My LJ and fandom kinks...

[dangermousie]

I shamelessly stole this meme-type format from meganbmoore and modified it a bit.

Voila:



What I post on:

Currently, and for the past year+, this LJ has largely been a drama-zone, a.k.a. everything you never wanted to know (but soon will, bwahahahahaha!) about those nifty Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese TV-shows with unitary storylines, weeping hotties, and outfits of doom.

I do post fairly regularly on Bollywood (Indian movie industry), current Hollywood movies that catch my fancy, and any anime/manga I happen to get into at the moment.

I also go through spurts of loving on English-language entertainment too, whether it's my old fandoms (Farscape, Firefly, Roswell) or new shows that happen to catch my fancy (Doctor Who, Moonlight etc).

You chances of convincing me to get into the Asian music scene, with the shiny sequins, and the creepy back-up dancers, and the boyband RPF? Nil.

Type of posts:

Usually, I like to meta. A LOT. Give me a fictional work of nonsensical genius, and all my desire to analyze comes out. I also love to post screencaps and other pictures of attractive things, sentient or non.

I love to get others hooked on my current obsessions thus a lot of posts are rather evangelizing in nature.

I fic, sometimes, though not often. But being artistically challenged, no icons or banners for me.

I tend to read a lot, as well, and do a lot of travel. I sometimes post pictures and impressions from the latter, but only rarely talk about the former, because Mr. Mousie and other RL friends take good care of my opportunity to blab about books.

Spam:

As I am sure you have discovered by now, I post a lot. It's either that, or inflict all that babble on nearest and dearest. Usually it's because I am either so hyper about something that I must share it right now, or because I am bored. Or an excuse to find pics of cute guys.

Typos:

Oh baby. I make a lot. Those pesky fast fingers. I try to go back and get them, but who knows. Yes, I do know how to spell and apologies in advance.

Memes:

I find them fun to read sometimes, but the chances of me ever doing a proper meme, even if tagged, are about as large as those of Doctor Who showing R-rated material or of a Korean drama getting through its run without at least one eye-gougingly bad outfits. A.k.a. don't hold your breath :)

Ah yes, the irony, since the above response IS in a meme.

Polls:

Occasionally I like making polls. They have shiny red colors! And ticky buttons. But usually the urge passes with few harmful results.

Comms:

I am in a lot of comms, but don't really participate in most of them, using them merely as bookmarks. Probably because I am not into any fandom, per se. I used to be active in the Veronica Mars comm way back when. Now, about the only comm I am really active in is dorama_chat, general drama babble group. (I get to be a mod, wheeeeeeeeeeee!)

Friends Only Posts:

I make very few friends only posts, as this is really a fannish LJ. Usually they are related to my squee over Mr. Mousie. I don't know most people on my LJ in person, and thus if you do know me in person, any 'personal' details probably shouldn't be discussed in open posts. A.k.a. no annoucing 'Dangermousie's real name is Edna Grobowsek and she is 49 and lives at the North Pole' in a reply to '10 ways in which Joo Ji-Hoon rocks dark suits.'

Canon/Fandom/Slash/etc:

Canon:

I am a canon nazi. The end. The closest I ever came to uncanon shipping was Twdrama 'Bull-Fighting' where I preferred the alternative ship (the other guy who liked the heroine but whom she only saw as a friend). And even there, i didn't expect it to happen or go looking for fic or whatever. If I don't like the canon, I will just not be interested in the show/movie/book, I won't make my own canon.

Seeing that I have been this way for more years than I can think of, I am not going to change my mind. I don't care if it's the best Padme/Obi-Wan fic ever, I am not going to like it as it's an OC pairing. I don't care if you have persuasive arguments as to why Veronica and Mac are the best OTP ever. They are not canon, so I won't switch. I don't care (obviously) if people prefer an UC pairing or story turn, but I won't change my mind about it.

Slash:

Fanon slash holds no interest for me. See above point re: canon nazi. Plus, if I am in the 'fandom' at all, i.e. I like the canon, any fanon slash would be definition be against the canon set-up I liked in the first place, which either has the people paired with others, or with no one. (Do NOT get me started on anime fic slash which usually eviscerates the canon fic pairing. If I see another Toya/Yuhi fic, I am liable to kill someone).

And if I don't like the canon, why would I be interested enough to seek out fanon?

Canon slash? Not generally my bag (especially in manga, where they often feminize one of the men) but I might be convinced. One of my favorite novels is 'The Charioteer,' which is the discovery of love by two gay British military officers during WW2.

Fandom:

I am not really 'in' a fandom per se. I like hanging out in my little corner.

