The last little love song on this planet.

[essbeejay]

Closing Statements. Or, Why I Am Such A Huge Nerd About This Shit.

Allow me to confess this one thing: I don't ship anymore. I know it makes no sense. But I don't. At least, not as it pertains to fandom. The books I read now and the shows I watch now—while I may love certain characters, and want to see two characters get together, the desire to get on the internet and engage in fandom and read/write fanfic (not just ship!fic, but any fanfic) has completely left me. No matter how much I may enjoy a show/book, I don't derive that sort of joy out of playing with the text of origin anymore.

Except for this one.

And seriously? I don't know why that is! I don't know why I cling to PpG so tightly. I mean, all my other fandoms have fallen by the wayside (of which there were very few in the first place). I was out of Teen Titans before the show was done, I had that short venture into TMNT that didn't go anywhere and isn't likely to, and I'd stopped reading H/D long before the seventh book came out. (At least, I stopped reading everything that didn't have Maya's name slapped on it.)

The stuff I'm into now—like, would I love to see more Rachel/Puck? Hit me. (And btw, it's actually happening!) Do I giggle over Tiffany Aching's tingles of romance in her third book? Last I checked, the sky was still blue. (Well, grey-blue from all the pollution, but anyway.) When I heard about the Avatar (NOT THAT SHIT MOVIE WITH THE NINE-FOOT TALL BLUE CAT PEOPLE) ship!wars between Kataang and Zutara, did I shit a brick when the one I thought less likely happened in canon? While I wasn't involved in the fandom and was removed from all that crazy drama, you bet your fucking firstborn child I did. Was it unfair to introduce Chuck to someone as awesome as Lou and then have the whole thing crash and burn and never mention her again? Yes it was >:C And how much did I want Madarame to confess to Kasukabe (God, so much!!!) in Genshiken, or for Eri to have an epiphany about Harima in School Rumble? Does my frequent use of the italics tag make it obvious?!?! Because it should!!!

And yet I'm done with fanfic. I don't seek any out or have any desire to write any, even if it's revisionist. The bug has left me.

Except, as I mentioned, for this one.

Maybe I just love it too much to let it go. I love the Girls, I'll never stop loving them! (If the gallons of money I've poured into filling my limited living space with their bug-eyed likeness has anything to say about it, that is.) Besides how funny the show was, how the art style was just my type of aesthetic, how I loved its use of color and the visual gags and the character acting... I loved the Girls. I loved seeing girls—kids—like that on TV.

And as for shipping PpG/RrB... you know, it wouldn't happen now. It wouldn't have happened at any point within the past few years, since the show entered its last few seasons and went off the air. But they got me early. And in playing with the original text in my head, the Boys grew into characters in their own right, characters that I became very attached to and started to love and wouldn't dream of letting go. (Although they'll never, ever surpass the girls.) Yeah, it proves that their characterizations are pretty much fanon. Though I will argue (and point you to each respective section of this long-ass essay) that those fanon characterizations have some basis in canon, as much as Mojo Jojo can be portrayed as a sympathetic villain worthy of Blossom's love, or Buttercup can be portrayed as coming to terms with her very non-heterosexual feelings towards Princess, or Him can be portrayed as subconsciously wanting love and finding it in Bubbles despite being the Most Evil Being of All Time, or Ace can be portrayed as a guy roughened by years of hardship and trying to hold his gang (the “kids”) together while Buttercup looks on and falls for him again in the process.

You can't define any one interpretation as being superior to the other except as it pertains to you. There is nothing out there that tells you you cannot ship or believe what you like and be happy about it. So ship what you like. Ship what makes you happy. And be good to each other. We're all here because we love the show. At the very least, that proves we all have excellent, excellent taste :)

I don't know how long I'll stick around (though it's now just over eight years and counting, which is an embarrassingly damn long time), and to be frank, I'm a little apprehensive that spending too much time here will hurt anything original I try to come up with. But I'm not ready to go yet, and I'm not ready to let go of these characters that I love so much, even though they aren't mine. Someday I'll have my own that make me ten times happier than the Girls and the Boys.

But I'm happy now, so it'll be awhile yet.

ETA: Here's the Master ToC/Link list for all the individual bits of this essay.

0. Ridiculous rambling intro. Or, An Epic Effigy of Burning Epicness.
I. Real intro! Or, Me and Buttercup and Brick and Every-other-fucking-body-you-know.

Disclaimer. Or, Dude, If You're Going to Read Any Part of This, Please Read This, Too.

II. Why PpG/RrB has so much appeal. Or, Who Are All These Idiots, What the Fuck Are They Doing in My Fandom, and Why Won't They Leave Already?!?!

