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Those prompts I asked for this morning? I'm not really in the mood to write them right now. *hugs* to the people who offered them and encouragement to me this morning. I needed it.
Fandom is a group experience and this post is the LJ therapy couch for the not-too-posty elements of my f-list. Tell Dr. T all about your Stargate Atlantis experience: what got you in, when you realised it was your crack, and what you're going to take from it.
Technically, SG1 was my first fandom. I played, wrote, made friends, bitched, got bitched out, had a ball, and ultimately walked away because I didn't like how the show was going. Then SG1 led into SGA.
I got into the show partly because of the SG1 lead-in, but mostly because of Teyla. Nothing more, nothing less. She was the magnet that drew me into activities beyond merely watching he show. This is probably why it took to the end of Season One for me to go, "Oh, now I get this show!" I was ambivalent about the whole shipping thing, although I liked the John/Teyla dynamic. I liked it, but it didn't bother me that it wasn't going anywhere. John/Teyla fandom wasn't very active at the time, so I mostly wrote gen with a John/Teyla UST thing and hoped to find someone else who liked John/Teyla whose work I could appreciate.
I'm not sure I realised when it was my crack, to be honest. It just...snuck up on me. Possibly around 2005, when I wrote 'To Serve A Queen' and realised that I'd just put 50,000+ words into a fanfic about two characters who'd never actually get together on the show in an AU where they did get together and had super speshul powerz.
That was probably a watermark moment for me. "Yeah, I'm in deep. WAY deep."
Oddly enough, though, SGA has been both an up and down ride for me - partly because I can't count on the show to be constant in the things I watch it for - not the way I can with something like Bones. I want Teyla, I want team, I'm not into the John/Rodney relationship, and I wanted the show to focus on Pegasus, not on Earth and the "white peoplez".
For me, it's sort of a relief to know the end of the rollercoaster is in sight.
I will miss my show and the characters I love and the people I've met through them but with whom I haven't had the opportunity to form bonds that go beyond SGA. But I won't grieve for what won't be. I might grieve for what could have been, but wasn't; but I don't think I can feel unadulterated loss for something that wasn't measuring up to my expectations (enjoyable though it might have been).
What I will celebrate is that I've come out of the fandom with new friends, new perspectives, and another layer of fandom skin. I think. I don't know that I'll ever get into another fandom the way I did with SG1 and SGA - they were my first real fannish experiences.
What was your fannish experience with SGA?
Fandom is a group experience and this post is the LJ therapy couch for the not-too-posty elements of my f-list. Tell Dr. T all about your Stargate Atlantis experience: what got you in, when you realised it was your crack, and what you're going to take from it.
Technically, SG1 was my first fandom. I played, wrote, made friends, bitched, got bitched out, had a ball, and ultimately walked away because I didn't like how the show was going. Then SG1 led into SGA.
I got into the show partly because of the SG1 lead-in, but mostly because of Teyla. Nothing more, nothing less. She was the magnet that drew me into activities beyond merely watching he show. This is probably why it took to the end of Season One for me to go, "Oh, now I get this show!" I was ambivalent about the whole shipping thing, although I liked the John/Teyla dynamic. I liked it, but it didn't bother me that it wasn't going anywhere. John/Teyla fandom wasn't very active at the time, so I mostly wrote gen with a John/Teyla UST thing and hoped to find someone else who liked John/Teyla whose work I could appreciate.
I'm not sure I realised when it was my crack, to be honest. It just...snuck up on me. Possibly around 2005, when I wrote 'To Serve A Queen' and realised that I'd just put 50,000+ words into a fanfic about two characters who'd never actually get together on the show in an AU where they did get together and had super speshul powerz.
That was probably a watermark moment for me. "Yeah, I'm in deep. WAY deep."
Oddly enough, though, SGA has been both an up and down ride for me - partly because I can't count on the show to be constant in the things I watch it for - not the way I can with something like Bones. I want Teyla, I want team, I'm not into the John/Rodney relationship, and I wanted the show to focus on Pegasus, not on Earth and the "white peoplez".
For me, it's sort of a relief to know the end of the rollercoaster is in sight.
I will miss my show and the characters I love and the people I've met through them but with whom I haven't had the opportunity to form bonds that go beyond SGA. But I won't grieve for what won't be. I might grieve for what could have been, but wasn't; but I don't think I can feel unadulterated loss for something that wasn't measuring up to my expectations (enjoyable though it might have been).
What I will celebrate is that I've come out of the fandom with new friends, new perspectives, and another layer of fandom skin. I think. I don't know that I'll ever get into another fandom the way I did with SG1 and SGA - they were my first real fannish experiences.
What was your fannish experience with SGA?
Pt. 1
Coming from book-based fandoms (which were largely centered around the zines, letters and far flung groups) into Internet fandom was interesting if only because of how quickly you could invest yourself, find like minded folks and maybe participate through stories and online based groups.
I was never really fannish around SG-1 but I watched it religiously when it started on Showtime because it was part of a fairly decent block of sci-fi shows and I kept up with it when it made the jump to Sci-Fi Channel. I read stories, considered writing some but was turned off by the Jack/Daniel folks who would relegate Teal'c and Sam off to the middle of nowhere. Even though I came back into fandom as slasher, I was always interested in how the rest of the characters interact with one another as well as specific pairing or groups. That's why I about why I want to sell my soul for well done group fic, whether there's canoodling in it or not, because handling all four characters can take a deft touch.
When SGA hit the screens, I did start watching because of Teyla and because I sat around with my friends and we all agreed that we needed to support Rachel as an actress of color. By our lights, if we didn't watch, sister girl would not get work and we didn't want that to happen. I was excited to see a character who had a practical (and a certain degree of spiritual centeredness) but could be physical and throw down in a fight.
I was initially resistant to the possible pairing of John and Teyla because I knew it could turn out badly; that she'd just be the alien chick but from the first raised eyebrow, Rachel's portrayal drew me in. Okay, I thought, she's smart. She knows the score - knows that her people are seen as less because of their (apparent) lack of technological advancement but she's determined to grasp hope and move forward. I *like* that.
Pt. 2
It worked with Farscape and C.J. Cherryh's Pride of Chanur. It's not like it hasn't been done.
When they got Ronon (and made Ford an intergalactic junkie), I thought, okay, I'll give them another chance. And we got glimpses of Ronon's life. Found out that he could speak and not grunt, that he could lead and be a real interesting person. And, again, I thought, hey! Cool alien folks who could lead, etc., etc. Give me team! Give me lots of it!
And just when you thought they'd give it to you, err, no.
As far as the larger fandom goes, I'm glad I didn't hang out in places like GateWorld because I probably would have cursed people out by now. However, I am glad that I met you and some other folks because in your own way, you became my 'team' in the best sense of the word. I treasure that. Even when things got heated or we didn't agree on something, I never had the feeling of wanting to defriend.
I will always be proud of stories like "Shatter" and things that you've produced and even though the show is ending, I'm not feeling like I want to stop writing in the fandom. There's still things I want to explore. And hey, five years is a lot longer than a lot of shows get (such as Space: Above and Beyond which I am still bitter about all these years hence). High points and low, I still enjoyed a big chunk of the show itself and that's no small thing.
Re: Pt. 2
That's the thing! I mean, even shows like B5 had to fight and fight and fight for a 5th season. And yeah, a lot of the earlier sci-fi shows didn't even get a 5-season run.
On the whole, I think we're doing okay. And I'm glad you're sticking around. *hugs* A lot of other Teyla fans have upped and left - I can't blame them, but it's depressing all the same - so I'm glad of you and others who are hanging in there!
*hugs*