swmbo | Yay for Friday!!

Current Mood: sleepy

Yay for Friday!!

*falls asleep*

Hee! I am feeling quite catlike today, I must say! All curled up and cosy and content with myself. Although SLEEPY, since a certain Kovsky kept me up later than I planned on AIM. That or the Mucinex. BEHOLD THE POWER OF MUCINEX! But I am feeling quite lazy and lethargic, although I had brief excitement when I could find neither my glasses or my car keys this morning, thus resulting in me being late for work.

Not that it really matters today because it is also a soft-focus and quiet day at work - I like it.

I composed a post in my head last night that was very eloquent and then I lost it all. Naturally. Still, I cling to the belief that it would have had insight that would have changed the world.

Mostly, I was thinking about my fannish reading habits. I was talking to the Fod and we both kind of realized - neither of us read a lot of Angel fanfic. It's the show that was closest to my heart - is closest to my heart. But in many ways I am so attached to the characters, to my views on who and what they are, that it's hard for me to find fic to read that works for me. Buffy, while I loved the show, I had less of that extraordinarly strong emotional attachment to the characters and that's the fandom that I really read in. And even that is grain of salt-y - I started reading fanfic during season 7, which is a season I'm very curious to see what it'll be like to watch it straight through, because of my own issues with dropped plots/blinds.

Anyway, right now - Angel fanfic is the thing I am still least likely to read, even though it's still the show I feel strongest about and identify myself with fannishly. And yet, what do I seek out? I'm wanting HP recs and fics right now, I just finished going through a period when I was reading just about anything that was Clark/Lex related that I could find - and even now if there was something rec'ed by Vi, I'd drop it and read.

But the thought of reading Angel fanfic is just...not appealing. Or maybe less appealing is the better term. Oh, it is, every once in a while, if I get a very strong rec from somebody whose characterizations match mine. And, for example, I am loving

ats_nolimits. But other than that...

And this isn't new. I've always been only a dabbler in reading Angel-fic, comparitively speaking.

And then there are other things - I've been watching both Babylon 5, Alias and Farscape now. And loving/enjoying them in their own levels, and yet I don't really have a desire to read fic about them, at least not yet.

On the other hand, Lost? I could see Lost hitting an urge for me - the few short pieces out there that I've read have entranced me. I could see wanting more.

So I can't quite figure out - what it is that will make me want to read fanfic and what won't. What the elusive draw is. And that doesn't even include the issue with RPS, and why certain pairings/concepts attract. Like, why I'm totally fine reading Dom LotRPS but so far haven't really thought the EXACT SAME 'character' in LOST-based LotRPS doesn't seem to appeal. (And it's not even a character thing, about not being interested in the other actors, because, ok, this is where it gets freaky - the only RPS I've written myself took place in a world in which it was Lost-centric!). I just realized how very little sense my preferences make.

And I'm still surprised at how much I like reading in Smallville fandom, when I still only dabble in watching the show (I have all the S4 episodes, but haven't made time to watch them).

Or how much I'm adoring certain HP pairings, when I didn't think I'd ever really want to read in that fandom at all. And that's even weirder, because I'm actually rereading Harry/Draco stories and the thing is - I RARELY reread fanfic. Eliade's Season Noir is like, one of two long fics in Buffy fandom that I reread - and that was a refreshing when she posted her last chapter. I reread books often, I never reread fanfic, particularly long ones - I am not sure why. Until now, in which suddenly I'm shifting and rereading fics I read only a few weeks ago. (I don't count reading a fic (short) a couple of times back to back to see the nuances as rereading. Because I am lame and am making up my own definitions).

What is this babbling about? Mostly I was curious to see how others feel. Is there a fandom that you feel very close to, but you don't actuallly read much in? Shows (or ships) you adore but can't see the appeal of the fic? Shows you don't even watch but you read the fic in? Because the latter is how I started on Smallville.

My coffee was yummy this morning but man, I'd love another cup. And yet, it is not to be. UNLESS I decide to go home over lunch, a fact which is extraordinarily appealing.

