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Sep. 5th, 2021 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
popkin16I've fallen back into the Dresden Files fandom and can't get up.
It's an old fandom for me - I only read the first...what, five books? There are 17 now. To be fair, when I read the first five, there were at least twice that already out. Usually I'll get the random urge to read a fic or two, and then forget the fandom exists for years at a time, rinse and repeat. But two weeks ago I read a fic on a whim, and then another, and another...and then I was scrolling through the very old kink meme, and rereading favorites I'd bookmarked back in 2011. I'm listening to music and daydreaming about my ship, and there is absolutely nobody to chat with lmao.
I'm tempted to start the book series over, but I'm not sure I want to. Perhaps I will once I run out of fic - the fandom is VERY small - out of desperation. This was supposed to be a short visit, I wasn't supposed to settle here sa;kja
It's an old fandom for me - I only read the first...what, five books? There are 17 now. To be fair, when I read the first five, there were at least twice that already out. Usually I'll get the random urge to read a fic or two, and then forget the fandom exists for years at a time, rinse and repeat. But two weeks ago I read a fic on a whim, and then another, and another...and then I was scrolling through the very old kink meme, and rereading favorites I'd bookmarked back in 2011. I'm listening to music and daydreaming about my ship, and there is absolutely nobody to chat with lmao.
I'm tempted to start the book series over, but I'm not sure I want to. Perhaps I will once I run out of fic - the fandom is VERY small - out of desperation. This was supposed to be a short visit, I wasn't supposed to settle here sa;kja
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Date: 2021-09-06 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-06 03:39 am (UTC)That's what I tell myself...but if I could choose, things would be so much better. Why couldn't the Teen Wolf fandom have grabbed me? There's so much content, I could spend months there happily.
Hmmm. I might PM elderwitty then - maybe chatting about the books will motivate me to actually read them. Everything I know about canon is from fics though lol.
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Date: 2021-09-06 03:46 am (UTC)I know what you mean about "easier" fandoms with lots of content. Most of SGA went to MCU, and it'd be easy to fall into that - but it doesn't mean the same to us as it does them. We find our little comfy niche and enjoy it until something else grabs us. It's good you did find something and not drift. I hate drifting...
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Date: 2021-09-06 03:48 am (UTC)Ugh, MCU. All the Tony hate got to me and I rage-quit that fandom. But yeah, we unfortunately can't choose what our brain decides to hyperfixate on.
Drifting is THE WORST. Before I found DF I was sort of drifting, and it just...you WANT to be doing stuff, but nothing is grabbing you. The worst.
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Date: 2021-09-06 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-06 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-06 03:27 am (UTC)What's your pairing in the DF? I doubt I'll fall back into it but I can still chat if you want.
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Date: 2021-09-06 03:40 am (UTC)My DF pairing is Harry/Marcone. Love that enemies to lovers, begrudging respect thing they have going on. And there's some great fic.
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Date: 2021-09-06 04:23 am (UTC)(I will never be over Doumeki/Watanuki. Truth. Also I started a new fic, gods only know when I'll actually finish & post it.)
Ooooh, Harry/Marcone was absolutely my ship for that fandom! I never wrote anything good for it and I feel like it's hard to do well, but yesss, that begrudging enemies to lovers dynamic. And yes, the fic was often really fab!
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Date: 2021-09-06 05:16 am (UTC)(ooo let me know if you do finish and post it :D)
I'M SO GLAD IT'S YOUR SHIP TOO. Whenever I tell people what I ship, I get a tiny bit defensive, like they're going to call me disgusting for shipping Harry/John. I'm tempted to write something for it - I had an idea a couple days ago - but I think the fandom is pretty quiet. When I checked the tumblr tag for Dresden Files, it was all Harry/Karrin stuff. But yes, the fic is VERY good. I often daydream about fics scenarios John learns the extent of how terrible Harry's childhood was, and things like that lmao.
