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sunshine_challenge 2019.
Prompt: "Most of us here have at least one movie/book/tv series/comic book/and more that speaks to us on a special level. Here is your opportunity to wax poetic on those things!
We want to hear what new canons to investigate. Tell us why that thing is cool. Tell us why you enjoy it so much. Tell us where to start if we want to get into it too (and how to find it if it’s not something mainstream that’s easy to find everywhere). It can be difficult to find fandom friends with shared interests sometimes, but this is your chance to cultivate a shared interest!"
This is going to be a mix of media types. It was actually quite difficult to choose what to talk about here!
Labyrinth (1986 movie, dir Jim Henson): Might as well start at the very beginning, eh? I know fewer people who haven't seen this movie than people who have (and most people have probably been exposed to some kind of nostalgia posts about it regardless), so it might not be the best choice for a "recommendations" post, but since it's my enduring Favorite Movie and also the media that originally got me into fandom (and the first thing I ever wrote fanfic for!), I'd feel remiss not to talk about it.
It's something I consider Good Art because it wraps some deep, resonant themes about friendship and responsibility and personal strength in an exuberantly silly, glitter-encrusted package in such a way that I have always found it to be one of the purest expressions of fun and wonder I've encountered. It's my Favorite because - let's be completely honest, shall we? - discovering that not only are Fae real, but one of them would very much like to whisk me off to be their consort has always been pretty high on the list of Dae's Fantasies.
It's got an equally serious-yet-exuberant fandom that's pretty much been going strong for 30 years, and a whole truckload of imminently fic- and art-worthy iconography, of both the serious and ridiculous varieties. (Pants magic pants, motherfuckers!)
The Stormlight Archive (ongoing novel series by Brandon Sanderson): Sanderson is generally known for spectacular world-building and magic systems, as well as relatable character stories, and this is my favorite example of his work. It deeply engages with themes like cultural identity, how history is recorded shaping current culture and conflicts, and different people's experiences with/reactions to trauma and mental illness.
Has a particularly active and enthusiastic fandom for a novel series. And so many memes, holy shit. If you are interested in a taste of Sanderson's writing but do not necessarily want to commit to the absolute doorstop that is The Way of Kings, read The Emperor's Soul, first. It's a novella (set in a different world) that showcases his worldbuilding nicely, with a kickass main character.
Pillars of Eternity & Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (single-player PC RPGs developed by Obsidian Studios): Pillars of Eternity is my #1 favorite PC game. As a cRPG it's pretty much got it all - epic main story, brilliant character writing, meaningful and interesting side quests, rich worldbuilding, excellent gameplay mechanics. (No companion romance, but there is in Deadfire!) Basically, if you liked Dragon Age: Origins or any of the old Infinity Engine classics (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, etc), you should definitely play PoE. If you like RPGs in general, you should probably play PoE.
If you like tactical challenges, it very much has that on offer, but it also has difficulty settings for people who are just there for the story. I'd recommend playing on Normal for the first time if you played Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale back in the day and/or you played any of the Dragon Ages on higher difficulty settings, or either Easy or Story mode otherwise. (Deadfire's Normal is easier, for some reason.)
The fandom was pretty tiny originally, but when Deadfire came out last year, it gained quite a lot of members and momentum, and is generally a pretty great little community.
Hannibal (TV series, 3 seasons, developed by Bryan Fuller): I wasn't originally going to write about this because more of my friends here than not have seen it and most of the ones that haven't already know I have zero chill about it, but as this is a big community challenge, and as I have been rolling around in this fandom like a cat in a pile of catnip for the last eight months... I'm gonna write about it.
On the one hand, I wish I had had any idea what this show was actually like/about back when it was airing, so I could have been in the fandom from the get-go. On the other, the season 2 finale might have actually killed me if I didn't have season 3 already waiting for me to binge. It is the single most satisfying show I have ever seen, and based on what Fuller's said about its development, it is as good as it is because Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy had such spectacular chemistry in the pilot that he re-wrote season 1 on the fly, while in production, which is Not Fucking Done, to be something very different from the show they were originally planning to make.
It is not a crime procedural. It is not a horror series. It is a very dark, twisted romance and it is Amazing. Came for the gay, stayed for the everything. (While the two leads are men, the main and recurring cast both have multiple solid, well-developed, brilliantly acted women. The Aesthetic (TM). The wit. The humor. I laughed what felt like, at the time, an inappropriate amount the first time through, but it's only gotten funnier with each re-watch as knowing the whole arc injects new levels of irony into certain episodes.)
As a certified wuss with an overactive imagination (who Should Not watch horror movies for this reason), I only have to look away in a few scenes. It's a very violent show, but the way that violence and its aftermath are depicted... the most over-the-top parts are too... removed from everyday experience to be "threatening." It's hard to put into words.
The fandom is still very large, very active, and one of the all-around best I've been in.
sunshine_challenge 2019.Prompt: "Most of us here have at least one movie/book/tv series/comic book/and more that speaks to us on a special level. Here is your opportunity to wax poetic on those things!
We want to hear what new canons to investigate. Tell us why that thing is cool. Tell us why you enjoy it so much. Tell us where to start if we want to get into it too (and how to find it if it’s not something mainstream that’s easy to find everywhere). It can be difficult to find fandom friends with shared interests sometimes, but this is your chance to cultivate a shared interest!"
This is going to be a mix of media types. It was actually quite difficult to choose what to talk about here!
