Major Fannish Events

[thefourthvine]

For various reasons, right now I'm thinking about Major Fannish Events I Wish I Could Have Seen. Now, when I say that, I don't mean the actual events, most of which are available on DVD or at least on some fourth-generation cell phone recording somewhere, but the fannish reaction to those events.

And since I can't discuss this at all without spoilers, I'm just going to say: spoilers in the post for Buffy, Star Trek: TOS, Stargate: SG-1, Star Wars. No spoilers in the post for anything that has aired in, say, the last five years.

ETA: Spoilers in the comments for everything. No, seriously: everything in the WORLD. Television! Movies! Books! Anime! Manga! Horror movies from the 1930s! The Fifth World War! The heat death of the universe! It's pretty awesome, but if you don't like spoilers, maybe the comments section isn't the place for you.



So, like, I remember when I first saw the Angelus arc - specifically, when Buffy and Angel got into bed, and then Angelus got back out again. (Or, okay, I guess technically it was Angel who staggered out, but you know what I mean.) And then again when Jenny Calendar died. I remember thinking what an unimaginable experience this must have been for true believer fans when it was first run. (And for Buffy/Angel shippers, oh my god. Your fondest wish! Followed immediately by your worst nightmare! And this, my friends, is why I would rather my OTPs never ever become canon: canon writers make 'em and break 'em, and then they're harder for us to put back together again.) And then I tried to imagine what my friends list or circle would have looked like if I had a) been in fandom and b) fandom had been on LJ or DW at the time.

I can picture the endless roster of cut-tagged posts - I was there for the last episode of Angel, and I remember being stunned by the reaction - but I can't imagine what would be inside those cut tags. Aside, I assume, from a lot of screaming.

And last night, for various reasons (Spock Spock Spock Spock Spock), I watched Killa's incredible vid Dante's Prayer. Now, let me share with you my progression with that vid:

The first time I watched it, Best Beloved had to narrate the whole thing, including telling me who Spock and Kirk were, precisely. (I had sort of vaguely thought, up to that point, that Leonard Nimoy pretty much played, like, Elrond in Space.) And there's a lot of terrain covered in that vid, including people at different ages, and worse (for me), different outfits. I think it took her about fifteen minutes to give me the shortest possible summary. (Very short version that leaves a lot out: Spock dies tragically. His friends are sad. Kirk looks like someone pithed him. Later, chronologically speaking, they go and get him back.)

I remember being surprised that she teared up at Spock's death scene, largely because if someone in this relationship is going to cry, it's going to be me. (I think that people have a default reaction to emotional excess. Mine is tears.) I cry at the funerals of people I don't know. I cry at death scenes in movies. I cried so hard at Theoden's scene outside his son's grave that Best Beloved asked me if the son was a major character in the book. ("No," I sobbed. She stared at me blankly. "Then why are you crying?" "Theoden is saaaaaad," I said, unable to explain more completely because I was, you know, weeping helplessly. Keep in mind that this was not the first - or the third - time we'd seen the movie.)

So it was a little weird, I thought, that I was the one saying, "Oh. Well, that's sad," and Best Beloved was the one surreptitiously wiping her eyes.

The next time I watched Dante's Prayer, I'd been in fandom longer, so I knew a little more. I'd also had time to process BB's explanations. So I was a little sadder. And so it went.

But this last time - well, in addition to tearing up and sniffling emotionally for some ten minutes after the vid was over (and yet being really kind of touched - OMG, Spock knew Kirk's name), I found myself wondering for the first time what Spock's death was like for the Star Trek fandom. I mean, seriously, that is painful now, and I know what's coming. Then? I think it must have hurt rather a lot. And I wondered what fannish reaction would look like if this was a current fandom - I mean, imagine if, say, Sam died with Dean pressed against the other side of the glass, helpless and bereft, and then - did people even know there would be another movie? I mean, imagine if they didn't. Imagine if that happened with Sam and Dean and everyone thought, hey, maybe that's it; if there's another season, maybe it will just be Dean Gets Revenge. Maybe Sam is gone for good. (Or Rodney. Or Merlin. Or whoever. Insert Very Important Person of your choosing.)

