Fandom ramblings
Oct. 29th, 2012 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lanalucyI was thinking while I was making dinner (because the last thing I want to do while cooking is *think* about cooking!) about TV and fandom..
I have watched a lot of TV, and the shows that really keep me interested are the ones with the best 'ships. I don't necessarily mean the most sparkage, though that factors in heavily. No, the ones where the foundation for the friendship or the more-than-friendship is carefully constructed over time, the ones where they really try to make it believable, those really keep me interested. Buffy and Angel. Buffy and Spike. I believed the Buffy and Riley friendship, especially after he came back for that one episode, but they never clicked for me as a couple. Willow and Xander. Dawn and Spike. Cordelia and Angel. Cordy and Xander. Faith and Angel. SG-1's Jack and Sam, and the deep, deep bond between all four of the original members of the team. I totally believed they would kill and/or die for each other. Joey and Pacey. Sydney and Vaughn. Mulder and Scully, obviously, lol. JAG's Harm and Mac. Pensacola's Spoon and Ice. Criminal Minds' Morgan & Garcia and JJ & Reed. The dad and brothers on Numb3rs. I should probably remember others, but these jump out at me.
Sometime shortly after high school, I went to an event somewhere local and got a signature in my autograph book from Mark Derwin, Guiding Light's AC Mallet aka Anthony Camaletti. And how sad is it that I still know that information?
My first real serious heart-on, though, was for MacGyver. I was devastated when it ended, and wrote a scathing letter to the local Paramount channel, not knowing at the time that they cancelled it because RDA was tired after eight seasons and wanted to spend more time with his kid, also not knowing that the local Paramount affiliate didn't have any choice in the matter. I was young and uninformed.
Then X Files. Ah, X Files. I got on the internet, talked to other people who loved the show as much as I did, to people who were dissecting the show for all the little moments, for character clothing and hair arcs, for the meaning behind the tiniest gesture or facial expression. And for the 'ship. In my mind, Mulder and Scully were totally lovers hiding it from everyone, but even if they weren't, they cared deeply about each other and while they might fight with each other, they'd always have each other's backs. X Files is the first fandom where I actually went to an event, all the way to Potosi, Missouri, to meet other fans in a secluded setting, complete with cheesy potatoes. I am still friends with many of those women and value their impacts on my life. Even though I went away from lj for a while, when I find them on Facebook, they welcome me as a friend. And fanfiction. XF introduced me to fanfiction - smart and well-written, cheesy and funny and solemn and angsty - in all its glory. Never to be forgotten is Walter Skinner's (fictional? maybe) fascination with a certain buxom redhead who shall remain nameless.
I started scheduling my life around TV when Buffy and Dawson's Creek showed up. That was also when I started watching TV with the captions on because the characters talked so fast that I couldn't keep up. And man, talk about 'shipping! I had so much 'shipping material with Buffy, I was in heaven. I spent money on Buffy stuff - keychains, shot glasses, lithographs, comics - much of which I still have. Buffy was the first fandom where I did this. Actually, thinking back on it, it's the only one. I have a few XF items, but those are mostly things I got in passing, not stuff I went out of my way to find and order.
My JAG group still meets every year, and we call ourselves the Texas Tarts. Most of us are older (let's just say over 35 and leave it at that, shall we?) and the meet is more about eating and making ribald comments about male cast members during our rewatches, but we love the show, and most of us have a somewhat more than passing knowledge of things military. We don't all agree that Harm and Mac belong together, but we all agree that we love the show and we all 'ship Harriet and Bud.
All this brings me to Battlestar Galactica. I know I'm late to the party, but I only just watched it during August and September for the first time. The 'ships on this ship were/are just spectacular. Starbuck/Kara & Apollo/Lee. Friendship or more, they have an undeniable connection to each other, and Katee and Jamie made it real and made it sizzle. Kara and Helo (can't seem to think of him as Karl). They didn't get as much screen-time as I'd like, but their friendship for me is one of the high points of the show - he might bring the criticism to her, but he never judged her, and they loved each other deeply, in a completely different way than Kara and Lee did. Bill Adama and Laura Roslin. They built this over time from a simple two people leading a ragtag fleet of humanity to an understated romantic relationship intrinsic to the fabric of the show.