Labyrinth (1986 movie, dir Jim Henson): Might as well start at the very beginning, eh? I know fewer people who haven't seen this movie than people who have (and most people have probably been exposed to some kind of nostalgia posts about it regardless), so it might not be the best choice for a "recommendations" post, but since it's my enduring Favorite Movie and also the media that originally got me into fandom (and the first thing I ever wrote fanfic for!), I'd feel remiss not to talk about it.
It's something I consider Good Art because it wraps some deep, resonant themes about friendship and responsibility and personal strength in an exuberantly silly, glitter-encrusted package in such a way that I have always found it to be one of the purest expressions of fun and wonder I've encountered. It's my Favorite because - let's be completely honest, shall we? - discovering that not only are Fae real, but one of them would very much like to whisk me off to be their consort has always been pretty high on the list of Dae's Fantasies.
It's got an equally serious-yet-exuberant fandom that's pretty much been going strong for 30 years, and a whole truckload of imminently fic- and art-worthy iconography, of both the serious and ridiculous varieties. (Pants magic pants, motherfuckers!)
The Stormlight Archive (ongoing novel series by Brandon Sanderson): Sanderson is generally known for spectacular world-building and magic systems, as well as relatable character stories, and this is my favorite example of his work. It deeply engages with themes like cultural identity, how history is recorded shaping current culture and conflicts, and different people's experiences with/reactions to trauma and mental illness.
Has a particularly active and enthusiastic fandom for a novel series. And so many memes, holy shit. If you are interested in a taste of Sanderson's writing but do not necessarily want to commit to the absolute doorstop that is The Way of Kings, read The Emperor's Soul, first. It's a novella (set in a different world) that showcases his worldbuilding nicely, with a kickass main character.
Pillars of Eternity & Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (single-player PC RPGs developed by Obsidian Studios): Pillars of Eternity is my #1 favorite PC game. As a cRPG it's pretty much got it all - epic main story, brilliant character writing, meaningful and interesting side quests, rich worldbuilding, excellent gameplay mechanics. (No companion romance, but there is in Deadfire!) Basically, if you liked Dragon Age: Origins or any of the old Infinity Engine classics (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, etc), you should definitely play PoE. If you like RPGs in general, you should probably play PoE.
If you like tactical challenges, it very much has that on offer, but it also has difficulty settings for people who are just there for the story. I'd recommend playing on Normal for the first time if you played Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale back in the day and/or you played any of the Dragon Ages on higher difficulty settings, or either Easy or Story mode otherwise. (Deadfire's Normal is easier, for some reason.)
The fandom was pretty tiny originally, but when Deadfire came out last year, it gained quite a lot of members and momentum, and is generally a pretty great little community.
Hannibal (TV series, 3 seasons, developed by Bryan Fuller): I wasn't originally going to write about this because more of my friends here than not have seen it and most of the ones that haven't already know I have zero chill about it, but as this is a big community challenge, and as I have been rolling around in this fandom like a cat in a pile of catnip for the last eight months... I'm gonna write about it.
On the one hand, I wish I had had any idea what this show was actually like/about back when it was airing, so I could have been in the fandom from the get-go. On the other, the season 2 finale might have actually killed me if I didn't have season 3 already waiting for me to binge. It is the single most satisfying show I have ever seen, and based on what Fuller's said about its development, it is as good as it is because Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy had such spectacular chemistry in the pilot that he re-wrote season 1 on the fly, while in production, which is Not Fucking Done, to be something very different from the show they were originally planning to make.
It is not a crime procedural. It is not a horror series. It is a very dark, twisted romance and it is Amazing. Came for the gay, stayed for the everything. (While the two leads are men, the main and recurring cast both have multiple solid, well-developed, brilliantly acted women. The Aesthetic (TM). The wit. The humor. I laughed what felt like, at the time, an inappropriate amount the first time through, but it's only gotten funnier with each re-watch as knowing the whole arc injects new levels of irony into certain episodes.)
As a certified wuss with an overactive imagination (who Should Not watch horror movies for this reason), I only have to look away in a few scenes. It's a very violent show, but the way that violence and its aftermath are depicted... the most over-the-top parts are too... removed from everyday experience to be "threatening." It's hard to put into words.
The fandom is still very large, very active, and one of the all-around best I've been in.
Labyrinth
Date: 2019-07-11 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-11 07:12 pm (UTC)Honestly, I'm not even sure what I thought of it. It was kind of a high-pressure situation, and all that was going through my mind the whole time was what the hell makes her think I can pull off playing Bowie??
no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:07 am (UTC)Theatre kids do seem to especially love it, can confirm. xD We had One in my group who hadn't seen it, my freshman year of college, and while there was no particular need for him to have seen it (we were all predominantly techs, not actors, and the only thing it might have been relevant as inspirational material for at the time was lighting the Midsummer Night's Dream production), but by god we sat him down and made him watch it!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-11 10:42 pm (UTC)Without those two being so good, I doubt we would have ever gotten Farscape, and that would have also been a tragedy.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:03 am (UTC)No kidding! They're both really spectacular films in their own way.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-13 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-20 03:54 am (UTC)discovering that not only are Fae real, but one of them would very much like to whisk me off to be their consort has always been pretty high on the list of Dae's Fantasies
Because, same.
I'm sure you have, but have you read A Forfeit of Dreams?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-20 04:42 am (UTC)Re: Forfeit of Dreams, both the title and author are familiar names to me, so almost certainly yes, though now I think I need to re-read it to remind myself. It has been a very long time since I read Labyrinth fanfic. XD
no subject
Date: 2019-07-20 05:17 am (UTC)