June fandom questions meme
Jun. 25th, 2021 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frith_in_thornsJune Fandom questions, via hils. As you can see, I did not do them day by day. I have no track record of ever completing things done like that! Here are a pile of them instead. I'll do half today and the second half when I next get to it.
Day 1: What's changed about your fandom life in the last 365 days?
WELL. I had a baby. That had a rather... damping effect XD I am literally only just managing to regain some of my writing focus. Also I really drifted away from being "in a fandom" for a while, but in the last couple of weeks I've finally really started feeling like part of a DMBJ community, which is lovely!
Day 2: You've got your OTP, you have to throw a third into the mix (from the same fandom), creating an OT3. Who is the OTP, and in your opinion, why would they make a perfect third for them? Bonus question: What about adding a third to your OTP from a different fandom? Who and why?
So currently I only have an OT3, the only way I am interested in ANY ship dynamic with the Iron Triangle is if they're all equally important. No writing off Pangzi, or saying "oh yes of course he's part of an OT3, but platonically"! (Tbh that viewpoint is hilarious to me because he's really the only one of the Iron Triangle I feel is actively very interested in sex.)
Day 3: What's a favorite, or at least memorable fandom meeting/interaction that you've had?
I still have a special fondness for the first NineWorlds where I went to the queer geek tea with great trepidation (I think it was queer? I really can't remember) and got rescued from my extreme shyness and not-knowing-anyone byraven, who introduced me to their whole collection of London friends who are still one of the most important parts of my twitter life to this day.
Day 4: What are the origins of your penname/username?
Frith is the name of the wood my parents' garden borders onto, and the road, and was part of the name of the first house I lived in (next to the same wood; we moved 2 miles down the road for the sake of a better garden when I was 6). It's also the god from Watership Down. It's also an Old English word meaning sanctuary. I had an earlier LJ called blackthorn_tree because I love them and because when I was little I looked exactly like the blackthorn fairy in the Flower Fairies books. So I kept the thorns part, not least because I was having a bit of a sad time when I made this username. Anyway, the "in thorns" part isn't so important to me, but I love being called Frith. I answer very happily to it IRL when people who know me from the internet call me it! (This is also useful as my first name is pretty common so there's usually at least another one.)
Day 5: Compare and/or contrast your very first fandom obsession and your very latest fandom obsession.
My first fandom, when I was 16, was CSI:NY, which I remember fondly for some reasons and very much not for others XD It's where I discovered hurt/comfort without knowing the word for it or realising that that was entirely what I was writing and reading. It was also a fandom that was misognynistic as hell, thankfully the people who were really into bashing the women didn't actually care about my fave (Stella) though, they were all about being shit to the women who got between their Danny/Don pairing. *eyeroll* Although... DMBJ doesn't really have women, certainly not non-fridged ones *more eyeroll* with the exception of Xiao-Bai, and she's in very few fics. I... should really do something about that.
Anyway, the intervening years have mostly taught me exactly what hurt/comfort is and that reading and writing it is the vast majority of my fannish interest. Sometimes I feel embarrassed about this!
Day 6: What's a fandom that you wish had a bigger following?
Wolf 359! I'm still sad I never really managed to get any of my fandom writer friends into this while it was airing and the fandom was active. SUCH a good little show - it's an indie space audio drama, and if anyone wants to get into it now... *hopeful face*
Day 7: What's the longest time you've been in a fandom. Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.
I guess maybe Vorkosigan? Which I read for the first time ten years ago, scarily enough (I know this because it was while I was on a Lake District walking holiday with Ellie where it was just us two and we were Totally Gen and sleeping snuggled together etc in camping barns in a very gen way and then continued to sleep in the same bed when we were back at her parents because we had a nice time! Anyway she got me to read Vorkosigan and I got her to read Codex Alera and we spent a large majority of the walking time excitedly discussing the bits we had each read the previous evening). It's never been a primary fandom, but it's something I dip in and out of, mainly to check whether anyone wrote any good Illyan fic since I last looked, and write for exchanges every now and then.
Day 8: Crack!fic - We all know it. What's your opinion of it, and if you want, show us an example.
Hmmmmm. I really like funny fic! A lot of what gets billed as "crackfic" though I don't really find funny, it just tries way too hard to be WACKY. Like, all the fics of characters being drunk which bear no resemblance to how anyone has ever been while drunk in the history of the world.
Day 9: Drop the cast of a fandom you follow into a reality tv show - who/what/why?
I'd say this wouldn't work for most of the fandoms I've been in because the characters are too serious/competent. Fortunately, DMBJ absolutely does not have that problem! While I think it would be very very hard to write it without falling into the issues of crackfic as above, I reckon you could put the DMBJ cast in pretty much any reality show and it would be hilarious. Also, whichever you chose, from Bake-Off to I'm A Celebrity to Love Island, you'd have Pangzi throwing himself into 100% engagement with the premise and having an amazing time, Wu Xie going between totally baffled and outright cheating, and Xiaoge just being Xiaoge in the corner as hard as he possibly could.
