State of the Fandom Address Post

[effervescible]

This is the weekend of Catching up on Memes, I already know it. I'm starting with a question I was asked the last time one of those interview memes went `round. (Heh, I have to do my answers for this round, too.) I think it was reizero who asked me to write down my thoughts on the state of the Trigun fandom, but if it was someone else, don't kill me, mystery friend. I wanted a whole post to do a more thought-out post, so here it is.

Oh, and before I get started--wank twins? If you're reading this because you just happened to stop by my journal because you were bored, as you so often do when I post something you don't like, just go away now and save me the trouble of having to tell you to do so later with ruder words.

It sounds silly to say I'm a fandom oldbie for a fandom that's like 5, but I guess I kind of am. I've noticed in various fandoms that fandom participation tends to come in waves and I think I caught the second noe, right after the "omg DVDs are coming out I can't wait to see what happens but I have to wait a month" one. Hence...very, very little fic. Disclaimer: I come from the het side of the Force and didn't know anyone in fandom to begin with, so I can't comment on the yaoi side of things, but to begin with, there was definitely a large majority of Wolfwood/Vash fics and I read the same 5 Vash/Meryl fics...let's save my dignity and just say a lot. For the most part the yaoi and het fans kept to themselves. I never noticed any major flame wars and since at the time the VML was about the only place for het fans to gather, I would have. So not the ideal fandom utopia where everyone shares and respects one another, but a far cry from something like the Wars of the Land of Files X. (Ye gods, THAT taught me how to participate in a flame war properly.) Good het fics were slowly trickling in. Well known and well loved fic authors at the time were Kiri, Astra, and Cadence and I still tend to think of them that way. I suppose there was a lower percentage of crappy fic, but that's really because the numbers were so small. There was still poo to spare.

At some point along the line I popped my NC-17 cherry. Oh, and this popped up in AIM one day:

EmprssGalaxia: Look, it's Jaina, the thoroughly entertaining author from the Vash/Meryl kitchen™!

It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Note that arafel also began her acquaintance with me by sucking up. Note that these two are my best friends in the fandom. Note a pattern.

Oh, and just to prove fadingembers and I won't make Meryl fuck anyone, here's a snippet of old saved convo I found that amused me:

EmprssGalaxia: hahah...i understand...yesterday, for 3.579545 seconds, a Legato/Meryl popped into my head
EmprssGalaxia: then I screamed, "EW!" and my mother came into the kitchen to make sure I was okay
JainaX: OH EW
JainaX: Literally screamed?
EmprssGalaxia: well, yelled.
EmprssGalaxia: loud enough for the rest of the apartment to hear
JainaX: I don't blame you.
EmprssGalaxia: though i know where it came from...the fact that he has Vash's arm.
EmprssGalaxia: that does not justify it in any way, of course
EmprssGalaxia: you know, still, EW!
JainaX: Still. Ew.

Sometime between when I joined the fandom and when I met arafel, the Vash/Meryl fans kicked it into high gear. This was before Cartoon Network, so I don't know what happened, but that summer the VML exploded with posts and lots of fics began popping up. From here on, the Vash/Meryl fics began to really outnumber the Wolfwood/Vash ones, and I only cared because it meant I could stop re-reading those damn same five fics. Once Cartoon Network did air Trigun, it wasn't a sudden influx of fans, though the numbers did rise. I think that's because people react to Cartoon Network airings differently; some get hooked and rush ahead with DVDs or fansubs, some wait until the end and then seek out fandom, some get hooked and just can't find the fandom for a while...it varies. Overall the fandom got bigger, but it wasn't like fansite hit counts went up 1000% the day after Under the Sky so Blue aired. More fics were written, good and bad. Honestly, the only thing I regret about the Cartoon Network airing is that they cut off the end credits and we got hit with a bunch of fucking fics where people made up their own batshit ways for Vash to return.

