What's weird?

[lobelia321]

I'm normally mild-mannered and meek on LJ but this has not been a good day (nor a good month), so herein is my first rant.



People keep telling me the men I pick in this fandom are weird. People keep telling me I'm weird for liking these men and suspect me of doing it for effect.

Here's my response in rant form:


a) They're not weird.
There is no earthly reason why, for example, Andy Serkis is any more 'weird' than Orlando Bloom. He's just a guy in the same movie we're all obsessing about. If anyone's weird, it's us who can't stop sticking these men into bed with each other.

b) People think someone's weird if i) he's rarely seen, ii) he's rarely slashed, iii) he's not pretty and 23, iv) he's not manly and 42, v) he's over 50, vi) he doesn't appear in front of the camera 75 percent of the time, vii) he's shorter than 5 feet, viii) he's not Anglo-Saxon.

To me, that doeth not weirdness constitute. That just shows the limitations of fanon.

c) These people are not weird. Andy Serkis, for example, is gorgeous. Look at those eyes!!! (see pic below)

d) I also like mainstream guys (ahem). To me, the difference between drooling over Dom and drooling over Andy is that when I'm drooling over Dom it's a mass orgy: I'm joined by about 5 zillion others around the globe. When I'm drooling over Andy, I have to convince-convince-convince and probably write 13 fics with him in it just to get people on board.

e) It is true that I do try to *post* stuff about the non-mainstream guys because most others tend to neglect them. So if there's a choice of linking Orli /Karl (linked by a dozen others already) or linking Andy, I'll go for Andy.

f) What is wrong with being weird, anyway? (Once we have established a workable definition of the very malleable and subjective term 'weird'.)

g) I suspect that the people who say 'weird' secretly delight in the 'weird' and project it outward onto somebody else.

h) Anyone who thinks slashing a soft toy is weirder than thinking Elijah is gay because he wears a yellow tie and stands next to Dom, um, should re-think.

i) I love the weird. I embrace the weird. But I don't like to be the lightning rod for everyone's repressions about weirdness.

Comments

[lush-rimbaud.livejournal.com]

I suppose I do think of some of your pairings as weird, but not weird like eating babies or something. Weird, like cool. Weirdness is a good thing.

[thamiris.livejournal.com]

You go, girl! I don't know much about LoTR, RPS or otherwise, but I did watch the special on the WB on Wednesday night (because Michael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex, was narrating it), and I thought that this Andy Serkis guy was way hot! (Well, him and Viggo.)

Well, I like the "weird"

[andraste-oz.livejournal.com]

I prefer the interesting to the pretty. And if it wasn't for you, I'd never have read Billy/Karl, or Dom/Karl, or *anything* with Bernard or Richard or, oooh, lots of people. And I have read those and enjoyed them and they're part of my regular "good fanfic I keep" rotation. I'd rather read something interesting and well-written involving something a bit less usual than yet another Orli/Viggo involving paintings and poetry :)

Your stuff is a breath of fresh air in the fandom, frankly, and we need it. Pish to those people who use the W word.

[http://users.livejournal.com/nixxie_/]

Weird is in the eye of the beholder, I remember when no-one had heard of Karl/Dave/Harry/Marton etc and you had to explain who each was in your fics headrers...now they are considered mainstream.

I embrace the weird and the wonderfull mainly because the weird _are_ wonderful. *LOL*

Anybody wanting to encourage in the weirdness go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rarepairs/ where weird is normal. Feel free to post all you want!

[jb_slasher]

I support you on this. And you especially slashing our little Richard here.. Go right ahead. He's cool. ;)

[dolores.livejournal.com]

Go you! Slash shouldn't be about preconceived notions of pretty, so good on you for breaking new ground. And dude, that pic of Andy? So looks like how I imagine Elijah will in 15 or 20 years. Heh.

