Five things my first fandom taught me

[kangeiko]

Taken from penknife. My first fandom was Babylon 5, as it was the first fandom i wrote stuff for, and thought up stories for. Technically, ST:TOS was the first show I ever devoted myself to watching, but as I was about ten years old, I didn't register it as anything more than entertainment. Babylon 5 made me sit up and take notice, and it formed my perceptions of what being a fan actually entailed. Later on, I would apply those lessons back to the ST:TOS as a reader - never a writer - and to the Buffyverse as both.



Five Things Babylon 5 Taught Me About Fandom


1) Fans are seen but not heard.

About three months into my first B5 fic foray, I ended up chatting with a writer who had, by all appearances, disappeared from the 'net. her older work was still archived at the rest.b5 archive, but not any new work. More interestingly, no 'adult' work appeared to be archived anywhere. Where was it all?

This conversation changed my entire perception of the fandom, as the author invited me to join a private mailing list that was 'invitation only'. Back in the heady days of mailing lists, this was no small thing. Once I got there, I found a group of authors whose older work I'd loved and whose newer work had someone disappeared from the 'net. It actually hadn't - they'd just moved it. A sizeable group of writers from the B5 fandom had decided at some point to 'censor' themselves until the show finished its run by only posting fic in a private members' list, to minimise the chances of Joe seeing it. Not that Joe would mind, but there was an actual danger that an episode would be held up if it was too close to a fanfic Joe happened to see (this actually happened to 'Passing through Gethsemane'.

This is completely different from what I've seen in other fandoms - some fans send copies of their fanworks to the actors; some even send them to the studios. I - can't. My first fandom set up an attitude that this is a line that you do not cross. It's also the reason that RPS squicks me.


2) Concrit is the best find of feedback.

Said mailing list was made up of prolific writers. They weren't particularly gentle, and if you asked them to shred a fic for you, they'd damn well do it. So, when asked to provide a beta or do concrit, I've got into the habit doing just that. Thing is - I only do it for fics I like, for fics I want to take the time over. In my brain, in-depth criticism is actually a sign that a fic has some worth, and polishing it up will produce something good. If it's fundamentally nonsense, why bother?


3) Your show may or may not survive. Take each day as a blessing.

B5 was renewed at the 11th hour year after year, and we were on tenderhooks the entire time. Claudia Christian was very, very upset at The Alliance convention and, not having heard anything about S5 yet, we all assumed that we wouldn't get a fifth season. Instead, we got a fifth season but without Claudia.

This leads me on to:


4) No character is safe, even the lead. Losing your character doesn't mean losing your fandom.

Sinclair was dispatched with a season, first to Minbar and then into the past. Sheridan dies, properly. Ivanova doesn't make it until the end of the show, leaving at the end of S4. Londo and G'Kar die. Talia dies. Marcus dies. Garibaldi gives in to alcoholism. Bester wins, and Cartagia wins, and Franklin loses himself, and Lyta turns into a monster, and Lennier betrays those closest to him. And Delenn and Londo and G'Kar all watch their worlds burn.

No one is safe, and war is never glamorous.


5) Faith manages.

For an atheist, Joe managed to write one of the most religious shows I've ever seen. Even before I could untangle metaphor from simile I was using classical mythology and all the religions I was familiar with to inform my fic, because religion is the one thing in the B5 verse that is always respected in its many forms. Incidentally, 'The Parliament of Dreams' is one of my favourite episodes.

And? We got our five seasons.

Comments

[leyenn.livejournal.com]

I would have written mine on B5, but I fear mine would be far too similar to this. :)

[kakodaimon.livejournal.com]

For an atheist, Joe managed to write one of the most religious shows I've ever seen.

I hope deborah_judge comments on this... her perspective is that Babylon 5 is actually quite anti-religious, and after speaking with her, I'm inclined to agree, though I couldn't put forward the idea coherently enough myself. It's an interesting issue to explore regardless of conclusions, though.