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Date: 2021-09-06 05:32 am (UTC)As far as fic goes--have you read the series Fifteen Mokona on a Deadman's Chest? It's long but in-character and hilarious. Also totally AU, so no BS canon shenanigans!
(I will let you know! It kind of wants to be either chaptered or a series, so IDK how soon I will be done with a publishable part.)
It's so weird to me that people might not ship Dresden/Marcone, because prior to the kinkmeme it was a tiny ship with one fandom community, and then the kinkmeme happened and it was like...80% Harry/John.
I think the lower turnout for them as a pairing probably has more to do with the books--I stopped reading after book ten or eleven, IDK, but I just got tired of certain aspects of the writing. But I still periodically go back and re-read the really good Dresden/Marcone fics. :)
I am 100% behind you writing some fic for them! Write all the fic! More cake!
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Date: 2021-09-06 05:38 am (UTC)As far as fic goes--have you read the series Fifteen Mokona on a Deadman's Chest? It's long but in-character and hilarious. Also totally AU, so no BS canon shenanigans!
I HAVEN'T. Is it on ao3?
I think the anonymous aspect of the kink meme let people be more vocal about what ship they liked. And let people try writing for the ship when they might not have otherwise. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm up to reading 17 books - I think I'd get tired of certain aspects too. I've thought about googling which books Marcone shows up in and reading ONLY those though lol. Especially since my interest is really just for the ship *shrug*
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Date: 2021-09-06 05:50 am (UTC)It is! Here it is! Pirates VS Ninjas! To be perfectly honest it's a CLAMP crossover extravaganza, but Doumeki/Watanuki are either the focus of several fics or a strong thru-line in most of the ensemble pieces.
Oof, yeah, that's a good point. Anonymity can be a really powerful thing--I know that's part of what let me try writing for them, even though I didn't write anything good...or finished, for that matter.
Re: 17 books--yeah, I think most of the good ones had Marcone in them, but that might just be my fatigue with the writing talking. I haven't read past...I think it was Turn Coat? So IDK how prevalent he is after that, but reading only the ones with Marcone sounds like a solid plan TBH. Some of the earlier books are good even without him (I'm thinking mostly of the one where Harry and Thomas are roommates...though I can't remember much more than that), but the ones with Marcone were usually the most fun in my recollection.
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Date: 2021-09-06 06:34 am (UTC)I'm sure the stuff you wrote for the kink meme WAS good! I'm definitely sad by all the unfinished prompts there, but I bookmarked some of them anyway because they're decent as they are, even if I wish for more.
I've been doing some research (aka reading reddit threads) and it sounds like Marcone makes steady appearances throughout the later books. But it also sounds like Jim is really setting the groundwork for the two of them to have a battle/confrontation at some point. It probably won't happen in the next couple books, but yeah...I don't want to spoil anything for you, but it really does seem like Marcone is making decisions that are going to put him at odds with Harry, in a very big way. Which is too bad, because I really was enjoying the reluctant allies thing they had going on.
Maybe I'll just read the early books with Marcone lmao. I don't want to read the later ones until everything is published and I know for sure how things go down between them.
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Date: 2021-09-06 01:53 pm (UTC)Eh, looking back I don't have any Harry/Marcone fic I'd really want to finish. I know some people liked what I wrote, though.
Reddit is 100% good research, lol. But yeah, that doesn't really surprise me re: the arc Marcone is on. Also, spoil away--I haven't read DF in years and I don't see that changing. I'm all for spoilers. :) And yesss, the reluctant allies thing was great!
That is a totally valid decision re: reading the books. The early books are fun and have sexual tension, IDK about the later books but they sound angsty and full of a lot of stuff that wore me out, writing-wise.