And I guess that did happen with SG1. (I was actually surprised, on my latest viewing, to realize how similar Daniel's temporary death was to Spock's temporary death.) But I wasn't around for it. Was there wailing? Was there gnashing of teeth? Did people go to sleep that night with a hollow pit in their hearts? If fandom had been primarily on LJ at that time (uh, was it?), would every post for days been cut-tagged with just punctuation and contain a lot of incoherent wailing?

And what about the whole "Darth Vader, Luke, and Leia: there's not enough family therapy in the universe for this one" reveal? What was that like? I mean, I can kind of imagine it now - I bet Luke and Leia shippers, should there have been any, would at minimum go off and write an alternate second movie where Darth Vader is Han's father or something. (I...would like to see that, actually. And, no, I don't ship Luke and Leia.) But I can't help but wonder what it was like then.

Does anyone else think like this? What is the big fannish event you wish you could have seen? (Seen the live reaction to, anyway.) But even more important, to help me in my fantasizing - what are the big fannish events you'll never forget? What were they like to live through?

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

i have so few fandoms; i'm very serially monogamous and have only been in fandom since 2002 and only discoverd slash in 2003, so i'm such the newbie.... but I have studied the history of SG1 and yes: the fan reaction to Daniel's death in season 5 was immense. It was two pronged because there was the whole drama over the actor's dissatisfaction with how the writers/show runners were using his character, and then the whole way they wrote him out (which was actually pretty awesome, if you like angst! I think that may be why I just basically stopped worrying about character death warnings when I got into SG1. There are so many major character deaths in my canon that the fanfic has to really go dark to be as angsty as the canon.... but I digress...). and of course people knew ahead of time that Daniel was leaving the show and everyone was incredibly sad and there was this huge feud about it and a big write in campaign to bring him back. And given the way the canon is set up they have an actual mechanism for bringing him back!

i wish i could have watched TS by BS, the Sentinel series finale, in real time.

And I am still marveling over how the finale of TPM launched an ENTIRE HUGE FANDOM based on less than five minutes of canon.... amazing.

The only fandom I was lucky enough to participate in in real time was Lotrips, and of course LOTR -- waiting, as a book fan, for the last two movies to come out was so incredible. Seeing the reactions in real time, etc.

I've never managed to follow a tv show in real time. I really tried with LOST, but had to give up because of my chaotic schedule. Closed canons and DVDs, or movie fandoms with long gaps between, are perfect for me. I haven't seen Iron Man I yet -- am looking forward to investigating that.

But reading your highlights and the comments is so fun because it's a tour of fannish history! So many fandoms, so many Big Events. I didn't know that Mulder and Krycek had ever kissed, for example. So that's fun.

Thanks for being here. I always enjoy your posts so much, even when it's a fandom I barely know.

[elspethdixon]

I remember Daniel's death and return even though I wasn't in SG-1 fandom -- the shockwaves were felt as far away as HP and PotC fandoms.

I haven't seen Iron Man I yet -- am looking forward to investigating that.

The movie is awesome, and features a nice possible slash pairing in RDJ and Terrance Howard (also pretty slashy in some of the 70s and 80s comics). Stay far, far away from Matt Fraction's Immortal Iron Man comics title, though -- it's a trainwreck in every way that it's possible for a comics title to suck. Godawful WTF storyline, hideous art, horrible characterization on not just Iron Man but most of the supporting characters as well... and I can't stress the ugly art hard enough.

The Warren Ellis Extremis storyline and the Knaufs' Execute Program and Iron Man: Director of SHIELD are both very well written and prettily drawn, though. And the old school 60s stuff is often unintentionally LOLarious.

