Snowflake Challenge 2020 - Challenge #2

[dizzydrea]

Snowflake challenge #2: write about my fannishness. How much time ya got? ;)

The first TV show I ever remember watching was Star Trek. I hated it.

That's the Gods-honest truth, but as with anything, the real truth is probably somewhat murkier. I have no idea why I disliked the show when I was young; I just remember not getting what the fuss was all about. My folks liked it, which is why we watched it, but I'd much rather have been reading a book than watching that show (or any other).

Gradually, as I grew up, I got to liking it more and more, probably a function of the fact that I could understand the themes much better as a teenager than I did as a child. Suddenly, Star Trek was 100% more interesting to me than it had ever been before.

To be clear, I didn't struggle with any other shows we watched. I enjoyed Hawaii 5-0 (the original version, with Jack Lord), and remember watching it every night in syndication as I was growing up. Same with Hogan's Heroes and MASH. Instead of cartoons when I was a kid, we watched old sitcoms when we got home from school, so The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Three Sons, The Dick Van Dyke Show and later Bewitched and The Brady Bunch were some of my favorites.

The first movie I ever saw in theaters was Star Wars. My dad took me, and I just remember being completely enthralled by it. Who knows? Maybe seeing Star Wars is what made me like Star Trek better? Stranger things have happened.

We used to watch a lot of monster movies in the afternoons at my house, especially when my father (who worked in construction) would be home due to rain. Godzilla became an early favorite, and we'll still pull out a Godzilla movie from time to time. The best part of the movies, to me, was always that they were in Japanese dubbed over in English. That's a Toho Studios signature; it's cheesy as hell, but that's what makes it so much fun.

We watched all the same shows everyone else did as I was growing up: Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Charlie's Angels, Bob Newhart and Barney Miller to name a few. Then later, of course, it was shows like Newhart, Magnum PI and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

The thing I liked about TV back then was how simple it was. You were there for laughs or to see them solve the crime of the week. TV wasn't trying to say anything in particular, it was just there to entertain you. I miss that. I don't want to be preached at when I watch TV (or movies for that matter). I want to escape from reality, not be bludgeoned to death by it.

Alas, times change.

On the film front, I remember seeing the Star Wars movies in the theater and thinking that it was too bad Lucas wasn't going to make any more. Hah. Meanwhile, they kept making Star Trek movies, so I was happy. We also watched the Bond movies faithfully, though I've never been to a theater to see one, even if I've seen them all at least once.

And then Star Trek: The Next Generation happened. This is where my imagination sparked. I had no idea there was anything like fandom out there. I watched the show and fell in love with Jean-Luc Picard (didn't we all?), and somewhere in those seven years, I found my Muse and started writing my very first fanfiction story, though I didn't even know that's what it was called at the time. I even went to a few Star Trek conventions, including the one for the 30th anniversary of the show.

When they say "never meet your heroes", they aren't kidding. It was a fantastic experience, being surrounded by other fans who were just as enthusiastic as I was. The stars? Yeah, those relationships are just as broken as you've heard. It was honestly a little bit cringey to see them up on stage with each other. If there was one moment that redeemed that whole convention for me, it was listening to this guy named Joe Straczynski talk about a show I'd never heard of called Babylon 5. I was HOOKED from the start.

I still had no idea what fanfiction was, my own efforts with my TNG story notwithstanding. I thought I was the only one out there writing a story based on my favorite show. Bearing in mind, of course, that this was in the 80s and early 90s, before the internet became the thing it is today. I had no friends who were into fanfiction, and no idea there were fan made magazines where one could find such a thing.

I read just about every Star Wars novel written around that time, and a fair few Star Trek novels. And bodice-ripping romance novels, but I digress. You see, I'm an avid reader, as well as a writer, so it makes sense that I would read anything fandom-related that I could get my hands on.

Time passed, and my taste in TV and movies changed, but not really that much. I got into the CSI 'verse, and fell in love with JAG and its later spinoffs. It was with JAG that I really started dipping my toe into writing fanfic. I dearly loved Numb3rs and miss it terribly. I've probably watched way too many reruns of Law and Order and its associated spinoffs (including the UK version). If there was one sitcom in that era that really spoke to me, it was Frasier. And of course, Stargate, for which I became a somewhat prolific writer.

Once I found the internet and fanfiction archives, whoa. It was like dying of thirst in the desert and suddenly finding an oasis. I could—and did—read everything I could get my hands on and bounced around fandoms like a hyper puppy. I will never willingly admit to how much time I spent at work downloading fic so I could read it later. My bosses would probably have a coronary.

Procedurals and science fiction seem to be my two go-to fannish interests (you may have noticed if you've had a look at the list of fandoms I write in). I tend to latch on to whole universes (like CSI or NCIS, or the MCU and Star Trek/Star Wars universes), because once I find something that works for me, I'll wear it out.

I'm a bit more picky when it comes to what I'll write about, though the current list of 37 fandoms that I've written for would suggest differently. When I write, I'm usually trying to fix something I see as broken or not to my liking in a fandom, and then the plot bunnies start multiplying and it becomes a runaway train (sorry for the mixed metaphors). Or I'll write a crossover or fusion story, which is how I wound up with Doctor Who (my mother introduced me to that one—she's been watching that show since she was young) and The Sentinel.

There are always "home fandoms" for me, fandoms that I'll return to again and again because they've become so much a part of who I am that I'll never be able to let them go completely, even if no one else but me is reading them anymore. Star Trek will always be one, and probably Stargate, too. Castle is still one of my favorites, and even though the showrunners completely ruined the show in the last season, I find there's still enough material to work with that I can pretend it ended early and not be bothered. The West Wing will live on forever in my mind, even if I never did quite master the art of the walk-and-talk. And JAG. Sigh. I think I'll probably be a Harm/Mac shipper 'til I die.

Lately I've found myself returning to the MCU time and time again. Quite possibly it's because there's so much variety available. Or it could just be Captain America's ass. National treasure, indeed.

Fourteen hundred words later, I'll just say this: what fandom did for me was give me a creative outlet, a way for me to see the world in new ways, and a place where the girl always got the guy, because I'm a romantic at heart. It's a journey I'm extremely happy to have gone on, and one that I feel is still just beginning.

Comments

[james]

It sounds like you're having a really amazing time in fandom. (I remember sneaking out of bed to watch Barney Miller though I suspect my mother knew and didn't care. I thought I was getting away with something!)

[dizzydrea]

It's been a lot of fun, and I've enjoyed meeting a lot of different people. Some come and go, and some have stuck around, but it's always good to meet other fans.

I remember sneak-watching The Big Easy because my mom said it was too "old" for me (translation: too sexy for my tender high-school eyes). I think she knew, but she never said. Best way to get me to do something? Tell me no. :)

[elrhiarhodan]

Quite possibly it's because there's so much variety available. Or it could just be Captain America's ass. National treasure, indeed.

HA!!!!!!!!

I often wish I could be a lot less monofannish. There are about a dozen fandom tags on my AO3, but most of them are crossovers with White Collar. It would make my life easier, I think. But we are what we are and we need what makes us happy.

Things like Captain America's ass.

[dizzydrea]

You know, I've often wondered what it would be like to love/write for just one fandom. I tend to be somewhat "monogamous" in that I'll get into a groove with one fandom and ride it until I've worn it out. Then I'll find another fandom I love and do it all over again. But, I do tend to go back to some of my favorites time and again. And the reason I think there are 37 on my list is that I've done some crossovers and fusions as well. They're fun and challenging, two things I absolutely must have in my fan life. :)