~~rambles & a semi-meta fandom question

[reenka]

so um... i was considering linking to my r/hr fic... on the fiction alley r/hr `ship thread. and. i can't. i can't. *runs from the hetness*

waaah. i can't. they were like... talking 'bout... ron and hermione... and... and... sex. (*cries*) i'm a ninny. i can't haaaaaandle iiiiiit. i wonder why. i don't know, really. i read ethrosdemon's h/r/hr almost-smutlet ('cause it had no warning, heh), and that was ok. almost... hot. sort of. i mean. i was a bit disturbed, because i was a) sort of liking h/hr(!!) het-sex; b) what the hell?? of course i like it, i'm not exactly slashing-since-birth or anything. so. but.... in my mind. ron and hermione are.... um. well. semi-platonic. *laughs* that's how i deal with it. i just don't want to... go there. kissing is ok. hand-holding. etc. but.... i mean.... *mind rebels once again* ok nevermind. just let me forget i ever wrote that fic...
~~
::happy sigh:: found this gallery of angel statue images. am blissful. am in awe. i mean... the sheer amount of work and effort required... to have such completely photo-realistic detail in stone. humanity is redeemed all over again every time another artist touches a pen, or a paintbrush, or an instrument, and creates. i fully believe that. forget sainthood. this is the Work. this is the true, the only Work.
    want to run away someplace like this and never come back. stone angels and water and old houses and peace. and me, by an attic window, pen in one hand, paintbrush in my pocket, watching the sun go down, slowly, over the edge of the river.
~~

~~
how many hp slash (or otherwise) fans care much about the magic/fantasy element of either the books or the fanfic they read/produce? is that important? how many of them actually came into the fandom at least partly because of the fantasy genre of the books? i feel vaguely alone. i realize i haven't been writing magic-heavy fanfic, mostly because i'm just getting my bearings, still. but not a lot of fanfic i've read has been even remotely concerned with magic. i realize people probably think jkr covered all that, and defined all the terms, and one need only use them to a greater or lesser extent, and it's the characters that need expanding on-- and that's true. but, if you're a fantasy freak (like i am), it's just hard to resist playing with magic.
    i think i can name on the fingers of one hand, the amount of fantasy/romance-heavy fanfic in the fandom. same goes for sci-fi heavy star wars or x-files, or fantasy-heavy buffy/spike stories. just doesn't happen. the only well-known fantasy-laden work i can think of off the top of my head is of course, the Draco Trilogy. others are all suspense, romance, mystery, angst, drama, comedy (or some combination thereof).

are the fans just in it for the characters? i mean, that's ok and everything, just... i mean. if it's a book fandom especially. one wonders. why did you read it? i didn't read it, personally, because i care about quality in my fantasy literature. but i'm assuming part of the fandom sprung from the movie, a part from the "everyone's-reading-hp" craze, but also a part from the natural fantasy-lit-reading population. so. how many of that last group write slash? where are you guys?
um. just curious, mind you.
i guess i was inspired by the large following `smallville' has in the hp fandom. i suppose both are fantasy-themed (kind of), but largely i think it's an attraction to characters. i have no clue how much sci-fi fandom has to do with `smallville' fandom, but i have a feeling not much, since smallville's sci-fi sucks big-time, a major reason (besides the whole, `i don't watch tv except for the spuffy show' thing) i don't watch it. oh well. not like anyone's bothering with this, so i'll just trail off now.
not that i even -want- fantasy-heavy h/d fic, really. just. i feel like... i'm one of the very, very few heavy fantasy readers in this fandom (beyond the lotr crowd-- and face it, if you've read as much fantasy as me, lotr recedes into the background of huge, hulking MotherFics you just let influence you instead of squee over).

Comments

[silviakundera.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I really dislike the fantasy genre. Harry Potter is the ONLY universe of that style that I can stand, basically. I'm VERY much a "realism" type person. I like stuff like Milan Kundera and Kurt Vonnegut. The gritty tragedy and comedy of every day life.

It's just a taste issue, not that I think fantasy novels aren't well written and all that stuff. Just not my bag, you know?

so. yeah. It was the characters, and just the quirky style she had. It reminds me, actually, of Jane Austen, which I'm a big fan of. The snarking back and forth of characters, the hints of satire, the social commentary. The books are fairly witty, and seem to poke fun at British society at times. They're fun.

