AO3 Meme

[tinturtle]

I've never posted a meme before. I got this one from gilda_elise, whose post was linked in the Pros Newsletter.

1) How many stories have you posted?
Three.
(Also 6 vids and a bunch of photo manipulations.)

2) In what categories?
Gen (2)
Uncatagorized (1)
(Some of my vids and manips are slash.)

3) What ratings?
General Audiences (3)
(Some of my vids and manips have the "Teen and Up" rating, the vids for violence and the manips for cuddling in bed.)

4) How many fandoms?
Two: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Professionals

5) How many fandoms where you've written more than 10 stories?
None. I have 11 Professionals posts of all types.

6) Any fandoms where you were the first to post a story for it?
Ha. Not even close.

7) Any fandoms where your story is still the only one posted for it?
Nope.

8) How many fandoms that are still Yuletide sized?
None.

9) How many fandoms where there are still less than 5000 stories posted for it at AO3?
The Professionals, despite there being lots and lots of fic in that fandom.

10) How many megafandoms (over 50,000 stories posted for the fandom at AO3)?
None.

11) How many AUs have you written where the settings, occupations, etc are completely changed?
None. I probably won't, either, unless they're about a version of U.N.C.L.E. or CI5 in a sci-fi setting.

12) How many canon-divergent and/or canon distorting trope (like soul marks, body swap)+canon AUs have you written?
None.

13) How many stories have you written that would require an AO3 content warning?
None. I think it will be a long time before I have the confidence to write about any of the subjects that call for a warning.

14) What was the shortest number of words you've written?
217, in my first ever fic.

15) How many words in the longest story you've posted?
1374, in my MFU story What We Are, which is also my favorite of my three fics.

16) How many crossover stories have you written?
None.

17) How many fusion stories have you written?
None. I have some ideas for a fusion between The Professionals and His Dark Materials, featuring the members of CI5 and their dæmons. Cowley's dæmon is a Eurasian magpie named Catriona, and Doyle's is a British stoat possibly named Madeline. I'm still thinking about Bodie. (The choice for Doyle has quite a bit of interesting folklore and historical symbolism associated with it.)

18) How many RPF stories have you written?
None. I am against RPF.

19) How many WIPs and/or series do you have posted?
None. I don't think I'd post a work in progress if it really were in progress. I might post an abandoned work that I was sure I'd never finish.

20) Do you have any fanfic that's completed but not posted to AO3?
No.

Comments

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

The Professionals, despite there being lots and lots of fic in that fandom.
Definitely over 5000 Pros stories — I did a very rough check via the Pros archives. *g*

I have some ideas for a fusion between The Professionals and His Dark Materials
Sounds interesting. I'll have to finish that series so that I can read your fic when you get there! (And I'll want to know more about those folklore-based justifications, because that's another of my favourite things right there... *g*)

[tinturtle]

There's a possibility that I'll implement the Pros/HDM fusion as some sort of fan art, with commentary. We'll see.

Addendum: As far as the series goes, I liked each book less than the one before, so finishing may or may not be worth it. Furthermore, if this proposed work materializes, it probably won't contain any spoilers for the later books anyway.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I'm disappointed I missed the spam !

And how fab you posted your first meme ! I got carried away with one of my first meme attempts ages ago and posted this, which you might enjoy 😊

4) How many fandoms?
Two: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Professionals

Two very discerning fandoms right there...

6) Any fandoms where you were the first to post a story for it?
Ha. Not even close.

I'm beginning to think we should start a fandom, just so we can say yes to that question...

9) How many fandoms where there are still less than 5000 stories posted for it at AO3?
The Professionals, despite there being lots and lots of fic in that fandom.

I know, it's nearly as bizarre as the Star Trek thing. I bet there would be a lot more if we could import the Circuit Archive or The Hatstand. I think it says more about the youth of AO3, than it does about the fandoms...

11) How many AUs have you written where the settings, occupations, etc are completely changed?
None. I probably won't, either, unless they're about a version of U.N.C.L.E. or CI5 in a sci-fi setting.

I know there's some sci-fi Pros out there, if you haven't already found it — I'm not sure about MFU...

13) How many stories have you written that would require an AO3 content warning?
None. I think it will be a long time before I have the confidence to write about any of the warned subjects.

I just leapt in and started slaughtering people ! Perhaps your approach is less disturbing 😊

7) How many fusion stories have you written?
None. I have some ideas for a fusion between The Professionals and His Dark Materials, featuring the members of CI5 and their dæmons. Cowley's dæmon is a Eurasian magpie named Catriona, and Doyle's is a British stoat possibly named Madeline. I'm still thinking about Bodie. (The choice for Doyle has quite a bit of interesting folklore and historical symbolism associated with it.)

