acequeenking (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acequeenking) wrote2021-06-18 11:40 pm
acequeenking) wrote2021-06-18 11:40 pm
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June Something Day #7 and #8
Day 7: What's the longest time you've been in a fandom. Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.
I got into Greek mythology earlier -- honestly I got into Greek mythology before I could read -- but I wasn't fannish about it, per se; I don't think that really came on. I used to read Power Rangers fanfic back in the web-rings day, but I never really wrote much fic for it (and never posted it!), and never participated in the community for it, unless you count playing with friends on the play ground. I don't think it would count because I've only really seen the MMPR-level stuff anyway, though I did read and enjoy some of the boom comics.
But in terms of communities I've been active in and remain active in, probably Tekken easily is easily the fandom I've been in the longest. I was super online into forums in the late 1990s and I was posting all over the place in the tekken fandom (except, oddly, the late/great Tekken Zaibatsu -- but it was MUCH more strategy focused), I was a die hard reader and killed at least one tree printing out stories from the late, great Ultimate Tekken fanfiction archive and even got a story into KMAS once (ngl I'm still proud of teenage me for getting a fic into an archive and, simultaneously, a bit glad that the URL has been lost and it returns a 404 now -- though lol, lord, can't believe teenage me hated titles so much I TITLED IT UNTITLED). My oldest extant fanfic on the internet is on fanfiction.net's Tekken section, which I also haunted the fuck out of, and it looks like I posted it in 2003. I've dropped in and out of it as different installments of the game have come and gone - I didn't write a lot around Tekken 5, though I did love the game - but I came back in a good way around Tekken 6 and have my infrequently updated tekken tumblr to show for it. And although I haven't updated it since 2017, I do still read and write Tekken fanfiction, and still play the game from time to time.
Honestly being in the same fandom so long, there's things from the old days I miss.I miss the character-specific websites and forums, like KMAS and Obey! Obey! Obey! Lee Chaolan. I learned a shit-ton about fanfiction writing through those early days and was really influenced by Sapfarah's Tekken fanfiction and the Mishima compound's fanfiction (which I think sadly is lost but lives forever in my mind in Kazuya and Lee doing blow during a board meeting in the bathroom). I miss the fanart of my youth like Club Xenon and really wish I'd gotten up the courage to try to track down some of the Kazuya/Lee doujinshis that were common Aestheticism Cybershoppe though I think that would have been hard for me as a minor on the internet (now Kaz/Lee tekken 2 doujin are hard as balls to find -- honestly, quite a bit of the old Tekken manga that was official is hard to find, and I think the Tekken 3 Manhua has basically been entirely wiped off the internet.) I miss the weird stuff you'd find on the old websites, like Jun Shrine just having a (WORKING) Triple Triad game with fighting game character art on the cards. I miss the LiveJournal Tekken community which I never really posted on but loved lurking on.
But I'm also thankful that it's so much easier to be a woman in the fandom now. When I was a younger girl, there was SO MUCH "if she's a woman on the internet she's fat, she's gross, and she's probably a dude." If you wrote fanfiction or fanart, you were frequently interrupted with WHO CARES ABOUT THAT, ITS STUPID TO CARE ABOUT THE PLOT IN A FIGHTING GAME F'OFF. You were frequently and aggressively told to "post pics or gtfo" and if you posted an attractive female picture, you were "lying" and if you weren't attractive you were "fugly" and should "k--- yourself". And that was just the cis-girl treatment; needless to say, it was even worse if you weren't.
There was very little respect for a some of the characters? Like Hwoarang in the early internet got re-named "Bob" because "Hwoarang is too hard to spell." Anna was always joked about being a whore or a slut. Both? Yikes.
Those attitudes are, of course, still around on the internet, but nowhere near to where it used to be, which was the default.
I got into Greek mythology earlier -- honestly I got into Greek mythology before I could read -- but I wasn't fannish about it, per se; I don't think that really came on. I used to read Power Rangers fanfic back in the web-rings day, but I never really wrote much fic for it (and never posted it!), and never participated in the community for it, unless you count playing with friends on the play ground. I don't think it would count because I've only really seen the MMPR-level stuff anyway, though I did read and enjoy some of the boom comics.
