InstaRec: Firefly

[lunabee34]

Hie thee immediately to THE WELL-WISHING ADVENTURER by executrix. The fic is Mal/Simon, rated PG-13 and about 4000 words. I don't read a lot of Firefly anymore. Unless you guys write it or rec it, it's not registering with me at all. So what a joy it is to read this piece that reminds me of what I so love about that show and about that fandom. As always, Exec's writing is impeccable, her characterization beyond reproach and her wit sharp enough to shave with. I cannot imagine this being a disappointing read for anyone.

And MEME!

Comment with a fandom or a character or two from a fandom and I'll give you my unpopular fannish opinion of said fandom or character(s).

Comments

[jjjean65.livejournal.com]

meme:

spander ;p

Oh, yes I have unpopular things to say about this one

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

LOL

I love Spander. Don't get me wrong. It's how I got my foot in the door. And I still think it's awesomecakes.

But.

I think that Spike is very very hard to write. I think that he is a nuanced, multi-faceted character that often times the *show* had trouble characterizing consistently. He is a killer; he is evil; he is cruel; he is coldblooded; he delights in violence. AT THE VERY SAME TIME, he empathizes; he feels; he cares; he wants to do the right thing. So many fics focus on one side of Spike's nature and elide the other because it's incredibly difficult to write him with both sides coexisting. So Spike often feels off to me in a lot of Spander.

Xander I think more writers get right than Spike, but there still is some awfully bad characterization of our favorite slacker Scoob out there as well. I'll be the first to admit that I dig on some non-con (of which Xander is the Crown Prince), but what I don't dig on is the infantilized version of Xander you find in a surprising amount of Spander. "Xander the boy who's been raped into sucking the hem of Spike's coat every night." No thanks.

In addition, I know that every fandom and every pairing has its cliches, its tropes that have been worn into the freaking ground. But if I never read another Mine fic or another claiming fic or another orgasmo bite fic in Spander, I will be super pleased. LOL

Re: Oh, yes I have unpopular things to say about this one

[jjjean65.livejournal.com]

lol... I agree! I always get a jarring feeling when I go back and watch Buffy cos they don't act like they do in a lot of fics.

And the 'mine' fics? I'd love it if authors would find a nice new work around the chip stuff.

:)

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Thank you eleventy for your support--it means a lot.

And, Kavanagh!

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

*smooch*

Oh, Kavanagh. :)

I think I am rather fannishly unpopular in general in that a lot of the time I like to take either peripheral characters or generally unlikeable characters and make them sympathetic and interesting rather than tangential and despised.

I think Kavanagh represented something that was necessary on Atlantis and it's a shame that his character is gone. He and Bates were in the inside voice of dissent. The command triumvurate needed some opposition and they needed that opposition to come from inside Atlantis. It's all well and good for Caldwell or Ellis or Woolsey to swoop in from time to time and be a jackass. They're outsiders. They're supposed to do that. But when the voice of dissent is coming from the inside, from someone who's been there the whole time (and no matter what anybody says, Kavanagh was there the whole time; he put his life on the line; he fought the Wraith during the Seige same as everybody else), someone who will still be there after the transport ship leaves--that's the kind of tension that keeps a show interesting.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I love the concept of a Consulting Jackass! In an only slightly AU world, Sherlock Holmes would have chosen to be the world's first Consulting Jackass rather than its first Consulting Detective.

It's a bit of an unpopular opinion and of itself, but one of the things I love about fandom is precisely its ability to spin an epic about Third Guy on the Left who has one line.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Me too.

I think Parrish has 32.6 seconds of screen time in one episode, and SGA fandom has managed to spin out a lovely, lovely story for him which includes sexing up Major Lorne at every possible turn. LOL

[lyr]

Okay, give me your unpopular fannish opinion on John Sheppard.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmmm.....

I think that he and Elizabeth would be fantastic together. LOL I really see a shit ton of subtext for the two of them, more over the whole series than I see for him and Rodney, and I think they'd be great for each other.

I didn't really see much canonical McShep subtext until season four, not that I need that to enjoy reading or writing a pairing. I just didn't see it the way some people seemed to. Now season four I felt like was written by a chat room full of fangirls in terms of subtext. LOL and Yay! I mean, "Harmony?" Yeah.

I get McShep burnout. Liek whoa. I love the pairing, love the fic. But man, sometimes I just get tired. Same reason I have to take periodic SPN breaks because everything (even the gen for the most part) is all SamnDean all the time and it gets wearying. I want to read about the tangential characters; I want rare pairings; I want Sheppard to do it with Lorne and Radek and Carson and Mitchell and Ronon much much much more than he does in fandom.

[lyr]

Eh, personally I saw the Elizabeth/John subtext, but it didn't grab me. I actually liked her better with Radek or Teyla.

I saw McShep subtext from the beginning, and it's still the side of the pond I like to play in, but I can see how it could burn you out. I don't have that problem so much since I don't actually read all that much SGA right now (only what is produced by my flist, and assigned for sga_talk), and I read in so many other fandoms, too.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

*nods*

You are wise. I tend to be serially monofannish and I have a hard time switching gears. I'm usually reading mostly only one fandom at a time, although I am getting better about that as I am in fandom longer.