Worst author of the time: Blackhat. *violent twitches*

So, Trigun fandom: then and now. In general, Trigun's followed other fandoms in migrating to lj instead of mailing lists, though some still exist. I've noticed that fandom `friendships' tend to be formed faster when people just have to look at members of communities and think "ah, they like the same stuff as me, let's be pals." Not that this didn't happen before, but on mailing lists, usually some conversation had to occur first.

As far as fic goes, I think an equilibrium has been reached. Het and slash are fairly equally represented, like major parties, with alt pairings as the third party that only space hippies vote for. (I ain't saying whether het or slash are the Republican or Democrat parties, though slash certainly does feature a lot of ass...coincidence?) Fic is slow in coming and shitty more often than it is good, but LJ has a better ratio of good:bad than ffnet does. I have no idea why that is. Maybe people who write like retarded monkeys can't figure out how to join communities or download a client. Drabbles are more popular now. Some of this is due to 100bullets, but drabbles seem to be a growing trend across many fandoms, so I think it's just something whose time has come. Some people wrote them back in the day, but to use a marketing term like the obnoxious almost-grad that I am, it seems that they reached a tipping point.

There's also more porn now, as is only right and proper. Maybe someday someone will even write a decent Milly/Meryl NC-17. Or a decent Knives/Meryl, period. (cadesama's fic excluded.)

Slash and het fans are mingling a lot more. This isn't just in my own social circle, though it turns out that total ashattedness does indeed trump sexual preference in fic, but overall I see people actually talking to each other more. I think this is due to the general Trigun lj comms that are pretty popular. In the mailing list days, pairing lists prevailed, but now people are gravitating towards the comms with no stated preference and that means getting along or quite often getting booted. If I were more optimistic I'd say it's because fandom is maturing but as long as fandom_wank is around I know that will never be true.

Icons are also a whole new fannish industry. There wasn't really a place for them before.

Overall, though fandom is growing, I see it as a loose affiliation of social groups bound by common ties of interest rather than one giant free-for-all. (Though I kind of miss the giant free-for-all. Sniff. Oh X-Files fandom, you were my first love.) There's more crap coming out but once you find a good source of fannish output, it tends to stay good. In some ways I think the fandom has slowed down a little, but it's also produced some mind-bendingly awful fic, and that's the fuel that keeps a fandom going. I look forward to another four years of fic, fun, and batshit insanity. *raises a half-empty bottle of bitch beer as a toast*

Comments

[mirakuru.livejournal.com]

I think it was reizero who asked me to write down my thoughts on the state of the Trigun fandom, but if it was someone else, don't kill me, mystery friend.
*nods* This was me (I'm using a different account right now due to weird access problems). =)

Well... this was interesting. =) I really need to watch Trigun up to the end (my organism begs for more Meryl) and read something.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Slash and het fans are mingling a lot more.

That's something I really like. I just took it for granted in my first, 20-year-old fandom with its incredibly civilised mailing lists. Many of my good friends there were slash fans, though I was purely gen/het. And then I wandered off through half a dozen other fandoms before I found anything like it again with you guys.

Awwww, ain't we all sweet? XD

[jaina.livejournal.com]

It's our shared love for sweaty porn the canon material.

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

Yayyy! Teh post. I lke how you metion the bit 'lj gravitation' effect--really, when /I strated my lj, I was mainly getting neaw material from mailing lists (the Yahoo!TrigunYaoiML primarily, as well as general archives like ff.net and mediaminer) but everytime I saw a new, good awthor show up on a mialing list/archive/wahtever, I friended them, because dammit, the Good Authors are few and far bwetween. And I'm willing to wait for them, because the pay off is sooo sweeet.