Fanfic:

The only thing better than good fic is bad fic. That way you get to mock.

Conversion:

I am open to new fandoms. I just need some angst and some OTP and some hotness.

Comments

[thelana.livejournal.com]

And if I don't like the canon, why would I be interested enough to seek out fanon?

I believe it's called masochism :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heh.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Well, there's also this alternative explanation of how canon is what you love and fanfiction is for exploring stuff that either can't or even shouldn't happen. Because they don't have the special effects, they can't just jump several years into the future, they can't focus in that much detail on everything that is interesting.

It can start small. Let's say, I love Veronica Mars, right? And I love Sherrif Lamb. But I acknownledge that the show can't really spend a multi episode arc on Lamb's back story and extended family history. So I make up a fanfiction about what Lamb's youth and family was like. And share it with other people who like him as a character.

That doesn't mean that I want Lamb to be the main character or that I seriously want the show to devote 10 episodes to Lamb's backstory. Heck, I might agree that that wouldn't be very interesting to watch, because something that works well as a story might not work half as well on screen. I might be perfectly fine with Veronica as the lead character and I'm just interested in Lamb's backstory in fiction form, even though I wouldn't actually watch a show where he is the lead character.

Still there?

Then it goes into little changes. What if Harry lost the war? What if he was won over by Voldemort? How would that change the universe he lives in? Would his friends come to save him? Obviously I wouldn't want Voldemort to actually win and I realize that JRK can't actually write a story where Voldermort wins and that that would be way too depressing. So just because I like it in fiction form doesn't mean that I actually like it. It's a fun exploration. I close the brower and it's gone. Meanwhile if it's written in the book by JRK then it IS final. Exploring more whacked out scenarios might be fine in fiction because they are not "real", but in canon there is only one version and there you might all agree that a happier version would be the better one.

So, I write a long plotty story where Harry gets taken over by Voldermort, about how Ron and Hermoine and Ginny go and find him, fight for him, bring him back, there interaction and everybody ends up happy.

Then I might ask myself... well, what if wasn't Hermoine or Ginny or Ron who went on the journey, what if Draco or Tonks or Neville went? How would that lead to other interaction? Would that be interesting interaction? Obviously Draco or Neville never went to save Harry, but Voldermort also never took Harry over like that. Does that mean that I shouldn't write either story? What makes the first story different from the second?

Let's say I really like Xander. Let's say I wonder what would happen if he ever got his own big starring adventure and I write that because I like Xander and think he is interesting. That doesn't mean I can't still like Buffy. I might like Buffy the show just fine even if Xander never get his own big starring adventure. It's just an *addition*.

Of course, for some people it doesn't stop there. The fanon they make up themselves takes over the canon in their mind and they grow bitter. Not a very healthy way to be IMO.

But I think it's possible to have a healthy attitude about that and still be curious. Precisely on a "some things are fun in fanfiction, doesn't mean that I want it on the show; I might want it explored in fanfiction precisely because I know it won't be part of the show and it doesn't even have to be".

Again not everybody has this odd curiosity vibe going on and that's not a problem either. It's not a question of better or worse, just different folks, different strokes.

For me, if canon truly satisfies me then I don't need fanfiction. I get all I need from the show. Fanfiction comes when there are stuff with the canon that aren't perfect. Like when a certain bollywood action movie doesn't spend enough time setting up the couple, or if another bollywood movie could have done more character exploration of the female character, so I fill it in. So to me fanfiction is about filling those cravings of things the canon doesn't or can't completely fill, but that aren't necessarily a priority.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Not everybody finds fanfiction or fandom all that interesting. And it obviously has many downsides to it. For starters, fanfiction are just fan typed words. Obviously can't compete with canon because you can't see it acted out by the actors. Just like a fan written story most likely will never been as skillful as the original book author. But for one reason or another fandom as a thing has an attraction to some people (probably because of the interactive component), so people start looking at as as a value in itself, kinda almost separate from canon.


But yeah, masochism is probably the better/more fun explanation ;p

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Your explanation makes sense. It's just for me, I only want fanfic for canon that I really really love. I can't get enough and want to read more about them.

To use an example from fandom we are both familiar with, Veronica Mars. I only wanted to read fic in it when I liked the show a lot. I just wanted 'missing' or future moments with Veronica/Logan, or Keith's past or what not.

As soon as it became pretty flawed, I lost interest.

So fanfic is a different thing for me.

I understand people wondering about different what-ifs, but that curiousity is totally absent in me.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I don't know. For me personally it's not about disliking the canon. Just that some parts might not be my favorite part of canon. Now, I'm a big supporter of "If you hate, stop watching for God's sake" (like, I will never understand the people who have been complaining about Lana from Smallville since season 1 and who are STILL watching? Errr, what gave them idea that the Lananess of the show would ever change?).

