Seven Stargates

[icarus]

Harry Potter

I reserved my copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince today. I only have one request: more about Snape. A plotbunny came sniffing around... Snape being interviewed by junior reporter Rita Skeeter after the first fall of Voldemort. Snape thinks he has his 15 minutes of fame, a chance to vindicate himself; she only wants to ask about Death Eater orgies.

Stargate SG-1 and Harry Potter Writers

Several weeks ago I chatted with a rogues gallery of HP writers, passing along a link to an award-winning Stargate story. Now, it's award-winning on Area 52, which Stargate writers know is this universe's version of FF.net. (Don't worry, the story wasn't by anyone on my friendslist, and thegrrrl2002, your writing is wonderful so don't you dare think it was you.)

The HP writers were horrifed. Spell-bound with dreadful characterization, the unrealistic sex, florid and painful word useage.

"See?" I urged them (among whom were some of what I consider to be the top writers in HP), "SG-1 needs you."

"Point me to some episodes and a fandom guide," said one with a flourish. "I so own this fandom." There were nods and mutters of agreement.

I believe that all skilled fanfic writers must do the following:

1 - write Jack/Daniel
2 - write at least ten Jack/Daniel stories
3 - write at least one novel-length Jack/Daniel story

Current and older episodes are shown on the SciFi channel (there is Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1). I recommend checking out seasons 1-4 in particular, because that's where you find the most Jack/Daniel action. In the US, Fox is showing Stargate at 11pm on Sunday nights in most areas, and on Saturday afternoons.

A fandom guide is here Arduinna's Stargate SG-1 Handbook.

Examples of good Stargate Fanfic to inspire you are here:
Dr. Jackson's Diary by Anais (Tongue in cheek and funnier than hell.)
Kawoosh! (Short, good feel for the universe, with a stick-to-your-ribs point.)
Anna S. (Deep. Angst-driven, and lushly written.)
Destina Fortunato (Five Moons is a favorite of mine. Interesting, well-plotted stories that mix adventure and sex.)
The Grrrl (Hot, sexy fics that leave you warm and happy, like a cup of cocoa, or touching and wistful, that leave you thoughful. For prime laughs, read Rated Five Stars. For thoughtful The Space Within.)
Keiko Kirin (My favorite is still the Steak Series. Perfect characterization and believable slow-build.)

Once you write your SG-1 slash, send it to:

Area 52
jackslashdaniel

Or post it in:

jackslashdaniel
stargateslash


Now I'm waiting for the universe to comply with my demands. *crickets chirp*

I'm astonished to find that I have - if you count my two incomplete The Road Home and The Walls Of Jericho - seven SG-1 fanfics. When did that happen? Granted, one's a drabble and compared to the HP fics they're rather short. But, really? That many? So soon? It's only been four months.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

That's a function of fandom size, having that many options. Size and sheer number of characters to work with -- the permutations increase exponentially.

Icarus

[titti]

Oh yeah, but I have to laugh when there are character analysis on pairings like Blaise/Nott. They have been mentioned once each, what analysis is there to do. HP: We go overboard with our ships. It should be the official motto.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*looks shifty* I haven't gone overboard. I mean, Terry Boot is a vitally important character in the Harry Potter world.

*scuffs floor and clears throat*

Icarus

[titti]

Yeah, but you don't write 5 pages of meta about his importance, do you? LOL

*ahem*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh no. Of course not. I'm not even remotely fascinated by Terry Boot.

A Moment Of Sin (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/amomentofsin.html)
A Scandalous Interview (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/ascandalous.html)

Terry Boot Character Sketch

I love that actually. I really like Terry Boot.

It's funny, but his personality is very clear to me. He's outgoing and gregarious, has dark curly hair and a rather ordinary, cheerful, boy-next-door face. He's smart, somewhat irreverent and will joke to distract people from what's serious, all the while watching them carefully -- and with curiosity. His disarming manner causes people to underestimate him constantly.

It was a big surprise to a lot of people when he was put in Ravenclaw instead of Hufflepuff or maybe Gryffindor (maybe).

In fact the only thing the Sorting Hat debated was whether he should go in Slytherin or Ravenclaw. It decided he was more interested in knowing things for their own sake than to benefit himself. He wasn't quite ambitious enough for Slytherin, though he would do well there because of his uncanny ability to fool people and keep secrets.

His detached curiosity allows him to sort of float through tough circumstances and keep his sense of humour. He's still fresh after all he's been through. He's fascinated by corrupt bullshit and finds the seedy side of life rather entertaining ("wow, people really think like that? Weird!").

*sheepish*
Icarus

Re: *ahem*

[titti]

I actually read those, and I enjoyed them very much. (so yeah, as much as I laugh I will read them) More proof of our mental state. LOL

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

But let's not get too cocky, I mean, part of what's driving the ocean swell of fanfic is that HP is this international phenomenon. Did you know that both my Linguistics textbooks use Harry Potter sentence examples? In addition there are years between updates, so starved Harry Potter readers turn to fanfic, and there's plenty of time to explore every possibility of current canon before we're hit with more canon. At the same time, there's the tension of knowing more canon's on the way, and foreshadowing of a type that you don't really find in a TV series (save maybe the X-Files, which goes a long way to explaining that fanon).

Once the seventh book is published, we'll probably see a complete explosion for a while (1-2 years?) then a real die-back.

All things are temporary. We're just here for the peak of perfection. /Buddhist mumbo-jumbo

Icarus

[titti]

I completely agree that there are factors that go beyond the fans, but it has helped create something much bigger. If I were to make a guess, I'd say that this will be like Star Trek, one of those fandoms that won't die. THere have been too many friendships forged. There has been the instutationalization of fandom. In other fandoms, there are fans scattered. In HP, you can almost feel an unity.

Just look back at the lj blackout, in a few hours, we had set up house in a different journaling system. The snitch helped, but the word spread really quickly with emails, and AIM and people creating journals in GJ in a zip. None of the other fandoms did that.

Of course, this could also be proof that we are insane.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I guess what I want to avoid the "nyah, nyah, we are bet-ter" attitude, plllbbbt!

I just... don't like it. If we've got a lot of good writers and fanfic, we're lucky, that's all.

Icarus

[titti]

You thought I meant we are better? Nah, we're just crazier. LOL

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well then, yeah, there's a certain obsessive mania....

Icarus