In honor of Gaia... fic departing the fandom.

[icarus]

As you all must have heard by now, gaiaanarchy is posting her last unfinished SGA fics and leaving the fandom. Usually when I read dramatic departures, well, I remember my friend Red who left an old forum of mine. Annually. But Gaia I believe because her motivating forces are pretty strong (a 29,000 word story and only one review? Ouch). And she's also putting her WIPs out on the front lawn as a sort of SGA yard sale -- without the tags that read "50 cents or best offer."

I'm not departing the fandom but I do have a WIP to put out on the front lawn. Or rather, part of a WIP. But it is complete. In a way. At least... you have the ending. It's been in front of you the whole time, like that Easter Egg that's in the most obvious place that no one ever finds.

A year ago I wrote a story called Last Port Of Call. It was only the first part of a (roughly) 24-part long fic. There was a storm of controversy at the time with a lot of interesting feedback that would probably make my year if I were doing a thesis in Psychology and Gender Relations. I had enough material for a guaranteed A, I'm sure of it.

I never told anyone (well, okay, I told auburnnothenna) but at the same time I posted it (and by same time, I mean the same day), I also posted my story outline for the rest of the story.

Yep. That's right. I gave away the rest of the story. Without telling anyone that's what I did.

You see, when I told people that I knew that they'd like Last Port Of Call as a whole once it was complete -- I really knew. Because the same people who hated the first part loved the story outline. Yes, I do know, because you reviewed it and you told me you loved it. (ETA: It took a tremendous amount of discipline on my part to not point this out to you guys at the time, to put the story first before winning an argument. But I'm writer first and foremost and I'm not going to spoil my own reveal, no matter how tempting.)

The story outline was About 10 Days Before The Wraith Attack.

I even used a little of the same dialogue. I thought for sure that would give it away.

Part of why I posted the outline was that I was afraid the story was so big, and so difficult, that I would never finish it, and I wanted everyone to know the end. At the same time, I didn't admit it because I still wanted to give Last Port Of Call the good ol' college try. After I posted them I thought, "Okay. I'm going to have a little fun with this." I planned to post Last Port Of Call as a WIP and see who figured it out. (There was one person who did just from what I posted, noting with tongue-in-cheek that it was the same premise with even the same dialog. Ding-ding-ding, you win a prize, you smart cookie.)

It was going to be cool because About 10 Days Before The Wraith Attack was John's perspective with 20/20 hindsight, his gloss of events, while Last Port Of Call was the LP of what really happened. Both were going to be written from a very tight John viewpoint. It started to turn into an interesting exploration of memory and how we re-write it in hindsight.

But after the storm, I found that the story had changed in my mind. There was a fierce demand to write Rodney's point of view and I felt a need to defend the story rather than writing it as I intended. I wrote a second chapter... and it came out from Rodney's point of view, which really wasn't the story but rather an answer to the unhappy women who criticized it. It had changed and... wasn't that exploration of memory any more. It shrank and became just what people wanted. It made people happy. Gave those who needed to see Rodney's perspective what they wanted. But I'd lost the structural integrity of the story.

So here you go. Here's the ending of Last Port Of Call.

Comments

[kylielee1000.livejournal.com]

Gaia has left fandom before. So this isn't the first time. Maybe she'll realize she can't keep away and come back! I think people cycle in and out, depending on where they are in life, but certainly being weary and disgusted has something to do with it.

Fandom is very specific about what it wants, and it's ruthless in getting it. Like, in SGA, if you ship McShep, you're gold. If you don't, it's hard to get readership.

But a lot of it is, you get out what you put in. Fandom often finds quality as the Hive Mind begins rec'ing good stories, but a fabulous writer with no network will always get fewer notes of FB than a mediocre writer who FBs everybody herself and is cheerful and relentless and rah-rah and whom everybody knows. You can't just post fic and sit back and enjoy accolates. That hardly ever happens; the story would have to be really extraordinary.