Also--not compliaing about the whole het-yaoi mutual ass-hat-ery love. It's a beutiful thing, love between incompatible ships XD

[jaina.livejournal.com]

You're drunk but you're right. ;)

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

Maybe someday someone will even write a decent Milly/Meryl NC-17.</i. Bitch. I really didn't need that plotbunny right now.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Was there something you wanted to add to that? ;)

[lul1aby.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Since I'm so new to fandom and all. What I noticed immediately is a complete lack of slash/het wars. I used to post on the BtVS boards at TWOP, and a 'ship war would break out, like, every week. By the time someone gave me a code for lj, I've had just about enough of fandom. The first thing I saw here was a het/slash war and one of the first of many jennyo's wanks, so the lj Trigun fandom seemed like Eden. Also, I have yet to see a story in which Vash beats his partner with his prosthetic arm, so much love to the Trigun ficcers.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

The slash/het friendship is cool. I'm not dumb enough to think that it happens everywhere, but it's nice that there's not really any open warfare, and if actual kinship has to start in my social circle, well, there are worse things to have happen. ;)

I can't imagine Vash beating anyone with his arm. They'd just pull out a gun and shoot him. I do have a doujinshi with a gag story in which the arm is floating around groping people.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Also, I have yet to see a story in which Vash beats his partner with his prosthetic arm

I'm guessing XF, right? *sigh*

Don't feel too safe, there's some truly awful stuff out there. Usually with Vash on the harsh end of any mistreatment going, for some reason.

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

As far as fic goes, I think an equilibrium has been reached. Het and slash are fairly equally represented, like major parties, with alt pairings as the third party that only space hippies vote for.

Does that mean I'm a Democrat, a Republican, and a space hippie? Coolness!

But seriously, yeah. I haven't been in the fandom as long as you have but this sums it up for me pretty well for me.

(I was about to say the first NC-17 fic I read was a Vash/Meryl but I think it may have been a Rocketshippy Pokemon fic. Don't look at me like that.)

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I think it makes you a flip-flopper. ;)

The first NC-17 fic I saw (didn't actually read) was an X-Files fic and I didn't realize what it was when I clicked on it. They were talking about Scully's boobs! Sure, I was vaguely aware she had them, but I never thought about them much before and definitely not in such detail.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Does that make you the John McCain of fandom? XD

[rainjewel.livejournal.com]

As a yaoi fan, I'm gonna go with the fact that I love and adore yo' ass as proof that this fandom's coming around. Not that I have any authority on the matter, but yeah.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

*respects your authoritah*

::gasp::shock::awe::

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Dude, where's my car OTF?

Re: ::gasp::shock::awe::

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Ship reflections go in an entirely different post.

More than you wanted to know

[buttercup0222.livejournal.com]

I feel thoroughly educated. This was really very interesting to me since I haven't been in the fandom for very long. I first started watching Trigun a couple years ago, but didn't really seek out the fandom until last summer, and even then I was lurking most of the time.

Fic is slow in coming and shitty more often than it is good

I do get the impression that I missed the "Golden Age" of Trigun fic. All the fics I like seem to have been written at least two years ago. I never really thought I'd like fanfic. Before Trigun, the only "fandoms" I was involved in were music ones like Tori Amos and Radiohead, so "fanfic" wasn't a part of my vocabulary.

I was actually very lucky in that Interjacence was the first fic I read. All the crap out there and I decided to pick that one. Whew! I wasn't even a VM shipper before I read that, so I've only got you to blame. And I'm totally not saying that to kiss your ass...okay, maybe just a little ;)

And I agree that this fandom seems less divided and hostile than some, especialy in respect to het and yaoi. After coming out of the obsessive childish bickering that the Tori forumz had morphed into, LJ seemed to be some kind of bastien of maturity. Oh yeah, LJ's got its dumbasses, but I just pretend they don't exist....or make fun of them.

Re: More than you wanted to know

[jaina.livejournal.com]

*blush* Hee, I'm kinda proud of that. That was my first Trigun fic. It was Kiri's idea for the evil ending. :D

I think the reasons why Trigun's fandom is small--it's over and no longer the hot new anime--are some of the reasons it's got fewer bitchfights. I wish we got good fic more often, but I can love with this.

[buttercup0222.livejournal.com]

I need to make a note to bitch Kiri out, should I ever speak to her :)

I wish we got good fic more often, but I can love with this.

I guess the good smut fic writers will just have to write more!

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I need to make a note to bitch Kiri out, should I ever speak to her :)

Heh. Well, really, she was right. Either they don't get together, in which case it is very depressing, or they do, in which case it's been done before. I liked leaving them at an impasse.

