Fandoms Past and Present
Apr. 13th, 2012 04:40 pmTell me you want to play and I'll pick up to three of your fandoms. Then update your journal and answer the following questions:
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such_heights gave me Game of Thrones, Buffy, and Legend of the Seeker
Game of Thrones
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
I first read the ASOIAF books, say, two years ago and I liked them a lot but it wouldn't have occurred to me to be fannish about them, especially as there didn't seem to be much of an online fandom outside of scary places like Westeros.org. Now, I would argue that fandom is as valid a hobby as anything else, and nobody should be judged for their participation in what is a fairly benign pastime, but if you're actually taking time out of your day to root for the rape of a fictional thirteen year old then LOOK AT YOUR LIFE! LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES!
Then HBO made a little show called Game of Thrones, you may have heard me mention it, and suddenly there was a fandom presence on LJ/DW that wasn't comprised almost exclusively of shrieking misogynists, and a lot more fic was being posted on unlocked on AO3 (YAY!) and here we are. Also, there is Sansa's quiet strength, Cersei's icy perfection, and Theon's stupid, punchable, strangely loveable face and I just have a lot of FEELINGS.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
Hmm, when you're in the first flush of love with a fandom it's hard to imagine not loving it. And the universe has such scope and so many characters I don't think I'm in any danger of getting bored soon. At the same time, gorgeous as the show is, I wonder how long it's possible to remain engaged by something where you know all the major plot developments in advance, and God only knows how long we'll have to wait for the next book. So, maybe? Probably not soon though.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
The hatching of Dany's dragons, because, dragons! Also because of Dany's "I am the dragon's daughter" speech. I very much admire Dany's can-do attitude where she doesn't let a total lack of experience, training, weapons or an army get in the way of announcing to large groups of people her intentions to butcher her enemies and take over bits of the world.
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Sort of? I mean all the fic I'm currently working on is in this universe, and the ASOIAF category is the first thing I check when I visit the AO3 looking for new fic to read. And I post about the show and the books pretty regularly, but only in my own journals, if that makes sense? The underground nature of much of this fandom is just beyond my effort threshold a lot of the time. Especially when one of the biggest comms has an application form longer than for some jobs I've applied for.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
YES! Come to the dark side, we have Peter Dinklage! Also, some of the best female characters I have ever come across!
Okay, full disclosure, it is incredibly violent, there is a lot of blood. The first episode ends with a scene of marital rape, and in the books there is a lot of (thankfully, mostly off-screen) rape. Yes, they do kill the dog. In the first episode you will be introduced to a cast of five hundred, don't worry about learning their names, most of them will die soon. All I can say is that if someone had described it to me before I read/watched I would have gone, Fuck, no! It's made almost exclusively of things that I should hate, but it manages to rise above that and become something I utterly love. It is much smarter and subtler, especially about women, than you think it's going to be.
Buffy
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Ooh, this was baby's first real fandom and I think I stumbled upon it just through random googling and going through the WHAT! What? Oooh thing that I think we all go through when we first discover that we are not alone.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I haven't been in Buffy fandom for a long time. By series six it had already become a show that I had trouble enjoying, and the fandom had become increasingly focused on Spike, a character that I really didn't care for. Even now, I can trace my dislike of a lot of manpain and woobie tropes back to Spike. And then the attempted rape happened and that just killed it stone dead for me. I don't even watch the earlier high school episodes when they come on because I can't disentangle them from how badly the shark was jumped later.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
Season 3 was perfection. FAITH!
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
I wrote a lot of fic in Buffy fandom. A lot. I think I eventually just ran out of things to say. On my fandom to-do list since forever has been to upload my old Buffy and Angel fic to the AO3 (and possibly orphan them?) But I never seem to get round to it, because I can't face reading them again, and I suspect they'd all need at least a cursory edit.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
You know, I honestly couldn't tell you what the current incarnation of Buffy fandom even looks like.
Legend of the Seeker
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
The first scene in the pilot, actually. You know, where it's just Kahlan running through the scenic parts of the New Zealand countryside? And I thought, I don't care if nothing else happens in this show, I will watch forty episodes of her running.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I was always more on the periphery of this fandom than actually in it. But one thing that can be said for its untimely demise is that unlike Buffy (and Merlin, and Doctor Who) it never had a single moment that I hated. So, I'm always happy to catch reruns or go back to favourite fics and vids.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
Mirror, Princess & Desecrated. One of the reasons I wasn't really in the fandom is that all the gleefully ridiculous tropes I'd usually expect from fandom, this show gave me with its canon.
