Burned by the sun.....

[fajrdrako]

I just read a Pirates of the Caribbean fic that I really loved, and it got me thinking about "Pirates of the Caribbean" writers, who seem to be an amazing bunch of people. I'm unaccustomed being being in on the beginning of a fandom, I came late to Star Trek and The Professionals (by about ten years each, though it was a different ten years); three seasons late for X-Files, and only one season late for Smallville, so I guess it's progress.

Pirates may be like all the others: perhaps the most inspired writing pops out of the woodwork when the fandom is fresh. Myself, I need time to grow into it, usually; but that growth-spurt happens best when the fandom is newly discovered.

And of course there are mediocre and bad stories as in any fandom, but I can't recall ever walking into a fandom and seeing so much inventiveness. Really creative material of types, genres and forms that strike me as being extraordinary even if (ocasionally) they are failed experiments. I'm talking about forms like the villanelle, sonnets and rhyming couplets, not just your standard limericks and drabbles. Genres like cyberpunk, mysteries and fantasy, not just standard slash.

I haven't had time to make up the Pirates rec list I want to make, but the story I was reading today that impressed me so much was Sun Stroke by permetaform. I thought it was really beautifully written, magnificent.

Makes me want to just sit and read good Jack Sparrow stories all day.

Another thrill: one of my very favourite slash writers of all time, Brancher, is writing in Pirates fandom and now has her own LJ. Squeeee!

Oops, sorry, getting carried away here.

Yo ho ho, bad eggs and all that.

Comments

[littledrop.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec. I saw it earlier and skipped it because the title didn't appeal, but I've read it now, and wow. Gorgeous writing. (I still don't think the title does it justice, though.)

I hope you post that recs list soon! I'm trying to make my way through the fandom, but it's hard when you can only find two recs pages. There's a lot of good stuff, sure, but like any fandom there seems to be twice as much bad. *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I almost skepped permetaform's story too. I'm so glad I didn't!

I find that the biggest obstacle in Pirates fandom so far is all the works in progress - which I almost never read until they are finished, for numerous reasons. That cuts out a lot of material.

Still, some of what I've read is superb and I'm happy to have found it.

[zoerayne]

It's not just the WiPs that have turned me off PotC; I think that I disagree with your initial comment that being in at the beginning of the fandom is better than coming late. I don't see more creativity, I see a greater quantity of bad stories written by people who are fannish butterflies (in the negative sense) and who will flutter away soon, leaving the fandom to the serious fans and the better fiction.

I was pleased to have got into Pros fandom late, because the dreck had settled to the bottom and disappeared; almost everything I found was worth reading. I really appreciate the more mature fandoms for that reason.

But what I like most is the fact that we can disagree on this topic, agree on many others, and still communicate like rational human beings. Fandom is so cool sometimes!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It isn't really that being at the beginning of a fandom is better - it's just that it's such a novelty for me. I think there's an energy and excitement about it that I haven't experienced before. I think you're quite right that the less sommitted fans will flirt with it and pass on.

Now, I do see a lot of creativity, and I'm doing my best not to see the bad stories - not to inflict them on myself. Yes, there's a lot to be said for a fandom like Pros where I came in when there was an incredibly huge body of work and friends willing to recommend things and to hand me stories. Or Smallville, where there were rec pages galore.

I also think that a slash fandom based on a movie has a different dynamic and pacing than one based on a TV show. Of course this all remains to be seen - where things are going.

I love your 'heterosexuality is overrated' icon!

[permetaform]

oh. my. GOD.

you recced me.

::GLOMP!:: and in this context? wow. you have no idea how honored I feel.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted that your feel honoured - you earned it and deserved it.