Fandom musings...and five basic rules that I am trying very very hard to follow this year forward

Much nicer day - lovely outside, foot felt better, and I got stuff done. Also got a break from work. Foot is still tender and a bit on the fragile side, but I could walk on it, just very very slowly and not too far. This is of the good.

( regarding my interest in Crave )

Regarding fandoms? I've lurked in many, only actively participated in one. ( my take on fandom...or past experience with them - or a long-ass way of explaining how people's tastes differ and how they want different things, which is admittedly frustrating to all concerned... )

This brings me to five basic rules for playing/surviving in ANY fandom, which no one seems to follow including me (sigh, I've broken all of these, guys and gals, and paid dearly for doing so, but hey, I'm getting much much better...(pats self on back) ) - I was going to do ten, but drew a blank.

1. Respect the other person's perspective even if you completely and utterly hate it and disagree with it and think it is insane troll logic. Respect it! Respect it! Respect it!

2. Be careful about making assumptions regarding other fans.

3. If a fan pisses you off - do not engage. Repeat - do not engage. No good can come of it.

4. Do not post a rant about another fan in your livejournal or fanboard or elsewhere. You don't know who that fan's friends are. [Also it is probably wise to avoid posting rants about ships and characters that other fans who happen to be on your flist adore to pieces - at least not without sufficient cut-tagging and warning notices. Not to mention about shippers that happen to be friends of yours and read you. Filters also work, but again, you don't know who ships what.]

5. Remember don't take anything said in a fan discussion personally. They don't hate you, they hate your perspective. It's not you they disagree with or are judging, it is your perspective.
It's your perspective they are attempting to change or understand or skewer. Not you. They don't know you. You aren't pissing them off, it is your perspective that is.

[Oh rule number 6 - if you hate fanfic, don't get fanfic, don't like it, or despise someone else's fanfic...probably best to keep it to yourself. Also stealing, reprinting to other fans without permission, or plagarizing is not kosher. Fanfic is a fan's baby. They put effort into it. Spit. Sweat. Etc. It would be like spitting on your friend's kid - okay maybe spitting is a bit extreme, telling your friend that his/her kid is an ugly brat. Don't do it.]

Diverse Female Characters on TV

Saw somewhere on the lj this week a post decrying the lack of diverse women roles in tv. And at first I thought, yeah, they are right, tv is an evil male dominated world with no cool women, except male fantasy figures or super-chicks or pretty models - good for the guys. Then, I gave myself a task - come up with five tv shows and five tv show characters, female, that aren't male fantasy and are diverse and are cool and interesting and I can identify with on some level. And guess what? I came up with a lot more than that. [ETC: Wasn't very clear about this, apparently...what I was reacting to was a post that decried the lack of diverse women's roles - by that I mean women who are clearly not just cast for male fantasy or to support the male character, or to attract the male audience, who are not say "pretty" or "one type" - such as the character of Sarah on Chuck or Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Fiona on Burn Notice - those were three of the characters referenced. In short, where are the Hurley's, Sheldon's, Leonard's, Raj's and Topher's for women?? My first response was, huh, they are right. There are none. Then I thought, can I challenge that assumption/generalization? And that's what brought about the list below. The choice of Juliet from Lost and V - is that this is a woman who was not just about the man, she affected change in both series and stood in her own right, sure pretty, but no super-powers, and was ordinary, an FBI agent with a son, or a fertility specialist who had bad luck in romance. Other, better choices, include Chandra Wilson's Bailey, a surgeon on Grey's Anatomy, who is short, black, and heavy-set, and over the age of 30. Tough as nails. And has won an Emmy for her role.]

Here's my list:
( list of strong and interesting female characters without superpowers on tv shows and who aren't eye candy )

But...there are strong women in those genres...here's a list of them: (and yes, I know, I misspelled all their names...no time or patience to look them up, you will just have to deal. I've left off anyone with clear super-powers such as Buffy or Willow.)


Areyn Sun in Farscape.

Delenne in B5

Major Ivanov in B5

Major Kira in DS9

Captain Janeway in Voyager, as played by Kate Mulgrew (of Ryan's Hope, sigh, I've always loved Kate Mulgrew - I grew up watching her. She was also notable in the Manions of America and in
Mrs. Columbo)

Laura Roslynn/Starbuck/Sharon/Athena/Six/DeAnna/Ellen Tigh - BSG

Donna Noble and Dr. River Song in Doctor Who

Gwen and the ladies of Torchwood, including Children of Torchwood = whose names escape me, but if you can supply, duly appreciated.

Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Macgnus in Sanctuary

the lead female role in The Middleman (whose character name I can't remember but I adored)

Rose - in the TV series Lost, rarely seen, but a heavy set, older, black woman.

Sarah Connor - in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

The ghost - in Being Human