Fandom Meme
Jan. 22nd, 2011 06:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavanya_sixVia damn near everyone:
Ask me fandom-related questions. They can be fandom specific, general, or about fandom/lj stuff/fic writing/etc. in general. Questions can be as wacky as you want. Ask me about tv shows, characters, kinks, fanfic in general, fandom issues/meta, anything about any of my stories specifically. Whatever you've always wanted to know.
Ask me fandom-related questions. They can be fandom specific, general, or about fandom/lj stuff/fic writing/etc. in general. Questions can be as wacky as you want. Ask me about tv shows, characters, kinks, fanfic in general, fandom issues/meta, anything about any of my stories specifically. Whatever you've always wanted to know.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-22 06:21 pm (UTC)1. What fanon things do you have as your personal headcanon?
2. What fanon things annoy you the most in each fandom?
3. Are their any bits of fanon that arn't your headcanon, but you really enjoy?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-22 07:19 pm (UTC)In Sailor Moon, I always liked the fanon explanation that the reason no one recognized the senshi is that, while transformed, they have a glamour that obscured their appearance.
I'm not aware of any headcanon I consciously use in Evangelion. Maybe that Yui Ikari is the biggest magnificent bastard in the series? Although that verges into Alternative Character Interpretation or Wild Mass Guessing rather than fanon. I'd sometimes use Mari as the name for Touji's sister, but with the new Mari from the Rebuild movies I won't be using it anymore. I'd retcon Mari's name out of Taking Sights if I could be bothered to deal with the hassle of reformatting and re-uploading the chapters.
In Avatar? I always liked Omoni's take on Aang in The Innocence of Youth where he already knows what sex is, and I've adopted it as headcanon for how I write Aang. I also like Loopy's take on Sokka and how he deals with problems: namely that he deals with what's in front of him and suppresses his worries of things beyond his control (his mother's death, what happened to Suki after she met Azula).
>2. What fanon things annoy you the most in each fandom?
Nothing in Sailor Moon fandom.
In Evangelion fandom, probably the insistence to give Shinji a spine. He's not that much of a coward in canon, and only breaks down after some seriously bad events near the series' end, and if you make him a generic badass then you're gutting the characterization of a character who was meant to be a deconstruction of a generic giant mecha hero. Ritsuko/Maya also annoys me because it's the go-to happy ending for Ritsuko.
In Avatar fandom, I don't really have any fanon that annoys me. That's probably because the fandom is still young enough that its fanon hasn't calcified into cliches.
>3. Are their any bits of fanon that arn't your headcanon, but you really enjoy?
Nothing in Sailor Moon or Evangelion fandoms. I sometimes go for Azula being lesbian/bisexual.
Addendum
Date: 2011-01-23 08:25 pm (UTC)When he fought Ozai, we saw Aang purposefully miss redirecting lightning back at Ozai for an easy kill shot, and Ozai was in the process of burning down the Earth Kingdom. That's the strength of the personal morality that drives Aang to restrain himself in all his fights.
Re: Addendum
Date: 2011-01-23 08:54 pm (UTC)Re: Addendum
Date: 2011-01-23 09:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-12 02:41 pm (UTC)Why do you think people like Toph so much and are divided on Aang? Given their similar violations of common sense and all...
Is there a way to portray Crystal Tokyo and the Dark/Nemesis Moon without going the utopia is a sham or dystopic evil? Have you ever been able to enjoy Usagi/Mamori (Darien and Serena for me... always)
Ever tried Inuyasha? What are your favorite elements? Least favorite? What if anything would you change?
Certain stories and fandoms are prone to certain weaknesses. Avatar the shipping war and yeah some of the restrictions of the original audience (we disagree on energybending oddly enough I support that but dislike the Avatar State's reappearance but also can understand... well it would suck if Aang never got to claim power over the crazy thing that's controlled his life?). Sailor Moon tends to veer to despair and Twilight-esque implications and issues with romance until you inject or make explicit more lesbianism. EVA is well...alot ofthings (I just consider most shows before and after handling the same subject matter better EVA fails for me the same way Embers does the events are too contrived and soft to end up at doom and gloom; admittedly its been retold dozens of times by now so I shouldn't resent it) but at a guess making Shinji into a badass, pairings, and philosophical wankery (at least where I tried).