But: yessss, read the early books and write fic! I am always down for that! :D
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Date: 2021-09-07 01:34 am (UTC)I don't know if you're familiar with the Denarians? They're fallen angels that are bound to a coin, and they take hosts whenever someone touches a coin. Usually they offer to "help" their host, until the host relies on them and the Denarian takes over. Anyway, the Denarians kidnap and torture Marcone for reasons, and at the end of it all, a coin goes missing. And according to reddit, there's a big hint that Marcone took the coin and is now a host. Lets hope he can withstand the temptation to use the Denarian for "help". Anyway, that REALLY puts them at odds. Also - and these are big spoilers for the latest book so stop here if you don't want to read - Murphy and Hendricks are dead ;__;
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:20 am (UTC)I do remember the Denarians! Huh, that's an interesting way to take it...I think I remember part of that--I know I read the bit where the Denarians kidnap and torture Marcone, anyway--I think I forgot the bit about a coin going missing. I can see how that would put them at odds...but also kinda hypocritical from Harry's end of things. He hosted one for a while, too. But Marcone is not The Protagonist, so *shrug*.
Aw, that sucks that Murphy and Hendricks are dead! They were some of the best supporting characters.
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:24 am (UTC)My understanding is that Harry hosted a "shadow" of a fallen angel, not the fallen angel itself. Or something, IDK. But yeah, Marcone is an "enemy" and that makes his actions automatically The Worst or whatever. But really, we'll have to see how it plays out. I'm kind of nervous to start the books, considering we're heading for the end. Butcher plans for there to be ~25 books, with the last three being an Apocalyptic Trilogy. I'm worried about getting invested and then losing everyone I love lmao.
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:32 am (UTC)Ah, yeah, that detail had faded, it's been like...ten years since I last read one of the books. And yeah, that's kind of Harry's deal--he tends to project The Worst reasons for everything on Marcone, even if that's not actually the case. Which...considering how far into the series it is, I would expect him to ease up on that, but again: I haven't read these books in over a decade.
That is a valid fear and I definitely support reading the slashiest books and then dropping out (because that's what I did). But if they're still selling well enough to be published, I'm going to hope there's plenty to make the angst worth it?
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:38 am (UTC)No worries, the only reason I know that is because I've been reading nothing but Dresden Files fic for the past two weeks lmao. On the one hand, I'm a little disappointed Harry hasn't eased up on Marcone AT ALL. After all the mutual life saving, after they've turned to each other for help, it's like Harry resets after every encounter and is back to the baseline of "Marcone's a scumbag." Harry, please. At least admit the man is a morally grey character. On the other hand, I'm worried Butcher is setting up Marcone to be a major enemy player in the coming apocalypse books, so I don't want Harry to ease up and then be betrayed/disappointed.
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:47 am (UTC)That makes sense! I occasionally go back and read fic for Dresden/Marcone, but usually not for very long. And YES, I hate the reset! Like...dude has proven, time after time after time, that he's a very morally grey character! He's not one-dimensional! And every time Harry's like "Marcone, the Scumbag. Also he's not a dick to children and hates people who are and also has a lot of other semi-good qualities BUT THE POINT IS HE'S BAD, OKAY."
*facepalm*
Eh, I'd actually prefer Harry be betrayed/disappointed--that would at least indicate some forward movement. Also I got into CLAMP via Tokyo Babylon, so...I think that says all that needs saying on the matter of my story preferences. ^^;
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Date: 2021-09-07 02:56 am (UTC)I occasionally go back and read fic for Dresden/Marcone, but usually not for very long.
SAME. That's why this two week stint in the fandom is so WEIRD to me. I've never done this before??
Like...dude has proven, time after time after time, that he's a very morally grey character! He's not one-dimensional!
YES. I read some very interesting meta that talks about how Harry doesn't want to deal in shades of grey, because he's worried if he starts easing up on his good vs bad morality, he might start slipping into a grey morality himself. He's already been tainted by black magic, and we know that makes people MORE likely to go darkside. I think he's terrified to give an inch and have himself slip into the dark.
