Personal Canon: Bandom and Greek

[elucreh]

Okay, so I did the "personal canon" meme, and wanted to round up my responses. Since apparently I am never going to actually FINISH any of the ten million fics I am writing. Ever. Here is pseudo-fic to tide you over

Comments

[libgirl]

:)

I really, really love your canon. I whole-heartedly agree about the Ryan and Spencer and that's because I have had friendships that long and they really do start to warp the fabric of yourself--not in bad ways, in trees growing around object ways.

I'll never get over those Christmas pictures, because hi, he has a family of his own, and presumably also an in-laws family, but no, he went on vacation with Brendon and his family. No matter how much or little of a buffer Brendon needs when spending days in the same space as his family, Shane chose to be there and provide it rather than go anywhere else. Whether you ship them or not, that's a form of love.
I have never seen these pics!!! :( Still, yes, Shane totally loves Brendon and Brendon totally loves him and I would say that Brendon's love for Shane and his band are the only loves that make real sense to him right now because he has been so affected by his upbringing. :D

[elucreh]

Oh, but you should. EVERYBODY should watch Greek. And when they have, ship Rusty/Cappie with me. (Rachel disagrees with me, but that is only because she is blinded by epic-friendship-turned-to-hate. She does not see the adorableness of would-do-anything-for-eachother darlings.)

[trinity_clare]

Seriously, PLATINUM RECORD. Oh Ryan. ;_;

And so much yes to the way Ryan and Spencer have influenced each other. I happen to have a BFF of my very own (she is very clearly the Ryan to my Spencer; we met when we were six) and every once in a while I'll meet one of her aunts or someone who's never met me before, and they'll always comment on how much we sound alike. (It's really noticeable over IM, too, because we only ever talk to each other and it's completely shaped the way we use it.)

In conclusion: OH SHANE. &him;

[redorchids]

I loved reading this. I haven't thought that much about what my personal canon is, but it's probably very close to what you just wrote, seeing as how I was just nodding along and going "yes, that makes so much sense" through this whole thing. :-) Especially liked the Ryan/Spencer/Brendon stuff. That made my head go all "oooooh!" :-)

[allegedlykyle]

Hey! Popped by while looking at your primer about Mormonism, and then I read this, and it has this ring of, well, not truth, exactly, but I really, really like the three-dimension way in which you perceive all these characters and their fears and depths. All the littlest things that make them who they are in (your) fic, and basically, you articulated the twists and abyss in their characters that make them so interesting as people and !

Ryan, on the other hand, had his special snowflake status confirmed by a platinum record.

I've never seen this side of Ryan before (or, more accurately, I've never wanted to see it because I like seeing Ryan as his special snowflake thing - sorry, that sounded a little weird /: ) but it's definitely a fascinating angle to explore, as are all the other aspects of your personal fandom. Thank you for giving me a new perspective (reference unintended!) on these bandom characters :D

[elucreh]

I think the snowflake thing has its upsides and downsides, you know? It means in some ways he never grew up, and in some ways he was validated in ways he never had been before and that he needed, and in some ways it probably made him feel like what's valuable about himself is the parts that are broken. I'm really interested to see how he does with starting over as a small-time band...although in a lot of ways he'll never lose that reputation.

Hah, sorry, rambling. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it!

[allegedlykyle]

in some ways it probably made him feel like what's valuable about himself is the parts that are broken.

Hearing this kind of makes me want to hug! Ryan, but that misses the point, completely (or rather, reinforces? it) This is something I've always wondered, though: Ryan's childhood, how bad was it? I'm not trying to discount the impact of his dad's alcoholism and his mom's departure, but did it completely break him? I think this is a part that's highly stylized in bandom - it becomes the unshakable foundation on which Ryan is developed as a character, something that's taken for granted, somehow.

I would like to see what TYV does, too! I read someplace in LJ that it's possible Ryan could be tired of his spot in the limelight, and just wants to retreat a little, be able to play to small groups of fans and talk to them about music, make it a little personal. Although if his band becomes famous too ... that'll be ironic.

[elucreh]

No, I mean, yes, yeah, that, but--Fever's about being broken, mostly. Is my point. Fever and the press after Fever were about being full of angst and self-doubt and rage against the world, and those things sold, those things raised him up and got him fame and money and the things he'd dreamed of. If I were him, I'd be a little scared to grow up and remember the good things and the valid part of my childhood and reach for happiness because what if nobody wanted that part of me? You know? People clearly wanted the arrogant, angry, hurt parts, but those are never what make up the whole person...but wouldn't you feel pressured to stay as those parts of you?