Poll: Consensus, Part One

[thefourthvine]

So. I miss talking to and hearing from y'all. But I'm suffering from a tiny problem, namely absence of any ability to finish anything. Someday I hope to be able to write actual useful sentences that connect to other sentences again, but today is not that day, so I'm going to do a themed poll series instead of meta or a themed recs post. (There are only three parts to this themed poll set, but I realize that, from me, three posts is totally massive spamming. My apologies in advance.)

The poll's theme is: consensus.

In part one, below, I'm going to try to establish my relative fannish sanity by consensus. To do so, I need to take you on a brief tour of my brain, focusing on two particular fannish things it does that I'm starting to suspect are - well, weird. (And keep in mine I'm judging myself compared to other fans; we'd already be considered insane by many of Them Folks Out There.)

We will now depart on our trip through TFV's brain. Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

Imaginary Fandoms. I have, um, imaginary fandoms. I don't mean original fiction that I tell myself - I mean original fandoms, where I come up with, for example, a long and detailed original story, and then entertain myself with considering - and sometimes, um, even writing - various types of fan fiction or kerfluffles or meta that might result from given installments of the story. Sometimes I do, like, a TV series, and cast it with imaginary actors and plan out both FPF and RPF. In my most recent imaginary fandom, I've even begun mentally vidding it.

These imaginary fandoms hit basically all my buttons, of course. I'm not actually going to describe this in any kind of detail, because, um, oh my god so embarrassing that I kind of want to die just from typing it out, but the current one involves time traveling teams (one "temporal scientist" and one assassin-ish type) from the future. The main team, at this point (in my head, we have arrived roughly at book or season three), has uncovered evidence that they are working for - and trapped by, and no, I'm not even going to elaborate on the whole legal enslavement aspect, because I do not want to die of embarrassment - an organization of extremely questionable ethics and purpose, which opposes an organization that also has extremely questionable ethics and purpose. Oh, and the timestream, which they're supposed to protect, is slowly dissolving.

I have assorted mental fan fiction for this story, all carefully tagged to various chapters or episodes. I have, as I said, mental vids. I entertained myself on one long, hideous drive to Pasadena imagining the meta resulting from the end of book or season one.

I'm pretty sure that all this is the very definition of sad and pathetic. But, hey, this is fandom - maybe we all do this. Do you?

Epics That Must Not Be Read. (Term borrowed from the only other person I know for sure has written one of these. She will not be named here - unless she just wants to be - out of mercy for her.) Another thing I do is write these long, involved pieces of FF that are only for an audience of one, and that one person is me. They're always AUs of some kind, and they always start in canon and move sharply away from it, and they always entertain the hell out of me. But only me.

I've written two. The first is a BtVS story that currently stands at 80 pages of actual story, 30 more of notes and dialog, and 5 of outline, plus 10 pages of deleted scenes. It assumes that canon remains the same up to "Once More with Feeling." (Please note that "Once More with Feeling" is the only episode of BtVS season six that I've seen - and I haven't seen any of five or four, either. No, wait - I think I've seen one episode in season four. My point is, the first clue I had to the ETMNBR status of this beast was that I was writing in canon I hadn't seen.) At that point, a single line changes, and this massively alters everything from then on. In terms of timeline, I've written up to where season nine would have been if there had been one, and I know how things will resolve in season ten.

There are only two people in the world who would be interested in this story; one is me, and the other is Best Beloved. We've both read it. I know it's an ETMNBR, so I'm not worried about finishing it. But I re-read it fairly regularly, and I still write on it from time to time, because it entertains me so damned much.

The other one is much more embarrassing because I didn't realize it was an ETMNBR until after I sent it to be beta-read. It's also rather long (and needs to be much, much longer), an AU that assumes canon up to a certain point and then sharply diverges, and entertaining only to me. (My poor, poor betas - some of them actually read the fucker, and provided really helpful, thoughtful, useful comments - in short, they helped me make a story that was interesting only to me even more interesting. To me. At the cost of a lot of their time and effort. I would send them flowers and chocolate except that I'm embarrassed to speak to them.)

Now for consensus. Feel free to judge harshly.

[Poll #851020]

Comments

[notpoetry.livejournal.com]

I have "imaginary fandoms" in the sense that I write television pilots and movie screenplays as a part of my everyday work required for classes, and then I fantasize about the series and the fandom and all the meta and kerfuffles and what sort of fic would be written, and also dream about winning an Emmy and my interview on the Daily Show and basically I'm a giant narcissitic nerd.

