Fandom meme

[snorkackcatcher]

This one from all over the place, but c&p'd from melusinahp:

Pick a number and I'll answer the question.

1 - Your current OTP
2 - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind
3 - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will
4 - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t
5 - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what
6 - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom
7 - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it
8 - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series
9 - Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why
10 - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr [let's substitute LJ here for a more meaningful question in my case]
11 - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom
12 - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for
13 - Your favorite fanart or fanartist
14 - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor
15 - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of
16 - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)
17 - A ship you’ve abandoned and why
18 - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships
19 - Show us an example of your personal headcanon
20 - Do you remember what your first fanwork was?
21 - Self-rec: What's your favorite fanwork you've created?
22 - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping
23 - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms
24 - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms
25 - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from
26 - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go

I must be nostalgic for fandom things, obviously!

Comments

[lyras.livejournal.com]

Because I am curious about what else you like: no. 24, please.

[snorkackcatcher]

Non-HP, you mean? And should probably not be actual canon to be a Proper OTP? Hmm, tricky, most of my "ships" tend to be canon ones ...

Doctor Who -- Sarah/Harry. Yes, I know -- old school. :) But they were great fun together, with a real bond of affection despite their different approaches.

A Song of Ice and Fire -- Jaime/Loras. OK, numerous possible combinations here, but I'll mention this as one I actually vaguely sketched mentally as something that might be made to work (assuming they both survive their current situations).

Star Trek -- Kirk/Janice Rand. Clear UST there, right? Hey, Kirk seems to have got off with about half the galaxy, so why not Janice? :)

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

5 :)

[snorkackcatcher]

I must admit, that question puzzled me a bit -- I'm not sure whether 'adding to the fandom' is meant to mean something structural like setting up an archive or modding a fest, or just that you write crackfic. If the former, all I can offer is some crackish Niffles at FA (10, 14, 24, 40 especially). If the latter, I guess the best I can do is the story that began with Aurors Harry and Ron investigating a wizarding 419 scam and finished with something really cracky. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Oh, and how could I forget the wizarding conspiracy theories, even if it is an oldie? :)

[isis-uf.livejournal.com]

I'll take 23, please!

[snorkackcatcher]

Easier than the ships one. :) Five favourites:

Harry Potter -- Hermione. Originally for being a swot who was actually shown as heroic for once, and then for becoming just across-the-board awesome.

The Hunger Games -- Haymitch. Because I have a soft spot for characters who overcome personal weaknesses to do the Right Thing, and also for manipulative bastards if they're manipulating to do what's necessary to achieve that and also have a high success rate (see also: Snape, Dumbledore)

A Song of Ice and Fire -- Robb Stark. An old head on young shoulders and one of the few crowned heads in the whole damn series who thinks of his rule in terms of responsibilities rather than rights, but also without the Talisman of Mistake Survival that (generally) comes with being a major POV character.

Doctor Who -- Donna Noble. Both brash and thoroughly vulnerable at the same time, but with great heart and common sense and sound underlying instincts once she got in a situation where they could really develop.

Star Trek-verse -- Kira Nerys. Great development throughout the series, as she moves from being a hard-edged former freedom fighter/self-proclaimed terrorist (you'd never get that theme treated as well nowadays) to someone much more rounded in how she views things, plus an unusually sympathetic Trek take on the idea of faith -- but always a woman of action, and who never forgets who she was under the Cardassian occupation and why. (Her actions in S6 Rocks and Shoals were beautifully set up -- the culmination of five seasons of plot and character development.)

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

9 - Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

Or perhaps: has the internet/fandom changed your opinion of any books, movies, etc.?

[snorkackcatcher]

This was the question I asked melusinahp, and she answered along much the same lines as I would: it's not that I've been put off the source material, but the fandom tendency to hate on it really puts me off the fandom itself. I can't see the point in calling yourself a "fan" of something that you can't stand in its actual form, even if you thought it was going to be something different and more to your taste.

That said, reading fandom discussions has certainly supplied new perspectives on things, but I'm wary about getting too involved, especially in Doctor Who fandom these days. You don't want all your squee to get harshed.