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Date: 2021-09-07 03:06 am (UTC)Eh, that happens! I actually got into due South and F/K in like...I want to say 2013 or 2014? And then about 3-4 years later is when I just crashed headfirst into due South as a fandom, rather than a passing fancy. Also I thought I was 1000% Done with CLAMP for years, and yet....*stares at 8,700 word D/W fic written just this year*
Fandom and fannish loves are weird and fickle!
Thank goodness for fans and fandom meta! That does make a lot of sense, though it doesn't make it easier to deal with Harry being obstinante. I know I had to nope out after a while because there was character growth, but it was way too slow for me.
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Date: 2021-09-07 03:34 am (UTC)Also, when you said you got into Clamp via Tokyo Babylon I legit said OH DAMN out loud lmao. That...says a lot.
Yeah, Harry's slow on the uptake. I think if I DO end up reading the books, it'll only be the early shippy ones. Once I figure out which ones those are, anyway.
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Date: 2021-09-07 03:44 am (UTC)*CACKLES*
Harry is often obstinately slow on the uptake, but he does get there eventually. Sometimes because the plot has shoved him face-first into getting there. The early shippy ones tend to be the ones pre-Small Favor (including Small Favor); I think Fool Moon, Death Masks and White Night are shippy ones, not sure about the others since it's been a while. Shippy or not I definitely recommend Dead Beat, it's a lot of fun for the most part. (I actually remember the first five books being good but having kind of dragging parts, but books 6-10 kinda zipped along. YMMV.)
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Date: 2021-09-07 03:50 am (UTC)OOO THANK YOU. I'll write all of those down - including Dead Beat, since I do think the series is fun. Sounds like I should really read the first 10 books lmao, with a focus on Fool Moon, Death Masks, and White Night!
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Date: 2021-09-07 03:56 am (UTC)You are welcome! I hope you like it--I'm not interested in revisiting the series, but I do remember really enjoying the first ten books, other issues with the story aside. They are generally very fun reads. Also White Night has, IIRC, the shippiest flirty conversation Dresden and Marcone ever have. Pretty sure a demand is made to say pretty please with a cherry on top, but...it has been ten years, I'm probably wrong. ^^;
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Date: 2021-09-07 04:00 am (UTC)Also White Night has, IIRC, the shippiest flirty conversation Dresden and Marcone ever have. Pretty sure a demand is made to say pretty please with a cherry on top, but...it has been ten years, I'm probably wrong. ^^;
W H A T
oh my god. i might just - i'm so. i want to read it immediately lmao. I might jump around, if I'm honest. Storm Front, Fool Moon, Death Masks, Dead Beat (for fun), and then White Night. I'll go back and read the rest to fill things in - I suspect I'll miss out on plotty things jumping around. I can't remember how self-contained the early books are, though I know the later books the plot builds on itself, book by book.
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Date: 2021-09-07 04:07 am (UTC)LOL, YEP. I'm pretty sure White Night was considered the shippiest of the books for that convo alone. I don't remember exactly what was said but it comes across as very flirty.
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Date: 2021-09-08 01:14 am (UTC)I think I've decided I really will just jump around and reread the shippy books. Any plots hints I don't understand can be swept under the rug lmao.
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Date: 2021-09-08 01:34 am (UTC)Doo itt. Reread TRC~~~ Mostly because I fell headfirst into it and have struggled to find the fandom--I think it's mostly on Discord, but Discord kinda freaks me out. But KuroFai are so very, very married. Also there's a tumblr--
Legal Drug/Drug & Drop is still unfinished, but the shippy vibes ramp up from "fanservice" to "actually there's a relationship here." Also there is a HUGE connection to Wish--spoilers--Kakei and Saiga are actually some pretty major characters from that manga. YMMV on how awesome that is.
That sounds like a solid plan re: the Dresden Files! Happy hopping!
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Date: 2021-09-10 01:39 am (UTC)I've seen some TRC posts on tumblr, but not really a lot. Discord is home to a lot of fandoms, especially if the fans are younger. I spend a lot of time on it simply because that's where my fandom is lol.