But then there are the pilots and screenplays I will never write, the ones that are so shamelessly self-indulgent and slashy (like the screenplay that's basically an adapted version of Stephen Fry's The Liar mashed in with Christopher Dunn's Kit Marlowe and features a lot of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry running around the roofs of Cambridge and being spies and writing comedy and loving each other). And the fandom for that, in my head, would rival SGA, Smallville, and Supernatural put together. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Okay, first, I just have to say - thank you for responding to this poll. Posting it was traumatizing, because - my psyche! Which is not normal! Laid out for all to see!

When I came creeping back to read the comments, I was braced for horror. And instead, the first comment was you, saying, hey, that's not completely insane.

I have "imaginary fandoms" in the sense that I write television pilots and movie screenplays as a part of my everyday work required for classes, and then I fantasize about the series and the fandom and all the meta and kerfuffles and what sort of fic would be written, and also dream about winning an Emmy and my interview on the Daily Show and basically I'm a giant narcissitic nerd.

I don't think you have to consider them imaginary in this case. You're willing to show them to someone. If I imagined anyone - anyone at all actually reading or watching my imaginary fandoms, I would, basically, die. (Late at night, I sometimes worry that telepaths are reading my mind. I mean, I know they aren't, but - part of the origin of my great fear of telepathy (like, at least 25% of it) is that if anyone could see into my head, I would die.) Just - dead from shame, right there. And it's the imaginary fandoms that would kill me.

Because I know they're terrible. Whereas yours, obviously, are not. So yours are fandoms in waiting. Mine are just fandoms in my own mind. (But - it is so obvious to me, and always has been, that if you have a mental story, you also have to consider every possible AU and also sometimes make them all vampires and stuff. And now I have a name for those unattached chunks of the main story: fan fiction.)

features a lot of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry running around the roofs of Cambridge and being spies and writing comedy and loving each other

I see nothing wrong with this whatsoever. *nods firmly*

[ratcreature]

You are kind of weird...*g* the idea of imaginary fandoms never even occurred to me. But yours sounds rather cool. I mean, if it existed, I'd probably be in it. Heh. As for the epics, I chose "something else" because I just don't write fanfic, so I don't have any on my hard drive, but I assume if I wrote I might have some.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

But yours sounds rather cool.

Oh, no, trust me, it's humiliating and tailored strictly to my own personal interests. So, like, the doctor character? Brilliant but totally unethical and morally weak and easily manipulated, and at this point he's my main team's closest ally.

No one wants to read a story in which "morally reprehensible, but at least we know how to deal with him" is one of the better characters in the universe. Except. I have a great and abiding interest in medical ethics and what happens when doctors don't have any. So it makes me happy.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

#2, no, but only because I'm generally too lazy to write much of anything that I don't plan to post, and when I do, it's usually bad erotic novel-type things ("type" as in I never write more than a few bits of them) with original characters.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

*interested*

How do you know the difference between somemthing that's postable and something that's not before you write it? Because, you know, I went into both my ETMNBR thinking, "Yay!" It was only after I'd gotten several dozen pages in (and, in the second case, after I sent it off to betas oh my god) that I knew I'd written ETMNBRs.

[30toseoul.livejournal.com]

Dude. My ratio of ETMNBR to posted fic? About 20 to 1. They aren't WIPs; they are mental handjobs that will never see the light of day, no matter how many chapters I write.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Maaaaan. You know, I totally get the concept of an ETMNBR and it is totally critical that they not be read, but - I still want to see yours.

*curious*

How do you know when something is an ETMNBR? I know what criteria I use, but - you have a lot more than I do, it sounds like, so - yeah, curious.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

You know, I think what you call "imaginary fandoms" are what people who work in the television industry call "projects in development". I'm just saying.

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

amen. :).

[minervacat.livejournal.com]

i have never WRITTEN an epic that must not be read, but i basically have a really twisty, long epic that must not be read featuring extensive fandom crossovers and mary sues and canon timeline rearranging for my purposes and general wretchedness IN MY HEAD, and i've been telling myself parts of it - to help me fall asleep, to distract me in class - for going on, um, two years now. i add crossover characters to the epic in my head as i acquire new fandoms, i revise past canon if i decide i want my mary sue to end up with someone different than she'd been with before, and, oh my god, i cannot believe i am admitting this in public.

but you're not alone. i think the only reason i've never written it down is because i could not handle the shame if someone ever FOUND it.