[chthonya]

12 :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Heh. You know, one thing I would like to see if written well, but have not actually encountered, is a proper treatment of the Hogwarts year after the battle from the POV of Hermione and/or Ginny -- of long novella length or better, with the characters recognisable as their canon selves, and NOT treating the events of the school year as merely filler between shipping interludes! (Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny as plot strands, yes, but not the whole bloody story.)

It seems an obvious theme to write, but if anyone's done it like that, I must have missed it. There are plenty of stories about rebuilding the school -- but I want to see what came after that, when the school was a school again, but still with lots of fallout from the events of the war.

[chthonya]

Agreed - that does seem obvious, and I've not seen it done either. I'd be interested in Minerva PoV of that year too, or to be honest, any member of the Hogwarts community if they supplied insights into what was going on with everyone else.

There aren't too many genfic novel-length stories out there in any genre that I've seen, and Ginny and Hermione aren't popular points of view. I suppose too that it's difficult to find a plot that sustains over a long piece - for shipfic that's easier, but unless one fabricates an action or mystery plot - which would seem trivial to me in that context - it's easier to think into that theme with a shorter fic.

[snorkackcatcher]

Odd, that -- you'd have expected they would be quite popular POVs, as two of the major characters in the series.

I think there would be plenty of plot available in the efforts at rebuilding the idea of a school as a haven for education, while resolving (at least some of) the bitterness that's bound to be there between pupils who were on opposite sides, or whose parents were, plus all the "noises off" that come from the same situation on a wider scale outside. Lots of angles to all that which could be covered, plus (I'd argue) actual schoolwork-towards-exams in the style of the (earlier) books as a worthwhile plot line in itself to show how normality was being reasserted despite the problems. Plus, of course, the shipping, which should be a significant thread even if not the dominant one.

I'm not volunteering to write it, mind you! I don't really have the time. But I would like to read it.

[chthonya]

There are a lot of interesting elements there, for sure - but for a novel length fic I think more of a plot is required to propel the narrative and allow exploration of those themes, and I'm not sure I'd have the impetus to sustain it unless I was a huge fan of one of the characters. I'd definitely read it though!

I was struck by how much the rebuilding theme came up in springtime gen this year - there is definitely an appetite for reconciliation as a theme.

To be fair, Hermione does some up quite a lot as a main character, though most chaptered stories are shipfics these days... I don't know if you saw the diaries of Hermione though the books that someone did years ago? I don't see much of that sort of thing these days.

[snorkackcatcher]

I suppose the thing has died down a lot though now there isn't the impetus of "what's going to happen in the next book?" to get people writing epics. Fandom has gone back to the default shipping position. :)

[jo-blogs.livejournal.com]

Ooh, too many choices. 14 or 21, your pick. Or both if you feel like indulging me.

[snorkackcatcher]

Hmm -- for favourite author I'm going to have to be boringly predictable and say a_t_rain -- partly for historical reasons I suppose, since she doesn't write very often nowadays. Still, when she does it's as good as ever -- anyone who can write Merchant of Venice-fic with Shylock/Portia and make it work is really on the ball. :)

As for favourites, hard to pick -- The Sleeper Awakes was one that was unexpectedly easy to write and yet has a lot of enthusiastic reviews, but looking back I think I might pick Dark Side of the Moon. It wasn't the usual sort of thing for me, but it was a case where the writing came together with little bits from the books to make a 'badfic' idea and an unusual characterisation actually work and stay in line with the canon. (Of course, if you asked me again tomorrow I might pick something else. :D)

[mayfly-78.livejournal.com]

I'm late to the party, but:

19 - Show us an example of your personal headcanon

[snorkackcatcher]

Hmm, good one. I'll have to avoid HP here -- I always tried to avoid having fixed headcanon for that, partly because I was wary of being like the fans who got stroppy when their favourite idea didn't work out and having headcanon was setting yourself up for that, partly so I wasn't tied to a particular characterisation when writing fic.

So I'll do a Doctor Who one instead -- plenty of scope for background randomness there! OK: the Chameleon Arch was developed by the Rani during the Time War with the technology she used in the species-transformation landmines in Mark of the Rani. It was invented so that the Eighth Doctor could go on a mission which required that he pass as a human right down to DNA level, but still be able to turn back into a Time Lord when required. His chosen costume was of course the reason why the Essence of Time Lord is stored in a fob watch ...



Hey, it made sense to me. :)