I personally am okay with all this, but it's hard to write and get virtually no FB, because writing is so much work. I stopped writing so much when I realized that the enjoyment I got from the FB wasn't worth the time to write the story.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Fandom is very specific about what it wants, and it's ruthless in getting it.

That's actually not true. I've been in four different fandoms and it varies from fandom to fandom.

SGA writers are in a bad spot.

In the Lord of the Rings fandom, so long as you stayed away from the slash-haters, you were cool.

In Harry Potter there was lots of wank, but if someone attacked your non-con Dobby/Lucius fic, the writers would pile on to defend your right to post it whether they liked it or not. As long as you posted the pairing and basic warnings, you were cool.

SG-1 was similar to Lord of the Rings. So long as you stayed in the Jack/Daniel pool, away from the Jack/Sam shippers, you were cool.

But SGA... there's an amazing slant towards John/Rodney, yes. I wrote John/Lorne and, whoo, that was quiet. LOL. But there's isn't a set way to avoid stepping on someone's political sensibilities. Politics seems to be the issue. There's no little pool you can stick to, or warnings that you can post to avoid getting roasted. Even light AUs about concerts can end up in an unexpected firestorm because the author tripped over some political correctness.

I will agree that SGA is ruthless about getting what they want, yes. Most fandoms have a mechanism to protect the authors, to allow them some space to write what they will. Because, you know, fanfiction mirrors the world we live in so all the sexism, racism, desire, hatred, greed, ignorance -- it's going to show up.

What I'm seeing is with each PC wank, whether it's racism or sexism or date rape, SGA writers seem to be getting more cautious about what they post. There are still good stories, but there's a lot of retreading of old territory and inversion of SGA cliches.

What can I say? Bullying works. But the fandom as a whole suffers because people are less willing to take risks.

But going on to the questions about marketing and unpopular pairings -- do you think gaiaanarchy had no network? Because she is really good, for all that she's writing very off-beat stuff.

Icarus

[kylielee1000.livejournal.com]

One reason I withdrew from SGA fandom was because the rabble-rousing rah-rah hoo-hoo drove me INSANE and I did not feel comfortable or happy. Unfortunately all my friends were in it and I couldn't follow them to some new places (one slasher went to the het side! what is that about!). So I've fallen out of touch with some people I liked very much, which I deeply regret.

I knew Gaia better about two-three-ish years ago, in another fandom, and I have no idea how the move to LJ has treated her. I don't want to comment specifically about her because she's really just the pretext for this interesting discussion. I am sorry to see her go.

I would say that fandom does get what it wants, but it has different strategies in different fandoms, and some are...healthier than others. It's really a sloshy consensus as things roll back and forth. Most people find a little niche and remain in it quite happily.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You moved out of the SGA fandom? You just wrote a fic for atlantisbasics (for me! Eee!) so I had no idea. I've read a lot of your SG-1 fics (Minnesota's a favorite).

One reason I withdrew from SGA fandom was because the rabble-rousing rah-rah hoo-hoo drove me INSANE and I did not feel comfortable or happy.

Yeah. I completely missed it in the early days. I'm so likely to be out of the loop that I was reccing the very stories that were at the center of controversies with no clue there was a problem. It wasn't until Last Port of Call that I started paying attention. Once I stopped blinking.

...fandom does get what it wants, but it has different strategies in different fandoms, and some are...healthier than others.

Oooooooh yeah.

I guess it's based on motive. When you have a "okay, children, let's find a way to get along" you tend to end up with more healthy mechanisms. When the motive is "Yee-haw, caught ya -- let's go get 'em!" then the mechanisms will be a little more, hmmm, well, not mechanisms at all. Certainly not designed for the welfare of the writers.