also: I still need to feedback your h/r! I pimped it last night in my LJ, but I still need to let you know how much I love it. Because I DO.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

hee~:) i did squee when i noticed you liked my story, but, i'm shy, so i didn't reply 'cause like, it was just you and deepsix and... stuff ^_^;;

v.v. happy you like it, 'cause you were most probably an inspiration (with that r/hr-5-years-later story i liked so much)~:D

actually, i like magic-realism in fantasy-- thus i like urban fantasy or modern-day fantasy the best-- where you can have both magic and realist-drama, though i realize "fantasy" makes you think of knights and maidens and the middle ages and geeks in costume, if you're in the mainstream (and um... not that i dislike that, heh).
although, both of the authors you mentioned don't really write "straight" realism, and tickle bits of magic-realism and stuff, i think anyway. (i know vonnegut does most definitely, and people actually think of him as a sci-fi author, even though i know he's got a wider audience, sci-fi/fantasy nuts like appropriating whoever they can, heh...)

my favorite authors usually blur the lines between genres (john barth, a.s. byatt, mary stewart, emma donoghue, etc), though i've got my roots y'know~:)

mucho thanks for ze input. i really was curious~:)

~reena

[ishuca.livejournal.com]

hey!

ok, to the fandom question... :wibbles:

i wish i had more time cause i've got to head out the door asap to get to nagoya, but...

i love fantasy. it the genre i will always go back to. while i tend to waffle back and forth between sci-fi and fantasy nowadays, and even though my favorite author is a sci-fi writer :bows down and worships michael moorcock: my roots are in fantasy. dragonlance and tolkien, to be specific.

i love the potter series b/c of the characters and the way it pokes fun at traditional magic. however, the idea of writing much magic/fantasy into the series, while appealing, also has its shortcomings. jkr has deviated from 'traditional' magic just enough that extrapolating on her universe's theories of magic is difficult. it's not like dragonlance, where you *know* what the magic is. or lotr, where tolkien explains 'magic' in the silmarillion. jkr has only given us hints.

that said, as a devoted fantasy reader, i honestly think that as it is, the fantasy of the books is secondary to everything else, including characters. perhaps this is why people more immediately write character-driven pieces.

in addition, compelling fantasy is hard to write, even for professionals. anyone who reads fantasy knows how much of it is complete dreck.

this post prolly wasn't clear and didn't give any real answers... but i've got to go! raaaaaaaaar!

um, but as a final note... my wip *is* mostly character driven, but the main plot point is based completely on magic/fantasy. =^-^=

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

hm. michael moorcock is sci-fi, huh? *grins*
i think he single-handedly could've been the reason for `science-fantasy'. well elric anyway. where was that science, again?? hee~:) i loff him, but, um... have you read the earliest elric..?? ouch. i couldn't, i was snorting my drink through my nose with every over-the-top sentence. "moonglum". every time i think, `moonglum', i just giggle. or maybe he meant that. yeah.

er. anyway.
yah i know whatcha mean about the magic-use being vague & secondary. still, it's like... i feel slightly bad because it's ignored to such an extent, plus it's not like i feel -bound- to her rules of magic, precisely because the regions of impossibility haven't been mapped out. but yeah, it's not exactly a welcoming universe.
    and, squee regarding your fic. *wants-more-fic*(!) and yeah, that did come across more like fantasy than a lot of 'em. the veelas, for one~:)

hee~:) dragonlance~:)
but. i can't say anything 'cause, i read `forgotten realms' (ok, only the wizard war series, but still. tres lame). not to mention star trek & star wars books...! *is unashamed* what room is there for extra dorkiness in fantasy fandom? we're all dorks.. hee~:D

thanks for humoring me~:)

~reena

[ishuca.livejournal.com]

hm. michael moorcock is sci-fi, huh? *grins*

you've read him!!!!!!!!!!! i love you. i love love love love love love love you. maybe i should repeat it a few more times. ishuca hearts reena. lots.

see, every time i talk about him to my supposedly literate fantasy/sci-fi reading friends they say this, "huh?" or, if they have more of a clue, they say this, "i've heard of him... never read him though."

it makes me want to bash my head in at times. i mean, the man was *huge* in the development of his genres, he gets ripped off of all of the time, and yet so many people don't know his work. :angsts: and i usually just categorize him as sci-fi because it's easiest, and what most of he writes falls into. sort of. i mean, not really, but... yeah. the multiverse screws with my brain on a level that is frightening. have you read the cornelius quartet? amazing. and scary. :stops fangirling:

that said, oh god was he corny in the beginning! :giggles: you're *so* right. moonglum. i really think that he meant it to be a parody. and i love arioch. love love love arioch, in all of his forms throughout all of moorcock's books. :restrains herself again:

hee hee... actually, i'm about halfway through chapter ten... my beta is *really* slow and under a lot of pressure at work. she wanted to have chapter six out to me last week, but has been completely backlogged. i'm trying to keep true to the feeling of the magic in the universe, but insert some of my own. stuff like blood magic, possession, and other magical forms. we know so little about the dark arts that there's more freedom to work there. also 'ancient magic' which is alluded to in the books. i'm using that, too. i still wish we had more to go on, though...

