Fandom meme
May. 29th, 2005 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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sallym.
It's tricky to define the difference between "being in a fandom" and "being a fan of" or even "highly interested". I tend not to consider myself a fan of something unless I've done something creative in relation to it: written a fic, a poem, done illustrations, made a costume... The next level out for me would be reading and reviewing fanfic, and participating in mailing lists or other fannish community. Where it gets really tricky is that there are some fandoms where I've written fic, but not participated in the community as such. This tends to happen to me for US/UK shows which are still running, for which I want to avoid spoilers, because I simply can't participate in the fandom because everyone is discussing things I don't want to know. Shows that are no longer running don't have such a problem. So, for example, I've written Stargate stuff, but I haven't participated in Stargate mailing lists (well, I was briefly on a fiction one, but that was consumption).
1) Total number of fandoms I like:
Too many? Well, the following are most of the ones I've created for, even if, for some of them, I haven't connected with that particular fannish community.
But the fandoms I'm actually active in, community-wise, would probably be limited to Blake's 7, The Sentinel and Tomorrow People, though there were periods when I was participating in Highlander fandom, Doctor Who, Sapphire & Steel (what little there was of it), VR.5, Alien Nation, and Babylon 5.
2) My first fandom ever:
Well, by any of the above criteria, it would have to be Blake's 7, since I wrote B7 poetry when I was in high school, even before I knew that this fandom stuff existed, and the first fans I met were B7 fans, and the first fanfic I read was B7 fanfic.
3) My most recent fandom:
Well, technically I suppose it could be new Battlestar Galactica -- except that I've only seen the pilot. Thing is, that was enough to inspire me to co-write a filk withwatervole so...
4) Five fandoms that currently mean a lot to me (in order of preference), with explanations:
Blake's 7: My first and most enduring fandom. Unlike Trek, people weren't nice, but they fought on against impossible odds anyway, only with snark instead of pontifications. And it was British, so it had wit. And there was Blake, and Avon, and Vila, and Cally, and Avon.
The Sentinel: Don't you realize that a guy with hyperactive senses brings an unparalleled opportunity to describe things in picturesque terms? This was a sort of stealth fandom for me: I first watched it because I thought it would give me plot-ideas for The Champions (for whom I still haven't written any fic, oh well) but I found the plots were rather lame... but, y'know I have a soft spot for the suffering of stoics, which got me onside with Jim... and then of course, the crown of it all, the friendship of Jim and Blair, which would have to be one of the most mis-matched pair in all of fandom, which is the beauty of it.
(while this one says order of preference, I'm only really sure about the top two)
Highlander: I was sucked into Highlander by a friend in Canada, who sent me tapes. I would never have found it otherwise, since they only ever showed a handful of episodes on free-to-air TV in Australia. I had seen the original movie, and was dissappointed by the ending, but thought the scenery was cool. I'm not sure what really pulled me in. I think it was the generally intelligent plots, the fact that Our Hero did not know everything, nor were there always simple answers. And the sword fights were tres cool.
Doctor Who: Inimitable. Unique. Sometimes cheezy, but always fighting for the good against plastic monsters, saving the world, with a twinkle in his eye or a quip or an earnest look. Doctor Who was a family thing; weeknights Monday to Thursday, it was Tea and Doctor Who. And he's back! Whee!
Tomorrow People: Huge nostalgia factor here, since I loved this when I was a kid, but, c'mon the concept is so keen! Teenagers with psi powers! Saving the world! For peace!
5) Shows that I'm a "fan of", even though I don't participate in the "fandom" (or that don't have a "fandom"):
Well... maybe I answered that in question 1...
But wait, there's more!
Another list, but by no means exhaustive:
Scarecrow & Mrs King
The Professionals
Callan
Robotech
The Champions
Labyrinth
The Shadow
Lois & Clark
oh, I give up...
sallym.It's tricky to define the difference between "being in a fandom" and "being a fan of" or even "highly interested". I tend not to consider myself a fan of something unless I've done something creative in relation to it: written a fic, a poem, done illustrations, made a costume... The next level out for me would be reading and reviewing fanfic, and participating in mailing lists or other fannish community. Where it gets really tricky is that there are some fandoms where I've written fic, but not participated in the community as such. This tends to happen to me for US/UK shows which are still running, for which I want to avoid spoilers, because I simply can't participate in the fandom because everyone is discussing things I don't want to know. Shows that are no longer running don't have such a problem. So, for example, I've written Stargate stuff, but I haven't participated in Stargate mailing lists (well, I was briefly on a fiction one, but that was consumption).
