I wish I could replace my post with this comment, because you said *exactly* what I meant.
I can get really defensive about my favorite characters, and there's a way in which I don't want to acknowledge that negative opinions about them are valid, and when confronted with the fact that they might be, I well . . . usually I run away in the other direction as fast as I can for fear of fanwank, but that doesn't mean the feeling isn't there.
The things is, with my favorite characters and 'ships, I acknowledge that they have their flaws, and I can *understand* why other people dislike them. But because I love the characters as characters (not always as people. I'm not sure I like Faith as a person), often not in spite of but partially because of their flaws--that's why I don't want to accept that the negative opinions are valid, as you say. I accept all the bad things about my character, I still like her--OMG WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!
From a technical perspective or course bashing and bad writing bother me more, but they don't (and can't, really) bother me on an emotional level. They can;t unsettle me. The other can. I've never really thought about that before. Wow.
Yes. Exactly. And I was so unsettled thinking about it, when I wrote this rant, that I didn't know how to say what I wanted to. Thanks for saying it for me.
I'm not sure I'd do them justice if I tried to write them.
The thing is, I've tried, and it's nerve wracking. As I've said, I think I've had mixed success, but the worst part was imagining someone reading the fic, and reading in between the lines that I actually am pretty indifferent to so and so. That's just. . . not something that makes a fic enjoyable.
And I think one of the things that set me off on this, is right now I'm working on some fics that involve a character I do really, really love, but that I don't feel I understand. It's making me nuts wondering if fans of the character are reading it and getting that pukey feeling.
Thanks so much for what you say, it really helped me figure out what I was trying to say!
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I can get really defensive about my favorite characters, and there's a way in which I don't want to acknowledge that negative opinions about them are valid, and when confronted with the fact that they might be, I well . . . usually I run away in the other direction as fast as I can for fear of fanwank, but that doesn't mean the feeling isn't there.
The things is, with my favorite characters and 'ships, I acknowledge that they have their flaws, and I can *understand* why other people dislike them. But because I love the characters as characters (not always as people. I'm not sure I like Faith as a person), often not in spite of but partially because of their flaws--that's why I don't want to accept that the negative opinions are valid, as you say. I accept all the bad things about my character, I still like her--OMG WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!
From a technical perspective or course bashing and bad writing bother me more, but they don't (and can't, really) bother me on an emotional level. They can;t unsettle me. The other can. I've never really thought about that before. Wow.
Yes. Exactly. And I was so unsettled thinking about it, when I wrote this rant, that I didn't know how to say what I wanted to. Thanks for saying it for me.
I'm not sure I'd do them justice if I tried to write them.
The thing is, I've tried, and it's nerve wracking. As I've said, I think I've had mixed success, but the worst part was imagining someone reading the fic, and reading in between the lines that I actually am pretty indifferent to so and so. That's just. . . not something that makes a fic enjoyable.
And I think one of the things that set me off on this, is right now I'm working on some fics that involve a character I do really, really love, but that I don't feel I understand. It's making me nuts wondering if fans of the character are reading it and getting that pukey feeling.
Thanks so much for what you say, it really helped me figure out what I was trying to say!