Why do these problems occur? How can each person contribute? How have you contributed? How do you overcome or mitigate them?
Harry Potter how did you feel about the Ginny romance? I lost the book series proper after Goblet of Fire as such...I know stuff and don't mind some spoilers... But... well from my perspective it seems out of no where and I feel a bit cheated knowing Ron and Hermione hooked up. I just took it as a given Cho Ann would be a "first heartbreak" due to Harry's nervous lack of approach and idealization. I only discounted Harry and Hermione due to a supposed statement from the author promising no inter-trio romance. And then well there is one only its...well weird. After Cho ann I was fine with STAG Harry. Between Hagrid and Dumbledore and others I thought it would be saying something you could be single and still happy, with a meaningful life.
Simultaneously, Gay Dumbledore, I knew it, eww, or ehsurewhatevs and Snape. Just snape I risk proposing a question without tilting things too much one way or the other.
Response 1/2
Date: 2011-02-12 03:28 pm (UTC)I'd say that neither Katara or Azula are thinly characterized. Katara's a main character and has clear character development over the course of the series (basically, from an idealistic Wannabe Messiah to a slightly ruthless Knight Templar). Azula doesn't get as much characterization as Katara, mostly due to her being involved in fewer episodes, but the viewer at least gets a sense of Auzla's relationships, personal ticks, and insecurities.
If I was going to find a comparably thinly characterized supporting character, I guess I'd pick someone like Hakoda or Ty Lee. But that's the nature of supporting characters; we only need to know enough about them so that they can provide useful scaffolding for building up the main characters.
>Why do you think people like Toph so much and are divided on Aang? Given their similar violations of common sense and all...
Because Toph is a badass.
If you're snarky and you can kick ass, people will fall for you and forgive all your faults.
>Is there a way to portray Crystal Tokyo and the Dark/Nemesis Moon without going the utopia is a sham or dystopic evil?
Certainly! There have been plenty of fics that avoid the cliche of the "false utopia Crystal Tokyo" route. At least there were when I was into the SM fandom, which was admittedly several years ago...
>Have you ever been able to enjoy Usagi/Mamori?
Yes, I guess? I never really sought it out. The only time I've gotten into shipping fic is in the AtLA fandom. I rarely read 'pure' ship fic, however, because it tends to be fairly cookie cutter. I like my shipping paired with plotting.
>Ever tried Inuyasha?
I haven't. I probably won't, either. Getting into fandoms with a huge backlog of canon material to catch up on is a major time investment for me. Also I got my fill of Rumiko Takahashi with Ranma 1/2.
> Sailor Moon tends to veer to despair and Twilight-esque implications and issues with romance until you inject or make explicit more lesbianism.
Wow. Really? It's been years since I was really into SM. Like, we're talking pre-FF.net era. I hadn't realized the fandom had changed so much. I'm old.
The only SM fanfic I follow these days is Hands Fall Together.
>EVA is well... [I] guess making Shinji into a badass, pairings, and philosophical wankery
There's actually very little philosophical wankery in Eva fic these days compared to the late 90s/early 2000s. It's one of the things that really surprised me when I got back into fanfic after I left fandom for a few years. But yeah, badass!Shinji is a trope that needs to be burned and the ashes salted.
The most old school Eva-ish fic I've read lately was actually a Harry Potter one. It basically rewrote Year 5 from Luna's POV, and the author was clearly invoking Eva's tropes with how he/she wrote of Luna's odd way of looking at the world.
Response 2/2
Date: 2011-02-12 03:28 pm (UTC)>Why do these problems occur? How can each person contribute? How have you contributed? How do you overcome or mitigate them?
This is a tall order of questions. Basically:
1) Fandoms accumulate trends and cliches. It just happens. Same goes for normal lit genres.
