Why is SGA fandom so segregated?

[trinityofone]

lavvyan! I got your package! Thank you so much, it's gorgeous. (To curious parties: it's a piece of papyrus with the Ancient Egyptian calendar on it.) Actually, the tube it came in is gorgeous, too. But I really want to try to get it framed. And this Treed Murray poster, which I keep saying I should treat myself to. (Hey, I have a new apartment and a new office to decorate here!) There has to be a cheap frame shop in existence somewhere...right?

I am incredibly, incredibly tired today. I was exhausted yesterday, and couldn't even make it through The Daily Show before I crashed. This is bad. I thought I was adjusting to my new work schedule, but I guess I'm not. Is there any way to train yourself to need less sleep?

One thing that has almost kept me energized has been the response to the SGA Bulwer-Lytton Contest. There are so many awesome and hysterical entries, it's going to be killer to choose. So I think I'll pick my--15? Is that how many entries an LJ poll allows?--my 15 or so favorites and let people vote on the Grand Prize Winner. Unless anybody has wild objections, I'll put that up tomorrow.

Like I said, the response has been incredible, and I've seen some new names (by which I mean: people I don't know, even by association, not "people who don't usually comment here"), which is always cool. But--and please correct me if I'm wrong--I still seem to be attracting mostly McKay/Sheppard people, or at least mostly slash people. Which in general makes sense, because hey, I write McKay/Sheppard, I talk about McKay/Sheppard, most of my friends are into McKay/Sheppard. As far as I'm concerned, McKay/Sheppard is for yay.

BUT. I like other pairings, too (my other fandom interest could possibly be described as McKay/women), and I think at least a little cross-pairing pollination is to be encouraged. My last fandom was BtVS/AtS, and it was wild, man. I mean, I started out a Spuffy shipper (Shut up! Their love was pure snarky and hot! At least before it became canon, anyway) but I liked the slash a lot (Buffydom was where I really grew to be comfortable with slash) and I wrote and read some of pretty much everything. It was all mixed.

Why is SGA so much more segregated? I mean, I don't think this is entirely a bad thing--I don't want my flist flooded with Sheppard/Weir stories, and I doubt the Sheppard/Weir shippers want a gazillion McKay/Sheppard stories on their friends pages, either. But is it just me, or is it extremely hard to organize activities that include all sides of fandom? Take reel_sga. The response to that has been great...but as pairings go, not very diverse. In terms of my personal reading habits, that's fine, but I had kind of hoped that there'd be more pairings represented. And maybe there still will be. That would be cool.

(Speaking of one nice bit of pairing diversity, I really loved this reel_sga entry: McKay/Ford art by deani_bean. It's the tie thing. That's awesome, and that transcends OTP-loyalty [and I say this as someone who is mockably OTPish at times]. Which is cool, no?)

Anyway, the Bulwer-Lytton thing is different, because of course it is not pairing-centric: it's mostly about mocking style and usage, although certain tropes have been fun to mock, too. It's about bad writing, but it's also about amusing and clever writing, and seeing what you can do in the space of a sentence. That's something everybody can appreciate, right?

So I guess what I'm wondering is, where are the het shippers? (Again, please correct me if they're around and I've just been too dumb to notice.) And I just don't mean, why aren't they here, responding to this--what is here is awesome, and I'm not like, demanding more people participate, omg. I just mean, I've been in this fandom for almost a year now--how have we managed not to interact at all? Of course, part of this may be me--I'm certainly not trolling john_elizabeth, because why would I want to? So I'm also not saying, "Sheppard/Weir peeps! Why aren't you over at mckay_sheppard? We've got a hot tub, come hang out!" Because seriously, why would they want to? But the fact that there's little-to-no crossover is just astonishing to me.

Maybe it's just that we have a situation that's more like X-Files fandom than Buffydom. Back in the old days, I was rabid about MSR, and I just didn't go anywhere near the slash. (Or Scully/Skinner, or whatever else there was.) I can't remember very well, but I think I was actively afraid of those unfamiliar corners of the net, and that included any of the projects "those people" may have been involved in. Of course, I think this may have had MUCH more to do with the fact that I was 14 than with my shipping preferences, but could there possibly be some connection? What I'd like to know is, do most people on the het end of fandom see even a name associated with slash and immediately go, "Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!"? Which, I hasten to say, would be totally their right. But I realize, I don't even know anyone over there that I could ask.

I'm not saying that there needs to be some sort of cross-ship dialogue, because I think those things tend to end in angry glaring at best. Possibly, just ignoring each other is the best way to avoid conflict, and I'm all for avoiding conflict. I'm just surprised there isn't some sort of neutral zone, some shaded area at the center of the Giant Venn Diagram of Fandom Life. Why do you think that is?

