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jajalalaContinuing flo_nelja's femslash feb questions! Here's the original post with the questions
20) Do you like your femslash homophobia-free?
Hmm depends on my mood, but generally I lean towards at least acknowledging homophobia. I think at the very least heteronormativity and general confusion (perhaps a little fear) was present in my discovery, so I like to include aspects of that when writing F/F, especially when going for a grounded or realistic depiction, thought the amount of societal homophobia the gals face can vary depending on the piece, mood, and goals of writing. It can add a delightful splash of drama, of course, which I find makes for a more engaging read. I'll admit it can get tiresome though, especially when the fight against homophobia or whatever seems to overshadow a lot of the relationship itself (though again, sometimes that's part of the point of the story).
A completely homophobia-free setting can be very refreshing though. Steven Universe, She-ra, and The Owl House come to mind (though idk too much about The Owl House but I've gotten the impression there's not a lot of comment in canon on the F/F?), where bypassing homophobia allows you to just focus on the relationships and enjoy the characters. I think that's great and enjoy those shows! But current society exists, and to me part of the wlw experience (especially realizing one is wlw) is about struggling with societal pressures, so I generally enjoy media/fic that acknowledges that exists.
21) Thoughts about lesbian tragedy and bad endings?
No thank you! I do sort of get it (The Revolutionary Girl Utena series ending comes to mind... but even that, while tragic, is bittersweet and has a vague positive tilt to it) but life is hard enough already, I usually go to fiction to escape! Also fuck you Joss Whedon for what you did to Willow/Tara.
22) Thoughts about (purely fictional!) lesbian unhealthy relationships?
They can be very juicy. I have my limits, but I enjoy a bit of a fucked-up dynamic now and again, it's the spice of life! Especially love a gal who's hopelessly devoted to a woman who is a villain (or even mistreats her a little).
23) Historical, fantasy or sci-fi? (or, if none of the above, what and why?)
Hmm historical I find kind of hard 'cause I hate history (I struggle so hard keeping dates/time periods straight, it's like water through a colander in my brain), but fantasy and sci-fi I enjoy the freshness magic and advanced tech can bring!
24) A time where a canon really surprised you, in a good (and femslash) way
This is gonna be specific but Catra/Adora... not the kiss, even, but specifically the final scene where Catra is reaching out to Adora in that techno coffin space... I saw that and I was like "!!!!!! A REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA REFEERENCE??? IN MY NETFLIX CARTOON??? IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK!!" I just loved seeing that and feeling a strange sort of connection across medias... Like I saw Utena/Anthy and had a lot of feelings, but also the creator for this big beautiful fresh new cartoon also saw Utena/Anthy and had a lot of feelings about it too.
25) A time where a canon really disappointed you (in a femslash or lack of femslash way)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Willow/Tara. That's all I'll say on that.
26) What do you love the most, and what do you love the least, about femslash fans?
Love the most: The creativity and love that goes into it! I'm also just generally a big fan of women-centered media, so I love when girls get the spotlight, especially for media where they're often shafted or underlooked.
Love the least: Absolutely no offense intended if this is you, I do this myself sometimes too, but like... I think the pure fluff and toothlessness of some fan creations disappoints me. There are some works that I'm like "I want to like and support you... but there's so little there." And although gals often aren't given great canon characterization, sometimes I read a fic and I'm like "This didn't resemble the canon character at all, and didn't make sense in any canon way." It's like sometimes just reading a random fluff fic where it feels like the girls names were find-and-replaced with "Girl A" and "Girl B". As frustrating as canon is, I often like at least some canon retained, otherwise I'd be reading original fic instead!
I think the best descriptor might be that I like fics that are "page-turners", you keep turning the page to find out what happens next. Whether it's because it's so enjoyable and funny that you want to read more, or there's some misunderstanding/drama that needs to be resolved, or just cliffhangers and compelling stories in general. I feel like a lot of F/F fics are just two girls like, hanging out... and I'm sure that's great for folks who like to read that, but I get bored of it.
(Disclaimer I'm currently most involve in a shounen manga fandom... so that may be affecting the types of F/F I generally run into.)
27) Very last time you encountered canon femslash. Was it a surprise or were you looking for it?
Hmm my memory ain't great... but perhaps The Owl House? I haven't finished it, but I was delighted when the Grom episode ended with a pretty explicit acknowledgement of one of the girls having a crush on the other. Not a surprise per se, since I started watching it because I heard that was the case, but I was a little surprised at how fast it became clear and explicit! Especially coming from a lot of other cartoons/shows where that sort of thing gets squeezed into the last episode/season or takes a long time to go beyond subtext... it makes me happy that the cultural landscape has changed to make it easier for creators to have canonical F/F!
28) Now answer the important question about femslash I've forgotten to ask.
Favorite dynamics? Hoo boy.
I love a switcheroo, so I love a nice girl and mean girl, especially if (in perhaps a sexier context) the nice girl gets to dom and the mean girl is a bit of a bratty sub.
This was a delight to do, thank youflo_nelja for coming up with the questions, it was fun and made me think!
flo_nelja's femslash feb questions! Here's the original post with the questions20) Do you like your femslash homophobia-free?
Hmm depends on my mood, but generally I lean towards at least acknowledging homophobia. I think at the very least heteronormativity and general confusion (perhaps a little fear) was present in my discovery, so I like to include aspects of that when writing F/F, especially when going for a grounded or realistic depiction, thought the amount of societal homophobia the gals face can vary depending on the piece, mood, and goals of writing. It can add a delightful splash of drama, of course, which I find makes for a more engaging read. I'll admit it can get tiresome though, especially when the fight against homophobia or whatever seems to overshadow a lot of the relationship itself (though again, sometimes that's part of the point of the story).