yeah, dragonlance. not the most well-written series ever, but something that will always have a place in my heart. and i care not that you read the star trek books! after all, i'm currently swooning over the arrival of my season 4 of tng. i am an unabashed trekkie. fear my dorkiness! :roars:

thanks for humoring me~:)

no problem. same here! =^-^=

~i

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

well, this is me, and i have a passing acquaintance with most everyone who's anyone (in the genre). see, those people, who say they read sf-fantasy? what they mean is, they read piers anthony, anne mccaffrey, robert jordan, & maybe tolkien or whatever. yea, it's a pet peeve. moorcock, nothin'. heh. do they know emma bull?? hee. do they know patricia mckillip?? have they read sturgeon or even flipped through frank herbert?

see, flipping is important, because then you at least know them by smell ^_^;; so to speak.

i dunno if i -read- moorcock in the in-depth sense. but like, here and there, and i always -planned- to read more of the multiverse stories. i've read some stories, though. i have this weird memory of a short story about a boy, in england, growing up (in was in an anthology with neil gaiman and others)-- he may have been gay, i don't quite remember. that rocked. i flip through things. ray bradbury, even. i've glanced enough at heinlein to know how he writes, sort of. read a buncha asimov, but not the foundation, just the prequels & a bunch of short stories. i used to feel like i needed to -know- the genre-- like, i needed to read hg wells and bradbury and vonnegut and asimov and heinlein and ellison-- not for fun, necessarily, but because i -had- to, otherwise i'd be ashamed of myself, heh -_-

anyway. i know i'm in the minority. ahh, the truth is, most sf/fantasy fans aren't really... er. well. they're really not that much more adventurous or into reading than say, danielle steele fans. ahem. hee~:)

~reena, off to a snarky start to her morning

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

``Michael Moorcock's Elric: Tales of the White Wolf" it was, with the growing-up story.

oh gahd, that thing rocked, hardcore. yum~:)

[ishuca.livejournal.com]

damn, haven't picked that one up yet. i was buying while a student, so was ever short on funds. now i have money, but importing books here is a real bitch, and bloody expensive.

i am *so* behind on my moorcock...

:sulks:

[ishuca.livejournal.com]

:nods head violently:

my god, *yes*. blarg. i have something like 600 books in my own personal library at home (i miss them!) and almost all of them are sf/fantasy. and a lot of them are more contemporary. but the classics and minor authors abound as well.

meh. piers anthony, anne mccaffrey, and robert jordan. three authors who piss me off to high hell. who all, in my opinion, sold out. gah. who used to be good, and wonderful, and now are just sort of there.

and the day that they don't know herbert will be a very sad day indeed. mckillip- have you read the 'forgotten beasts of eld'? i think it's still oop, but my god. what an amazing book. dabbling is good. what i tend to do is obsess for a bit, and then once i've run through my obsession move on to another author. there are only two authors who i am in a constant state of obsession with: moorcock and tad williams. mer.

but it's like- people should read the classics, because then they see where it all came from. the number of people who have never read 'stranger in a strange land' that i've met is really upsetting. meh.

and you're right. they tend to stick with who they know, and that's it. comfort levels. which are good, but if an author starts to run dry it's nice to be flexible enough to move on. there are people that prolly never even make it out of tsr publishing. :weeps:

sorry about making your day snarky... :sniffs:

[unstasis.livejournal.com]

Forgotten Beast of Eld.. Now a major motion picture? I'm sure reenka could expand on the classics, or the neoclassics that not enough people read. What about Stephen R. Donaldson, or Peter Beagle?

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

nah, you didn't make my day snarky.
i watched the escaflowne movie again...
and i was pretty emotional, for hours.
*points at icon* heh

i was really resisting changing my default icon... but anyway.

yea, i've read `the forgotten beasts of eld', heh. that's like, one of my top 5 fantasy books of all time, and probably my favorite of mckillip's and she's my favorite fantasy author, soooo~:)

i adore that book, and her writing style, and...
it's really influenced me for some weird reason. that and the riddlemaster trilogy (was going to say the `riddle trilogy' but then i was like, uh, no, hee~:)
actually, i was thinking `riddle me this' would be a good title for a hp story, but, um...cliche.....
then there's `elvenbane' (by andre norton & mercedes lackey) & the chrestomanci books, `dreamsnake' by vonda mcintyre, `cat's paw' by joan d. vinge, `an alien light' by nancy kress, `more than human' by sturgeon, possibly `finder' by emma bull & `serpent's tooth' by diana l. paxton. as my `most defining sf/fantasy books'. not that you needed to have that list, but what the heck ^.^

phear me and my listing prowess, hee

~reena~:)