Comments

Re: SGA Fandom Divide

[princealia.livejournal.com]

WORD to EVERYTHING you said. Like, REALLY. WORD. I LOVE YOU.

I avoid GateWorld like the plague cause that is wank central. I don't mind debates and normal discussion at all, but it's very off-putting over there, even if you stick in your own little areas. And honestly it makes the fandom look bad, too.

And I am a HUGE Teyla fan. I still stick in my own little corner of Teyla love. She's still in the process of being "accepted" by the fandom, but I still see the ocassional "I hate Teyla because she's a slut" speech, which I stay away from because I don't want to go postal on anyone. But I mainly stay there in my corner because of the shippers. I avoid shipping like crazy because:

1. I don't ship in general. This isn't why I watch this show and I hate that fact that it's turning into the Suck Face Request hour as it is.

and

2. BOTH S/W and S/T shippers are freakin' nuts. Yes, I said it. BOTH. NO ONE'S ship is innocent, dammit. I have ran into a few normal fans from BOTH sides (hell, I have both ships on my flist), but all the wank from GW carries over to LJ, so then the entire ship gets that image of either "the immature, only exists because half of the ship was brought on as a love interest for the other, no real bonding off-screen unlike my ship (yes, I have seen that), childish ship" (which I could rant on forever because how the hell is a ship "immature"? Say what you mean--the SHIPPERS are immature :P) or "the only putting the character in that ship because she's a miserable woman and a shitty character, so she needs a stronger character to carry her through the show" ship (which is another rantable topic because Weir ISN'T a shitty character).

It's a dumbass war that I wish would stop. There's defending your ship and then there's being childish about it. I mean, I'd rather eat my lungs with hotsauce than have ANYTHING to do with Sparky cause that's ugh times ten to me, but that doesn't mean I am going to bash anyone who likes it or Weir (cause I never see Sheppard bashed in that ship, just her). I acknowledge it's there and I go about my business.

My main problem is when they start bashing Teyla/Rachel or Weir/Torri in order to make their point. A majority of Sparky fans are the hated Weir fans and a majority of the Sheyla fans are the hated Teyla fans. So you don't like Weir or Teyla? Ok, that's fine. You are allowed to not like a character. Bashing, on the other hand, not cool. And just because of your precious ship? Get a life. It's a ship, not the oxygen needed to live.

I see this aaaaall the time: A Sheyla fan will go "You just don't like the ship because you hate Teyla" and the Sparky fans will go "LOL no we like Teyla...", but then bash her five seconds later by saying she's just the alien bimbo on the show and needs to be with Ronon. And it's the same way with the S/T shippers. A Sparky fan will say "You just don't like the ship because you hate Weir" and the Sheyla fans go "LOL no we like Weir...", followed by a bashing of her character five minutes later with the typical "she's a crummy leader and needs to die" speech.

Le sigh.

It's times like this I wish they either have Sheppard date a completely random girl that isn't Weir or Teyla, or put Teyla and Weir together more on the show, that way the gap there is at least pulled together more and both the Teyla and the Weir fans can at least exist peacefully and still have their preference on who should be with Sheppard (although I say neither because they're both too good for him ;) ). I mean, it's no wonder both ships are attacking the other's female--the two aren't bonding on the show as it is! What makes you think the fans are going to do the same?

*steps off soap box*

But yes, word, word, word to what you said. I'd rather have intelligent conversation than a bitch fest. I'm not a slash fan at all, but it sure does look peaceful over there....

Re: SGA Fandom Divide

[veracity]

Wow, it's like the HP Great Divide all over again (or before that: Buffy/Spike or Buffy/Angel; Justin/JC -they're a split group all their own). *shakes head* If you don't like a pairing, don't read it and go back to what you enjoy. I see no point in bashing something like that. It's stupid and a waste of time.

By the way, I like Teyla (which I've seen you over there, so I'm fairly sure you know that) *and* Ford, and lord knows I rarely find friendship fic about them, so you know. I'd rather people write more friendship, gen, team fics more. Give me more of a "why do you see it this way" view. *shakes head* Ships just ruin everything and create wank.

Re: SGA Fandom Divide

[anjak-j.livejournal.com]

Ship on GW is way too militant and OTT for me. As you said, it's a TV show - it's supposed to be fun - methinks a lot of these people are way too involved in their fandom.

The things that have been said to validate ship are unbelievable, and in some cases, downright despicable. And I'm not just talking about the women - I actually find it quite bizarre that there are people who ship for Sheppard with Teyla or Weir who actively despise his character and take every opportunity to have a pop at him. Like, WHY??? And further to that, they don't stop at the characters either - some idiot actually started rumours about Joe's private life...

And I'm informed the S3 wank-fest is already well underway - before any of the eps have aired...