2) They write fanfic that either uses those tropes, de/reconstructs them, or avoids them.
3) I don't think of my fanfic as intentionally commentating on fandom trends. I occasionally write in-story scenes that are a response to certain things I've read in other fics, like the fact I've pointedly avoided ever using "Good Agni!" or "Agni" anything in my fics, but the only fic that I wrote specifically as a response to a fandom's trends is one I've only gotten to the planning stages of. (It's an Evangelion fic I've outlined, one that address a lot of problems I have with the fandom and with my previous Eva fic, Taking Sights.)
4) You can go after these trends yourself, for one thing. But fandom's an organic thing and then people will be responding to your response.
>Harry Potter how did you feel about the Ginny romance?
I could take it or leave it. I've seen it done well in fic, and I've also seen it overplayed and idealized.
Re: Response 2/2
Date: 2011-02-13 12:19 am (UTC)I am not current with SM fic but some of the best seemed to rail in response to criticisms where it could understandably compare to Twilight. It doesn't help later seasons never seem to capitalize as well as say Godannar, on our main couple being together. Think of it as a variation on the Moonlighting syndrome followed by the fact the director wasn't that kind to the relationship in the anime and squick and even other anime series criticisms the destined romance gives. For instance, your cries of "screw destiny" with regards to Sailor Moon which as a concept I never felt...sure about.
addendum
Date: 2011-02-13 12:28 am (UTC)"(What's been your response to) Gay Dumbledore was it, "I knew it, eww, or ehsurewhatevs"?
Also curious; Snape? Just "Snape?" I risk tilting things too much one way or the other proposing a full question on the guy and I have to admit I'm just not sure I can get back on the horse.
I would still recommend the Inuyasha Manga. It at the least deals with Takahashi's quirks differently and I think a rewarding experience because more people are friends and colleagues as to competitors in a single romance. In fact I'd say its better because... well not much of a spoiler but there really isn't as much of a romantic triangle and things are more straight forward and even serious without losing her creative verve. The manga moves rapidly enough but can be digested at your pace.
Re: addendum
Date: 2011-02-13 01:03 am (UTC)I like the character of Snape. He's morally muddled in a way you don't see much in children's literature. He's got streaks of good and bad in him, and his love for Lily can be seen in both a redeeming light and a stalker-ish one. He's also an asshole, if for understandable (but not excusable) reasons.
forgot
Date: 2011-02-20 06:07 pm (UTC)Excuse me mum, May I make another
Date: 2011-02-15 01:50 pm (UTC)Re: Excuse me mum, May I make another
Date: 2011-02-15 03:50 pm (UTC)What difficulty Aang poses is writing him so that his morality and pacifism isn't a strawman. It's not even that he forgives the Fire Nation for genociding his people; forgiveness has a sort of power to it, that *I* choose to let what *you* did go. Aang doesn't even hate the Fire Nation. He just moves on with his life after Episode 3, and whatever guilt he associates with the Air Nomad genocide is, as shown in "The Guru", the guilt he has for surviving. But it's not really a strong survivor's guilt, either.
Rationalizing that without resorting to hollow platitudes is a real challenge.
Re: Excuse me mum, May I make another
Date: 2011-02-16 04:42 am (UTC)I never thought about the doesn't hate thing. I just chalked it up to him still maturing and processing and a kind of avoid the shock lever thing. plus being trained not to. He got really mad and lost himself. He doesn't like feeling that so he stops.
Besides he feels him betraying the people who needed him got them killed (The Storm) which isn't that wildly out there. He deals with the feelings amazingly well but it is a massive process he seems to always be working through though in an actually subtle or indirect way. I mean Appa gets stolen and holy hell, that hurt and rage came from somewhere.
Heh man Toph is that challenging huh. Hmm never realized.
What are the challenges with Azula or Iroh?
Re: Excuse me mum, May I make another
Date: 2011-02-16 01:13 pm (UTC)Re: Excuse me mum, May I make another
Date: 2011-02-16 03:07 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoy them. Thanks.