I've always associated Bodie with big, soppy dogs — I'm not sure that gets you any further. The whole 'His Dark Materials' thing has passed me by, maybe I'll catch up at a later date, but I usually prefer sci-fi to fantasy.

18) How many RPF stories have you written?
None. I am against RPF.

Me too, does it creep you out too? I have to caveat that, because I'm happy to see Good Queen Bess pop up in Blackadder etc., so it's a bit hypocritical. But I do think there's a difference between historical drama and K Pop slash. I can't say what it is exactly, but the latter definitely feels icky.

That was an interesting insight into your fanworks, glad I read that 😊

[tinturtle]

11) How many AUs have you written where the settings, occupations, etc are completely changed?
None. I probably won't, either, unless they're about a version of U.N.C.L.E. or CI5 in a sci-fi setting.

I know there's some sci-fi Pros out there, if you haven't already found it — I'm not sure about MFU...

No, I don't think I've read an MFU sci-fi AU, either, though there do appear to be a few on AO3. MFU definitely has fewer AUs across the board than Pros. I remember a couple in which one of our heroes is a Thrush agent, and ChannelD has written a number as part of her(?) long-haired Illya multiverse. I've not seen any that cut U.N.C.L.E. out entirely the way a lot of Pros AUs dispense with CI5. Among the total-conversion Pros AUs I've read, it's the sci-fi ones I've liked best, especially when there is some analog of CI5 involved, so I figure that's what I'd be most likely to write.

13) How many stories have you written that would require an AO3 content warning?
None. I think it will be a long time before I have the confidence to write about any of the warned subjects.

I just leapt in and started slaughtering people ! Perhaps your approach is less disturbing 😊

Ha. Perhaps it's my bloodthirstiness not my confidence that I need to build up.

I am partial to some Graphic Depictions of Violence now and again, but I've never been especially comfortable with that, so it's hard for me to imagine actually writing a fic that would call for that warning.

[tinturtle]

Continued...

17) How many fusion stories have you written?
None. I have some ideas for a fusion between The Professionals and His Dark Materials, featuring the members of CI5 and their dæmons. Cowley's dæmon is a Eurasian magpie named Catriona, and Doyle's is a British stoat possibly named Madeline. I'm still thinking about Bodie. (The choice for Doyle has quite a bit of interesting folklore and historical symbolism associated with it.)

I've always associated Bodie with big, soppy dogs — I'm not sure that gets you any further. The whole 'His Dark Materials' thing has passed me by, maybe I'll catch up at a later date, but I usually prefer sci-fi to fantasy.

Yes, a dog was one of my first thoughts for Bodie. In the books, people with dog dæmons are almost always servants, which isn't an association that I think fits my purpose. The universe of a Pros-with-dæmons fic might not resemble Pullman's universe very closely, however, in which case that might not be such an issue. I do think Bodie's dæmon would need to be a social animal, though there is an argument to be made in the other direction.

I've been considering some kind of wild canid, possibly an African wild dog. It's unclear to me how much the form a person's dæmon takes is constrained by the fauna of the place where they live. I intentionally chose British animals for both Cowley and Doyle. There is an idea I ran across in another dæmon fic, however, that the dæmons of adults can take on new forms in response to traumatic events. That seems to have possibilities. (I'm almost certain that idea isn't canon or WOG, but I like it.)

As for the books, it's been a long time since I read them. I remember liking Northern Lights/The Golden Compass a lot, though it's one of those books that might not impress as much 25 years later due to having been imitated quite a bit. I liked each of the latter two books in the original trilogy less than the book that preceeded it, and I haven't read the follow-up novellas or the first book of the forthcoming prequel trilogy.

His Dark Materials is difficult to categorize. It's high fantasy, but it isn't Tolkien fanfic. It also feels a lot like alternate history, and the science of the story's world is an important focus. Yet it does have what might be considered magical elements, and it gets very weird toward the end. It's itself, I suppose.

18) How many RPF stories have you written?
None. I am against RPF.

Me too, does it creep you out too? I have to caveat that, because I'm happy to see Good Queen Bess pop up in Blackadder etc., so it's a bit hypocritical. But I do think there's a difference between historical drama and K Pop slash. I can't say what it is exactly, but the latter definitely feels icky.