And I have got to get my act together and buy stuff to make my Halloween costume for the Halloween party tomorrow night. I'm gonna go as the Fish Killer and have a plaque with Bruce Lee mounted on it, and a string of other fish. There will be enough people from the office there that it will be funny. TO ME!

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I have no thoughts. I'm wearing pointy boots and am more aware of my toes than I would like to be. Soon I will go home and watch more MacGyver.

BUT: look at me! I'm actually commenting in your lj. For the first time in forever.

EEEE!! Pointy boots! But that doesn't sound very comfortable *concerned*

*snuggles you*

YOU ARE ON LJ! Huzzah for yoU! You are a MacGyver champion! And I like you in my LJ, it makes me feel comfy and cuddly.

Of course they aren't comfy. But they are oxblood red with little rhinestone appliqes and for some reason I felt like being a bit fabulous today. But! Because I will go home for my lunch date with Angus? I can change out of them and be less fabulous and more comfy in the afternoon!

Wheee!

Are you going home for lunch too?

Shall we have grilled cheese sammies together?

Ohh!! I think I will go home for lunch! And you know, I was going to have chicken chili but I could have a SMALLER bowl of the chicken chili and a grilled cheese sandwhich, hmmm...I must think about it!

I am feeling quite catlike today
You mean like this? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/wurmiebaby/new%20cat%20pics/002_00A.jpg
Fish Killer huh? What will Mr. Larry say about that?

Hee! Well, perhaps he would like it because you know, betta's are very competitive and Bruce Lee, the fish I destroyed, was a Betta - so I was doing him a favor!!!

But I could never harm Mr. Larry! I LOVE HIM!

And yes! EXACTLY like that! Wee!

I'm gonna go as the Fish Killer and have a plaque with Bruce Lee mounted on it, and a string of other fish.

...

...

...

*looks shifty*

Hee.

Fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck. I just wrote a really long reply to this, and then scrolled back by accident! I will try to recreate it!

My viewing/reading habits are pretty similar to yours, especially in that I really don't read a lot of Angel fic. What I do read tends to be pretty gen, also. I think a lot of fic reading is about exploring relationships/characters to an extent that doesn't happen on the show. With Angel, I don't really have any 'ships, except for my love of Gunn/Wes, which only works within the parameters of their canon friendship. Canon is what matters to me.

With Lotrips, on the other hand, there is no canon, only a few pictures. The fandom is the fic. And because my lotrips love stems from my LotR love, RPS that is outside of the LotR confines doesn't really work for me.

With Smallville, there are these two characters who you're more concerned about than any of the others, and the canon doesn't delve as deep into their relationship as you'd like. Plus, the canon spends a whole lot of time dealing with things that feel fairly irrelevant. Added to that is the fact that we already know the canon has to go somewhere and do things to the characters that we, or I, won't like. The fic doesn't have to do that.

HP is pretty similar, in that the canon, even though it isn't complete yet, has certain confines. Two more years of school, Voldemort will be defeated, some more people will die. And barring naff epilogues, which I'm sure JKR will not go in for, that's as far as the canon is ever going to go. We never get to see these characters, who for the most part could also use a little more fleshing out, grow up. Plus, their universe is kind of intriguing.

Which, I think, is a very longwinded way of saying that it's about wanting more than canon can provide, for whatever reason. There are some shows that don't grab you enough to need anything more than canon gives. There are others, like Angel, where the canon is almost untouchable. And then there are others, the fandoms of possibility, where there are things that you want to change, things that you want to see, things that the writers haven't done quite enough of.

But I don't know why that makes you re-read HP fic! How many times have you read the books?

Does that make sense? I'm sure it was far more coherent first time around!

Just like me, writing it first right before bed, in my head - always a bad idea.

But yeah, a lot of it has to do with how a story is or isn't satisfying you fully on screen. And trying to explore alternatives to that. For me the big oddness, and part is the ship thing, that I am rarely drawn to read Angel fanfic. And yet, it's not like I have a strong ship feelings about Buffy, I can read a ton of ships equally.