If I had watched this as it was airing, I probably would have gone completely overboard with it. Cons, events, autographs, pictures, memorabilia, pointy sticks aimed at fic writers. Perhaps it's a good thing I found it late. :D
I have watched a lot of TV, and the shows that really keep me interested are the ones with the best 'ships. I don't necessarily mean the most sparkage, though that factors in heavily. No, the ones where the foundation for the friendship or the more-than-friendship is carefully constructed over time, the ones where they really try to make it believable, those really keep me interested. Buffy and Angel. Buffy and Spike. I believed the Buffy and Riley friendship, especially after he came back for that one episode, but they never clicked for me as a couple. Willow and Xander. Dawn and Spike. Cordelia and Angel. Cordy and Xander. Faith and Angel. SG-1's Jack and Sam, and the deep, deep bond between all four of the original members of the team. I totally believed they would kill and/or die for each other. Joey and Pacey. Sydney and Vaughn. Mulder and Scully, obviously, lol. JAG's Harm and Mac. Pensacola's Spoon and Ice. Criminal Minds' Morgan & Garcia and JJ & Reed. The dad and brothers on Numb3rs. I should probably remember others, but these jump out at me.
Sometime shortly after high school, I went to an event somewhere local and got a signature in my autograph book from Mark Derwin, Guiding Light's AC Mallet aka Anthony Camaletti. And how sad is it that I still know that information?
My first real serious heart-on, though, was for MacGyver. I was devastated when it ended, and wrote a scathing letter to the local Paramount channel, not knowing at the time that they cancelled it because RDA was tired after eight seasons and wanted to spend more time with his kid, also not knowing that the local Paramount affiliate didn't have any choice in the matter. I was young and uninformed.
Then X Files. Ah, X Files. I got on the internet, talked to other people who loved the show as much as I did, to people who were dissecting the show for all the little moments, for character clothing and hair arcs, for the meaning behind the tiniest gesture or facial expression. And for the 'ship. In my mind, Mulder and Scully were totally lovers hiding it from everyone, but even if they weren't, they cared deeply about each other and while they might fight with each other, they'd always have each other's backs. X Files is the first fandom where I actually went to an event, all the way to Potosi, Missouri, to meet other fans in a secluded setting, complete with cheesy potatoes. I am still friends with many of those women and value their impacts on my life. Even though I went away from lj for a while, when I find them on Facebook, they welcome me as a friend. And fanfiction. XF introduced me to fanfiction - smart and well-written, cheesy and funny and solemn and angsty - in all its glory. Never to be forgotten is Walter Skinner's (fictional? maybe) fascination with a certain buxom redhead who shall remain nameless.
I started scheduling my life around TV when Buffy and Dawson's Creek showed up. That was also when I started watching TV with the captions on because the characters talked so fast that I couldn't keep up. And man, talk about 'shipping! I had so much 'shipping material with Buffy, I was in heaven. I spent money on Buffy stuff - keychains, shot glasses, lithographs, comics - much of which I still have. Buffy was the first fandom where I did this. Actually, thinking back on it, it's the only one. I have a few XF items, but those are mostly things I got in passing, not stuff I went out of my way to find and order.
My JAG group still meets every year, and we call ourselves the Texas Tarts. Most of us are older (let's just say over 35 and leave it at that, shall we?) and the meet is more about eating and making ribald comments about male cast members during our rewatches, but we love the show, and most of us have a somewhat more than passing knowledge of things military. We don't all agree that Harm and Mac belong together, but we all agree that we love the show and we all 'ship Harriet and Bud.
All this brings me to Battlestar Galactica. I know I'm late to the party, but I only just watched it during August and September for the first time. The 'ships on this ship were/are just spectacular. Starbuck/Kara & Apollo/Lee. Friendship or more, they have an undeniable connection to each other, and Katee and Jamie made it real and made it sizzle. Kara and Helo (can't seem to think of him as Karl). They didn't get as much screen-time as I'd like, but their friendship for me is one of the high points of the show - he might bring the criticism to her, but he never judged her, and they loved each other deeply, in a completely different way than Kara and Lee did. Bill Adama and Laura Roslin. They built this over time from a simple two people leading a ragtag fleet of humanity to an understated romantic relationship intrinsic to the fabric of the show.
If I had watched this as it was airing, I probably would have gone completely overboard with it. Cons, events, autographs, pictures, memorabilia, pointy sticks aimed at fic writers. Perhaps it's a good thing I found it late. :D
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no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 08:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 06:57 pm (UTC)Cool that one of my first shows and one of my most recent shows is connected in that way!
no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 07:32 pm (UTC)He's apparently filming a role on that horrible Secret LIfe of the American Teenager show for ABC Family.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 07:37 pm (UTC)My universe does not include that show. :) I think the last ABC Family show I watched (maybe the only one) was Wildfire, about horses. lol