I haven't felt happy in the SGA fandom for over a year, but I'm a stubborn cuss and I've got stories to finish. :)

Icarus

[kylielee1000.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was in SGA at the very beginning and then dropped out soon after another set of people moved in who were incredibly divisive of the fandom, and then everything exploded. It's one reason I wrote a Season 1 fic for you: because I was happy then... *g* Ah, those were the days...

I really only ever write challenge fics these days, to get me going. I poked over in your journal because of the fic I wrote for you; it seemed only appropriate!

I don't ship McShep. I think they are just friends in canon and I have a hard time writing what I don't see. I want Ronon/Sheppard. Oh yes I do.

I have been feeling more fannish now that some people I found oppressive, and who of course will remain nameless, have stopped posting and being around so much. I've actually spent all day finding my favorite people on Wraithbait and catching up with their work—these same old friends I don't see much of anymore.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I never say never. And my mood's going to bounce around anyway, depending on events, the weather, the time of the month, RL....

I poked over in your journal because of the fic I wrote for you; it seemed only appropriate!

Of course you did. And of course I immediately scrambled over to your LJ to review the story I read yesterday. (Sorry, I'd binged on fic all weekend so I was feeling the fic version of 9pm after Thanksgiving dinner.)

I'm seeing a lot of nostalgia-type SGA fics right now. Part of it may be because people know radical changes are happening in canon, so they don't want to move forward without any idea where it's headed -- so therefore they're looking back. Part of it is, I believe, some intense wanks that have people hiding under the furniture. Part of it is people are preparing for the show to die, so they're looking back in a kind of memorial. People are very worried about the changes in season four. You're the first I've heard who's reaching for first year because it was a happier time in fandom, though maybe others feel the same.

I like McShep friendship fics as much as I like slash. Some of my slash stories turn into friendship fics. And I have this growing interest in Lorne....

Icarus

[kylielee1000.livejournal.com]

(This thread is like a really looong IM chat... *g*)

I think part of the hesitance to NOT move ahead for the next season is because the new season is coming up very soon, and nobody wants to be stuck with fic, particularly series, where you went off in some direction that the show totally won't support. In short...everybody is going to get Jossed, big time.

This doesn't even take into consideration the 75% of your flist who won't read any fic based on spoilers because...they are spoilers, and they don't want to be spoiled. (Me, I love spoilers. Bring 'em on!)

I don't think the show will go away; it will just change. And I have no problem with that either. TPTB can do what they want; and they seem fine letting us do what we want, which is a relief.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

(This thread is like a really looong IM chat... *g*)

Really. Real time! (Till now.)

In short...everybody is going to get Jossed, big time.

That's a big part of it. Another friend pointed out that we went into a fic slow down while two major challenges were being prepared: sga_bigbang and mcshep_match.

I don't think the show will go away; it will just change. And I have no problem with that either. TPTB can do what they want; and they seem fine letting us do what we want, which is a relief.

It's true. The Stargate people have never had an issue with the fans and fanworks.

Apparently the Sci-Fi channel is under pressure from their owners to buy fewer outside shows (like MGM's Stargate) and run more of their own. Stargate's future will depend as much on the ratings of Sci-Fi's own shows as it does on Stargate's ratings. I hope the show will make it seven seasons, even if the last seasons are a little weak.

About Bailing Out Authors Who're Getting Attacked - Positive Steps

Further up thread... thinking about the systems in place for helping authors who are being clobbered over PC-ness... it doesn't really work to dive into the mess on their behalf. Fanfiction is supposed to be -- at least for me -- fun.

Plus, the reason for the attacks is to give the attacker a platform for their opinion. The longer it goes on the longer they can pump out their message.

I hope that you'r right, that it's just individuals who do this and they're losing interest.

I think what I'm going to do is whenever a story is getting trashed (again) because of someone's personal politics, I'm going to recommend the story. Sign up for stargateficrec and recommend it there. Link the author to the rec so they can see it. And encourage other people to do so.

It would be a gentle protest to counteract what's going on without giving the political protester any more of a platform.

Icarus