[tvillingar.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I guess in my mind, 'weird' equals 'unusual'. Your stories are unusual, unexpected delights, like finding a box of hand-made chocolate in the middle of all the factory products. (Not that I wouldn't eat both - I just savour hand-made more because it's a rare luxury.)

[alisalohv.livejournal.com]

Lobelia, I think that you are a wonderful writer and after meeting you in October, I found out that you're a wonderful person to talk to also. You were a lot of fun and very knowledgeable, especially in discussions of fandom. But I have to tell you, the following just reinforced for me why you are such a wonderful person:

b) People think someone's weird if i) he's rarely seen, ii) he's rarely slashed, iii) he's not pretty and 23, iv) he's not manly and 42, v) he's over 50, vi) he doesn't appear in front of the camera 75 percent of the time, vii) he's shorter than 5 feet, viii) he's not Anglo-Saxon.

To me, that doeth not weirdness constitute. That just shows the limitations of fanon.

I have never read truer words, not agreed with something so vehemently. It is the shortcomings of the people setting the 'fanon' standards, not the supposedly 'weird' people. It's not their hang-up. *smiles*


And last, but certainly not least:
h) Anyone who thinks slashing a soft toy is weirder than thinking Elijah is gay because he wears a yellow tie and stands next to Dom, um, should re-think.

*cracking up* I truly adore you. Thank you for this.

*hugs*

PS - I think that Andy Serkis is awesome and I can not wait to see him in TTT. I also find him attractive. Can I have my 'I Am Weird' t-shirt now? *winks*

[gabbyhope.livejournal.com]

Rant all you want, dear. You're a magnificent person, writer, human being, and because you're not orthodox with your slashy ways does not entitle someone to label you as "weird." I bet you that if every single one of those individuals who said you were went up to a random someone on the street and said, "I read and write stories in which actors shag each other silly," those people on the street would say, "That's weird. Freak."

I love how you're always willing to try something new. How you go for something completely YOU everytime. It's admirable to the nth degree and, wow, I wish I could be as fearless as you.

But screw them. Do what you do. You just remember that you're loved and appreciated. (And Andy Serkis *does* have lovely eyes! I should see some more of his movies after TTT, because I'm sure he's a brilliant actor... and I'd jump to read Andy slash. *hugsnuggles* )

Go you!

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

It's very hard for me to imagine anyone in this fandom seriously accusing anyone else of being weird. THAT'S weird! *g* Some of your pairings are unusual, sure, but that's part of what makes them fun.

People think someone's weird if i) he's rarely seen, ii) he's rarely slashed, iii) he's not pretty and 23, iv) he's not manly and 42, v) he's over 50, vi) he doesn't appear in front of the camera 75 percent of the time, vii) he's shorter than 5 feet, viii) he's not Anglo-Saxon.

To me, that doeth not weirdness constitute. That just shows the limitations of fanon.

Who makes these rules anyway? What sort of qualifications does one need to be an arbiter of "weird?"

Just keep doing what you're doing, because it's great! *pinches Andy's cheeks*

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

I called you weird. I'd do it again. Then again, I tend not to be friends with 'normal' people. *g*

Your pairings are unusual, your writing is unusual, you are unusual, and these are all very, very good things. Expanding the space, giving us more options, all the rest of it. Told you before, but I'm saying it out loud because it's true. You're wonderfully, wonderfully weird, and that's so much better than boring old mundane.

[freyafloyd.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.

Lobelia, I find your pairings unusual, but not weird.

I feel I have to admit that I have thought up many bunnies involving Tom Hardy and the father of one of the other BHD actors.

Can't write it of course, as it would be immoral. The weirdness I do not have a problem with.

I do understand why you feel the need to rant. I am suprised, and I'm ashamed to say, irritated by how conservative some slashers are, and how blinkered they are about how life is lived by people other than themselves. That is weird.