[gelliaclodiana]

You are not alone.

I do the same -- that is, there's the massive crossover mary sue epic that I've been thinking about for... well, a lot more than two years, anyway. Characters added as my fannish interests expand, although I don't often go back and rewrite past events. And often, when I add a new fandom I start a whole new one as well.

But this will never, ever involve putting words on the page.

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

I've never *written* any epics that must not be read, but I've sure had fun plotting them out and thinking them. I just don't write them because... I'm lazy.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

See, I am sick with envy for all you people who know a given concept is an ETMNBR before you spend the better part of three months writing it. I want to learn this ability.

Although, downside - I mean, they do entertain me. I enjoy re-reading them. So I'm glad to have written them; I just wish I'd known before I sent the second one to beta.

Well, not exactly an <i>imaginary</i> fandom...

[ink-monkey.livejournal.com]

...it's just one I haven't gotten around to writing yet. But it will exist someday, mark my words! I've already begun wondering what the most popular slash pairings will be, and planning deliberate subtext for them. Yes, I'm pandering to not-yet-in-existence fans. I'm egotistical that way.

I haven't started writing ETMNBRs for it yet, though. That's next, after I write the damn thing during NaNoWriMo. Then, and only then, will I start writing the bizarre, slashy AUs.

Re: Well, not exactly an <i>imaginary</i> fandom...

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

But it will exist someday, mark my words!

*makes note*

Yes, I'm pandering to not-yet-in-existence fans.

This is a good thing. It will be a useful skill to have later.

But, in my opinion, plans to actually write the thing elevate it from imaginary fandom to fandom in waiting. I should've had a category for that on the poll.

*considers reposting*

Then, and only then, will I start writing the bizarre, slashy AUs.

I am impressed by your self-discipline. On the imaginary fandom before the one that's in my head now, I got the groundwork out of the way, almost got to the first actual plot bit, and was just compelled to go back and work out the vampire AU. Just, you know, because.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I have many epic mary sue stories in my head that will never be written, let alone read. I can't imagine expending the energy to write that much on something that I didn't want to share.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

*sad*

See, but neither of my ETMNBR are Mary Sues or any other obvious FF no-go zone. (I have those, but they stay wedged in my head where they belong, thank you kindly.) The ideas seemed like good ones when I started. But I realized, very late in the writing process, that they were totally masturbatory, not in the porn sense - because, hey, if I wrote porn, I would so very much share, just because I can hardly ever do that - but in the only-interesting-to-me sense.

And I wouldn't've wasted the time in writing them, either, except - I didn't know it would be a waste until I'd done a ton of work, and at that point, I might as well keep entertaining myself, you know?

[vass]

Your brain may be weird, and probably is, but I think the two things you described above may be just the natural products of an active mental story-generator. Or if they are weird it's a matter of degree, not kind. (I haven't managed 80 pages of any sort of fiction for years and years.)

Here's my own weird thing: I retell stories to myself. Silently, thank goodness. The plots of episodes, books and fanfic. Lovingly dwelling on the good bits. As if I didn't know what happens next. "And then he..." "And she says..." "And this is such a big deal, because..." I think it's a definite improvement that I don't usually retell them to other people any more, and have stopped hand-flapping at the same time.

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

See, sometimes I like people telling me the plots of things I'm interested in, but don't have the will to read/watch (usually when they are very long/angsty/otherwise irritating). A kind of cliffs notes, if you will, and to me, very satisfying. Case in point - I would love someone to do that for Anita Blake, so that I can get the cool sounding plot without the frustration of actually reading it.

[rokeon.livejournal.com]

I definitely have an imaginary fandom- the high fantasy novel I've never gotten around to putting on paper has half a dozen mental fanfics that go with it. Including a vampire AU and two separate Highlander crossovers. I'm not proud about those.

The ETMNBR are similar- they've been outlined and plotted in my head, but so far I've managed to resist actually writing them down. Which is good, because they are legion.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I'm not proud about those.

Well, on the one hand, I totally sympathize. And on the other hand, I kind of hate you, because the one thing my imaginary fandoms don't have is crossovers. But I bet now they will. Oh, god, I can already picture it.

My brain should have come with a warning label.

The ETMNBR are similar- they've been outlined and plotted in my head, but so far I've managed to resist actually writing them down.