But in terms of communities I've been active in and remain active in, probably Tekken easily is easily the fandom I've been in the longest. I was super online into forums in the late 1990s and I was posting all over the place in the tekken fandom (except, oddly, the late/great Tekken Zaibatsu -- but it was MUCH more strategy focused), I was a die hard reader and killed at least one tree printing out stories from the late, great Ultimate Tekken fanfiction archive and even got a story into KMAS once (ngl I'm still proud of teenage me for getting a fic into an archive and, simultaneously, a bit glad that the URL has been lost and it returns a 404 now -- though lol, lord, can't believe teenage me hated titles so much I TITLED IT UNTITLED). My oldest extant fanfic on the internet is on fanfiction.net's Tekken section, which I also haunted the fuck out of, and it looks like I posted it in 2003. I've dropped in and out of it as different installments of the game have come and gone - I didn't write a lot around Tekken 5, though I did love the game - but I came back in a good way around Tekken 6 and have my infrequently updated tekken tumblr to show for it. And although I haven't updated it since 2017, I do still read and write Tekken fanfiction, and still play the game from time to time.
Honestly being in the same fandom so long, there's things from the old days I miss.I miss the character-specific websites and forums, like KMAS and Obey! Obey! Obey! Lee Chaolan. I learned a shit-ton about fanfiction writing through those early days and was really influenced by Sapfarah's Tekken fanfiction and the Mishima compound's fanfiction (which I think sadly is lost but lives forever in my mind in Kazuya and Lee doing blow during a board meeting in the bathroom). I miss the fanart of my youth like Club Xenon and really wish I'd gotten up the courage to try to track down some of the Kazuya/Lee doujinshis that were common Aestheticism Cybershoppe though I think that would have been hard for me as a minor on the internet (now Kaz/Lee tekken 2 doujin are hard as balls to find -- honestly, quite a bit of the old Tekken manga that was official is hard to find, and I think the Tekken 3 Manhua has basically been entirely wiped off the internet.) I miss the weird stuff you'd find on the old websites, like Jun Shrine just having a (WORKING) Triple Triad game with fighting game character art on the cards. I miss the LiveJournal Tekken community which I never really posted on but loved lurking on.
But I'm also thankful that it's so much easier to be a woman in the fandom now. When I was a younger girl, there was SO MUCH "if she's a woman on the internet she's fat, she's gross, and she's probably a dude." If you wrote fanfiction or fanart, you were frequently interrupted with WHO CARES ABOUT THAT, ITS STUPID TO CARE ABOUT THE PLOT IN A FIGHTING GAME F'OFF. You were frequently and aggressively told to "post pics or gtfo" and if you posted an attractive female picture, you were "lying" and if you weren't attractive you were "fugly" and should "k--- yourself". And that was just the cis-girl treatment; needless to say, it was even worse if you weren't.
There was very little respect for a some of the characters? Like Hwoarang in the early internet got re-named "Bob" because "Hwoarang is too hard to spell." Anna was always joked about being a whore or a slut. Both? Yikes.
Those attitudes are, of course, still around on the internet, but nowhere near to where it used to be, which was the default.
Day 8: Crack!fic - We all know it. What's your opinion of it, and if you want, show us an example.
To Turn to the Dark Side, Press 3; Anakin Skywalker combats HMOs and getting his new arm paid for.
The Eternally Unnamed: Sheppard and Rodney are ketchup and peas, respectively. The fact that this is not the only fic in which SGA characters are made into inanimate objects speaks to this fandom's love of the crackfic.
King of Iron Mpreg, or, Why I Preggers?: The Devil gives everyone magical uteruses and honestly impressive because it never goes for the low-hanging fruit of making fun of mpreg fanfiction; rather its humor (and it is hilarious) is how the characters react to this terrible situation (with Hwoarang being my absolute favorite).
Unfortunately I think I haven't seen a lot of it lately. I'm not sure if it's become a less popular genre, or if it's just I haven't really read fic a lot in the last couple of years, but I think there's been a steady rise in AUs being more hm, common tropes? And less trying to outdo one another in "here's an insane premise, but trust me, it's gonna be good." Which isn't necessarily a bad change - I like a lot of common tropes! - but I would be lying if I didn't say I missed that old insane genre. Even if it's dated. I don't think the name works that well anymore compared to what it was in the nineties and early aughts (and I don't think the Kids Today would even understand the Crack Van concept really).
But I miss the crazy plots and wish we had some sort of better term for the "hold my beer" genre.