[cruisedirector]

Um, let me get this straight. *snerk* Other people who write RPS accuse you of being weird because, um, what they do is normal and what you do is not. Like, it is normal to assume that Lij and Dom are doing it and to send hostile notes to anyone who thinks it is possible to believe otherwise, but it is not normal to be attracted to Andy. Is that it?

This sort of reminds me of the letters I've seen from people who slash 13-year-old Harry and Draco complaining that RPS is perverted.
Don't let it worry ya, babe.

[rakshi.livejournal.com]

*cackles madly.. much like a woman I admire greatly (http://www.livejournal.com/users/araliesse/)*

I love this entire post.. and I love YOU!

Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

[azewewish.livejournal.com]

Amen, sistahfriend.

Hell, I still get flak for Harry & he's fucking gorgeous.

My next big project will actually feature Karl/John Leigh (he's playing Hama) as a side pairing.

Honestly, whoever tells you that you're odd (which, you are, but in the best way *winks*), needs to get a grip. And they need to remember that it's all about the relationships. The Fellowship of the cast.

But, more importantly, it's about writing what we feel.

So, write it.

I may not always agree with you (and what would be the fun in that), but you keep me entertained. Which is worth the world.

*hugs*

*odd, non fandom icon just for you*

[mystisblom.livejournal.com]

i love your storys and i think one of the best thing on them is that they are different they are not the normal stuff everyone could write (you know what i mean).
i think i would make the same choise like you i mean my first rps fic was so psycho that some of the german dom lij shipper where close to kill me cuz i disturbe their fluffy lij/dom thinking.
i like everything thats not like the normal stuff cuz i dont wanta be normall as well. so i hope you write some more of your great storys so i can read them :)
go on
becca

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

Not weird, but unexpected. And deliciously so. *gives you a box full of christmas dominos for being the writer that you are*

f) Nothing at all

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

where I come from, 'weird' is a compliment ... Let me rephrase that. I suspect 'weird' is often shorthand for 'I would never have thought of that'. Your weirdness, to me, is one of your many admirable qualities.

And it's not quantifiable: there is no 'weirdometer' with which to determine where Rover & Dom [oh! I just noticed the echo in that title ... am daft, and you are too clever by half] fits on the scale. Surreal, yeah. No weirder than the secret language of ties (and much, much healthier).

[crazybutsound]

Mmmm... I understand that you might be upset about comments like that. Personally, I don't think what you write is weird. It is definitely kinky, though. At least most times. You can't tell me slashing a plush toy isn't kinky as fuck, lol. But that's ok, that's not bad at all. If we're honest with ourselves, most of us have pretty kinky fantasies on a regular basis.

But anyway, I think maybe that's what some of the people who have called your pairings "weird" probably meant. They probably meant that your pairings are often pretty kinky. Which isn't to say that those guys shouldn't be slashed, though. I love you for slashing older guys, not as popular guys, etc... the only reason I believe not many of us do it is probably because it is so much easier to write a person so well known ; we kind of know how to write them. That Andy guy isn't bad looking or anything, but I'll be honest, I don't know him. Meaning I'd never be able to actually write him convincingly. Now if YOU can and do, all the more power to you. I'm sure I'll enjoy every line of the story you'll write about him.

h) Anyone who thinks slashing a soft toy is weirder than thinking Elijah is gay because he wears a yellow tie and stands next to Dom, um, should re-think.

Like I said before, slashing a plush toy is kinky. Now, thinking Elijah is gay BECAUSE he wears a blue tie and stands next to Dom is weird. I don't particularly like weird. Not in that case, because it tends to border on crazy/weird. But plush toys? Come on, we might not like to admit it but... who hasn't experimented with a couple of toys at the tender age where we start exploring our sexuality? I'd be very interested in hearing what a great number of dolls and other plush toys out there have to say about that... ;-) and that's NOT weird.

So yeah, I guess what I meant to say was... you go, girl! And if anybody gives you a hard time, point them out to me, I'll make sure to show them just how much weirder they are than you. ;-)