Excellent Points - Tumblr Posts
Jon serving as Mormont's steward and Arya serving as Bolton's cupbearer is such an underrated parallel. While their circumstances are completely different, the actual details of their jobs are pretty much the same. They're taking on servile positions where they're waiting on a person in power, which gives them access to privileged information, shows the inner workings of the politics, and gives them unofficial instruction on leadership. Both Jon and Arya even use their position as a powerful person's steward/cupbearer to convince others that what they're doing is on the orders of the person they serve. Its not lol
While this position is presented as a reward for Arya (which it is), Jon takes offense to it until Sam explains that this position puts him on the path to leadership. And that's true. Serving a person in power is usually treated as a type of internship for young nobles and royals. Rhaenyra became her father's cupbearer once she became his heir so she could attend small council meetings and court sessions, the same way Arya and Jon are both present for meetings that they otherwise wouldn't have access to. It was similar with Aegon V who served during council meetings when he was a child.
Roose doesn't intend for this to be an internship for Arya the way Mormont foes for Jon, but it's likely the author's intent for her in this case.
this is hardly even a blip in the discourse in this fandom, but it’s something that I’ve seen just often enough that it’s been swirling in my head so:
it’s completely understandable that some people don’t like the dark sbi genre of fics and avoid it like the plague, that’s half the reason why the tag even exists in the first place. the tag exists Because people know that sort of content can be upsetting for some people and they want them to be able to avoid it wherever possible.
but I think it’s also true that people tend to present and talk about the genre in a strange way. whether that’s serious accusations about people demonizing certain characters or people considering it red flags about someone’s opinions on a character, there’s this tendency to view it as a commentary on someone’s view of canon when that simply isn’t the case.
the dark sbi genre exists specifically to depict dynamics that don’t exist in canon, in the same way that a zombie apocalypse au or a hunger games/battle royale au exists to find interesting ways to bend characters’ personalities through intense survival situations.
the concept with dark sbi in particular is taking this group dynamic that the author enjoys and exploring a version of events where one or more of those characters are anywhere from toxic to outright villains. part of the fun is exploring that distortion, which wouldn’t be possible as a draw to the genre if the author wasn’t aware that it Was a distortion of the characters in question.
it’s also worth noting that there’s this weird impulse to pidgin hole the entire genre into whatever handful of fics a particular person has run into. there is no limit on what characters are changed and in what way, what setting they’re put in, and what kinds of relationships they have with each other. there are certain ideas that are popular within these spaces, but only in the normal way that people who share fandom spaces tend to be inspired by each other and rotate ideas around together. it’d be like trying to make an argument that coffee shop aus are dnf propaganda because you’ve run into fics in that genre with that pairing before. it’s just silly innit.
and again, this sort of thing isn’t for everybody. some people can’t handle horror or depictions of unhealthy relationships, and some people are more sensitive about those sorts of depictions when it comes to characters that are important to them. it’s a good thing that this genre is labeled and that people can filter it out if they don’t want it.
but as far as actually Discussing it as a fandom, there’s no reason why it should be treated any different from, say, aus where xyz character gets possessed by the egg and Does A Bad.
Things fanfiction has taught me
I was chewing on some of these the other day and thought I would make a list. Here’s what I’ve learned specifically by writing fic and probably wouldn’t have learned as well by focusing on original fiction:
How to manage tension. This is such a big one. I never even thought about tension before reading and writing fic. I literally wrote a novel draft in which my main character landed in the middle of nowhere and then had to walk a week to get anywhere. What did I think my readers would read that for? I have no idea!! Fic (at least the kind I write) lets you have a single line of tension that you play out over the course of a story – which, yes, gives you totally misleading expectations for how easy it will be to maintain tension in a story with a more complex plot, but also gives an unbeatable crash course in how to engage your readers and keep them with you. Usually, in my stories, the readers are reading to see two characters get together. Once I’ve gotten those characters together, I can’t keep writing – the tension is dead. If I want to write a sequel, I have to create a new source of tension. (Someone is maybe pregnant? Someone wants to have a kind of sex they aren’t sure is okay yet?)
That surprise isn’t as important as I thought it was. We get so anxious about spoilers in fandom, and that’s fair – sometimes surprise is great. But it’s too easy as a writer to think that nothing in your plot is interesting if your readers know it’s coming. And then you write fic and you actually tag your stories with the pair of characters who are going to end up together, and after a while you’re like, huh, that doesn’t seem to be ruining anyone’s enjoyment any. In fact, people read because of that: because they know those characters are getting together and they desperately want to see it. I read a thing a while back (can’t remember where) about how tension isn’t about mystery: it’s about inviting the reader to imagine the future. If they know something’s coming and they want to see it happen, they’ll keep reading. Pure mystery, on the other hand, is often less interesting than we sometimes think it is. There’s a thing the characters don’t know – okay, sure, but why do we care? It’s only interesting if finding that thing out relates to something we want to see.
How to finish things. No joke. When you’re working on a novel, like I was in my early 20s, it’s so easy to go through version after version after version and never feel like any of them are final. Which is usually true. Novels are so huge and complex and there’s always stuff to fix. But then you feel like you haven’t really made anything. When I started writing fic, I would write something, give it an edit or two, maybe get a beta reader to look at it, and then release it into the world. Would it be perfect? No! But it was usually pretty good, and it started to feel normal to me to move things from idea to draft to sharable creation. I got to appreciate the final product, and that made the whole process of writing more fun to me.
That my life doesn’t depend on a single story. This is related to the above: when you work on a book for YEARS, it can feel like if this book doesn’t succeed, then you are nothing and nowhere and the world is ending. But after you’ve written a few dozen stories, you know there’s another one coming, and you aren’t too fussed if the one you’re working on isn’t perfect or isn’t that well received. Usually when I post something I’m anxious about kudos for the first day or two, maybe longer, but when I start working on something else – and definitely after I post something else – I stop caring so much about the reception of the last thing. This applies during the writing process as well: maybe the thing I’m working on is as crappy as I’m afraid it is. So what? I can always write another thing after this! And I’ve written a bunch of other things in the past, so this one thing doesn’t define my work or worth as a writer. (See also: cesperanza’s doctrine of just keep swinging.) I’ve noticed this coming into play as I work on more original stuff. I want the current novel to be good, sure, but if it’s not, I can always write another one. Stories are abundant.
There’s a larger discussion here about how fic has worth in its own right, and how becoming a better fic writer is an end in itself even while fic can also make you a better original writer. But I think I’m leaving it here for today. :) Anyone have anything to add?
I think the thing that really still upsets me about the finale is just how clearly it wasn’t about trying to conclude the story in a satisfying manner. It wasn’t for fans who had watched the entire show. The finale was unabashedly made for the viewers that they lost over time. It was for that broader fanbase that watched the first two or three seasons and then got bored. It was for the people who would watch an episode here or there whenever there was nothing better on.
The objective of the finale was to be recognizable to the largest number of people possible, regardless of how empty that made it from a storytelling perspective.
Can’t have Jack there, that will confuse people. Better get rid of Cas too, just in case. Sam can’t be with Eileen, nobody knows Eileen. Go back to the basics: Look, Sam and Dean are hunting vampires! Dean has pie! Haha! Dean loves pie, remember? Oooh, look! The car! You always loved that car, didn’t you? It’s so cool. Here, have several minutes of Dean driving it. And the theme song! Yeah, Kansas!! You haven’t watched this show in 13 years but it’s just like you remember, huh? It doesn’t matter that you missed all those episodes, you know exactly what’s going on so you might as well stay tuned through the whole episode.