A completely homophobia-free setting can be very refreshing though. Steven Universe, She-ra, and The Owl House come to mind (though idk too much about The Owl House but I've gotten the impression there's not a lot of comment in canon on the F/F?), where bypassing homophobia allows you to just focus on the relationships and enjoy the characters. I think that's great and enjoy those shows! But current society exists, and to me part of the wlw experience (especially realizing one is wlw) is about struggling with societal pressures, so I generally enjoy media/fic that acknowledges that exists.
21) Thoughts about lesbian tragedy and bad endings?
No thank you! I do sort of get it (The Revolutionary Girl Utena series ending comes to mind... but even that, while tragic, is bittersweet and has a vague positive tilt to it) but life is hard enough already, I usually go to fiction to escape! Also fuck you Joss Whedon for what you did to Willow/Tara.
22) Thoughts about (purely fictional!) lesbian unhealthy relationships?
They can be very juicy. I have my limits, but I enjoy a bit of a fucked-up dynamic now and again, it's the spice of life! Especially love a gal who's hopelessly devoted to a woman who is a villain (or even mistreats her a little).
23) Historical, fantasy or sci-fi? (or, if none of the above, what and why?)
Hmm historical I find kind of hard 'cause I hate history (I struggle so hard keeping dates/time periods straight, it's like water through a colander in my brain), but fantasy and sci-fi I enjoy the freshness magic and advanced tech can bring!
24) A time where a canon really surprised you, in a good (and femslash) way
This is gonna be specific but Catra/Adora... not the kiss, even, but specifically the final scene where Catra is reaching out to Adora in that techno coffin space... I saw that and I was like "!!!!!! A REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA REFEERENCE??? IN MY NETFLIX CARTOON??? IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK!!" I just loved seeing that and feeling a strange sort of connection across medias... Like I saw Utena/Anthy and had a lot of feelings, but also the creator for this big beautiful fresh new cartoon also saw Utena/Anthy and had a lot of feelings about it too.
25) A time where a canon really disappointed you (in a femslash or lack of femslash way)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Willow/Tara. That's all I'll say on that.
26) What do you love the most, and what do you love the least, about femslash fans?
Love the most: The creativity and love that goes into it! I'm also just generally a big fan of women-centered media, so I love when girls get the spotlight, especially for media where they're often shafted or underlooked.
Love the least: Absolutely no offense intended if this is you, I do this myself sometimes too, but like... I think the pure fluff and toothlessness of some fan creations disappoints me. There are some works that I'm like "I want to like and support you... but there's so little there." And although gals often aren't given great canon characterization, sometimes I read a fic and I'm like "This didn't resemble the canon character at all, and didn't make sense in any canon way." It's like sometimes just reading a random fluff fic where it feels like the girls names were find-and-replaced with "Girl A" and "Girl B". As frustrating as canon is, I often like at least some canon retained, otherwise I'd be reading original fic instead!
I think the best descriptor might be that I like fics that are "page-turners", you keep turning the page to find out what happens next. Whether it's because it's so enjoyable and funny that you want to read more, or there's some misunderstanding/drama that needs to be resolved, or just cliffhangers and compelling stories in general. I feel like a lot of F/F fics are just two girls like, hanging out... and I'm sure that's great for folks who like to read that, but I get bored of it.
(Disclaimer I'm currently most involve in a shounen manga fandom... so that may be affecting the types of F/F I generally run into.)
27) Very last time you encountered canon femslash. Was it a surprise or were you looking for it?
Hmm my memory ain't great... but perhaps The Owl House? I haven't finished it, but I was delighted when the Grom episode ended with a pretty explicit acknowledgement of one of the girls having a crush on the other. Not a surprise per se, since I started watching it because I heard that was the case, but I was a little surprised at how fast it became clear and explicit! Especially coming from a lot of other cartoons/shows where that sort of thing gets squeezed into the last episode/season or takes a long time to go beyond subtext... it makes me happy that the cultural landscape has changed to make it easier for creators to have canonical F/F!
28) Now answer the important question about femslash I've forgotten to ask.
Favorite dynamics? Hoo boy.
I love a switcheroo, so I love a nice girl and mean girl, especially if (in perhaps a sexier context) the nice girl gets to dom and the mean girl is a bit of a bratty sub.
This was a delight to do, thank you
flo_nelja for coming up with the questions, it was fun and made me think!
no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 08:19 am (UTC)Like don't get me wrong I love fluff and I have a lot of fluffy one-shots of my ships, even if not much f/f in there yet... but I really understand how frustrating it is when it's the only thing on the menu!! Someone, one needs a side of plot to lead to their fluff dessert or whatever 😂
Also the nice/mean character ships are always a good dynamic!! Especially when it's not as straightforward as it might first look :D (Like the nice character can be a lil' mean, too.) So much fun to play with.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 01:16 pm (UTC)I love this too!
no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 01:53 pm (UTC)Agreed re: homophobia! Sometimes you just wanna see characters overcoming it and being happy in spite of it.
And yeah, the "yuri is the purest form of love" types are super annoying :/ It's like, they perceive women as unable to be dark/fucked-up/messy. I write a lot of fluff so I get how it's easier to write it, but at a certain point you start wanting non-fluff, y'know?
no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 03:53 pm (UTC)(Hehehe yess it's a delightful dynamic, reversal of expectations gives me life)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-01 04:14 pm (UTC)And I do think there's value in fluff (write some myself as well), but it just frustrates me when it feels like there's nothing else available (especially compared to M/M and M/F works, which get to have a lot more variety...)