drakyndra: The Music Meister demands you sing! (Ashes to Ashes)
drakyndra ([personal profile] drakyndra) wrote2010-04-05 10:44 pm

And naturally I have more to say about fandom than anything else

And I'm back! Not that I exactly went away for long. Or exactly "away" for that matter.

Still, the jaunt out the Hamiltonian way was interesting enough. Had dinner with the family at a Greek restaurant I swear wasn't there last time I was in Hamilton; got a bag full of Easter eggs which I lugged back up to Melbourne with me; in a bit of free time, I started to watch Full Metal Panic ([livejournal.com profile] xwingace will be pleased); cleared out some of my more sentimental and/or useful junk from the far, (Gosh, it's been a while since I've been out there). Though I was right, most of the stuff there I won't really miss all that much.

Oh, and got Dad's address for where he'll be living in Thailand. I think he offered to pay for us to come over and visit when he's there. Which on one hand: free trip to Thailand. On the other hand: everything else. Sigh.

In other news, the trip to the USA in the middle of the year is looking increasingly likely. Here's hoping that happens.

In non-Hamilton related news, my flist has exploded with stuff about new Doctor Who. It's all very chatty and nostalgic.

Also, apparently, the new series of Ashes to Ashes, though that got swept away in the tide of Doctor Who. I still need to watch that episode, though.

Oh: New (and final) FMA:B Opening and Ending themes. Like the animation, am still deciding about the songs. They are also quite spoilery to recent chapters, though IDK if it might be cryptic enough to escape people who haven't read the manga.

One of the things I did follow a bit while I was away was some of the ongoing shenanigans between The HMS STFU and the Snapefen, and somehow when wandered into the discussion it somehow ended involving some ongoing dicussion I've been having about certain aspects of Code Geass fandom and then the streams crossed, and now I sorta-kinda want to write a paper analysing the psychological underpinnings of the Draco In Leather Pants tendency in parts of fandom.

Yes, I know. How would you even study something like that? I don't even know what subject it would be classified under.

In conclusion, [livejournal.com profile] ypaladinofchaos, why do you always update that fic of yours on mornings when I am just about to leave home?

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-22 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
So very, very true.

Well, that seems a reasonable way to write. Personally, my stories - short as they were - I could never get anywhere with unless I new just what the ending would be. I'd frequently have no idea how to get there, but I knew how it ended.

True, that. Even aside from that, I think I prefer people who write for What Ifs rather than Fix-Its. But this may be because I tend to only read fanfics of stuff I like, and I dislike the implicit whiny criticism a lot of Fix-It Fics imply.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-22 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
The way I write usually varies- some of my original works, for example, I have definite endings but lack the "meat" of the story on how I'm getting from A to Z. I guess it depends on what inspired the story in my mind- for IHTW, it was the setting more than it was any plot. Sometimes both happen, of course, where the setting and the ending are created and motivate me.

Oh definitely- Fix-Its are pretty insulting to the original canon, which I usually happen to have liked. What If is far more interesting, which is why AUs are about the only long-fic I'll probably write now that Revenant is done.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-22 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I just find it difficult to write if I don't know what I am writing towards. Sometimes the ending is fairly nebulous and vague, but so long as I know where I am going - it's a light-house, I suppose.

Fix-It's don't have to be terrible, they just seem to be because of the attitude behind them - the main difference between them and a What If is seeing it as "Canon is a Problem that needs to be fixed" as opposed to "It would be interesting if Canon did this". Even if you have issues with canon, you can still write without that snideness.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
That makes sense. For me, with stories like IHTW, I know what things will look like as we move towards the end, but bringing every surviving character to a satisfying conclusion is difficult.

It might have been obvious or not, but IHTW is not a stand alone, but the first part of a sequence (which is why I've been spending so much time world-building and characterizing). I know how IHTW will end, but the story itself goes beyond that.

The reason why the story had no definite ending yet was that nothing was working- but actually in the middle of replying to this I was struck by a vision of how it could end- just a simple scene where things could be brought to a true denouement. A lot of loose ends would have to be tied up beforehand, but it could work.

Definitely- A possible good Fix-It could be some kind of retcon fic where some plot hole is explained with actual coherency and intelligence. But yeah, most people just try to fix personal problems they had with the story, not anything truly interesting.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, well you are dealing with a rather bigger cast than most of the stuff I did for Creative Writing.

I'm curious as to what else you might end up playing around with in the same world - there's the story of IHTW, and I remember you said the R2 equivalent would head off into a whole new direction, and I suppose your one-shot stuff, but beyond that...

And I'm glad I could possibly be of assistance, even tangentially.

True, that. Which might be why there are surprisingly few Code Geass fix-it's of the big one - the Geass on Euphie. Fixing that one would actually require the effort to work out a different way the story could go, instead of falling into the normal cliches of Self Insert and shipping.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
That's another reason why IHTW is such good practice- writing long, multi-novel trilogies will require me to know how to work with massive casts.

All of the plot of IHTW and any sequel will continue the same stories and characters, though time skips may occur. But yeah, IHTW is at its core a conflict of morality between Lelouch and Suzaku, but the R2 equivalent complicates that heavily and makes things a little clearer.

Thanks, btw. I've more or less cemented the scene now into the story.