With Angel, I think I much more likely to kneejerk away with "that's not Wes or Connor or Angel or Cordelia or Gunn" or whatever and then, not be able to continue.

With Angel, I think I much more likely to kneejerk away with "that's not Wes or Connor or Angel or Cordelia or Gunn" or whatever and then, not be able to continue.

Oh, yeah, definitely. I think, the more attached to the canon you are, the harder it is to accept fic versions of characters/'verse. And Angel is the holy grail of that, whereas Buffy, especially later seasons, there is stuff that I balked at ~~a lot~~, so fic that changes that is good.

SO much! I was thinking, although I didn't post it, that I don't know if I would have gotten into fanfic/fandom if I had tried at an earlier point than Season 7. I might have but...I might not have. At that point, there were just a lot of unresolved things and some large character shifts that just didn't really make sense to me.

Angel is totally my holy grail of shows, *hugs it tightly* And when it's done right, it's satisifying, but it's rare and I'm always...slow and scared to approach. And strangely less involved with seeing AUs that would change things in a different direction. Because the one AU that I would rather like to see is one that spins off of Peace Out...except for the terror of how whoever wrote it saw Connor.

Also, my erratic switching between we/you/I is not meant to imply anything other than that my grammar is really bad. I speak only for myself!

*tackles you*

I've misssssed you, lately - I'm glad it's Friday! And I totally believe you think you are me sometimes, cause sometimes I think I'm you! Now I go to read your reply, huzzah.

For me, at least, I tend read less fic for shows that somehow already address the things we usually write about in fic. Farscape, for example, does things on SCREEN that even the nuttiest of fic authors wouldn't do, so I've never felt much compulsion to read the fic.

On the other hand, with Harry Potter, JKR has created this marvelous universe and left most of it unexplored or open to interpretation, so it leaves me wanting and needing more.

Joss's shows have always fallen somewhere in between those extremes, so I wind up always wanting more, but usually just about the characters I love.

Oh, I don't know. My brain is all mushy right now. i need more coffee, too. And fewer student papers.

That's a big thing! Babylon 5 - it seems to pretty much give me everything I need on the show, the adventure and the drama of it is very intense - and romance, one of the main draws for fic writers, seems secondary to the rest.

I need to watch more Farscape, yis, very soon. Two more episodes this weekend, for sure!

COFFEE! Yes, we both need that. Good luck with the papers!

Hmm. There's a pretty big divergence for me between what I like in the show and what I like in fanfic. I absolutely love Faith onscreen but have no desire to write or read about her. Ditto Buffy/Faith and Wes/Illyria. I was 'meh' about canon Buffy/Angel and flat out anti-Willow/Tara but I like reading, writing and watching music vids of those ships (B/A's one of my favourite ships to write, while writing Spuffy - still my super sekrit Jossverse OTP, being my first ship and all - is like pulling teeth).

Could be I'm just weird.

You are completely weird! In the best of all possible ways.

And see, that's even more specific and interesting - all in the same basic fandom, and yet what you like in existence doesn't match what you like in fic. But I do get that, in a way. For me it extends to - Connor, all time favorite character. Times I like reading him in a fic? VERY rare - there are only a few people who can write a Connor, post or pre-mindwipe, that I like. You being one of 'em.

Also! Fod and I totally talked about you last night. She said "We're doing Quor'toth, right?" And I said "TOTALLY!" and we decided when I go visit her and Kita and Daki in a few weeks, that we're gonna figure out logistics and stalk you. *love*

W00t!

I just realized how very little sense my preferences make

Yours and everybody else’s. I would say. I have no idea why I cannot read HP fanfic, for example. I mean, I can- technically- I even tried several times, I love the books and the characters, yet fanfic leaves me lukewarm – even the best ones. I read Buffyverse fanfic – mostly whatever on my flist, or being recced there. Pairings – mostly Buffy/Spike, but lot of others, especially rare ones. I often find that I like a pairing, it makes lots of sense to me, but I don’t want to read about it, and other pairings that make no sense to me and even irritate me in theory – yet I am reading them, feeling very embarrassed because of the senseless enjouyment.

