is in picking and choosing what we identify with. In Harry Potter, it can be what house you're in or what you ship. I am a troubled Ravenclaw shipping Tomione like it's nobody's business, you can be a Gryffindor shipping Cho Chang and Minerva McGonagall. Likewise with Buffy fandom. I am a late-season loving, Buffy-centric Spuffy shipper. I identify with the B-Team of Spike, Dawn, Anya and Tara more than Giles, Xander and Willow. I use these identifiers as my tactic to make meaning of mass media - they become who I am and how I see myself.

So when someone insults Buffy, I want to get into their face about it, because insulting Buffy is like insulting me. The conversation (mentioned in red_satin_doll's journal but not really directly relevant) was about how shippers see the entire series through their shipper-shaped lenses. My answer? OF COURSE THEY DO! The thing they identify with most in the show is that particular relationship, so of course it's going to color the way they see the show. What bothers me is when people dismiss shippers as all being "problematic" or "troublesome" or "the reason why fandom is so terrible."

Here's my line of thinking: I've been known to get up in people's grill about particular ships and characters. Disliking these ships and characters (I'll leave what these ships and who these characters are up to the reader) is also part of how I differentiate myself from other mass consumers - it's part of my identity as much as being a late-season loving, Buffy-centric Spuffy shipper is. So when I say something passionate against said ship or character, I'm saying it because something fundamental inside me objects to them.

So this brings us to ship wars. You have people who over-identify with ship A, which goes counter to those who over-identify with ship B. "A" shippers object to ship B because we're all rapist lovers (was that too specific? Okay, we're all bad people who like problematic characters). When "A" shippers and "B" shippers meet in discourse, of course there's going to be conflict. I think it's extremely naive to believe that two groups of people who firmly believe and identify with two contrasting things won't have some conflict.

That doesn't mean we dismiss shippers completely, and some of the people dismissing shippers would be the first ones out of the gate with a chainsaw if their favorite character was disparaged or dismissed.

WE ALL OVER IDENTIFY WITH OUR FAVORITES. It's how we differentiate ourselves from every single other mass media consumer. When I write my list of fandoms and ships on my tumblr page, I'm making a declaration about who I am. So it really annoys me when people place all the blame about fandom conflict on shippers. If your favorite was threatened, wouldn't you rally to support them?

So yeah. I support the shippers because they have every right to identify with what they end up identifying with. That doesn't give them (or me) the right to be a jackass about it, but shippers shouldn't be looked at as some lesser being because they're distinguishing identifiers is a romantic relationship.

I think I may have lost myself in this, but do you get my point? I'm not even sure what my point originally was.

WHO'S GOT TWO THUMBS AND IS GOING TO SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON?

eilowyn — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:56:42 GMT

THIS GIRL!!

I am so blissed out by the Veronica Mars movie I could kiss a Bangel.

eilowyn — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 08:26:27 GMT

One word: EPIC.

That is all.

Oh, and GO CELEBRATE with youcallitwinter!

Dear Sarah Michelle Gellar

eilowyn — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 20:41:55 GMT

First of all, I absolutely adore you. You are the consummate actress. Because you know what? I had no effing clue that at the end of the day, Buffy preferred Angel (except for loose interpretations of the cookie dough speech, but that's another post). Buffy's last words on the subject (and the show) were "I love you" and "Spike." I took her at her word, because your goddamn face during the flamey hands in the Hellmouth scene made me believe her (and cry my eyes out). Like Buffy said in "Intervention," that was real.

So of course I was taken aback that in your recent AMA on Reddit you adamantly stated that you preferred Angel. My guess is you probably have no problem with Edward Cullen, either, but again that's another post. I know you and David are close. I've even heard rumors about some behind the scenes canoodling. So you obviously have an more intimate relationship with him than with James. That's fine. But I want to make a delineation for you: you are not Buffy. You are the actress that portrayed Buffy (and did a damn good job of it). Your opinions are not Buffy's opinions. If we want to revive the dead author and get Buffy's opinion, we'd probably go to Joss because of authorial intent, yada, yada, yada.

Now, Joss loves adversarial relationships. What Shakespeare play did he recently make into a movie rather than go on vacation? Yeah. It wasn't Romeo and Juliet. It was Much Ado About Nothing. Which featured Beatrice and Benedick. Who Joss associates with Spike and Buffy. So if we want to intimate authorial intent based on the producer's other preferences, one can surmise that he likes Buffy and Spike more.

So, in conclusion, thank you for portraying Buffy so well that your answer at the AMA's makes me (and Jezebel) scratch my head. I love you, but your opinions don't change the text. They're interesting to hear, but they don't really matter.

Anyway, your succinct answers make me think you don't really want to argue, but this makes a damn good counter argument based on sound logical thinking.

You like Angel more. That's cool. But the text shows that in spite of herself, Buffy liked Spike more in the end.

Sincerely,
Me

I have a half hour to kill, so here's my next fourteen months.

eilowyn — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 23:20:47 GMT

I turned in my CSU Research competition paper yesterday, so one of my major headaches is checked off.

MARCH 2014

I have the CSU Pre-Doctoral Scholarship and the Junior League Scholarship due.

APRIL 2014

I present at two conferences. Only one paper is written.

MAY 2014

I do an ethnographic study of media use among freshmen at a local high school.

JUNE 2014

I take the GRE.

JULY 2014

I correspond with potential thesis advisors.

AUGUST 2014

I work on the ethnographic study and begin grad school applications.

SEPTEMBER 2014

I apply to be a HASTAC Scholar and attend another conference where all the cool people in television studies will be.

OCTOBER 2014

I visit several graduate schools.

NOVEMBER 2014

I attend another conference for networking purposes and finish graduate school applications.

DECEMBER 2014

I deal with my mother's oncoming empty nest syndrome as I celebrate my last Christmas living at home.

JANUARY 2015

I take several medications because I can't handle the stress of waiting for graduate schools to make decisions.

FEBRUARY 2015

I do campus visits for final graduate school interviews, implement a media literacy program that incorporates Romeo and Juliet and New Media Literacies, and do the CSU Research Competition again.

MARCH 2015

I continue on medication as acceptance and rejection letters start to come in.

APRIL 2015

I accept whatever school I'll be going to, but not before renegotiating with top three schools.

MAY 2015

I finish my capstone project, graduate, and finally get to take a breath for the first time in fourteen months, unless I'm doing research over the summer. If I am, I'll probably be back on some medications.

red_satin_doll sent me some meta today, so maybe if I don't fall into bed exhausted I'll have something more worthwhile to share.

Happy Galentine's Day!

eilowyn — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 02:36:46 GMT

Even though it's almost over, I wanted to wish everyone a happy Galentine's Day!

HAVE WE SQUEED YET?

eilowyn — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 22:29:30 GMT

This.