Day 10: Drop your OTP or small ensemble from the fandom they're in into another fandom - how do they do?
Again, I would love to watch the Tomb Idiots smash their way through literally any other canon. Although, in a taking-it-seriously way, I was involved the other day in the discord in hashing out a whole Old Kingdom AU for DMBJ and I am now super invested in it! I am not saying I'll write it. But it had Liu Sang as the Abhorsen, Xiao-Bai as one of the Clayr, Pangzi as an extremely disreputable border guard with lots of sus jobs in his past who turns out to be a surprise Wallmaker, and Wu Xie as a scholar from Ancelstierre with Old Kingdom heritage who goes poking around the Clayr library and stumbles upon a lost Abhorsen from generations back, Zhang Qiling...
hils. As you can see, I did not do them day by day. I have no track record of ever completing things done like that! Here are a pile of them instead. I'll do half today and the second half when I next get to it.Day 1: What's changed about your fandom life in the last 365 days?
WELL. I had a baby. That had a rather... damping effect XD I am literally only just managing to regain some of my writing focus. Also I really drifted away from being "in a fandom" for a while, but in the last couple of weeks I've finally really started feeling like part of a DMBJ community, which is lovely!
Day 2: You've got your OTP, you have to throw a third into the mix (from the same fandom), creating an OT3. Who is the OTP, and in your opinion, why would they make a perfect third for them? Bonus question: What about adding a third to your OTP from a different fandom? Who and why?
So currently I only have an OT3, the only way I am interested in ANY ship dynamic with the Iron Triangle is if they're all equally important. No writing off Pangzi, or saying "oh yes of course he's part of an OT3, but platonically"! (Tbh that viewpoint is hilarious to me because he's really the only one of the Iron Triangle I feel is actively very interested in sex.)
Day 3: What's a favorite, or at least memorable fandom meeting/interaction that you've had?
I still have a special fondness for the first NineWorlds where I went to the queer geek tea with great trepidation (I think it was queer? I really can't remember) and got rescued from my extreme shyness and not-knowing-anyone by
raven, who introduced me to their whole collection of London friends who are still one of the most important parts of my twitter life to this day.Day 4: What are the origins of your penname/username?
Frith is the name of the wood my parents' garden borders onto, and the road, and was part of the name of the first house I lived in (next to the same wood; we moved 2 miles down the road for the sake of a better garden when I was 6). It's also the god from Watership Down. It's also an Old English word meaning sanctuary. I had an earlier LJ called blackthorn_tree because I love them and because when I was little I looked exactly like the blackthorn fairy in the Flower Fairies books. So I kept the thorns part, not least because I was having a bit of a sad time when I made this username. Anyway, the "in thorns" part isn't so important to me, but I love being called Frith. I answer very happily to it IRL when people who know me from the internet call me it! (This is also useful as my first name is pretty common so there's usually at least another one.)
Day 5: Compare and/or contrast your very first fandom obsession and your very latest fandom obsession.
My first fandom, when I was 16, was CSI:NY, which I remember fondly for some reasons and very much not for others XD It's where I discovered hurt/comfort without knowing the word for it or realising that that was entirely what I was writing and reading. It was also a fandom that was misognynistic as hell, thankfully the people who were really into bashing the women didn't actually care about my fave (Stella) though, they were all about being shit to the women who got between their Danny/Don pairing. *eyeroll* Although... DMBJ doesn't really have women, certainly not non-fridged ones *more eyeroll* with the exception of Xiao-Bai, and she's in very few fics. I... should really do something about that.
Anyway, the intervening years have mostly taught me exactly what hurt/comfort is and that reading and writing it is the vast majority of my fannish interest. Sometimes I feel embarrassed about this!
Day 6: What's a fandom that you wish had a bigger following?
Wolf 359! I'm still sad I never really managed to get any of my fandom writer friends into this while it was airing and the fandom was active. SUCH a good little show - it's an indie space audio drama, and if anyone wants to get into it now... *hopeful face*
Day 7: What's the longest time you've been in a fandom. Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.
I guess maybe Vorkosigan? Which I read for the first time ten years ago, scarily enough (I know this because it was while I was on a Lake District walking holiday with Ellie where it was just us two and we were Totally Gen and sleeping snuggled together etc in camping barns in a very gen way and then continued to sleep in the same bed when we were back at her parents because we had a nice time! Anyway she got me to read Vorkosigan and I got her to read Codex Alera and we spent a large majority of the walking time excitedly discussing the bits we had each read the previous evening). It's never been a primary fandom, but it's something I dip in and out of, mainly to check whether anyone wrote any good Illyan fic since I last looked, and write for exchanges every now and then.