[princessofgeeks]

*makes note*

thank you so much for the iron man info. now i know who to ask once i finally get to see the movies! so many fandoms; so little time.....

[thefourthvine]

have only been in fandom since 2002 and only discoverd slash in 2003, so i'm such the newbie

I discovered fandom in 2003 and started participating in 2004! We can be newbies together.

It was two pronged because there was the whole drama over the actor's dissatisfaction with how the writers/show runners were using his character

Oh, hey, I didn't know that's why they killed Daniel! Interesting.

i wish i could have watched TS by BS, the Sentinel series finale, in real time.

See, now, I am glad I did not see that one. I hear it was good, especially for the series, but - I could never ever watch that. I was shocked just finding out what happened in it.

And I am still marveling over how the finale of TPM launched an ENTIRE HUGE FANDOM based on less than five minutes of canon.... amazing.


I still don't know what those five minutes of canon were, because when I saw the movie (before my discovery of fandom) I was sedated by the awfulness of it all (and, to be honest, the difference between my expectations and reality). And I am certainly not watching the damn thing again, since I have now entered a happy place of prequel denial. But I would love to know what those five minutes were, all the same.

The only fandom I was lucky enough to participate in in real time was Lotrips, and of course LOTR -- waiting, as a book fan, for the last two movies to come out was so incredible. Seeing the reactions in real time, etc.

That was my first fandom! Not Lotrips, of course, but LotR, and I don't think I quite appreciated the experience enough - it was one of the only times in my life I was getting the canon at the same speed as everyone else. (I, like you, can't watch TV shows in real time, and in fact can barely watch them at all.) And although I knew what was coming, because I'd read the books, I was in the theaters with lots of people who didn't (many of them summarizing the movie while talking on their cell phones, NOT THAT I AM BITTER). I paid attention, but now I wish I'd been more aware of how infrequently that would happen in my life. Ah, well.

But reading your highlights and the comments is so fun because it's a tour of fannish history! So many fandoms, so many Big Events. I didn't know that Mulder and Krycek had ever kissed, for example. So that's fun.

Oh my god, I know! These are the awesomest comments EVER, and I'm learning so much. (Mulder and Krycek OMG.) Are you reading the ones on LJ, too? Lots of good stuff there.

Thanks for commenting, and for enjoying my LJ. I'm glad other people are having as much fun with this as I am.

[princessofgeeks]

the way QuiGonn touches Obiwan's face, the way Obiwan mourns, at the end of TPM was central to the creation of that pairing, apparently. I've watched all six movies repeatedly and have dabbled in the fanfic, but I was never really in that fandom with both feet.

I have to watch the movies in my head and not movies 1-3, if that makes any sense. But I am a huge fan of SW. I was 16 when IV hit the theaters and it really made a huge impression on me.

Thanks for the reminder to check out the comments on the LJ side too.

[stranger]

So many fandoms, so many Big Events. I didn't know that Mulder and Krycek had ever kissed, for example.

Lest you become crazed and try to rent X-Files in more than sample quantities, I have to make it clear that it's slightly incorrect to say they kissed. Krychek kissed Mulder, not entirely on the mouth. In a setting closely resembling a cold, dark alley, while Mulder was mostly out of it for some reason. (This last gives a lot of leeway as to what Mulder would have done if fully able and aware at the moment.) The psychological significance of it, including possible mind-fucks, would be hard to exaggerate. It made M/K considerably more interesting (in many senses), which was all to the good for most fannish purposes. As a male/male kinda kiss, it probably broke some screen record for genre protags, even genre protags with Ph.D.s from Oxford in psychology.

But... reports of the incident as sexual activity other than one-guy-kissed-other-guy are vastly inflated. For that, you have to read fanfic.

Yes, I was a fan of X-Files, probably for a lot longer than was good for my sanity, why do you ask?

[princessofgeeks]

thanks for the details! i watched some of that show in real time but never really kept up with it. i did enjoy it very much, though. it's on my short list of fandoms to explore someday. :D.