I've seen a few ones that try, most of them terrible sounding, but it is an interesting question. I'm not going to apply too much of my brain to this lest I get tempted into a new project, but I suppose it would just be a story about Lelouch, Suzaku, and Euphemia trying to work together to protect and save the SAZ. Which has a lot of potential and ARGH NO MUST NOT.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"Complicates and makes clearer". That's a lovely duality there. Just what have you been watching lately?

Huzzah! *\o/*

I've seen maybe make a decent crack at it. There's a few others that change that point by changing the whole thing from the start... but that's the sort of thing that easily falls into what I was bitching about before.

And write whatever you want to write. But it's probably best to stick to just one big project at a time.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Lost, perhaps, wherein every question answered leads to about a thousand new ones. I dunno- I wasn't even conscious of how unusual that sentence was, lol.

I've seen that one before, though I always get it mixed up with the other "For Want of a Nail" story where Suzaku gets killed. I suppose I'll give it a shot- there's only 2 more scenes left in the next chapter and I could use a break, lol. Maybe refresh my creativity.

Oh definitely. I'm already holding back a different CG project that I keep resisting the urge to work on. Though occasionally the idea of writing a completely deranged, animal-torturing crazy Lelouch gets tempting. (I would use this story to break myself of my own squeamishness in writing truly horrific scenes)

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. I just came from Ashes to Ashes finale, the show in which the crazy ridiculous fan theories turned out to actually be correct! And make me cry.

...I wouldn't want to get those two mixed up at all. But well... if you want a change, go ahead. I'm not trying to push you away from IHTW or anything.

Ain't nothing wrong with doing one-shots/short fics between chapters, I suppose.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-23 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
The Lost finale is tonight, and chances are I'll be emotionally drained at the end. My mind will be so blown I'll need a week to recover, I think.

Same, lol. But nah, I'm just streamrolling through the final scenes in this chapter. 1 1/2 scenes or so left, all of it dialogue I've been building up to for a long time. Hopefully I finish it before Lost, because otherwise this could take a while.

Yeah, I'm interested in writing a few other one-shots to add to Visions, such as how Rivalz joined the rebellion, a scene with Naoto and Kallen's father, and a few others. When Kaguya formally joins the cast there will be a few Noodle Incidents that chapters will allude to but I'm tempted to write in full as side stories/omakes.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
I don't watch lost - the early seasons were a bit slow moving (and I was still at school when it started). But reactions to it seem pretty good so far, from what I've seen.

I have seen it! ...But I won't review until I get this stupid poster finished. *sigh*

LOL, I look forward to some of the Kaguya stuff, I can imagine that being hilarious. And interesting backstory is always fun.

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah the early seasons did move a bit slow, but then again they also didn't contain utterly insane plot twists that pushed at one's willing suspension of disbelief, lol, which is why it's nice to watch them. We watched the 2 hour recap beforehand, and it was really cool seeing stuff from the early seasons retrospectively.

Well I got your review, thanks! Glad to see you finished!

I'm looking forward to it, but the main plot must trudge on first before I can touch some of those scenes.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
In a fit of great irony, I've taken a look at some of the Lost reactions on my flist. I am highly amused to hear it ended... rather similarly.

Well, it wasn't that hard to finish, I just had to sit down and not get distracted for an hour or so. Stupid wall-of-text poster.

Well, it's certainly got a crack on now. (I am amused at that comment that reckons Suzaku and Milly should have a Saturday morning cartoon ;) )

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah- I dunno, I think you had to have a real attachment to the show, at least in part, to get through a lot, and definitely to get the full impact of the ending.

lol, I know that feeling.

You know that reminds me of this in-universe thing I was considering where Kallen had an anime based loosely on her own exploits in IHTW, and Lelouch finds out and never lets her live it down. (Because I do like to think about what the media of the universe is like sometimes)

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[livejournal.com profile] a2ashes currently has an ongoing debate as to whether Ashes to Ashes or Lost had a better take on the same idea.

Oh, that would be brilliant. I love that sort of thing, in-universe media, and Code Geass has always been spectacularly good for considering this, given how different the public knowledge is to what actually happened. The crazy conspiracy theories that must exist around Zero...

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Lol. That reminds me of one of the segments in Batman: Gotham Knight where these four kids tell exaggerated stories about watching Batman fight a supervillain. A similar segment with Zero might be interesting.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-24 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
They've done that with Batman a few times, comic and the animated series. But the really fun part is finding out what Kallen or Nunnally or Zerozaku would think of that stuff (You just know there's going to be like a zillion biographies and histories and theories written about it all - and then there'll be the "Based on a True Story" movies and TVs that are nothing like the actual truth).

[identity profile] ypaladinofchaos.livejournal.com 2010-05-25 06:05 am (UTC)(link)
lol that icon.

Definitely. I just imagine all the pretentious history textbooks which will analyze Lelouch's reign and laugh at how inaccurate some psychological profiles of Lelouch might be, and what "experts" might attribute his conquering of the world to.

[identity profile] drakyndra.livejournal.com 2010-05-25 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
I have assorted hilarious Batman icons.

The "explanations" for Lelouch and Suzaku really would end up so hilariously wrong - and it'll be even stranger when they start fictionalising it. "Based on a true story, huh?"