Fandom Snowflake Challenge #12

[tjs_whatnot]

Day 12


What makes you fannish? And by that we mean, what is it about a tv show/movie/book/band/podcast/etc that takes you from, "Yeah, I like that," to "I need MOAR!!!" Is it a character? A plotline? The pretty? Subtext that’s just screaming to be acknowledged?

For me, it has always been, and always will be, about character. Back in school, character driven fiction was called "Literary Fiction" and that's what I read, what I wrote. It was much later--something about a boy wizard and the magical world he lived in--where I discovered that character driven fiction was also called "fantasy" and "sci-fi." That pretty much all genres had character driven stories, whether they had to build the world around them or not.

But, character is so all-encompassing. There are certain kinds of characters (and group of characters) that do it for me. Broken. Lost. Desperate.

While signing up for the ChocolateBox fest, and writing up all the many, many fandoms I requested (seriously, I was super greedy), I realized what all my fandoms have in common. Found families. I am a OMG!Sucker for people looking for (and finding) family, a place to belong, a place to call home, people to connect with and become important to and for.

Comments

[gelsey.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Found families are the best.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Aren't they?

[sherylyn]

I had an epiphany once about how similar so many things about Neal and Harry are. Yeah. Characters, and especially the "found families" thing for reallllllly well-done characters get me, too.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

♥ I CONSTANTLY make connections between "types" of characters.I'm always looking for the Harry and Ron, the Luke and Han, the Neal and Mozzie. ♥♥ But, if Neal is Harry and Mozzie is Ron, who then is Peter? Hmmm...

That's also why I love crossovers so much, playing with those "types," those characterizations. ♥

[sherylyn]

Hee! I do that, too, to at least some extent. I thought of Harry, Ron & Hermione being like Kirk, McCoy and Spock (to some extents) a looonnnngg time ago! LOL!!

I think Peter's a bit of the Hermione of the group -- always trying to get people to do the right thing, even if that occasionally means breaking the rules ;-)

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

Haha, for me it's been Harry, Ron and Hermione as the Luke, Han and Leia... and it works pretty freakin' accurately with the exception that Ron really isn't a scoundrel per se... but other than that... the bickering but still deeply in love, the brother and sister dynamic. ;)

And lol, I never thought of Peter as Hermione, but you might have something there... I guess I see him more as a mix of Remus and Snape... mentor and disciplinarian with an agenda. ;)

[sherylyn]

I think there's room for interpretation on all of them, depending on which ways they're acting at the time, etc., too.

I can definitely see Peter as being a lot like Remus, too. Snape was too much of a bully (IMO) for his "corrections" with Harry to translate to Peter well for me, but I get what you're saying. I love Snape as a character, but he needed to grow up himself about a number of things. But yes, Peter definitely has to be the authoritarian/disciplinarian plenty of times, too!

[algeiban.livejournal.com]

Yes to both of these. The first thing a TV show/movie/book has to have to draw me in is characters I love, and caring about the characters is one of the first ways I know I've gotten seriously fannish about something. And found families will do it for me every time.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

RIght? Well written characters is my catnip. ♥

[capitu]

Found families are <3333

You know, I'm all about the characters. I have a friend diving into a different fandom and she always tells me how my favourite tropes are a huge hit in this new fandom and I want to go there, but I'm just not invested in those characters yet, you know? ^^

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

They really are! *clings to my sister from another mister* ♥♥

Ohhhh, what fandom?

Yeah, the kinks and tropes only work if the characters get ya first.

[capitu]

Marvel, Stucky. You know, captain America and the Winter Soldier.

And I can see it. I love memory loss and I love size kink, so yes, I can see how two of my favourite tropes ever go practically hand in hand in this fandom. I so want to get into it, but I'm just not that invested in the character. But maybe I'm taking it all too seriously? I mean, why can I just enjoy the tropes? Maybe that's how I'll get invested about the characters. God knows that in HP there are many characters that I never thought much until I started reading fanfic, yeah? ^^

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

Ah, yeah. That's a tough one. I mean, I love the Marvel Universe, but it is soooo large and complicated and hard to suss out. But Bucky is so very fascinating with the brain washing and going against his true self and then there's his childhood friend who will do everything to save him--who was also, sort of kind of brainwashed a bit himself and... yeah, I can see the appeal. ;)

♥♥