Fics and Fests

[kelly_chambliss]

The hp_darkfest reveals have been posted here. I have several new favorite authors! I didn't know any of these writers well enough to guess who had written what, but it's interesting that the people who write the most perceptive comments also tend to be the people who write the best stories. Now there's a surprise, eh? There are still a couple of longer fics that I'd like to read at some point.

I sometimes speculate about what it would be like to have one of the super-popular pairings or characters as one's OTP or OTC -- what fun it must be when just about every other fest post features one of your faves. I've had something close to this experience only once (last year, when so many hp_beholder entries were Minerva-centric), and it was downright exciting to check my flist every day, especially since the quality of the writing was so high.

On the other hand, having less-popular OTCs has its perks, too: the pleasures are more intense, and you need not worry about the law of diminishing returns. When the Minerva and/or older-women fics do show up, they're like a fine, rich dessert, something to linger over and savor. (Speaking of which: therealsnape's gift has just been posted to hp_yule_balls -- it's Minerva/Hooch!!)

On the writing front, I managed to finish my short entry for mini_fest (two weeks late, I'm sorry to say). No matter how much I procrastinate (and that would be muchly), I'm a person who never misses deadlines, so I am quite chagrined at this mighty fail. But the mods were kind and accepted the story despite my moral lapse.

And I signed up for the Winter Fic Exchange at rarepair_shorts. No, this does not count as one of my three spring fests! For one thing, it's a WINTER fest, which makes a difference, see? For another, the fic can be a maximum of only 2000 words, which is practically nothing after the several 6-10K fics I've written recently. Now go over there and sign up, will you? I need your fun pairings to save me from being assigned some next gen m/m.

I'm enjoying this weekend to spend on fannish things, since over 40 term papers will be coming my way next week, to say nothing of final exams after that. But I actually don't mind this end-of-semester rush, despite the pressures. You simply have to get things done, and I like the sense of completion that comes when it's all over. And it's so concentrated that it frees you from other RL worries. I mean, I can't possibly worry about cleaning out closets or doing holiday shopping when I have grading deadlines to meet, can I? (Total geek that I am, I used to love finals weeks when I was a student, too; exams allowed me to synthesize and reinforce the material in ways I never would have done otherwise.)

Comments

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Kirk/Spock! Is this the reboot, or TOS? Either way, the fandom for that pairing is huge; I think "overwhelming" is the only word for it. Back in my days as Capt. Janeway shipper, the TOS and Kirk/Spock fans were by far the majority on the newsgroups. The big lists -- ASC and ASCEM -- were probably 75-80% K/S'ers. It could be hard for others series/ships to get paid attention to, or so it felt to some of us. We weren't unwelcome; we were just in a distinct minority.

But most of us managed to find our own niches with those who liked our pairings and characters. I'm not surprised to hear that K/S fans have smaller subgroups, too. It's rather like living in NYC, I think -- sure, it's huge, but eventually you make a place for yourself in your own neighborhood. You get to know the neighbors, and the guys in the corner deli get to know you, etc.

is often something of a natural bond between those who are passionate about a really rare pairing or fandom, which is difficult to replicate in a larger pool

Definitely. I've made such good friends in my own HP niche,a and I'm still in touch with some of the people I met in Star Trek Voyager fandom ten years ago. (I love the idea of having "rarefied tastes"; it's a term with so many fun possibilities /g/)

(PS--Are you moving away from HP fandom? I know at least a couple of people who have been completely seduced away from HP by K/S reboot :))

[queen-of-snapes.livejournal.com]

A question from the clueless germ: What does mpreg stand for? I've come across it a couple of times, but I'm slow with abbreviations...

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

"mpreg" stands for "male pregnancy" -- stories about males becoming pregnant (through whatever magical or sci-fi means), enduring the nine months, giving birth, etc.

[queen-of-snapes.livejournal.com]

"male pregnancy"
o.O Seriously? Like Arnie in Junior? Okay, my goal for tomorrow is to find and read a mpreg story...

[purplefluffycat.livejournal.com]

Kirk/Spock! Is this the reboot, or TOS?

Ah, that's a little complicated. I had never seen anything 'Star Trek' until a sci-fi fan dragged me to see the new movie (surprising, I know!), so Reboot was my first contact with the world. I liked the movie (far more than I had expected to, at least), but I didn't quite love it. It did make me curious though - curious enough to get hold of TOS on DVD, and that was where the infatuation started ;-)

It has been very exciting to commune with a 'historical' fandom, as it were; to read slash fics that were written considerably before I was born, and to appreciate the high level of innate slashiness in a series that is widely credited with the invention of slash in the first place! It feels a little like 'coming home', from a fandom perspective. Also, as I tend to prefer older characters, TOS Kirk and Spock are more naturally to my taste than their Reboot counterparts. I also note that Spock is very much the type of character toward whom I tend to gravitate: intelligent, reserved, somewhat socially ill-at-ease, somewhat snarky (see: Snape, Jeeves....)

Are you moving away from HP fandom?

I very much doubt it ;-) I've always had interest in more than one fandom at a time, and I'm thinking that ST is an addition, not a replacement. To put things into a perspective, I've written five exchange/sign-up based fics in the past couple of months - of which 3 were HP, one was ST, and one (that I'm currently working on) is for yuletide. I love my HP rarepairs and the super people I have 'met' through HP fandom far to much to give that up! :-)

PurpleFluffyCat x