and I see what they only might if they'd learn
Well, yesterday I remembered reading Wednesday, which I don't usually do in weeks where I have Monday off, and totally blanked on the talking meme! So here's yesterday's question today:
yiskah asked, What do you think are the common features of a) the things you become fannish about, and / or b) the pairings you ship?
As always, the question is, what does "fannish" mean in this context? And here I will talk about things I've been fannish about in terms of discussing/posting about/enthusing ad nauseam to the uninterested in person but not actually producing much in the way of fan activity beyond post-episode posts.
For A, it's definitely relationship dynamics + a lot of space in the story to fit stuff in. I was going to say "shipping" but that's not necessarily the case, given how much gen I've written for certain fandoms (e.g., Firefly, Star Wars, SPN), though even there I do tend to write ship fic sometimes. It's just the family (found or blood or both) stuff tends to interest me more.
But there definitely have to be holes somewhere - if I'm generally emotionally satisfied with the canon (and haven't sparked for an OTP; if I do fall hard for a ship, I will generally produce fic for it, though not always - see below about The West Wing), I might write one or two things I need to see but since here doesn't seem to be anything major lacking for me, I don't spend a lot of time trying to produce whatever it is I need - see BSG or FNL or even HLOTS, for which I've sporadically produced a story or two, and which I definitely feel fannish about, but for which I don't really need much other than canon to be content. I mean, they're not perfect shows! But they gave me what I wanted, mostly, and so I don't really need to write fic for them. (Otoh, the West Wing...my old hard drive was littered with unfinished attempts at Josh/Donna because the show withheld it from me for SIX AND HALF SEASONS and I WANTED IT. But I never managed to do it, being distracted by other things, and then it was canon and I was good.)
(Otoh, for years and years and years I never wrote Star Wars fic, at least, not for public consumption, and now I do, so. Who knows?)
As for B) pairings, there is definitely a set of dynamics that generally tend to capture my interest - best friends to lovers, especially in m/m pairings (e.g., Tim/Kon, Steve/Bucky, Sirius/Remus, Achilles/Patroclus, Danny/Rusty), and bickery partners who fall in love (e.g., Han/Leia, Josh/Donna, Ron/Hermione, Aravis/Shasta, Luke/Lorelai, Max/Alec) with m/f pairings. I also, as is apparent here, love battle couples a lot. (Bucky/Natasha!!! Kaz/Inej!!!) *hands*
Interestingly enough, one of my earliest OTPs fits into both categories: Legolas/Gimli! I didn't know what shipping was when I was nine, but I was doing it. And I think you can certainly see the influence Han/Leia and Aravis/Shasta had (not to mention Nick and Nora Charles) on my pairing preferences. Even the m/m BFF-to-lovers pairings tend to be kind of bickery/bantery. (see reboot Trek Kirk/McCoy!) Insults as endearments is my favorite! When Steve and Bucky exchanged "punk / jerk" in CATFA, I was lost. (Though I never quite shipped Sam/Dean in SPN, I wrote a lot of it, and the "jerk / bitch" exchange was a similar light bulb moment for me.)
Also, if there can be some kind of tragic separation and then a reunion, I am a sucker for that (e.g., Sirius/Remus, Steve/Bucky).
I mean, there are other dynamics I tend to be really into (broken older man/special younger girl - Logan/Rogue, Mal/River, Nick/Cassie; Awesome Marrieds like Coach and Mrs. Coach or Jed/Abbey or Blip and Evelyn), but those don't come along nearly as often. And there are outliers, of course, things I ship that don't really fit any of these dynamics. But these are the main ones.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/903873.html.
people have commented there.
yiskah asked, What do you think are the common features of a) the things you become fannish about, and / or b) the pairings you ship?
As always, the question is, what does "fannish" mean in this context? And here I will talk about things I've been fannish about in terms of discussing/posting about/enthusing ad nauseam to the uninterested in person but not actually producing much in the way of fan activity beyond post-episode posts.
For A, it's definitely relationship dynamics + a lot of space in the story to fit stuff in. I was going to say "shipping" but that's not necessarily the case, given how much gen I've written for certain fandoms (e.g., Firefly, Star Wars, SPN), though even there I do tend to write ship fic sometimes. It's just the family (found or blood or both) stuff tends to interest me more.
But there definitely have to be holes somewhere - if I'm generally emotionally satisfied with the canon (and haven't sparked for an OTP; if I do fall hard for a ship, I will generally produce fic for it, though not always - see below about The West Wing), I might write one or two things I need to see but since here doesn't seem to be anything major lacking for me, I don't spend a lot of time trying to produce whatever it is I need - see BSG or FNL or even HLOTS, for which I've sporadically produced a story or two, and which I definitely feel fannish about, but for which I don't really need much other than canon to be content. I mean, they're not perfect shows! But they gave me what I wanted, mostly, and so I don't really need to write fic for them. (Otoh, the West Wing...my old hard drive was littered with unfinished attempts at Josh/Donna because the show withheld it from me for SIX AND HALF SEASONS and I WANTED IT. But I never managed to do it, being distracted by other things, and then it was canon and I was good.)
(Otoh, for years and years and years I never wrote Star Wars fic, at least, not for public consumption, and now I do, so. Who knows?)
As for B) pairings, there is definitely a set of dynamics that generally tend to capture my interest - best friends to lovers, especially in m/m pairings (e.g., Tim/Kon, Steve/Bucky, Sirius/Remus, Achilles/Patroclus, Danny/Rusty), and bickery partners who fall in love (e.g., Han/Leia, Josh/Donna, Ron/Hermione, Aravis/Shasta, Luke/Lorelai, Max/Alec) with m/f pairings. I also, as is apparent here, love battle couples a lot. (Bucky/Natasha!!! Kaz/Inej!!!) *hands*
Interestingly enough, one of my earliest OTPs fits into both categories: Legolas/Gimli! I didn't know what shipping was when I was nine, but I was doing it. And I think you can certainly see the influence Han/Leia and Aravis/Shasta had (not to mention Nick and Nora Charles) on my pairing preferences. Even the m/m BFF-to-lovers pairings tend to be kind of bickery/bantery. (see reboot Trek Kirk/McCoy!) Insults as endearments is my favorite! When Steve and Bucky exchanged "punk / jerk" in CATFA, I was lost. (Though I never quite shipped Sam/Dean in SPN, I wrote a lot of it, and the "jerk / bitch" exchange was a similar light bulb moment for me.)
Also, if there can be some kind of tragic separation and then a reunion, I am a sucker for that (e.g., Sirius/Remus, Steve/Bucky).
I mean, there are other dynamics I tend to be really into (broken older man/special younger girl - Logan/Rogue, Mal/River, Nick/Cassie; Awesome Marrieds like Coach and Mrs. Coach or Jed/Abbey or Blip and Evelyn), but those don't come along nearly as often. And there are outliers, of course, things I ship that don't really fit any of these dynamics. But these are the main ones.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/903873.html.
people have commented there.