kellifer | What's with all this "discussion"

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What's with all this "discussion"

I have a pretty eclectic flist... people have linked to me for different things. I think because when it comes to fandoms, I'm pretty all over the place (commitment phobic? Me?? Nevah!) I do occasionally have people commenting on a story that they wished they could read it but it just isn't their fandom... or they have read it because I wrote it but it wasn't their fandom at all. Most interesting is the crossovers where people only know one of the fandoms but still read which I'm really chuffed about.

I guess I'm getting to a point where I'm going to start losing favourite writers out of the fandoms I'm still reading. It hasn't really happened to me before but I'm now coming up on fandom age of two years and it has started.

My question is... how do people feel when their favourite writers... move on?

I'm still writing in Stargate so I don't feel like I've "moved on" per se, but I have switched out from where I started I guess. I mostly wrote Sam/Jack (SG-1) when I began, not because it was an OTP but because I was writing stories for someone else. When I started writing stories for me... I obviously leaned more towards Daniel-centric pieces because he was my favourite character. I discovered slash and Jack/Daniel and was hooked.

Atlantis and John/Rodney felt like a natural progression, almost organic and I think that is where I picked up as a writer. The introduction of Ronon as a character had me more hooked on the show but I was still in love with SG-1... I was just... having a fling on the side.

I started dabbling in BSG and Firefly, and then found Supernatural and switched over to mostly gen, even in my Stargate stories. I still write the occasional pairing, but it's rarely the focus of the story or it is a requested fic, which I still love doing. I write for other people on the most part...

A favourite writer of mine has pretty much moved fandoms. She dabbles sometimes back in the pairing I love but she is mostly writing for a show I don't know. I feel like I should be able to read it and just treat it like original fiction (because I don't know anything canon) because I love her writing to pieces... but I can't do it. I admire and am flattered by people who do that for me but completely understand those that don't.

I haven't had any writers I like drop out of fandom completely yet, but I know it is only a matter of time.

So my question is this... have you had a writer you've regularly enjoyed move fandoms or move on completely? Do you read "outside" your fandom of choice for the writers you have enjoyed in the past? How do you feel when someone has moved on and you're not ready to let go yet?

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I'll usually resist for a few years and then I'll catch up on the new canon in a big rush. During the few years, I will read a few PWP stories but skip the longer, plottier, stories. After I watch the canon, even if I am not converted to the new fandom, I'll now go back and read my favorite author's fic (again, if I already read some of it).

I don't think you and me ever crossed paths much in SG-1, but I only stumbled across the show/fandom in the first place because one of my favorite HtLJ writers at the time went over to the dark side. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure she's in SPN now.

In any case, it's a total bummer, especially with the recent-and-ongoing exodus from SG-1. But I'm rarely interested enough in new fandoms to stick with writers unless they're really something special, because she's writing in context for other fans of her show, and my connection to the characters isn't there. I'll read something occasionally, if I have familiarity with the canon, but I rarely get much out of it.

Yup. There were some awesome comicsfic writers who decamped for popslash ages back. I still kinda miss 'em.

I do not, however, read popslash.

I read outside my fandom for writers I adore. If I don't like the fandom then I try to find someone else I like who is still writing in my main fandom.

I've been in fandom for over 10 years.~1995--Forever Knight to 2007 Stargate Atlantis. From mailing lists and real life meetings to websites, irc and LJ.

In those 12 years I've changed immensely as well as fandom and technology.

If you're lucky your adored writer will revisit your old fandom or start in a new fandom you are now a part of.

James--Zort was one of the writers I read in fandom. I started reading her Forever Knight stuff. I'm lucky that today she sometimes writes in my current fandom of Stargate:Atlantis.

How do you feel when someone has moved on and you're not ready to let go yet?

I feel a little depressed at first but I find that great minds think alike and I usually end up crossing their paths again. And that feels like running into and old friend. :)

Yes, I have and since I'm a bit of a lemming, sometimes I follow. Case in point, Shallot. I have resisted Supernatural since it started to air, because I barely have the time for the fandoms I have. Well, she started writing, so I started reading and waiting for the DVDs to come in the mail.

Same thing with Cesperanza. I followed her to SGA and to a lesser extent Dead Zone.

Even if I don't follow the cannon (I typically read in a fandom BEFORE I see a show) I usually follow the author. That's how I found SGA.

To me, you are an amazing/wonderful author, and if you were ever to 'move on,' I would truly miss you and your works/anything that you could've turned into a masterpiece.
In general, when you read someone's work, and get familiar with it and then they move on, it's gonna be like missing an actual person, because their voice comes through when writing. So, if the author moves on from a fandom, all those potential stories would've been lost in space and time, and it's sad.
I am actually waiting on a series to be finish. It's not exactly the same thing as an author moving on, but I really miss that author and the characters they have created, so moving on might require a slight mourning.
Thanks for enduring my ramble:D
Have a lovely rest of the week!

It depends, really it does. On the author, on how interested am in what fandom(s) they move on to, on my mood at the time. And sometimes you get hooked on a new fandom as a result; I got hooked on Buffy in 2003/4 after the last episode was aired, solely because of fanfic, and I can't even remember at this point what author it was that made me start reading it. And now I own the first three seasons on DVD. I didn't like the movie "Labyrinth" when I saw it, but I do read the occasional Labyrinth fic because a favorite author of mine wrote one and I liked it.

