Dept. of Memes

[kaffy_r]

Frankenstein, Day Two

2. Your Newest Fandom

I’m in the middle of determining whether or not Guardian (the Chinese television series; I haven’t yet read the web novel) is going to be my next fandom.

I really love the two leads, and I love that slash is not subtext but actual text here (to the extent the censors allowed the production team to show it.) Even though I’m not a committed slash fan, the relationship between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei is hard to resist.

I’m also loving the culture clash in my head, as I watch. I’m far, far from understanding the Chinese context, but I get hints from the subtitles provided by dedicated fannish translators; for example, the emphasis on family (members of the SID team refer to each other as “little brother” or “big sis”, for example), the emphasis on stopping bad guys by virtue of making (some of) them feel shame for what they’ve done, the clash between the two leads’ relatively naturalistic — and very good — pretty Western-style acting, and the broad, almost pantomime acting of most of the rest of the cast. That acting, by the way, isn’t bad, it’s just acting from a different cultural tradition’s point of view.

And oh my goodness, the two leads; they are so damned pretty, especially the actor who plays Shen Wei./So yes, it could be my newest fandom.

But I’m going to say that my most definite new fandom is for Katherine Addison’s/Sarah Monette’s “The Goblin Emperor”, which is my all-time comfort read; I’ve read it at least 10 times and expect to read it many times in the future.

It’s my comfort read for so many reasons. I love all the characters (naive but strong Maia! Best Aide de Camp Evar Csevet! Beshelar and Cala! The awesome Csethiro!).

I love the world, I slipped into it so easily, with its court intrigues and plots, all of them undone by our good guys by virtue (mostly) of being just that darned sweet and good. Some people weren’t comfortable with a lot of the nomenclature, but my overly-complicated brain loved it.

It’s also the newest fandom for which I’ve written fic and for which I hope to write more. Most of all, I hope Addison/Monette actually decides to follow Maia et al in another novel.

So there you have it. 

Comments

[davidschroth]

I am under the impression that there is a new book out by Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette that is a follow-on to "The Goblin Emperor". I haven't yet made it to Dreamhaven to acquire this book.

[kaffy_r]

Delayed response: yep, Witness For the Dead will follow a very minor character in the world of The Goblin Emperor. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also hoping she'll eventually return to some of our beloved main characters and show us some of what happens next.

[carbonel]

I'm looking forward to reading The Witness for the Dead, set in the same universe, but with only one of the same characters.

[kaffy_r]

Yep, I'm looking forward to that book as well. But I really hope she wants to follow some of our beloved main characters sometime in the near future.

[a_phoenixdragon]

Ohhh, TWO new fandoms! Even BETTER!! *Dances*

*SQUISHES YOU*

[kaffy_r]

Thanks for the squishes, my dear. Right now, Bob is being extraordinarily patient as I binge watch Guardian, and it eats my brain. I'm going to be looking for some icons soon, so that I can share the pretty. OMG, the pretty ....

[a_phoenixdragon]

Hee!! One day I should settle in and binge some C-dramas. They seem to be all the rage!

[kaffy_r]

This one is anchored by the acting talents of its two leads. The writing, directing, etc., can actually be pretty dire, but I still loved it.