Occasionally Snarky and Meta

In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Is there a challenge you've seen in the past that's no longer being run, and you wish it was? Or maybe one you've heard about in some other fandom that would be perfect for yours? Is there a challenge you'd love to see, but can't seem to find? Now's your chance to fill that void. Do you wish there was more (fill in the blank) in fandom? This could be something specific to your favorite fandom, or something more all-encompassing. Have you always wanted to try something, but needed that extra push?





Hmm...

Well, I wish there were more "missing moment" fanfic. So that's my challenge. Write a scene you know must have, or at least could have have, taken place in canon. It can be shippy, it can be gen, anything you want.

Alternatively, you can write a slight AU based on a scene or event that did happen - giving it a twist.

I realized that I added a bunch of fandomy people... and I haven't talked about fandom all that much. (To be fair, I haven't posted much at all. It's
been a hectic last few weeks.) I do miss talking about fandom, so I'm going to get back to that. For now, here's a short post (for me) about a topic I've seen raised a few times...

Can fanfic be better than the source material?

I've seen this debate come up a lot lately, and I decided to weigh in on it, because it's an interesting topic  - even if I don't have a definitive answer or opinion myself.

I think that it's a tricky question because people who claim that fanfiction they read is better might actually be saying: "I prefer where the author took the characters" or "I prefer this ship."  But that's less of a true quality issue and more of a taste issue, something I think fandom frequently confuses. You may prefer how an author portrays the world the writer created, but that doesn't mean the writing itself is better. 

The other problem is that writing itself is subjective. I've hated books everyone around me loved. I've loved books people thought were terrible. I think I must be the only person who doesn't think the Hunger Games books were ruined by the Peeta/Gale/Katniss love triangle. (Particularly because the way I read it, 90% of the "love triangle" was all part of the act, even if Katniss did have feelings for Peeta.) That's coming from someone who actually greatly dislikes love triangles. My point is that I can certainly prefer a fanfic over a novel, movie or episode, I can prefer how a fic writer portrayed a ship, but that's ultimately my opinion.
 
(And yes, even though I generally ship canon, there are still ships I prefer in fanfic. In one case I DO think the writer dropped the ball big time, I think it's hard... not to think that, yet even there people have disagreed with me.)

I'm tempted to say that there are exceptions. Maybe there are; I've read some pretty terrible books and seen some pretty terrible movies. Surely someone's come up with something better. :P 

Speaking of asking and answering things, still willing to do a talk meme. Feel free to ask something fandom related, but you don't have to. :)

This is a song about how I don't care about shipping. The tune is similar to "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray.
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I just realized the sixth Harry Potter book was released today.  (Partly because that's how nerdy I am, partly because July 16th happened to be a Red Letter day for so many of my fandom friends that I remember it.) So I thought it would be fun to read my entry from 7/16/2005. *Reads* Oh wow, a lot of rambleage about my fic. Okay, I'll just list out here what I said, but leave out the fic rambling. SPOILERS FOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, obviously. As well as Deathly Hallows. Spoilers for anything Harry Potter, really. 

(My "current" comments are  in parentheses.)
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Have my opinions changed? Besides what I said above, not really. I don't think it was a bad book, but it was definitely a transition between OoTP and DH.  I do think some things could have been written differently, but I also think there's fandom opinion mixed in there. 

The following year, apparently, I made a poll about HBP. Again, huge spoilers.

So, Harry Potter people, what were your reactions when you read the book? Do you remember? Do you still stand by any of them, or do you differ a lot?  (ETA: Even if you didn't read the book when it was first released.)

A lot of people in fandom say they miss discussion. Including me. You can still find it on tumblr, but there's less true interaction, more reblogging and sharing. Meanwhile, the platforms where discussion occurs may still be limited, whether it's through less nuanced discussion (for instance, preferring to discuss an actress's new shoe line over her character's complex story arc), or it's somewhere like Facebook, where you can't really get into spoilers unless it's a closed group, and even then it's tricky.

However, I realized something: there actually still is a lot of fandom meta. It's just not in written form.

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I just realized I never shared this bit of Firefly meta with anyone.  What did the Tams know?

When we meet Gabriel Tam in a flashback (with Zac Efron playing young Simon), he seems like a strict, but not unloving father.  We don't see Regan Tam with her kids when they're young, although we do see her in a flashback that's closer to when the events of Firefly take place.

If you recall, Simon tries to tell them that something is wrong with River. He uses her letters as an example, saying how she talked about parties they went to that, in reality, never happened. Her parents deny it, and when Simon gets into trouble for snooping, he gets a stern warning.

This begs the question: What did the Tams know?
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In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. 

I've written a lot over the years. (Seriously, I've been into fandom since 2000. My earliest fics were inspired by emo teenage hormones and Sarah McLachlan songs. *Facepalm*) So how to narrow it down?

I'll try, anyway! :P They're all Harry Potter for now. I have fics for other fandoms, but they're either incomplete WIPs or a lot harder to find. 

Prisoner of Azkaban Re-Read: A re-read of Harry Potter that's in part an exploration of Marauder worship in the HP fandom heyday. If you were a Marauder geek, you'll enjoy this one a lot. (If I do say so myself.) However, I also take a more mature and nuanced approach that's removed from "OMG MWPP LIK WHOA" and more in the vein of a recent college graduate. (Since I'd just graduated college when I re-read PoA. Holy Guacamole.)  LJ / DW

Oh, and pardon the formatting in earlier chapters. I did fix it.

Breaking Rules: An encounter brings about a friendship between four girls that crosses House boundaries. . One shot, gen, PG-13; characters are Demelza Robbins, Padma Patil, Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass.) LJ  /  DW


I've Got a Theory: Or, Order of the Phoenix, Buffy style. Filk (song parody). Characters are the trio, Luna, Ginny and Neville.  LJ


Outside the Bubble:   Ginny and Hermione's friendship as told in conversations throughout their years at Hogwarts. One shot, mostly gen, but with canon pairings. PG-13.  LJ  /  DW  /  Ao3

Full Circle: When Andromeda hears that Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter are being sought by Voldemort, she and her cousin Sirius vows to protect both families. Unfortunately, in war, nothing ever goes as planned. One shot, mostly gen with canon pairings. Longbottom family, Tonks family, Potter family. PG-13.  LJ  /  DW /  Ao3 

The Dragon King: Over the course of two and a half days, Charlie Weasley goes through the motions as he and his family cope with Fred's death and burial, struggling to comfort his family while dealing with his own grief — and guilt.  One shot, gen with canon pairings, Weasley family. PG-13. PhoenixSong /  LJ  /  DW   /  Ao3

One of the prompts for the fandom snowflake challenge - which I'm not officially doing, but I have seen around - is to write about your memories of fandom. I've done SO MANY of those. So instead, I thought I would do it in a totally meta and unique way.

I went back in time to 2003, and interviewed a Harry Potter fan, known as  Fan of Fandoms Past (FFP).Last time I did this, it was to recap PoA. 

(Quick non-meta note: FFP is basically a parody of teenage Harry Potter fans in 2003. Particularly Marauder fans. Particularly the ones I was friends with. And myself.)

 

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September 1, 2017 - nineteen years later.

Since some of my friends are still reading the books, I'm putting the rest of this under a cut. 


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Looking forward to hearing/reading what everyone thinks! And don't feel you have to limit yourselves to those questions - or even answer them at all.