Day 8: Crack!fic - We all know it. What's your opinion of it, and if you want, show us an example.
Hmmmmm. I really like funny fic! A lot of what gets billed as "crackfic" though I don't really find funny, it just tries way too hard to be WACKY. Like, all the fics of characters being drunk which bear no resemblance to how anyone has ever been while drunk in the history of the world.
Day 9: Drop the cast of a fandom you follow into a reality tv show - who/what/why?
I'd say this wouldn't work for most of the fandoms I've been in because the characters are too serious/competent. Fortunately, DMBJ absolutely does not have that problem! While I think it would be very very hard to write it without falling into the issues of crackfic as above, I reckon you could put the DMBJ cast in pretty much any reality show and it would be hilarious. Also, whichever you chose, from Bake-Off to I'm A Celebrity to Love Island, you'd have Pangzi throwing himself into 100% engagement with the premise and having an amazing time, Wu Xie going between totally baffled and outright cheating, and Xiaoge just being Xiaoge in the corner as hard as he possibly could.
Day 10: Drop your OTP or small ensemble from the fandom they're in into another fandom - how do they do?
Again, I would love to watch the Tomb Idiots smash their way through literally any other canon. Although, in a taking-it-seriously way, I was involved the other day in the discord in hashing out a whole Old Kingdom AU for DMBJ and I am now super invested in it! I am not saying I'll write it. But it had Liu Sang as the Abhorsen, Xiao-Bai as one of the Clayr, Pangzi as an extremely disreputable border guard with lots of sus jobs in his past who turns out to be a surprise Wallmaker, and Wu Xie as a scholar from Ancelstierre with Old Kingdom heritage who goes poking around the Clayr library and stumbles upon a lost Abhorsen from generations back, Zhang Qiling...
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Date: 2021-06-26 12:11 pm (UTC)Meanwhile the rest of us are delighted bc your h/c is *chef's kiss*
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Date: 2021-06-27 05:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-27 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-27 05:48 pm (UTC)Ah, yes, that feel. I'm the same XD
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Date: 2021-07-01 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-28 08:45 am (UTC)(Tbh that viewpoint is hilarious to me because he's really the only one of the Iron Triangle I feel is actively very interested in sex.)
Oh, I so agree with this! I mean, I already vomited out my ace!Wu Xie opinions in a fic, but Xiaoge also strikes me as pretty uninterested, though with him I'm always less sure whether this is real disinterest, that he just deems it as unimportant or whether he's just not letting himself...
with the exception of Xiao-Bai, and she's in very few fics. I... should really do something about that.
... Yes, please? It's on my list as well, but my list is long and I'm still mostly writing Guardian fic so who knows when I'd get around to it.
Anyway, the intervening years have mostly taught me exactly what hurt/comfort is and that reading and writing it is the vast majority of my fannish interest. Sometimes I feel embarrassed about this!
Again, I feel very much the same. I spent (slightly too long, probably) trying to figure out why exactly HC is the thing that inevitably grabs my interest but eventually gave up. It is what it is and now I'm just trying to enjoy it.
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Date: 2021-07-01 10:55 pm (UTC)I love the Vorkosigan books! I always forget they're not so well known over here as I was one of the last people in my social circle to read them. I have also read the Tortall books, but at age 20, so while I liked them I didn't imprint on them in the way I might have if I had been younger. (My wife read them as a pre-teen and very much did.)
With the Iron Triangle, Xiaoge seems pretty touch-averse to me, although he will with the other two only. But I can't see him really actively enjoying sex very much. Wu Xie I read as the kind of ace who wouldn't think to initiate but would then have a perfectly fun time. Whereas Pangzi is definitely very physical, and also Extremely Poly.
I do keep meaning to write Xiao-Bai! I am just very overwhelmed with Liu Sang + Iron Triangle ideas at the moment XD I'm taking a bit of a break from reading or writing Guardian right now, I think I got to a bit of a saturation point and wanted some new things. (DMBJ is so restful to write! I don't need to keep plotting around Shen Wei's powers and also them being SMART! XD)
I definitely still have periods of h/c angst. But, in reality I'm interested in reading/writing very little fanfic without it! I guess I partly double down on getting my Very Intense Feelings there since I actively avoid ship fic and smut and those sort of feels? I don't know!
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Date: 2021-07-02 09:29 am (UTC)I can definitely see all of those (particularly Pangzi). I tend to vary in which flavour of ace I ascribe the others (I'm weirdly non-fixed in my headcanons sometimes - one fic comes out with a, the next with b and both feel fine to me).
You wrote a lot of beautiful Guardian fanfic, being saturated makes sense to me. And I love how all the Iron Triangle are clearly very competent and yet still absolute idiots in various ways, it's a great combination.