Discussion The Multifandom

I've read a few fics that made me interested in the fandom, but simply haven't had a chance to look more into it. One example is Doctor Who. I read quite a few of those a friend wrote years ago. It was interesting, but I haven't had a chance to look more into it. It really depends on what the story is about. I've randomly clicked on things before. A good story is a good story.

I've been writing other fandoms about as long as I've written Star Wars. There's a few spiral notebooks at a friend's house full of the adventures of various characters. (hey, we needed something to do in highschool )

Hermione and Voldemort? Now THAT is an odd pairing.

Definitely. Love House, but can't write a fic about it.

I know. You can get lost in there forever! Hence the reason I put a warning out everytime I link to it.

It happens. I was listening to Dr. Horrible, which made me think of NPH, which made me think of Barney, which made me think of that line.

Series can be like that, I find. Even though the advantage of the series format for a fanfic writer is - as Drabb said - that you have more blank spaces to fit your story into, more available gaps where a story can make sense, some series (especially for books) feel so complete that no matter how many time gaps there are in the said series, you just don't feel compelled to write anything to fill them up.

Shameless forum promoting again, Nat? You're right though! It is a better comparison than YJCC - but we do talk about Star Wars there, just only in the "What book are you reading?" thread.

It's tremendously refreshing. Though even when we're trying not to talk about it, it always comes back to haunt us...

Surprisingly, I've seen it work out quite well. Usually in stories that involve a time turner malfunction and a pre-Horcrux Voldemort.

Good philosophy.

When it comes to random clicking, how do you decide what to randomly click on, though? Or is it just the definition of random? For me, it's kind of like that. I like any genre, so while I pay attention to the genres in the title headings, they aren't the deciding factor. However, I am more likely to randomly click on a story that has a shorter thread/fewer replies than a really long one - because if the fic is really long and I end up not liking it or the fandom it's written for, I can back out faster without feeling guilty.

True, true. It's unavoidable.

I'll see what I can rustle up.

Yeah. There are some authors who I always try to read, no matter what, either because their good friends of mine or I like their style and will be confident that the material is good. When it comes to finding said authors - on this forum, if someone reads something of mine and replies, I'm more likely to click on something that they've written, read and review it, even if I don't know them.

It varies. Sometimes it depends on the author. Sometimes I'll see a title that catches my eye. Other times, I may see a fandom I've heard of and just click. Or I just click on something to see what is it. *shrugs*

Most definitely.

I don't know why that is. I certainly haven't burned out on Star Wars by any means. I'm not quite as immersed in the franchise as I used to be, and I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about all the nuances of every character and their mothers and marriages and midi-chlorians, but I still keep up with the EU and I still love the universe as much as always. But I couldn't write a decent Star Wars fan fic to save my life. Oh, I'm sure I could write one, but I'm just as sure that it would suck.

It's been this way for about a year in a half, but it certainly wasn't like this before. I used to write primarily Star Wars with a few Pirates fics thrown in for variety, but now I don't hardly write either of them. Maybe my muse has grown weary of swordfights. Who knows? I don't.

Star Wars is a complicated universe, but it's fundamentally very simple. There are good guys, and there are bad guys, and it's very easy to tell which are which. The few complex characters that we do have--Anakin, for instance--have been somewhat done to death, in my mind. So maybe I felt the need to move on to writing more complicated characters. Maybe I don't find Star Wars characters as fascinating and rewarding to explore as I used to. I don't know. Maybe I'm simply obsessed with Sweeney Todd and want to spend as much time in the dark, dank, dreary streets of London as possible.

Yes! That's partially how I got into Harry Potter. I read your insertion fic, Idri, and Slave Child, as well. More than anything, I guess, the characters intrigued me, and once I found out that the Harry Potter films have Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Kenneth Branagh...well, how could any human being resist? I don't regret that decision at all.

That's also partially how I got into Sweeney, but not as much. I already knew tons about the story and the film and the characters, but fan fiction inspired me to reach the heights (or depths) of obsession.

QFT. It's the same here with me; writing Star Wars isn't doing much for me right now, because I feel as though I've covered my options. The last Star Wars fics I wrote both had to do with non-Jedi OCs, and that's probably where I'd be headed if I ever return to writing fan fic for the fandom. Right now, I'm looking to tackle different things that just can't be adequately found in the GFFA.

I still love the films. I still love Star Wars; I'm just burnt out from writing for it. I will happily re-watch the OT anytime and discuss the films (and maybe a few of the books) with people.

And that's how we finally got you over the HP hurdle, after so many months/years of resisting.

Or is it "pits"?

Funny what fan fic can do for how much you like a fandom. Though it can go the other way, too - I've mercilessly slaughtered Twilight in a fan fic before. But I've only done that once; I don't particularly like writing "hate" fic, or fan fic for a fandom I really don't like. Writing fan fic is a special hobby, and I'd rather put my energies towards pieces that I like, rather than ones I'd rather not associate with.

Exactly the same situation with me. But even my Star Wars OCs seem to have gone stale. Both Jedi and non-Jedi.

I sincerely hope you weren't talking to me. I already have an enormously long message from you that's burning a hole in my PM box. Granted, it's not nearly as enormous or long or enormously long as our previous conversations. So I guess I shouldn't really complain. Nor should I mention Shakespeare to you ever again. In fact, I wonder whether it's worse to talk to you about Shakespeare or Sondheim.

Yep, you pushed all the right buttons. You horrible, evil human being.

It must be your attention span, Nat. Because fan fic has never burned me out on a fandom. In fact, it's probably made me keep a few fandoms that I would've dropped years ago if I hadn't had the opportunities to explore the characters and themes through writing them to death.

You're terribly suspicious, darling. I was talking to people in general.

Nah, you should know by now that I can talk anyone's ear off about almost any subject, and not just dramatists' whose names happen to begin with S.

Here's the thing with me: it does both. There are times when fan fic can sustain my interest in a fandom long after I'm tired of re-reading the book(s) or watching the film(s)/TV show (i.e. Sherlock - don't get me wrong, I LOVE the TV show, but I've watched it so many times I've got the entire thing memorized, shot for shot; I don't need to watch it again for a good long while ). But there are also times when fan fic can just burn me out of a fandom. The JC House Cup is a good example: I usually end up doing most of the fan fic entries for Slytherin House, and that wears me right out and I never want to see Harry Potter again after the seven weeks are up.

... and then, maybe about three weeks afterward, I'll limp back to reading it, but probably not writing it. I don't think I've written anything Harry Potter since the last House Cup, actually.

I'd like to say I've never been burned out as far as writing goes, but there are some pretty big sparse patches that would say otherwise.

I don't think that made all that much difference. The first time I really delved into a bunch of new fandoms (on their own, rather than crossovers involving one of my regular fandoms) was UDC 1, and that took two years (September, '06 to October, '08) for me to finish. It wasn't until I really pushed myself in 2010 that I got over the slump.


EDIT: And those two years don't count the UDC 1 "bonus" drabbles, most of which I didn't do until 2010.