I absolutely hate it when slash fics feel like they gotta tear down the character’s previous relationship with a girl in some way.

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Title:	untitled
Creator:	tofixtheshadows
Date(s):	2014-12-06
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Fandom:
Topic:	Misogyny in Fandom, Women and Slash
External Links:	https://www.tumblr.com/tofixtheshadows/104464915291
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I absolutely hate it when slash fics feel like they gotta tear down the character’s previous relationship with a girl in some way is a tumblr post by tofixtheshadows

Original post

I absolutely hate it when slash fics feel like they gotta tear down the character’s previous relationship with a girl in some way. Like it doesn’t matter if they were canonically having some truly fantastic sex just a few episodes ago, dude’s gonna hook up in the fic with another dude and it’ll be all “it was never this good with HER” or some shit about how it feels more ~right~ somehow.

It’s vaguely biphobic, misogynistic, and invalidates what were often perfectly healthy relationships with women while subconsciously perpetuating the idea that you can’t love more than one person in your lifetime. That girl you were absolutely in love with a few months ago? Yeah that was nice but THIS love with your new boyfriend is obviously SO MUCH MORE REAL.

Why is this necessary? Why can’t you just respect these relationships and the female characters who were an important part of this male character’s life? As a writer, you’re in control of the world you’re building, so they literally pose no threat to you. Grow up.

Responses

#i hate seeing ladies in fic getting compared unfavorably to dudes#and the weird body-hating way it often happens#like when the main dude is having sex with another dude#and he’s like WOW MANLY MCBUTCHFACE HERE IS ALL HARD MUSCLE#SO DIFFERENT FROM MY EX-GIRLFRIEND FLOWER MCWOMANHIPS’S SOFT SUFFOCATING CURVES#like from fic you would think that men are made of concrete#and women are a subspecies of jellyfish (x)

Also, please stop making the girlfriends suddenly horrible human beings. Don’t villainize the girls just for the sake of perpetuating your slash ship. If you have to invalidate a previous relationship to make this one “better” or “more real”, you’re doing it wrong. #something I encounter too often #with percico and jercy #please stop #slash

Yes. This. This has been bugging me about Slashfic and the writers who write it. for DECADES. I am and and have been for years, literally at the point where I if I see a post bashing or so much as even criticize a female character my first thought is “So which ship is she in the way of?”.

This is the same problem I see even in het fics where the previous girl friend or female sexual partner’s body & character is torn down because THIS GIRL HE’s WITH IS SO MUCH MOAWAR. Like what? They’re 2 different people, why does the character need to compare like they’re Donald Trump collecting paid escorts?

Thing is? This is an eternal thing in fic and while I agree whole fucking heartedly that it’s presence in slash is CANCER let’s not forget that this is a subset of a trope called ‘Ron the Death Eater’.

Yes. The thing besides bad grammar that will get me to click out of a fic really quickly is when the female characters who express attraction to or interest in the male main love interest are super annoying or simpering and fawning and don’t know the real guy. Whereas the male main character’s attraction is Soulful and Profound and Respectful. Fuck that shit. #fanfic problems #misogyny #internalized misogyny #biphobia #bad writing #pet peeves

I hate this so much too, especially since the majority of Fanfiction writers are female, and their disparaging words not only hurt the way other girls who read this works, but also themselves.

I remember 10-15 years ago on LJ there was this whole insistence that you MUST deal with the canon relationships in your fics somehow. In canon A and B are married? Well your A/C fic MUST address A/B somehow or it's BAD WRITING and you're A BAD PERSON for writing it. This is the progression of that, I feel.

Oh my god. This. I absolutely hate it when people who ship Drarry drag Ginny through the mud to make it happen.

It’s not necessary.

“Being with Ginny was great, but now I’m thinking that being with Draco is better.” K? Great.

Also, making Harry gay doesn’t mean he needs a whole new friend group. Making all the Weasleys homophonic is really making me sad.

This is one of the most common things to find in het fics, too, when they involve characters who have been in previous relationships, either canonically or as part of an AU backstory.

THIS. And when they harp on about low-cut dresses and shirts and women’s makeup, I SWEAR TO GOD.

I agree, especially when a fic writes a female character waaaaaaay outside of character in order to bash them....look it’s a fic, I’m reading it for the drarry, AUs where harry was never with Ginny and they’re great friends are awesome, but when Ginny is written as a self centered flaming you-know-what...it turns me off of the fic. I mean look I enjoy all of the Harry Potter characters and don’t wish to read them as incredibly unlovable and inlikable characters 🤷‍♂️

Or the erasing of said woman, like she never existed or it’s totally out of the picture, not even a tiny mention in spite of said lady presence and influence being pretty big in the life of said guy. Or make her this villanous bitch who has hurt the poor fellow so he can be rescued by this amazing sexy new guy, even when canon stablish that the lady in question is a kind person.

Thanks but no thanks.

#fandoom #mcu

Oh my gosh, I hate this.

I remember it was a huge problem in the Yugioh fandom, to the point where people would put “Tea/Anzu bashing” in the friggin description. I hate it so much. Not only does she and Yugi have huge crushes on each other they are best friends. Why can’t you just emphasize the platonic relationship between them instead of making her a bitch or a punching bag?

Also a thing for almost any of Dean Winchester’s previous female partners. Dean can date Cass without being gay, and it doesn’t make Lisa or any of his past girlfriends or flings rancid bitches.

This misogyny and bi erasure is so exhausting and it drives me up the wall.

In my (Veeeeery limited) experience with Royed, Winry doesn’t get too much flack. She A) has a role in the story, but doesn’t really interact much with Ed, B) Is in a relationship with someone else, usually Al, or C) isn’t in the story at all. Too bad I can’t say the same for Drarry... 😒

It’s weird how it’s become so normalized to tear down a (usually female) ex. I remember reading some Superman/Batman fics, which always treated Lois pretty well even though she was peripheral to the whole dynamic (one of the stories shipped her with Diana, IIRC). And there were people in the comments going on about how Lois was the worst and Clark would never settle for her, which always made me so uncomfortable for the author, who clearly liked her. I don’t know where we got the idea that if a ship warms our heart, anyone who’s part of a different ship has to be the Literal Worst.