But losing authors isn't what you should be worried about. It's losing archives. Because when the main archive for your fandom/pairing (or even just the archive that you like the best) goes the way of the dodo, it can be very painful. Because inevitably there'll be a few fics that aren't backed up anywhere. Your fandoms are all ones that are still active fandoms; as the show gets canceled, they tend to become less active as a general rule. As that happens, as people move on to other fandoms or out of fandom in general, it becomes harder and harder to find people willing to go to the effort of maintaining the archives.

If I really love the writer I will try to follow.

I tried to watch SGA because so many excellent writers were in the fandom but I really didn’t like it. Supernatural was the opposite, I really enjoyed the canon so was able to enjoy the fic.

I do tend to get obsessive over one show/pairing/fandom so changing can be slow and traumatic. Luckily I’m fickle and grow bored. Good writers tend to have good taste so I do look to them for my new choice in obsession.

Unfortunately, I am unable to drag writers I loved in previous fandoms to my new fandom. It is very sad the world does not revolve around my needs ;)

Ah, interesting... but we all know resistance is futile... *smiles*

Ah yes, I'm probably having these thinky-thoughts because I'm dreading seeing the SG-1 fandom in decline... bring on the movies!

Yes, I have. I have seen that dreaded phrase "I really don't write SG-1 anymore."

It made me sad.

And then I sort of was (forcibly) pimped into a shiny new fandom *cough* Supernatural *cough*

AND GUESS WHO WAS ALREADY THERE? Yup, tons of SG-1 fen.

It makes me happy.

That is my story.

Am I really dumb to not know what popslash is? I keep seeing references to it...

*is still astounded at the volume of stuff she doesn't know*

I do think about reading outside the fandom... but I just can't feel the same connection to the story. The connection to the writer should be enough but it isn't...

At the same time, I would love to read original fic by these people yet I can't read outside a fandom? I just guess I don't get my brain sometimes.

Dawwww... I love you thinking of it that way and you've made me hopeful. :D

It is cool to find a new fandom you really do click with and discover a lot of familiar names already beat you to it.

Feels a little less lonely, I think.

(also, how did you guys not know each other? Fabulous author, meet fabulous author.)

Ah yes, I must admit that my full-on immersion into Supernatural was fandom-driven. I have seen others fall to it in the same manner and all I can say is yes, I understand.... :D

The lemming drive is strong in most of us...

Awwww... thanks hon!

I love the way you have put this... feels exactly right. It's like a friendship has changed and evolved and you have lost contact...

So my question is this... have you had a writer you've regularly enjoyed move fandoms or move on completely?

Yes. Several.

Do you read "outside" your fandom of choice for the writers you have enjoyed in the past?

Yes. In fact, I've discovered some fantastic fic this way.

How do you feel when someone has moved on and you're not ready to let go yet?

Well, I'm sad. But I understand it.

I used to be in the Sentinel fandom....was rather prolific (heck, all told I wrote over a hundred stories). But I've moved on. I rarely even read sentinel fic anymore.

I think fandom is sort of an evolution. I basically went: B5, Sentinel, Smallville, Supernatural.

The thing I absolutely adore about LJ is that you can pick and choose what you read. It used to be if you wanted to get a taste of a fandom you'd have to join a list or two (and then put up with all the cliche shit, in-fighting, etc.) On LJ, you can read recs. Follow an LJ without actually having to commit to it. It's much more accessible. Because of that, I've read fic that I never would have before. I can play in any fandom I want and post it to my LJ.

LJ makes it possible to keep in touch with folks who have moved on to other fandoms. While I might not follow them as closely, I know where to find them. *g*

Nope. Popslash is the slash genre for boyband slash, popular long ago... like, um, 1999, actually. (or maybe 2000? I never remember dates like this anymore). I know that, in actuality, the popslash fandom was much larger, but it always seemed like most of it was the people I'd known in comicsfandom.

It's losing archives

Oh absolutely... I never even thought about that. I feel a little pang everytime I see someone delete a journal because not only are you losing their ongoing presence in your life but everything that has come before. i know some writers who don't archive anywhere but their journal (I'm one of them... I know it's not the wisest thing...) so everything is gone...

Hehehee... the world would be a much more simple place were everyone to do what I like... hehehee...

I understand trying out a new show... I've done that myself and had it fail just as dismally... I feel a little pang everytime I see the stories in that fandom... but then I guess I am guilty of doing that to other people too...

Hehehee... absolutely. I do a happy little dance everytime I see just one more person crossing over.

*hands you party hat and streamers and points out the welcome banner*

i follow the authors. Though sometimes they pick fandoms...I just don't get so I go my separate way and hopefully meet up again sometime in the future. :) But I do keep track of favorites. :)

I think fandom is sort of an evolution.

Hee... it is for most people. I think I'm still clinging to dinosaurs a bit and telling everyone that's it's not *really* an ice age, it's just a bit cold out...

It used to be if you wanted to get a taste of a fandom you'd have to join a list or two (and then put up with all the cliche shit, in-fighting, etc.)

Oh ABSOLUTELY. I have done the yahoo groups thing and while helpful and a good way to get into fandom, it was very restrictive.

LJ makes it possible to keep in touch with folks who have moved on to other fandoms

That is something I'm very happy about... :D

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