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Despite, or maybe because the canon show was perfect to me, something about it just failed to hit my MAKE/CONSUME ALL THE FANWORKS button. I wrote a few fics, though, and one of them is one of the best and most popular things that I've written. So my sojourn in LotS fandom definitely wasn't wasted.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
I don't know how much of a fandom it still has? But I definitely think anyone who didn't watch the show when it was on should give it a shot.
such_heights gave me Game of Thrones, Buffy, and Legend of the SeekerGame of Thrones
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
I first read the ASOIAF books, say, two years ago and I liked them a lot but it wouldn't have occurred to me to be fannish about them, especially as there didn't seem to be much of an online fandom outside of scary places like Westeros.org. Now, I would argue that fandom is as valid a hobby as anything else, and nobody should be judged for their participation in what is a fairly benign pastime, but if you're actually taking time out of your day to root for the rape of a fictional thirteen year old then LOOK AT YOUR LIFE! LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES!
Then HBO made a little show called Game of Thrones, you may have heard me mention it, and suddenly there was a fandom presence on LJ/DW that wasn't comprised almost exclusively of shrieking misogynists, and a lot more fic was being posted on unlocked on AO3 (YAY!) and here we are. Also, there is Sansa's quiet strength, Cersei's icy perfection, and Theon's stupid, punchable, strangely loveable face and I just have a lot of FEELINGS.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
Hmm, when you're in the first flush of love with a fandom it's hard to imagine not loving it. And the universe has such scope and so many characters I don't think I'm in any danger of getting bored soon. At the same time, gorgeous as the show is, I wonder how long it's possible to remain engaged by something where you know all the major plot developments in advance, and God only knows how long we'll have to wait for the next book. So, maybe? Probably not soon though.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
The hatching of Dany's dragons, because, dragons! Also because of Dany's "I am the dragon's daughter" speech. I very much admire Dany's can-do attitude where she doesn't let a total lack of experience, training, weapons or an army get in the way of announcing to large groups of people her intentions to butcher her enemies and take over bits of the world.
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Sort of? I mean all the fic I'm currently working on is in this universe, and the ASOIAF category is the first thing I check when I visit the AO3 looking for new fic to read. And I post about the show and the books pretty regularly, but only in my own journals, if that makes sense? The underground nature of much of this fandom is just beyond my effort threshold a lot of the time. Especially when one of the biggest comms has an application form longer than for some jobs I've applied for.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
YES! Come to the dark side, we have Peter Dinklage! Also, some of the best female characters I have ever come across!
Okay, full disclosure, it is incredibly violent, there is a lot of blood. The first episode ends with a scene of marital rape, and in the books there is a lot of (thankfully, mostly off-screen) rape. Yes, they do kill the dog. In the first episode you will be introduced to a cast of five hundred, don't worry about learning their names, most of them will die soon. All I can say is that if someone had described it to me before I read/watched I would have gone, Fuck, no! It's made almost exclusively of things that I should hate, but it manages to rise above that and become something I utterly love. It is much smarter and subtler, especially about women, than you think it's going to be.
Buffy
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Ooh, this was baby's first real fandom and I think I stumbled upon it just through random googling and going through the WHAT! What? Oooh thing that I think we all go through when we first discover that we are not alone.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I haven't been in Buffy fandom for a long time. By series six it had already become a show that I had trouble enjoying, and the fandom had become increasingly focused on Spike, a character that I really didn't care for. Even now, I can trace my dislike of a lot of manpain and woobie tropes back to Spike. And then the attempted rape happened and that just killed it stone dead for me. I don't even watch the earlier high school episodes when they come on because I can't disentangle them from how badly the shark was jumped later.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
Season 3 was perfection. FAITH!
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
I wrote a lot of fic in Buffy fandom. A lot. I think I eventually just ran out of things to say. On my fandom to-do list since forever has been to upload my old Buffy and Angel fic to the AO3 (and possibly orphan them?) But I never seem to get round to it, because I can't face reading them again, and I suspect they'd all need at least a cursory edit.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
You know, I honestly couldn't tell you what the current incarnation of Buffy fandom even looks like.
Legend of the Seeker
What got you into this fandom in the first place?
The first scene in the pilot, actually. You know, where it's just Kahlan running through the scenic parts of the New Zealand countryside? And I thought, I don't care if nothing else happens in this show, I will watch forty episodes of her running.
Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I was always more on the periphery of this fandom than actually in it. But one thing that can be said for its untimely demise is that unlike Buffy (and Merlin, and Doctor Who) it never had a single moment that I hated. So, I'm always happy to catch reruns or go back to favourite fics and vids.
Favorite episodes/books/movies, etc?
Mirror, Princess & Desecrated. One of the reasons I wasn't really in the fandom is that all the gleefully ridiculous tropes I'd usually expect from fandom, this show gave me with its canon.
Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Despite, or maybe because the canon show was perfect to me, something about it just failed to hit my MAKE/CONSUME ALL THE FANWORKS button. I wrote a few fics, though, and one of them is one of the best and most popular things that I've written. So my sojourn in LotS fandom definitely wasn't wasted.
Do you think more people should get into this fandom?
I don't know how much of a fandom it still has? But I definitely think anyone who didn't watch the show when it was on should give it a shot.