But I think it's normal to have preferences. Stuff that is okay and stuff that *particularly* inspires you.

I don't doubt that it leads to some in my eyes very odd constellations, like when it seems that people are watching a show that they don't even seem to like just because they see it as fodder of their fandom existance.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

get into the Asian music scene, with the shiny sequins
Hey, that's Johnny's Entertainment, not all of Asiapop. Korean bands dress ..well, less badly and less shinily 70% of the time. My favourite band mostly wears suits. So there. :P

Totally random - I remember you asking about ordering Telugu DVD's on Bwhat, did you get around to doing it? Some of those Siddharth films are the most delightful things to come out of India as of late...

[grey-fuzzy.livejournal.com]

Lieeees! Kpop is as scary as JE!

[fivil.livejournal.com]

If by 'scary' you mean fun. ;)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I never got around it. Did watch NN which was very cute, but dramas sort of ate my life.

I did find out that netflix has a really good selection so they are in my rental queue

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

"Currently, and for the past year+, this LJ has largely been a drama-zone, a.k.a. everything you never wanted to know (but soon will, bwahahahahaha!) about those nifty Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese TV-shows with unitary storylines, weeping hotties, and outfits of doom. "

and thanks to some of your posts i find out about a drama that i might have missed...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Awwww, thanks! :)

[grey-fuzzy.livejournal.com]

No annoucing 'Dangermousie's real name is Edna Grobowsek and she is 49 and lives at the North Pole' in a reply to '10 ways in which Joo Ji-Hoon rocks dark suits.' XD LOL.

Dramas count as a fandom unto themselves, I say. Well, I'll just keep telling myself that anyways, because if I don't, I'll have to resign myself to being in the JE fandom and that's just scary!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I agree. I mean, most dramas I watch don't even have JE and/or are from a different country :)

[thinking-lotus.livejournal.com]

is there really a person called joo ji-hoon?

I am 49 and live at the north pole, but I don't believe we've met ...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

is there really a person called joo ji-hoon?

Either he exists, or is a very attractive fabrication. He is the star of Goong, and The Devil. See below :)




I am 49 and live at the north pole, but I don't believe we've met ...

We should swap polar bears sometimes and have iced tea :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Don't think of it as a meme, think of it as a formatted intro type post.

*beams*

"And if I don't like the canon, why would I be interested enough to seek out fanon? "

EXACTLY!!!! I mean, if you dislike the canon that muh...WHY DO YOU BOTHER????

Though...uhm...it's possible relena in Gundam Wing will make me regret sayingthat...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Though...uhm...it's possible relena in Gundam Wing will make me regret sayingthat...

Heh. But I think with you and Relena is like with me and Hebe's character in Bull-fighting. I don't like her but like other canon things enough to enjoy it as a whole :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

yes. Except, it's not me and relena...IT'S THE ENTIRE FANDOM AND RELENA!

Het fans I know(including a guy who probably doesn't qualify as a het fan, but has no understanding of why people keep slashing the guys when there's a perfectly decent girl the guy is already clearly the property of) hate her. Slash fans hate her. Everyone hates her. I have already decided that she's a robot with malfunctioning programming so that my annoyance with her won't distract me.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

get into the Asian music scene, with the shiny sequins
That's why I'll never become a big fan of other JE bands other than SMAP ... they laid off the sequins a decade ago :D
Asian music (be it Taiwanese, Korean or Japanese) can be scary sometimes, esp. the boy bands. (of which Shinwha and SMAP are the exceptions I guess AND they make good music)

I love to get others hooked on my current obsessions thus a lot of posts are rather evangelizing in nature.
You know without that I would have never thought about gettinginto Asian dramas. SO THANK YOU *smoochies*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You are welcome :)

*smoochies back* :)

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

Canon slash? Not generally my bag

Sometimes I don't even think slashers like canon slash, but as there is so little canon slash in general, I guess there's no way to know for sure. I'm just going by what little Rent fanfic I spot, in which there seems to be a huge Mark/Roger contingent but next to nothing about Angel/Collins. Poor guys. Maybe it's the Adam Pascal factor, I dunno.

My own fandom kinks are mostly similar to yours, except I love AUs. Not about non-canon couplings, or "[fandom x] in outer spaaaaaaaaace", but something like, "what if Mary Winchester lived?" or "what if Anakin found out about the twins earlier?" That's my crack. :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Poor Angel/Collins, I liked them. Oh well...