But how do you know in advance that they are ETMNBR? Because, really, mine seemed like good ideas in theory. Just, in practice, total ETMNBR.

[blackletter]

I certainly do the imaginary fandom thing. (I'm currently focused on a slash AU of my imaginary fandom. And I have a lot of fun imagining shipping wars.)

As for the ETMNBR, I don't have any *fandom* epics...mostly because I don't do much fandom writing period. But I have plenty of original fic that probably qualifies as something similar. (In that it's long, involved, crazy and done to entertain me and only me, as opposed to the things I actually want to publish someday. Oh, and these pseudo-ETMNBRs tend to be essentially fanfic of my own original stories.)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I certainly do the imaginary fandom thing. (I'm currently focused on a slash AU of my imaginary fandom. And I have a lot of fun imagining shipping wars.)

*clings to kindred spirit*

In that it's long, involved, crazy and done to entertain me and only me, as opposed to the things I actually want to publish someday. Oh, and these pseudo-ETMNBRs tend to be essentially fanfic of my own original stories.

*nods*

This makes perfect, perfect sense to me.

[rosaleendhu.livejournal.com]

My Epic that Must Not Be Read exists solely in my brain. It's up there. I could type it if I wanted, but the near-constant mental editting is part of the fun of keeping it inside. That and the MC is undeniably a Sue. No need to inflict that on any form of text.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

but the near-constant mental editting is part of the fun of keeping it inside.

Yes. I can change whatever I want, whenever I want, because it's not written down and it's never going to be. And I can handwave all the difficult plotty type things I'm not interested in. Because it's only to entertain me!

[runpunkrun]

I was all ready to say "hell no" to the ETMNBR question, but then, slowly, miserably, I realized I had written many unfinished ETMNBRs...it's just they're all original fiction. And they're all horrible. But at the time I was totally in love with them.

Writing fanfiction actually helped me grow out of that, thanks to having an audience (and not wanting to embarrass myself in front of them) and their virulent hatred of Mary Sues.

Okay, I think I have to go hide my head under a pillow now that my brain has embarrassed me so thoroughly.

[runpunkrun]

Oh, my intention, though, was not to bash ETMNBRs, but to say that now that I have an audience for fanfic, I still write for myself, but also for the invisible people that live in my computer. I've just had to get very cunning about writing stories that push my buttons while still being interesting to other people. I hate the idea of writing something I can't (or won't) show anyone.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

You're talking about me, aren't you? I confess the great shame of my fannish life in one comment (one!) and suddenly it's immortalized as an acronym. And a mighty pretty one at that. (Also, oh, my poor betas, who were battered with out of sequence chapters for months on end, helped when they had little to no interest in the fandom, and never saw anything posted: I am heartily sorry, but keeping it away from anyone's eyes is the only responsible and sane response to over fifty chapters of X-Men comicverse AU covering hundreds of years and my obvious fan crush on Gambit.)

I answered maybe on the poll of imaginary fandoms. I don't really do it anymore, but I used to entertain myself through bouts of insomnia by lying in the dark and dreaming up plots and characters and imagining the wonderful book reviews that would greet this opus. I think that counts. If I'd known about fanfiction at the time I would absolutely have been imagining fanfiction of these stories.

[brownbetty]

Oh good, someone else with a fan crush on Gambit. Er. *koff*

[etben.livejournal.com]

I am something else on all counts! because, OK: imaginary fandom-wise, it's not so much that I make up fandoms, but that I occasionally treat my life as a fandom. For values of "occasionally" that are set equal to "really kind of a lot". In the sense of: when stuff happens (like it does), I'll say to myself, Oh, OK. This is clearly the episode where ______ happens! And I frequently find myself thinking about the kind of fic I'd write for my life, were I watching it on TV or reading it curled up in bed. And, yeah: there's sometimes a soundtrack, but that's pretty standard.

I don't know - it's not so much an Imaginary Fandom as it is recontextualizing my life in terms of fandom, or something similarly valid-sounding. Except, um, not really, and shut up I know.

As far as Epics That Must Not Be Read, I don't ever commit them to paper (or, um, pixels?), but I have a couple of stories that I tend to think through at dull moments. Which, really, that's the same deal, except for how nobody will ever read them.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I occasionally treat my life as a fandom.

Ooo. Interesting. And so very metatextual that I'm getting vaguely dizzy just thinking about it. ("Air...too...rarified! Must do...something...low-brow...now!")