Eeep, somehow I missed seeing this!

Aww, never feel embarrassed about 'em! After all, I am the proud encourager of Snygel! Hee.

Sometimes the rare ones are the most interesting because they have to be approached from such an unusual angle - unless it's a pwp, you know the author really has to THINK about how these two would work together, how they came together - and that can produce some amazing fics.

See, I find myself really wanting to read things I never see - Dawn/Angel friendship fics, Gunn/Faith, or just Gunn, or just Faith, or Lilah femslash, or Connor anything, or Anya that's either het or slash but not Anya/Xander.

I think that's why I'm not reading a lot of Jossverse fanfic right now. (read: not reading any)

Even my favorite pairings feel overdone. They're a wet rag that's been used too many times, and when I go to work on a WIP like my Buffy/Faith, which isn't like any of the B/Fs I've read before, I find that I've gone over it so many times in my own head that it feels... I dunno. Unoriginal.

Right now my brain is doing a Smallville loop, and while I imagine I'll finish my Harry/Peter fic shortly after the movie comes out on DVD - YAY! for inspiration and oh so pretty Harry - I don't see myself drifting into any other fandoms any time soon. That is, however, contingent on the Will Not Get Sucked Into Lost mantra that I have repeating in my head.

I like to read HP fanfic, but I'm not really interested in writing it.

Jossverse just feels meh. Years of fanfic and a huge fandom have used up a lot of fanfic ideas, and I feel like I'm just retreading ground.

Maybe I need to... I dunno, take the characters out of the given context. You read Omiai (the good C/L marriage fic), and the characters are still themselves, but they're removed from any and all canon. I think it'll take something drastic like that to get me back into needing to write Jossverse.

That makes sense as well, a feeling of burnout. And that I can totally get - I'm kind of burned out on the Buffy side of Jossverse. And yet, I've never been interested in reading Firefly fic, even though the show is one of my favorites ever.

And Angel is even more complex because - in my head I'm interested in the fic in theory - but in practice, almost nothing works for me.

*curls against you* Harry/Draco, sweetie!!

Also, re: Buffy/Faith - that's hard, when you have thought of something almost too much, so that it doesn't feel fresh and original and like you *need* to write it. I hope it comes back to you *pets*

See, I think what I like about Firefly is that as a fandom there's just not... well, it's not very big. If I could actually work myself up enough about an idea, there's probably a place for it, and chances are it hasn't been done for. Again, that would require passion, and my passion - when it comes to writing, at least - seems to have been sucked away by a very gay superhero, his morally impaired boyfriend, and their flippy-haired reporter friend.

Dude, where is all the Chloe/Lex friendship fics. Like NO UST, just friendship. It's a HOLE in fandom. *cough*

I need to finish reading all that Harry/Draco you recc'd to me. God, I need two days off in a row where I don't have to clean or go to class. I dream of things.

Dude, you need to know how to say NO to work when they ask you to come in on another person's shift or early when you are sick. SICK!!

You do need to read those seriously. Origin by Ivy Blossom is so dark and lush and guh- you must.

*hugs you*

Hey! You kept ME up too late on AIM!!! WHATEVER.

Also, the correlation between liking fanfic of a show and liking the show itself is totally not there! There are things I adore that I don't want fic of, and fic I adore where I don't really like the show, and it's very funny! It's nice that with Buffy the two line up, but I think that's almost rare.

DUDE!

Who said to me, and I quote: " DON'T LEAVE ME" and then when later I said that I had to go to bed, you said "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *clings* - I have the chat logs, baby!!

It's totally wrong that there's no correlation! How am I supposed to work these things out in my head if there's no facts to match up!?

love you

I scorn your "facts". Whatever.

I can't believe you left me OMG.

Hee. I should've gone to bed way earlier too, but oh well.