II.a. The Issue of Counterparts. Or, If You Want to Get Academic About It, “Freud Has Been Discredited, But Jung Still Has His Merits.”

II.b. The Measure of a Non-Human. Or, Girls and Boys and Evil Brain Monkeys.

*Digression: Proximity Begets A Relationship.

II.c. Debunking the Evil Absolute Theorem. Or, Boys Will be Boys, Which is to Say, Dickheads.

III. The Blues. Or, I'm Just a Kid, but I LOVE HER, DAMMIT.

III.a. The Hair of Gold Heroine. Or, Everybody Loves a Martyr.

III.b. Abel Trying to be Cain. Or, A Lonely Heart Like Pagliacci.

III.c. I was a Quick, Wet, Boy... Or, Are You My Mother?

IV. The Greens. Or, The Jerkass Being Dommed by the Hot Amazon (and Subconsciously Enjoying It.)

IV.a. Anti-Girl, Tsundere, and Middle Child All Rolled into One. Or, A Girl Who Could Really Use a Hug. No, Really.

IV.b. Say Hello, Insanity. Or, Boys With Mental Issues Should Not Have Superpowers.

IV.c. You're Pulling Out the Best of Me (Which Never, Ever Comes). Or, Gutting Each Other Like Fish. Literally.

V. The Reds. Or, When An Emotionally Stunted Dickbag Loves A Tsundere.

V.a. Second Best to None, Son. Or, A Girl Possessed By Noble Heart.

V.b. Let Me See Just Who I Will Become. Or, I Am A Very Special Fucking Snowflake, Damn It!

V.c. 99 Problems (And A Bitch Makes 100). Or, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room.

VI. Closing Statements. Or, Why I Am Such A Huge Nerd About This Shit.

ETA 2: Holy shit the mere act of typing that all out makes it look massive D8)

Comments

[alement.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way, there's just something about the little freaks. They are the only fandom I'll write for, and probably the only one I'll draw for. It's because this show never gets old. I loved the gags and stories when I was a kid, and I still do, but in a different way. The Powerpuff Girls grew up with me, I didn't turn into a teenager and suddenly become too old for them.

We have a crazy fandom, but I love that part of it too. I keep getting reintroduced to amazing shows like Samurai Jack(Thank you Aku/Blossom) and I've ended up loving things I used to hate(like the teen titans, thank you Bubbles/Beast Boy.) Never think down on yourself for liking this show!

All pairings are pretty much complete fanon. everyone characterizes the girls differently. A couple of my friends think Bubbles is a flat stereotype, while I think she's a bipolar wonder with so much potential. When I write fanfiction, I do it to make people feel something. I've been told my writing is a bit confusing, but I know in that moment the people reading forget about pairings and preferences. They end up focusing on the characters and the story itself, the pairing ends up being a guideline.

But you know, right now I'm writing an epic that focuses on Bubbles. I won't write Bubbles for a long time after I finish it, so right now I'm putting all my energy is making Bubbles' character shine though. It's the process~

Since I've ended up re-writing my whole perspective on the girls/boys' personalities, youdon't get a little mini-essay on the reds :C. YOu can have this comment right here though, which is probably better.

[essbeejay.livejournal.com]

The Powerpuff Girls grew up with me, I didn't turn into a teenager and suddenly become too old for them.

THIS. ♥!

Alas, no mini-essay! I am so much disappoint. (Not to knock receipt of your comment, because I consider it very tasty and wonderful indeed!) But I will be curious to hear about your new perspective on them when you are ready :D

[alement.livejournal.com]

<3 Indeed!


I had to end up characterizing some characters I never even though about before. Since every villain not only changes the girls(and the boys by extension) and I need to give these characters their own personality, sometimes a rewrite is in order! I do think this is a good thing, a few years ago I never would have thought about this stuff.

[alicornmoon.livejournal.com]

I was already a teenager when it started and that has pretty much the same effect IMHO :3. The funny thing is all of us in high school never thought of it as a show for little kids at all, even though the PPG were five. Their ages were like a footnote to how happy and dark the show was at the same time...
I still have a hard time thinking of it as a show for little kids, not even with the 'adult' jokes put into account (most of which I and my friends as less hardcore fans never thought of anyway) for some reason....

[essbeejay.livejournal.com]

McCracken never set out to make a show for little kids - he's stated that he just set out to make something he would enjoy watching. Obviously it worked out fantastically :)

[alement.livejournal.com]

I can understand that, the show is meant for everyone who can enjoy it. It was the only cartoon my older brother/parents never minded watching with me. I've also noticed that age doesn't play as big of a part as everyone think it does. Just because Cartoon Network slapped an big kid label on it doesn't mean that's what everyone will follow.