In light of the recent drama that has been going on with some of the other Stannis Facebook pages...I have some thoughts. This may seem somewhat harsh, but hear me out. For a long time, people have been saying that the Stannis fandom is nearly as bad or even as bad as the Dany fans and showfags many die hard Stannis fans detest. For a long time, I didnt believe it, and I certainly didnt want to believe it. But with some of the recent things that have been going on I cant help but find myself reconsidering my opinion on this. Honestly, its not the whole fandom. Id say at least 75% of the Stannis fans I see on Facebook (and even moreso on this page) are among the most intelligent and well read people in the ASOIAF fandom at large. Really most of you guys who come to this page are great. I actually tend to see this problem more with Stannis fan communities off Facebook than on it, though recently it seems to have seeped here as well. But enough deliberation... For starters, I think people have started to take Stannis Memetic Badass status in the series way too seriously. The Mannis memes and all that are great, but a certain faction of the fandom seems to have trouble differentiating between the memes and the character. Like people running around saying he could beat Victarion in single combat? Sorry, but no. The number of living characters in the series who could best Victarion in single combat could probably be counted on two hands if not one, and Stannis is definitely not one of them. Now when asked if Stannis is a better battle commander and startegist than Victarion, I think very few people would argue the contrary, but the point is people need to remember Stannis is not some over the top action hero. He is badass, but hes not invincible. He has strengths and weaknesses just like every other character, and when we forget that, we forget why we really love him in the first place. And then there are the fans who act like Stannis is the only character in the series who matters, that he is the main hero even though we are irritated by Dany, Jon, etc. fans who feel the same about their favorites. Stannis is my favorite character in the series hands down, and Id frankly be happier with him dying fending off The Others and never sitting the Iron Throne than him coming out the ultimate victor. Its more consistent with his character and development, with GRRMs comments on him being one of the few characters who truly understands the real threat, and in my opinion much more satisfying. We have to remember that this is A Song of Ice and Fire, not the Stannis the Mannis Chronicles. Stannis is just an (admittedly especially awesome) part of a universe and mythology way bigger than he is. I appreciate many of the characters and storylines in the series, including some who are in direct opposition to Stannis, and I dont feel I should be considered a bad fan for appreciating them as well. As far as all the raiding of pages and all that goes...honestly I feel its a waste of time. I participated in one a long time ago on another one of my pages and tired of it very quickly. The fact is, there will always be showfags who are ignorant of the series, and fans who dont like Stannis, whether it be because they dont get him or he simply doesnt appeal to them. Quite frankly, why should we care? This page is over 66,000 strong, so clearly Stannis isnt exactly unpopular. And either way who gives a shit which character is the most popular? We get together here because we all appreciate Stannis, thats the part of the Stannis fandom I like. Not the part that puts down our enemies, but the part that celebrates our common interest. Again, this is really not meant to be an attack on all Stannis fans, especially not people on this page who I cant stress enough I think are great. I admit I have contributed to some extent, intentionally or not, to some of the elements of the fandom Ive criticized. But I just felt the need to air this out. Lets remember why were all here. -Matt
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 21:18:21 +0000
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