A fandom puzzle...complaint....wish?
First off, I'm a heretic. That is to say, I'm a fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek, and have been since I discovered science fiction space adventure (and shortly there after fandom, when I went to my first con).
But...
Star Trek fans seem to be more about the fun. Yes, yes, there are the serious ones and all, but I noticed right away - on buying several old fanzines at the first con I went to - that Trekkies/Trekkers were a more cheerful lot. The fanzines I bought were circa 1982, and filled with optimistic Trek stories and silly filk songs (I still want to find a performance of "This Starship's in the Very Best of Hands") and pessimistic Star Wars stories that assumed death and doom. Considering that someone was quite dead (apparently) at the end of Wrath of Khan and no one was even mostly dead at the end of Empire, this is quite bizarre.
Years later... ... I am suddenly struck that I've bounced in and out of fandom for twenty-one years. O_o and found that life changing paperback (long story) twenty-four years ago. Holy crap. Where was I? Yes, years later, I'm surfing the internet trying to find good Star Wars filk. And I can't find any! It's all... meh. Where's the humorous adventure filk for Star Wars? I've found plenty for Star Trek, some for other fandoms, and nothing that grabs me for Star Wars. This makes me very sad.
I suspect it's got something to do with that long ago noticed optimism/pessimism divide. But I can't even figure out why that divide exists. (Assuming I did not stumble on atypical '82ish fanzines.) Though it's also reflected in the EU (and possibly whatever the Trek equivalent is, but I've never read any Star Trek books). There's a reason Brian Daley's books are the only ones I own. Besides Mrs. Wallenberg's ducks.
Yes. I owe my love of space adventure to a coverless copy of Han Solo's Revenge and my eighth grade English teacher's tendency to prattle on about the ducks she'd had as a kid. I may have mentioned this before, but, if not... I helped myself to a random book from the classroom bookcase behind me and became a space adventure fan.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/113252.html.
But...
Star Trek fans seem to be more about the fun. Yes, yes, there are the serious ones and all, but I noticed right away - on buying several old fanzines at the first con I went to - that Trekkies/Trekkers were a more cheerful lot. The fanzines I bought were circa 1982, and filled with optimistic Trek stories and silly filk songs (I still want to find a performance of "This Starship's in the Very Best of Hands") and pessimistic Star Wars stories that assumed death and doom. Considering that someone was quite dead (apparently) at the end of Wrath of Khan and no one was even mostly dead at the end of Empire, this is quite bizarre.
Years later... ... I am suddenly struck that I've bounced in and out of fandom for twenty-one years. O_o and found that life changing paperback (long story) twenty-four years ago. Holy crap. Where was I? Yes, years later, I'm surfing the internet trying to find good Star Wars filk. And I can't find any! It's all... meh. Where's the humorous adventure filk for Star Wars? I've found plenty for Star Trek, some for other fandoms, and nothing that grabs me for Star Wars. This makes me very sad.
I suspect it's got something to do with that long ago noticed optimism/pessimism divide. But I can't even figure out why that divide exists. (Assuming I did not stumble on atypical '82ish fanzines.) Though it's also reflected in the EU (and possibly whatever the Trek equivalent is, but I've never read any Star Trek books). There's a reason Brian Daley's books are the only ones I own. Besides Mrs. Wallenberg's ducks.
Yes. I owe my love of space adventure to a coverless copy of Han Solo's Revenge and my eighth grade English teacher's tendency to prattle on about the ducks she'd had as a kid. I may have mentioned this before, but, if not... I helped myself to a random book from the classroom bookcase behind me and became a space adventure fan.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/113252.html.