I don't know! Do you think you can make it through life not knowing?!?!

love you back

Facts come back to bite you in the Kovsky, don't they? Sucks to be YOU!

I might cry. And you will pet me soothingly on the back and give me little frogs *heaves a sigh*

I soooo do not dignify you're 'i can't believe you left me' with a remark! *steals your frog slippers and then KICKS you with them*

They do! Damn facts! And hee, did you know that some people weren't even AWARE that Kovsky is a synonym for hinder? WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN?!?! heeee.

*pets you*

*gives you frogs*

HEY! Well, my frog slippers are so soft and snuggly that doesn't even hurt! It just feels like kisses!

Hee, frog kisses. That's exactly what it is!!

What? There are people out there who don't know that Kovsky means hinder? Then how do they interpret popular sentences like "You can just kiss my Kovsky"? Or "I'd like to kick you in the Kovsky"? Or "I slipped and fell, right on the Kovsky!"

People are weird, really weird.

*frog kisses you*

And hee, with racial slurs, that can be a word for french kissing! Yes!

And dude, I know! How have they been walking through the world not understanding those VERY common sentences?!?!

*gooses you on the kovsky*

Woot! That's totally what it is!

*squeaks and jumps*

*frog kisses you back*

And I've heard from Circe that you are an excellent frog kisser...practically a professional!

Hee! Yes, I am a professional frog kisser. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. And dude, even though she sucks, I am AWESOME at kissing. Yes.

*frog kisses you enthusiastically*

I believe it! I am suitably intimidated by your technique. Is there a class I can take? Can you teach me?

Tutor me in the seductive ways of frog kissing, my Kovsky!

*prepares for lots of homework*

I am suitably intimidated by your technique.

Heeeeeeee. That phrase makes me giggle every time.

*prepares to tutor you in the ways of loooooove*

Dude, this is so your kink!

*seduces*

I just wanted to say that I have friended you in anticipation of Kovsky!updatage. But now that I have read back aways in your journal, I like you for you.

Just sayin'.

Aww *blush* Thanks an incredibly sweet thing to say! And oh yes, I'm armed with her dad's cell number and her parents home number and plan to stalk for all crucial info and let everybody know how awesome she's doing.

I am all in favor of useful stalkage, and I eagerly await good news.

MY SWM!!!

I'm all over the place with fic, too. I have no great desire to read Lost fic right now, despite the fact that I love the show. I love Veronica Mars -- don't want to read fic. I still reread my favorite Spander fics and am always on the lookout for post-AtS Buffyfic, but other than that I'm mostly done. I love M&C fic in all its forms, though since I've really gotten into the books I've become much less enamored of Jack/Stephen NC-17.

OTOH, I don't care a bit about the HP universe in general (have read one book and seen one movie and have not been terribly impressed), but I love HP fic written by my f'list that happens well before the books or during/after the wars. I don't care one way or the other about LOTR and know next to nothing about the actors, but I love lotrips.

In short: I am a mess of contradictions. :)

The only fanfic I read is Buffy/ATS stuff. I prefer fic that stays within canon, totally don't get slash (nor want to) and is well written. Of late I have been reading a WIP by

hjcallypgean "Of Those Chosen: The Twins", a post Chosen Buffy fic; also "Living History" by

liz_marks.I recommend both. One of my very favourite AU Buffy/Angel works is by Yahtzee, "Phoenix Burning". Any would be fanfic writers should also check out

honorh's OBAFU (Official Buffy and Angel Fanfic University). It's fun and educational.
Going to do a little advance pimping for a virtual season six Angel that

masqthephlsphr and a great bunch of writers from the ATPoBtVS board are working on. It will be in script form, and should be ready to go very soon. I've had the pleasure of reading a couple of the scripts, and it's going to be great. It will be posted on the Existential Scoobies page over on the ATPoBtVS site. I'm really excited about it.

Small correction, cause my fingers forgot how to spell. The Twins is by

hjcallipygian.

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Yay for Friday!!

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