I feel sure there have been many SF stories written on precisely this topic, though.

And, yeah: there's sometimes a soundtrack, but that's pretty standard.

Yup. I remember staring in astonishment at the first person who told me his life had a soundtrack (although, in my defense - it was a soundtrack he composed himself, on guitar, and he played chunks of it for me, and it was actually good, because he was just irritatingly talented), but actually I think most people do.

As far as Epics That Must Not Be Read, I don't ever commit them to paper (or, um, pixels?)

See, loads of people are saying this, and my question is: who do you know in advance that they'll be ETMNBR? Because I know in advance that my imaginary fandoms will be a) imaginary and b) of the suck, and therefore don't bother to write them down (mostly). But both of my ETMNBR were written in the sincere belief that I was writing actual FF, suitable for sharing.

[deepsix.livejournal.com]

I like to think that my imaginary fandom isn't all that crazy, because if I ever got off my ass and like, put the idea to paper, it could, theoretically, some day, maybe even be a real one. I mean, not likely. But still!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I have decreed (Ooo, check me out! I am like royalty!) that for the purposes of this poll, such things are termed "fandoms in waiting" rather than "imaginary fandoms." Doesn't that sound a lot better?

*envies you your coolness for having fandoms in waiting instead of imaginary ones*

[kikkimax.livejournal.com]

The one story that I truely wrote for myself, and then somehow actually, uh, posted it? Even thought I just knew there would never be an audience for it out there anywhere? (Odd combination crossover, not really slash, not really gen, in fact I really couldn't categorize it one way or the other but it hit all my own buttons *g*.) It went over really well in both fandoms. Really well. I can die now.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

See, there's a very fine line between "idiosyncratic, personal, and brilliant" and "idiosyncratic, personal, and oh my god the horror." You appear to be on the right side of said line, whereas I could not find your side with both hands and a compass.

So, hey, I totally applaud you. Would you mind if I stared at you, seething with barely-suppresed envy, for the next five to six hours? It would also be an admiring stare! Just, you know, with disturbing "I want your brains" overtones.

*gets stare ready to go, just in case*

[starwatcher]

.
'No' to both of those. However, I've only been writing for four years; up until then, I was honestly convinced that I never could write. So I'm not surprised that I'm still playing in the shallow end of the pool.

But since you have much more writing history under your belt, I don't find it surprising that you occasionally follow less-traveled paths. I find it unlikely that I'll ever travel such paths (although not impossible), but there's no reason for you to stop doing something that gives you pleasure. I say, have fun; it can't hurt anyone, and any writing will help you develop your skills. More power to you!
.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

So I'm not surprised that I'm still playing in the shallow end of the pool.

I don't think you're playing in the shallow end of the pool. I think - hmm. I think, basically, that when you're writing, you're in the pool. And when I'm playing with my imaginary fandoms, my Epics That Must Never Be Read, and my Epics That Must Not Be Written, I'm out of the pool altogether.

Hmmm. Maybe because the audience is solely and only me? Or because I know full well what I'm doing is bad in every sense of writing as a craft or an art, but I do it anyway?

Must ponder more.

*puts on ponder hat*

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

Yes! The Time Travelling Pirate Hunters TV show!

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

Damn, now I want to watch that too. :(

[celli]

I think the current crackfic is an Epic That SHOULD Not Be Read. Note, however, that I'm still planning on inflicting the world with it. I can't not. *g*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

I think the current crackfic is an Epic That SHOULD Not Be Read. Note, however, that I'm still planning on inflicting the world with it.

You'd better. I'd have some strong words for you, Missy, if you didn't.

*looks threatening*

[wychwood]

I don't really have imaginary fandoms, but they sound totally cool, and I wish you'd post more about them. I would be fascinated.

I don't have any ETMNBR, but I suspect that's largely because I don't write fic at all. However, I do currently have an ongoing set of SGA AUs in my head. I think my favourite is the one where Elizabeth is running a small railway company in Victorian India.

[minervacat.livejournal.com]

I think my favourite is the one where Elizabeth is running a small railway company in Victorian India.

man, i would TOTALLY read that. that's awesome.

