squick me baby one more time

[la_belle_laide]

So we've established that I love hitrecord, the indie-art community that is the brainchild of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his talented brother and some friends. Right? I love looking at the art, the short videos, listening to the songs and uploading my own nonsense that's never really found a place before.

And, we've established that I thought Inception was nifty and that while most everyone else came out of the theater going "OMFG MINDBENDER, BEST MOVIE EVERRRRR!" I came away with, "I wonder if Arthur and Eames ever did it?"

And it's probably a given that I frequent DeviantArt for fanart, look at fics, and basically troll for pretty art. Because that's where fandom shines: entertainment beyond the original, being fun, pretty, and occasionally hilarious.

But the other day, someone uploaded her Inception art to hitrecord. Which, okay, cool, yeah? I think? (Because I'm not sure how much fanartists are legally allowed to play with the objects of their affection, I mean it terms of copyright and stuff, and hitrecord is pretty adamant on everything being 100% original.)

But whatever, that's not even my main issue with it. My main issue is that she uploaded straight up smut of Arthur and Eames. And I'm like WHAAAAAAAAT.

D: D: D: D: D: THIS IS MY HORRIFIED FACE.

I've always gotten a giggle out of fandom and have always gleefully participated in it, but I have always, always drawn the line at real-person fiction. I own whatever barrier it is that separates the characters I love from the actors who portray them, and that goes both ways: I just have to roll my eyes when creators disallow fanworks of their characters because hello, they are not real. I respect the wishes of those creators, but I also walk the hell away, because I think they're being way too precious about something that's supposed to be fun, and shared. AND NOT REAL.

But on the flip side, since I clearly see the un-straddlable, insurmountable chasm between "fake character" and "real person with feelings," real person fic makes me want to vom, for real.

Fanart has always been a fave of mine, but I would so draw the line at posting erotic fanart of the character anywhere in the line of sight of the actors who had portrayed them. Because art lacks the context of written work, I think. In art (especially without clothes, you know? Because they can be a part of character definition and nowhere more-so than in Inception fandom!) the context becomes really hazy. And so it's possible that instead of seeing, you know, Eames and Arthur banging, you're really just looking at the faces of the two actors, you know, banging. There's no context. It's just naked people. Doing it.

I totally cop to having a hard drive full of fanart of my favorite fictional characters. I know that they are fictional characters in my head and I am really partial to drawings of people.

But now that it's been shoved in the face of the actor portraying one of the characters, hello, naked and screwing, I feel really squicky about it. Because OMG, IT'S HIS FACE, and to me that would be too weird to separate. Who wants to see their own face in a porno that they never signed up for?

Ugh, fandom. I like you but sometimes you squick me beyond. Ugh.