Fandom Is Love - Part I - The Magnificent Seven
The following is my first entry to selenic76's February Fandom Fest. Hope you enjoy it!
As for many others too, watching TV shows and series was an essential part of me growing up. My very first "fandoms" were the animated shows of the late 1970's and early 1980's, like "Heidi", "Nils Holgersson" and "Wickie". Later on, they were followed and/or substituted by shows like "Knight Rider", "Baywatch" or "John Jakes' North & South".
But my first real dip into the deep waters of fandom didn't happen until the early 2000's. I was going through a rough patch in personal life, and I found some kind of escape in the various series of this time. I watched "CSI" (and its spin-offs), "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace". It ended way too soon (at least for me), even though I wasn't that happy about both the show's turn in the last two seasons, as well as with the fact that we never really got a well-rounded ending.
Anyway, it brought me to another great, also short-lived series - "The Magnificent Seven"
Loosely based on the legendary movie of the 1960's, it pretty fast became one of my all-time favorites. For a show with only 22 episodes, the writers managed to give us a good characterization, at least of its main characters.
Sure, there is always more you want to know about the characters as a fan, and exactly that "problem" brought me to a big, yet very positive black hole called "Fanfiction". It sucked me in wholly, and truth be told, it's one of my favorite places to stay since then. I've been an avid reader all my life, and when I read anything, the words written (on paper or on screen) are turned into images. And on top of having "new episodes" for the show, I also got introduced to two genres/sub-categories I hold on dearly since then.
1.) AU's: In my pre-M7-life, Alternate Universes were nothing more than a science-fictional term with no real meaning to me. But since then, I proudly admit that, while I enjoy reading stories in the show's original setting, I get really giddy if I get my hands on stories about our boys' adventures in total different setting.
You may ask how many AU's are out there for the show - well, here's a small fraction of it, indicated by the various buttons on the M7's largest fanfiction site, Blackraptor.
What the buttons mean - the different universes
2.) Slash: When I first heard that term, I definitely was as clueless as Dean Winchester was years later in an episode of "Supernatural" (more on that show in my next Fandom is Love post, coming on the 16th). Then I read my first slash story - sufficent to say that I got hooked on it in a whiff (and still am). If you would ask me for a reason, I would come up empty. I just like them, and not only in the M7 fandom, but also in almost every other fandom I participate.
As I began to whip up my three entries for this fest, I noticed a connection of many of my fandoms, especially the three I'm going to tell you about - Bromance.
"The Magnificent Seven" was and still is a perfect example of bromances on TV to me. Yeah, I know that there are earlier examples, but I either haven't seen them yet or didn't get that special vibe from them. Back to M7 - here comes the bromance in several layers:
a) the Seven: despite their vast and very different backgrounds, the seven men rally together from the very beginning to bring justice to a lawless edge of the Wild West and protect the town and its inhabitants, as well as each other.
b) Chris/Vin: definitely one of the main pairings in both the series and the fanfiction. Forged with just as much as one look across the town's main street, this pairing will always be the one with the deepest bond, but also the one with the least amount of spoken words to me. Chris and Vin communicate with looks, gestures - they don't need anything more.
c) Chris/Buck: Forged by their common past, which includes a war, a tragic loss and a lot of grief and guilt, this pairing reminds me of the symbol for Yin and Yang. Chris, the leader of the pack, represents with his dark mood, his equally dark clothes and his grief the black side, while Buck, the outgoing, jovial ladies man of the group, is the white part. And even though Vin takes over parts from Buck over the course of the series, this friendship will last on.
d) Buck/JD: Another fine bromance. Almost immediately after meeting the younger man in the pilot episode, Buck takes the Bostoner under his wing, assumes the part of a big brother, and tries to broaden the kid's horizons on the finer things in life, which often provides some kind of a comic relief for the show.
I deliberately refrain from reccing any stories, but I do advise anyone who reads this here to follow one of the links I provide afterwards and explore this wonderful fandom on your own.
Blackraptor (with more than 6,000 stories now)
AO3
Fanfiction.net
Drawing this entry to an end, I hope you liked it. And if you have any questions about the show or think of a site out there that I should check out, please tell me in your comments.