[ficbyzee.livejournal.com]

I have actually found that ETMNBR's are a *great* way of coping with current DC canon. My current favorite (that, you know, I haven't written because I'm lazy, just thought about way too much) is the one where Kon and Match switched places right before Infinite Crisis, so Match died but Kon is alive. But Kon has amnesia, and doesn't remember who he is, so he thinks he's a bad guy. And so does Tim (which doesn't stop him from sleeping with Kon, in a 'You look like my dead loved one! Screwing you might ease the pain of their passing!' type thing, ala Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor), and it's all very angsty and probably copies most of its main plot from Chicago's Most Wanted. But the key here is that Kon is still alive and always has been.

Um, yes. Hi. I'll be over here, trying not to die of embarrassment.

[minim_calibre]

Dude, can we make that canon please?

[strangerian.livejournal.com]

The ETMNBR count is, one written (B5 crossed with anime, plus some pre-Revolutionary French history and telepathic sex), at least two, one long past (ummm, never mind), one vaguely present (a *completely original* lesbian Regency romance, which nevertheless fit perfectly into the Uber Alt Xena genre), created on the mental slate alone.

Ooh, I didn't know this was anything like common. Maybe I'm not a Space Alien after all. Or maybe we all are.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

(B5 crossed with anime, plus some pre-Revolutionary French history and telepathic sex)

OMG. That sounds - well, I don't know anything about B5, but the rest of it is so appealing to me I can't even begin to convey it. Plus, you add anime, pre-Revolutinary French history, and telepathic sex to anything vaguely SF-oriented, and I basically swoon into your arms and begin have revelatory visions.

a *completely original* lesbian Regency romance

Again, these are words I've longed to hear. (Plus, on this one, I know I'm not alone; other people need original lesbian Regency romances, too!)

Ooh, I didn't know this was anything like common. Maybe I'm not a Space Alien after all. Or maybe we all are.

This was precisely - I mean, like, nearly word-for-word - my reaction to the comments here.

But now that I'm no longer worried that I am an alien from Planet Dork (I mean, even if I am, I'm not a loner alien, and that makes all the difference in terms of worry), I'm sort of leaning toward the "they're all space aliens" theory, actually. It would explain so much about the world if a lot of the people on it weren't from around here.

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

I have, I suppose, ETMNBN floating around in my head. Cracked out ideas that would require so. much. writing. and stick around polluting my brain, because they are oh so very bad.

Like, for example, the 'Ford integrates back into Atlantis one' that I've been kicking around since the end of S1. *clings to Ford* And in my head it makes sense, because I am personally operating under the assumption that they didn't send anyone on the Atlantis mission who couldn't fuction as a part of the science team in some respect because HI, they're sending them some place dangerous and who knows when they'll get back, so (as you need a degree to be an officer, anyway), they wouldn't send people who would have to sit around and go crazy if they got injured and pulled off active duty.


Okay, so maybe my answer for the first question is a lie. Sometimes, when I am feeling very full of myself, I think of possibly some day writing a novel, and I like to imagine that it would have some small sort of fandom. Or that I could con some ficcer I know into writing a story so that I almost had a fandom, and could feel special.


Why, yes, I AM a crazy person -- thank you for asking.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Like, for example, the 'Ford integrates back into Atlantis one' that I've been kicking around since the end of S1. *clings to Ford* And in my head it makes sense, because I am personally operating under the assumption that they didn't send anyone on the Atlantis mission who couldn't fuction as a part of the science team in some respect because HI, they're sending them some place dangerous and who knows when they'll get back, so (as you need a degree to be an officer, anyway), they wouldn't send people who would have to sit around and go crazy if they got injured and pulled off active duty.

*wistful*

I would so read that. And love it. Because, oh, I miss Ford, and why can't he come back all broken and drug-addled and then slowly recover and end up working in the labs? God, yes.

Plus, I love the idea of everyone having secondary skills, because I love FF that comes from a place of sounder reason, planning, and management than the canon ever does. (I mean, really. If you look at the canon, it's hard not to conclude that Elizabeth spent the entire however many months she had to plan dressing up in Princess of Atlantis costumes and prancing around her office, and O'Neill signed off on a mission plan that read "We all go to Atlantis YAY!" So I prefer FF that allows me to believe that intelligent people put real thought into the mission.)

Sometimes, when I am feeling very full of myself, I think of possibly some day writing a novel, and I like to imagine that it would have some small sort of fandom. Or that I could con some ficcer I know into writing a story so that I almost had a fandom, and could feel special.

These are not imaginary fandoms. They are fandoms in waiting.

So. You write that novel. I will totally beta-read it. Do we have a plan? *nods firmly*