update and Fullmetal Alchemist
What have I been doing in the last tennish days? Work. All of the work. I am just keeping up with grad school and the ren faire, which I think means I'll be in a really comfortable place after this weekend, since the faire is closing. Right now is a huge pain, though - I think I'm going to have to miss a fencing practice this week, and probably some sleep too. Did I say that I started going to the club fencing here? It's fun, very chill, but with some good people. I'm still rusty from my summer doing nothing, but I'm getting more into it. Last week I fenced this guy and lost 0-5 doing dumb stuff, but I recognized that and asked him if we could fence again at the end of practice, and I won 5-0 by... not doing dumb stuff. So that's good! I worry about falling into a rut, especially when I'm tired so often.
But I do have time to do some fannish stuff! I did Yuletide nominations, with arts and sciences RPF (Kahneman and Tversky), By the Sword (obviously), and The Non-Adventures of Wonderella (because my noms needed more badass women). All approved, because I only pick fandoms that are totally out there/nonexistent.
I've stalled out a little on watching the Wire, due to lack of time, but I'm planning on picking it back up after the weekend. In the meantime, I'm reading Fullmetal Alchemist about 2-8 years late. Which is, wow, bringing back memories. Like, I hadn't read FMA before, but it was pretty much my first reading fandom way back when. I was so into Archer/Kimblee and Greed/Kimblee. Hanging out on Y!Gallery at 17, feeling guilty about hitting the 'over 18' button and compulsively searching out the Kimblee artists. He just showed up in the manga (at chapter, what, 50? Out of about 100?), and I squeaked a little.
I was only into FMA for a month or so, and like I said, I was only in it for the fanart/some fic, but it's just funny to think about. I can definitely see my progression into other fandoms from here, it's like I have a set of rules.
1) Fixate on the (minor or major) villain that usually doesn't even show up that much in canon.
1.a) FOR SOME REASON the pool of stuff to read/look at for said character is v. small.
2) Get upset at the fact that most of said small fandom writes him/her as super toppy or super competent or clever and mysterious. Start daydreaming about the villain being bad at things.
3) Find out that some people write the villain being bad at things, but it's usually tied up with story tropes that I can't read like non-con or abuse or body horrorish h/c, or stuff I don't like like manpain and woobies.
4) Fight self over whether to click on story header/image cut that has tropes I don't like but the character being bad at things.
5) Lose.
6) Despair.
7) Daydream more about character being bad at things, start writing terrible drawer fic that no one should ever read.
8) (Only sometimes) Write actual fanfic with an actual plot and actual character moments. Sneak in favorite character being bad at things. Be pleased with self.
9) Go back to trying to decide whether to read other people's fic. Eventually drift away into another fandom which has a similarly small pool of fanwork I'm interested in.
I'm not trying to be critical of what other people write! My fanwork desires are kind of absurd, and it's my own fault that my favorite tropes are so closely connected to my least favorite tropes. But, man, this is a ridiculous pattern, and I've hit it with Kimblee, and the Master, and Kronos (from Highlander), and Peter Hale (and Chris Argent), and Malcolm Tucker, and Victor von Doom (not really, Doom has no real fandom), and Sebastian Moran, and Marcone, and I'm a mess, haha. I'd get there with Omar (from the Wire), I'm sure, except I'm not interested in Wire fic atm and everyone agrees that Omar is the best character (even President Obama). But I bet not enough people write him being bad at things.
The great thing about Homestuck is that most of the characters in it are bad at things, I have like sixteen favorite characters and the canon already gives me everything I want re: them being terrible people/terrible at being people. It's gr88888888.
This entry was originally posted at http://neveralarch.dreamwidth.org/49056.html. Comment wherever you want.
But I do have time to do some fannish stuff! I did Yuletide nominations, with arts and sciences RPF (Kahneman and Tversky), By the Sword (obviously), and The Non-Adventures of Wonderella (because my noms needed more badass women). All approved, because I only pick fandoms that are totally out there/nonexistent.
I've stalled out a little on watching the Wire, due to lack of time, but I'm planning on picking it back up after the weekend. In the meantime, I'm reading Fullmetal Alchemist about 2-8 years late. Which is, wow, bringing back memories. Like, I hadn't read FMA before, but it was pretty much my first reading fandom way back when. I was so into Archer/Kimblee and Greed/Kimblee. Hanging out on Y!Gallery at 17, feeling guilty about hitting the 'over 18' button and compulsively searching out the Kimblee artists. He just showed up in the manga (at chapter, what, 50? Out of about 100?), and I squeaked a little.
I was only into FMA for a month or so, and like I said, I was only in it for the fanart/some fic, but it's just funny to think about. I can definitely see my progression into other fandoms from here, it's like I have a set of rules.
1) Fixate on the (minor or major) villain that usually doesn't even show up that much in canon.
1.a) FOR SOME REASON the pool of stuff to read/look at for said character is v. small.
2) Get upset at the fact that most of said small fandom writes him/her as super toppy or super competent or clever and mysterious. Start daydreaming about the villain being bad at things.
3) Find out that some people write the villain being bad at things, but it's usually tied up with story tropes that I can't read like non-con or abuse or body horrorish h/c, or stuff I don't like like manpain and woobies.
4) Fight self over whether to click on story header/image cut that has tropes I don't like but the character being bad at things.
5) Lose.
6) Despair.
7) Daydream more about character being bad at things, start writing terrible drawer fic that no one should ever read.
8) (Only sometimes) Write actual fanfic with an actual plot and actual character moments. Sneak in favorite character being bad at things. Be pleased with self.
9) Go back to trying to decide whether to read other people's fic. Eventually drift away into another fandom which has a similarly small pool of fanwork I'm interested in.
I'm not trying to be critical of what other people write! My fanwork desires are kind of absurd, and it's my own fault that my favorite tropes are so closely connected to my least favorite tropes. But, man, this is a ridiculous pattern, and I've hit it with Kimblee, and the Master, and Kronos (from Highlander), and Peter Hale (and Chris Argent), and Malcolm Tucker, and Victor von Doom (not really, Doom has no real fandom), and Sebastian Moran, and Marcone, and I'm a mess, haha. I'd get there with Omar (from the Wire), I'm sure, except I'm not interested in Wire fic atm and everyone agrees that Omar is the best character (even President Obama). But I bet not enough people write him being bad at things.
The great thing about Homestuck is that most of the characters in it are bad at things, I have like sixteen favorite characters and the canon already gives me everything I want re: them being terrible people/terrible at being people. It's gr88888888.
This entry was originally posted at http://neveralarch.dreamwidth.org/49056.html. Comment wherever you want.