Resisting Everything but Temptation

Just read this. It's so good! Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Kathleen. ♥

kathleen_dailey posted: The whole point of fanfic

Heyyyy, it's been so long since I went to a con in person, I forgot that con reports are a thing! Thank you to the_shoshanna for reminding me.

( No fun was had! (just kidding )

I'm so sorry to have to share sad news:

 

kathleen_dailey posted: Jungle Kitty

JK wrote some of my absolute favorite Kirk stories, and was unfailingly supportive and kind to me back in my early days of fandom. She will be missed.

Day 15, for trobadora: what do your oldest and your newest fandom have in common?

To answer this one, I had to really think about what my newest fandom would be, because I haven't actually produced anything in Star Wars fandom yet—I'm still just consuming the vast quantities of media and figuring out where to start. So, a part of me is tempted to call 12 Monkeys the newest, since it's the most recent one I've really played in. But my heart knows the true answer, and it's Star Wars.

So then to the oldest fandom...it should probably be original Trek (and specifically Kirk/Spock), since that's how I found fandom. I think there are some parallels between the mysticism and asceticism of the Jedi order and the Vulcan culture, and probably I am drawn to Obi-Wan and Spock for some of the same reasons, first and foremost their integrity, but also the way they continue to learn and grow, the way they remain true to themselves and what they believe is right regardless of how difficult the challenges are, and what it costs them. Obi-Wan also shares characteristics with Kirk (the charisma, the wisdom, the leadership skills, the clearness of vision). Since ultimately it's characters that draw me into a fandom, I'd say that's probably the biggest intersection of the two.

I did also think back to my earliest 'fandoms', Narnia and Watership Down. I created copious fan art for both before I knew that was a thing, and I can definitely see some intersections there. :) Now I kind of want to read someone's novel-length analysis of the mythology of Star Wars vs. Narnia, but that person would definitely have to be smarter and less tired than I am.

Thank you for the fun question!

If you haven't watched this series, you need to.

Star Trek Continues

And then please come talk to me about it! (And to those who told me about it, you were absolutely correct.)

ETA: I happened to start with the third episode on a whim, and I definitely think it starts to get really good at that point.

Sure, why not?

1. Your main fandom of the year? Definitely 12 Monkeys, in terms of time and interest, though I continue to produce very little in the way of fannish content.
ETA: Looking at my fandom bfs and gfs for the year, I am laughing, because wow, do I have a type in both cases!

The Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive, a Star Trek fanfiction archive focusing on the relationship between Kirk and Spock, is being imported to the Archive of Our Own (AO3). Please spread the word!

( read more )

stolen from minim_calibre :)

The one who seduced you, screwed you over, broke your heart in a million pieces, and laughed about it.

HAVEN. I'm still bitter about it, mostly because it was a tiny fandom to begin with—the least it could have done is not be THAT GUY.

The old flame you don't see very often any more but whom you still really enjoy getting together with for a few drinks and maybe a pleasant nostalgic romp:

Supernatural. Occasional pleasant nostalgic romp is exactly where I'm at with it.

The mysterious dark one whom you used to sit up with talking until 3 AM at weird coffee houses and with whom you were quite smitten until you realized they really were fucking crazy:

Magicians. With a little "broke your heart in a million pieces" stirred in.

The one you spent a whole weekend in bed with and who drank up all your liquor and whom you'd still really like to get with again, although you're relieved they don't actually live in town:

2 Guns. Don't ask me.

The steady:

Highlander, obviously.

The alluring stranger whom you've flirted with at parties but have never gotten really serious with:

Hannibal. But I'm trying, destina, I swear!

The one you hang out with and have vague fantasies about maybe having a thing with, but ultimately you're just good buddies:

Longmire.

The one your friends keep introducing you to and who seems like a hell of a cool person except it's never really gone anywhere:

MCU.

The one who's slept with all your friends, and you keep looking at them and thinking, "How the hell did they land all these cool people?"

Ummmm...I'll go with Teen Wolf!

The one who gave you the best damned summer of your life and against whom you measure all other potential partners:

Jeremiah. (Or Merlin. I need a new category for Merlin.) ETA: Nope, I missed the obvious answer, here: Xena, of course!

The one you recently met at a party and would like to get to know better:

Black Sails! ♥

The old flame that you wouldn't totally object to hooking up with again for a one night romp if only they'd clean up a bit:

Kirk/Spock, for sure—or Trek in general, any flavor.

Your hot new flame:

Roswell, New Mexico.

The one who stole your significant other:

Oh, so many. Smallville? SGA? Harry Potter? MCU? The offenses are endless.

Vonda N. McIntyre was the third woman to receive a Hugo award (in 1978, for her novel Dreamsnake.) She passed away on April 1st of this year at age 70, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

( In 1981, I was 11 years old. )

Rest in peace, bright star.

Day 14 - Share your fannish love.

Ohhh, I have many favorite tropes. Amnesia is one. Why amnesia, you may ask? First, it ties in to my hurty fascination with what makes us who we are. Because I believe in nurture over nature, stories that deal with identity (and the loss of it) are endlessly effective for me, and get me all emotional. Who are we if you take away our history? That's multiplied when you have a loved one who has to deal with the grief of losing their partner without actually losing them—the angst of struggling to win the trust and love of someone you took for granted, and the fear that the relationship is gone for good, gets me where I live. Plus, you get the fun of the relationship developing all over again, perhaps taking a new shape than before. And best of all is if the memories return, but the relationship is strengthened by having to get to know each other again.

Related: alternate timelines. Seeing how things change if you take a left turn instead of a right. In fiction, this can happen—characters get the chance to do what we never do in life: correct their mistakes. There's nothing like time travel for exploring consequences, and consequences are the heart of any story, I think.

In Supernatural fandom in particular, I'm a sucker for truth spells—they're catnip to me, because those characters have such a hard time being honest with each other. There's the built-in terror of whether their relationship can even survive the truth, since it's built on years of carefully constructed defenses, as well as the tempting possibility of what might happen if those defenses were taken away.

Awkward soul-bonding! Kirk/Spock was my first fandom, and much was romanticized about the possibility of sharing a telepathic bond with your life partner, but I've always thought that would actually be rather awful. So watching characters negotiate that awfulness and find a way to make it work—it occurs to me that this is another take on the truth spell trope, actually. The idea of knowing someone inside and out, seeing all their ugly bits that they try to keep to themselves, and still loving them and wanting to be around them is very attractive. Don't we all want that? The soul-bonding fantasy is that two people can share a profound level of intimacy and trust, but I want the path to be difficult and hard-won. Oh, and dream-sharing, as an extension of this. How scary, to have someone else see not only your private thoughts, but your private subconscious thoughts. Ugh. I love it.

Cave-ins. Continuing the forced intimacy theme, there's nothing like locking your protagonists in a room together with the chance they might never get out. Time to contemplate their own mortality and nothing to do but talk about it—it's a great getting-to-know-you exercise. Works equally well with partners and strangers!

And lately, especially—curtainfic! I put this down to stress. Curtainfic is the equivalent of a nice hot cup of cocoa, a kitty on your lap, and a warm snuggly blanket. It never gets old for me, seeing my BSOs get to relax and enjoy some downtime together. We all have too much stress in our lives, and curtainfic is the perfect cure.

What's your favorite trope? I love hearing about why people love what they love.