Day 12
What makes you fannish? And by that we mean, what is it about a tv show/movie/book/band/podcast/etc that takes you from, “Yeah, I like that,” to “I need MOAR!!!” Is it a character? A plotline? The pretty? Subtext that’s just screaming to be acknowledged?
In your own space, tell us what it is that gets you to cross that line into fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
In the past I’ve been very much a “fix-it” ficcer and an AU junkie. I’ve brought the Elves back to Middle-earth, and I’ve kept Severus Snape alive. I’ve written a Tenth Walker Novel, a “Voldemort won” scenario, and I’m working on an epic Star Trek fic that is supposed to cover an entire five-year mission.
The impulses at work there are definitely “how it should have ended” and “I have the power to say: this is not how the story ends”, and of course “but what if…?” is the underlying question of all AUs.
But besides that, I’m discovering that there is another aspect that makes me write fanfic. If canon settings, story, or characters speak to me in terms of issues I personally want and need to explore, I’ll do that in fanfic, too, and not just in o-fic.
Like when I wrote about history and faith in “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes” (LotR), or when I wrote about trauma and healing in “My Crimson Joy” (HP) or “Everything I Can Do” (Star Trek).
And I think that’s actually what pushed me into fannishness in terms of Star Trek RPF. That I could see these actors embody the characters in the stories that I’m currently interested in writing. You could also call it “all human Star Trek AU”, or “face-claim o-fic”, I guess.
It’s a matter of how the public personae of the actors relate to issues I’m exploring right now, such as the personal and political dimensions of sexual identity, the complex connections between friendship, romance, and love, or the effects of internal and external turmoils and tragedies on a person and their relationships.
Maybe one could say that with my fix-it fics and with my AUs, the way canon is reflected within me makes the fic, but with other stories and with other types of fandom it’s the other way around, that fandom is a way to reflect myself, my own stories.
I’m not sure that makes any sense; it’s 3:30 am right now, and I’ve reached the point where I’m exclaiming “what even are words?” in despair. I guess at least I’ve tried to think about a different aspect of my fannishness!