1) Total number of fandoms I like:
Too many? Well, the following are most of the ones I've created for, even if, for some of them, I haven't connected with that particular fannish community.
- Blake's 7
- Sentinel
- Highlander
- Stargate SG-1
- Doctor Who
- Tomorrow People
- Buffy
- Sapphire & Steel
- Samurai Jack
- The Matrix
- VR.5
- Battlestar Galactica
- Lord of the Rings
- UFO
- The Pretender
- Bladerunner
But the fandoms I'm actually active in, community-wise, would probably be limited to Blake's 7, The Sentinel and Tomorrow People, though there were periods when I was participating in Highlander fandom, Doctor Who, Sapphire & Steel (what little there was of it), VR.5, Alien Nation, and Babylon 5.
2) My first fandom ever:
Well, by any of the above criteria, it would have to be Blake's 7, since I wrote B7 poetry when I was in high school, even before I knew that this fandom stuff existed, and the first fans I met were B7 fans, and the first fanfic I read was B7 fanfic.
3) My most recent fandom:
Well, technically I suppose it could be new Battlestar Galactica -- except that I've only seen the pilot. Thing is, that was enough to inspire me to co-write a filk with
watervole so...4) Five fandoms that currently mean a lot to me (in order of preference), with explanations:
Blake's 7: My first and most enduring fandom. Unlike Trek, people weren't nice, but they fought on against impossible odds anyway, only with snark instead of pontifications. And it was British, so it had wit. And there was Blake, and Avon, and Vila, and Cally, and Avon.
The Sentinel: Don't you realize that a guy with hyperactive senses brings an unparalleled opportunity to describe things in picturesque terms? This was a sort of stealth fandom for me: I first watched it because I thought it would give me plot-ideas for The Champions (for whom I still haven't written any fic, oh well) but I found the plots were rather lame... but, y'know I have a soft spot for the suffering of stoics, which got me onside with Jim... and then of course, the crown of it all, the friendship of Jim and Blair, which would have to be one of the most mis-matched pair in all of fandom, which is the beauty of it.
(while this one says order of preference, I'm only really sure about the top two)
Highlander: I was sucked into Highlander by a friend in Canada, who sent me tapes. I would never have found it otherwise, since they only ever showed a handful of episodes on free-to-air TV in Australia. I had seen the original movie, and was dissappointed by the ending, but thought the scenery was cool. I'm not sure what really pulled me in. I think it was the generally intelligent plots, the fact that Our Hero did not know everything, nor were there always simple answers. And the sword fights were tres cool.
Doctor Who: Inimitable. Unique. Sometimes cheezy, but always fighting for the good against plastic monsters, saving the world, with a twinkle in his eye or a quip or an earnest look. Doctor Who was a family thing; weeknights Monday to Thursday, it was Tea and Doctor Who. And he's back! Whee!
Tomorrow People: Huge nostalgia factor here, since I loved this when I was a kid, but, c'mon the concept is so keen! Teenagers with psi powers! Saving the world! For peace!
5) Shows that I'm a "fan of", even though I don't participate in the "fandom" (or that don't have a "fandom"):
Well... maybe I answered that in question 1...
But wait, there's more!
Another list, but by no means exhaustive:
Scarecrow & Mrs King
The Professionals
Callan
Robotech
The Champions
Labyrinth
The Shadow
Lois & Clark
oh, I give up...
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-29 01:52 pm (UTC)LOL.
Believe me, the first does not always imply the second. But perhaps witless shows don't normally make it as far as Australia.
Talking about shows that have wit, I was glad to see a mention for "Lois and Clark", a particular favourite of mine and one of the wittiest series that I've seen.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-29 09:19 pm (UTC)Well, folks do tend to export their best -- only the best of British seems to have more wit than the best of the US... or maybe I just like British witty (as opposed to bawdy) humour more...
I was glad to see a mention for "Lois and Clark", a particular favourite of mine and one of the wittiest series that I've seen.
My watching of it was sporadic (which I'm going to make up for, as the first season is coming out on DVD) but I do think it was the best exploration of the Superman mythos, because all the others consider that Clark is the secret identity of Superman, wheras, it's really only logical that Superman is the secret identity of Clark, cuz, like, he's only recently become "Superman", while he's been Clark Kent all his life. And it's got one of the best Lois Lanes ever, too.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-29 09:31 pm (UTC)