Yes, it strikes me as creepy and invasive, though I feel somewhat less strongly about it if the people involved are dead. Nelson/Hardy slash, anyone? (That does exist. I checked.) In general I'm more comfortable with historical figures making cameos than with fictional or semi-fictional stories entirely focused on them.

[tinturtle]

No, I don't think I've read an MFU sci-fi AU, either

Although, come to think of it, some of MFU itself is sci-fi, in a B-movie kind of way.

Addendum: Also, apparently I had. Unit I, Series LYA: Press to Activate (which I recommend) felt faintly familiar while I was reading it, but it wasn't until I was unable to leave kudos again that I was sure I'd read it before. *sigh*

Further Addendum: There's also Return to Save Point, which is just a slip of a fic, but which I remember liking a lot. It makes greater changes to the setting, and comes closer to the kind of AU the meme question was asking about.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Sorry to take so long to digest your reply. Work, you know 😊 (Between that and the BB, I run out of thinking time — I'm supposed to be going to the shops right now...)

MFU definitely has fewer AUs across the board than Pros... I've not seen any that cut U.N.C.L.E. out entirely the way a lot of Pros AUs dispense with CI5.

Judging by fanlore and some of the other things I've run across, I think a number of early Pros writers weren't Pros fans — they liked the cut of the lads' jib, and saw the slash potential, but didn't actually like the programme — apparently viewing it as some kind of paean to what we would today call 'toxic masculinity'. Which is where I think the 'Bodie as thug' trope comes from as well. If they had watched the show they would have realised it wasn't that at all, but actually continually questioned its own moral universe.

But then I would say that, wouldn't I? I am a fan !

Ha. Perhaps it's my bloodthirstiness not my confidence that I need to build up.

This made me smile 😄

ETA: I did see The Golden Compass at the cinema, and I enjoyed it, but — despite the presence of Sam Elliott — it somehow lacked heart. I knew it was part of a series (never made as far as I am aware), but I didn't realise it was from the same stable as His Dark Materials.

[tinturtle]

Sorry to take so long to digest your reply.

That's quite all right. It was a lot to digest.

Judging by fanlore and some of the other things I've run across, I think a number of early Pros writers weren't Pros fans — they liked the cut of the lads' jib, and saw the slash potential, but didn't actually like the programme — apparently viewing it as some kind of paean to what we would today call 'toxic masculinity'.'

Ah, I see. Well, there are definitely things that bother me in The Professionals, but I like it overall. Obviously.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

It has some 'period typical' awkwardnesses, but no more than Star Trek. In fact I'd argue a lot fewer, and — don't tell anybody — I'm definitely a fan !

[tinturtle]

What bothers me isn't the sexism. It's the threats made against people in CI5 custody, and the instances of violence (or property destruction) used against people who are themselves no threat. I realize that those are part of the "by any means necessary" concept of CI5, of course, and I think that itself may have been a product of its time--people felt that society was falling apart, so the fantasy of a law enforcement agency with unlimited authority was appealing (as long as that agency was presented as incorruptible, too).

(They did tone this stuff down a bit after the first series.)

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Have you read about Mary Whitehouse — when the lads aired, the UK had three TV channels and she loomed large on all their horizons. She made some real improvements to the UK TV landscape (not least of which was curbing their sense of impunity — she was at heart a consumer champion), but she also had some very conservative views and in the end the public outgrew her.

You can't really explain the superstar status of shows like Pros to a Netflix generation, but everyone you met had seen the show the night before. Given Brian Clemens nature, I think the powers that be just decided to focus on the teenage adulation (and in those more closeted times, they would have assumed that meant the girls all wanted to date the lads, the boys to drive their cars) rather than navel gazing about ethical policing. Pretty much much the way Hollywood has gone with its young adult rated blockbuster franchises.

I think the lads suffered a far better fate than Starsky and Hutch, after their first series they spent the rest of their time helping out girlfriends !

[tinturtle]

I watched most of the first season of S&H, but it failed to grab me, somehow. That's strange, because, in the abstract, it's exactly the sort of thing I like. I may try again someday.

I am just old enough to remember when almost everybody watched the same TV on the same night.

I think the powers that be just decided to focus on the teenage adulation...rather than navel gazing about ethical policing.

Indeed. And I probably wouldn't be as interested in the latter, honestly. It's a good subject for fanfic, one of the purposes of which is to explore questions neglected by canon.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

one of the purposes of which is to explore questions neglected by canon

I think that right there is why some shows ignite with fic writers and some don't. It's not to do with the quality of the show, it's to do with the quality of the characters, their universe and how many doors are left unopened.