But for the record, in my personal canon, they do make up.

I guess the good smut fic writers will just have to write more!

I wish more would. I like writing pr0n and all, but it'd be nice to have the chance to read someone else's smut for once.

[scathachdhu.livejournal.com]

Maybe people who write like retarded monkeys can't figure out how to join communities or download a client.

Umm, yes they can. I just think that you tend to get more good feedback on LJ (from your friendslist and so on) than if you post on ff.net and anyone can take a swing at you.

I'm relatively new to the fandom, so it's nice to see a summary from a seasoned pro such as yourself.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I should amend that to fewer retarded monkeys. It's so much better than ffnet.

[divinya9.livejournal.com]

I think I came into that fandom at a bad time, ie when it came on AS. Though I love the story and the manga, the fandom around really hinders my perception of it sometimes.

Mostly it's the "You are all idiots! I can't believe I have to relate with you dumbasses!"

I don't personally know anyone who's non-het yet, but I'm out of the loop anyway. I hope the fandom does keep on growing, but it's awfully discouraging to see authors that have pretty well written stories not update for months. :/

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember the olden days, back when there were three Trigun fics on ff.n and I read every damned thing that was posted -- het, gen, yaoi or scriptform trash written 3am. Wow, the olden days sucked.

I'd disagree about the worst Trigun author of all time, except I can't remember the name of the chick I'd nominate, so I suppose I'd have to bow to your far superior, and probably much less swiss-cheesed, memory. (Which is kinda lie, 'cause I totally remember Blackhat, and verily, she doth sucketh.)

I dunno, I think a het v. yaoi flame war might be kinda fun. There could be wanky arguments in the style of Aquinas over the relative healing power of gaycocks and straightcocks. And songs!

And in conclusion, can I be a space hippy?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I'd disagree about the worst Trigun author of all time, except I can't remember the name of the chick I'd nominate, so I suppose I'd have to bow to your far superior, and probably much less swiss-cheesed, memory. (Which is kinda lie, 'cause I totally remember Blackhat, and verily, she doth sucketh.)

It's entirely possible there was an author with less talent, but I think memorability definitely counts, and Blackhat's the one we still think of late at night, when we've had too many anchovies before bed.

I dunno, I think a het v. yaoi flame war might be kinda fun. There could be wanky arguments in the style of Aquinas over the relative healing power of gaycocks and straightcocks. And songs!

If you write flamewar songs I will flame anyone you want me to.

And in conclusion, can I be a space hippy?

You aren't already?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Man, I think I might miss the days of Blackhat. Skeevy porn at its worst. Sigh.

I don't really participate heavily in other fandoms, but I'd say Trigun's a medium size. We're suburban :) Not crowded, but you seem to bump into the same people time and again if you wander about enough. Also, we all seem to know when good authors have moved on, and we sit around in our rocking chairs and say, "Hey, remember 'Morning Sickness'?" Compared to Pretear or even Utena, we're positively overrun.

I still think we're a good fandom. For what it's worth, we only have two asshats, and if we didn't enjoy prodding them when they poke their heads in, they probably wouldn't be so bothersome. Though I wonder whatever happened to Theresa?

At some point along the line I popped my NC-17 cherry. Oh, and this popped up in AIM one day:

EmprssGalaxia: Look, it's Jaina, the thoroughly entertaining author from the Vash/Meryl kitchen™!

It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Note that arafel also began her acquaintance with me by sucking up. Note that these two are my best friends in the fandom. Note a pattern.

You're telling other people we're just your groupies, aren't you?

[buttercup0222.livejournal.com]

Man, I think I might miss the days of Blackhat. Skeevy porn at its worst. Sigh.

I was about to request a link for a Blackhat story so I could witness the awfulness for myself, but then I looked at mediaminer and realized that I had seen it. Something involving Vash telling Meryl "I don't know whether to fuck you or beat you". I remember wanting to vomit at the time. It also made me wonder if the author ever really had sex, because some of the things described simply aren't physically possible, but I digress. Truly just....ugh there are no words for that one.