To all fandoms, because Fandom = Love
screencaps used in this entry: from Blackraptor Screencap Archives
all other pictures: Google Image Search (with no intented copyright infringement to the rightful users)
As for many others too, watching TV shows and series was an essential part of me growing up. My very first "fandoms" were the animated shows of the late 1970's and early 1980's, like "Heidi", "Nils Holgersson" and "Wickie". Later on, they were followed and/or substituted by shows like "Knight Rider", "Baywatch" or "John Jakes' North & South".
But my first real dip into the deep waters of fandom didn't happen until the early 2000's. I was going through a rough patch in personal life, and I found some kind of escape in the various series of this time. I watched "CSI" (and its spin-offs), "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace". It ended way too soon (at least for me), even though I wasn't that happy about both the show's turn in the last two seasons, as well as with the fact that we never really got a well-rounded ending.
Anyway, it brought me to another great, also short-lived series - "The Magnificent Seven"
Loosely based on the legendary movie of the 1960's, it pretty fast became one of my all-time favorites. For a show with only 22 episodes, the writers managed to give us a good characterization, at least of its main characters.
Sure, there is always more you want to know about the characters as a fan, and exactly that "problem" brought me to a big, yet very positive black hole called "Fanfiction". It sucked me in wholly, and truth be told, it's one of my favorite places to stay since then. I've been an avid reader all my life, and when I read anything, the words written (on paper or on screen) are turned into images. And on top of having "new episodes" for the show, I also got introduced to two genres/sub-categories I hold on dearly since then.
1.) AU's: In my pre-M7-life, Alternate Universes were nothing more than a science-fictional term with no real meaning to me. But since then, I proudly admit that, while I enjoy reading stories in the show's original setting, I get really giddy if I get my hands on stories about our boys' adventures in total different setting.
You may ask how many AU's are out there for the show - well, here's a small fraction of it, indicated by the various buttons on the M7's largest fanfiction site, Blackraptor.
What the buttons mean - the different universes
2.) Slash: When I first heard that term, I definitely was as clueless as Dean Winchester was years later in an episode of "Supernatural" (more on that show in my next Fandom is Love post, coming on the 16th). Then I read my first slash story - sufficent to say that I got hooked on it in a whiff (and still am). If you would ask me for a reason, I would come up empty. I just like them, and not only in the M7 fandom, but also in almost every other fandom I participate.
As I began to whip up my three entries for this fest, I noticed a connection of many of my fandoms, especially the three I'm going to tell you about - Bromance.
"The Magnificent Seven" was and still is a perfect example of bromances on TV to me. Yeah, I know that there are earlier examples, but I either haven't seen them yet or didn't get that special vibe from them. Back to M7 - here comes the bromance in several layers:
a) the Seven: despite their vast and very different backgrounds, the seven men rally together from the very beginning to bring justice to a lawless edge of the Wild West and protect the town and its inhabitants, as well as each other.
b) Chris/Vin: definitely one of the main pairings in both the series and the fanfiction. Forged with just as much as one look across the town's main street, this pairing will always be the one with the deepest bond, but also the one with the least amount of spoken words to me. Chris and Vin communicate with looks, gestures - they don't need anything more.
c) Chris/Buck: Forged by their common past, which includes a war, a tragic loss and a lot of grief and guilt, this pairing reminds me of the symbol for Yin and Yang. Chris, the leader of the pack, represents with his dark mood, his equally dark clothes and his grief the black side, while Buck, the outgoing, jovial ladies man of the group, is the white part. And even though Vin takes over parts from Buck over the course of the series, this friendship will last on.
d) Buck/JD: Another fine bromance. Almost immediately after meeting the younger man in the pilot episode, Buck takes the Bostoner under his wing, assumes the part of a big brother, and tries to broaden the kid's horizons on the finer things in life, which often provides some kind of a comic relief for the show.
I deliberately refrain from reccing any stories, but I do advise anyone who reads this here to follow one of the links I provide afterwards and explore this wonderful fandom on your own.
Blackraptor (with more than 6,000 stories now)
AO3
Fanfiction.net
Drawing this entry to an end, I hope you liked it. And if you have any questions about the show or think of a site out there that I should check out, please tell me in your comments.
To all fandoms, because Fandom = Love
screencaps used in this entry: from Blackraptor Screencap Archives
all other pictures: Google Image Search (with no intented copyright infringement to the rightful users)