Legal Drug/Drug & Drop is still unfinished, but the shippy vibes ramp up from "fanservice" to "actually there's a relationship here."
Is it weird that I'm surprised they actually went there? Like, I know CLAMP has done M/M before, but after 'Holic and TRC (KuroFai), it just feels like they're doing fanservice with no intention of following through on anything. I'm not saying the boys of Legal Drug have to kiss on paper, but even an acknowledgement that there's something there is startling to me lol.
Thanks for the link to that tumblr - I might reading along their TRC analysis as I read, just so they can help me figure out what the HELL is going on. At least until I catch up to what they have analyzed lol.
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Date: 2021-09-10 02:19 am (UTC)Dude, no, that's a totally legit reaction. I was so bitter when I fell back in that I really felt like D/W and KuroFai and everything was either fanservice or queerbait, and I think those are definitely still valid reads (especially--to my eternal bitterness--when it comes to xxxHolic). On rereading TRC I think the KuroFai is very hard to ignore--not impossible, but difficult--but xxxHolic is still a tangled complicated mess for me. Legal Drug has always been a fanservicey manga, and it's not canon the way that Subaru/Seishirou is canon--but it's also not "heeee, lookit these cute boys making suggestive comments and leering at each other" the way it was in the first three volumes.
Also Kakei and Saiga are actually Hisui and Kokuyou from Wish.
That blog is great, and after a while they basically do a liveblog page by page--which helps a whole lot the more complicated TRC gets.
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Date: 2021-09-24 03:46 am (UTC)I miss xxxHolic, and our conversation is making me miss TRC. I've been picking my way through that tumblr blog you mentioned where they liveblog the books, and that helps, but I'm not going to lie: mostly I'm thinking about CLAMP fanfic lol.
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Date: 2021-10-04 12:13 am (UTC)I made the mistake of rereading some of my old xxxHolic fic that I sort of still wanted to finish...and that led to me digging out my books, and then...well, face-first back into CLAMP fandom hell. *shrug* Doumeki and Watanuki still hold a good place in my heart and they dragged me back.
*nods* CLAMP fanfic is an excellent motivation!
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Date: 2021-10-07 08:19 pm (UTC)I really do miss Doumeki and Watanuki so, so much... Did you ever read flakedice's stuff?
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Date: 2021-10-07 09:58 pm (UTC)Careful, missing these dumbasses is how I got dragged back.
I have read their stuff! I hope they're okay, I haven't seen a peep from them in almost four or five years. And of course their massive fic is unfinished. ;_;
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Date: 2021-10-08 12:59 am (UTC)My hyperfixation has broken but nothing has replaced it, so I've mostly been bouncing between fandoms lately. So perhaps now is the time to reread the manga and rediscover the fandom...though I can't promise anything, because who knows what my brain will latch onto?
I know flakedice took their one AU and published it as a novel. Not sure if the novel itself was complete, however, and at the time it was outside of my price range (since it was coming from Australia or something). And then they briefly posted about the Hobbit fandom and then just...disappeared. I hope they're well.
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Date: 2021-10-08 03:01 am (UTC)Oof, yeah. I hope she's okay and the long silence is just because of Real Life Things (I know how that goes).
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Date: 2021-11-10 08:03 pm (UTC)I've still been revisiting old fandoms - bouncing between them, really. But you're right in that it's a comfy old fandom. There's something so sweet and nice about visiting a fandom you used to be in, like revisiting childhood friends. I've needed that comforting feeling lately.
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Date: 2021-11-12 05:10 pm (UTC)But I do like being here, and I'm actually kind of resistant to finding any new fandoms right now. Nooooo, I have too many WIPs for my comfy fandoms! No new fandoms, only comfy fandoms!
TL;DR--I absolutely understand the appeal of sticking with a fandom that is known and comfortable and familiar, especially during this current hellscape.
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Date: 2021-09-06 06:39 am (UTC)"HUGS"
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Date: 2021-09-07 01:34 am (UTC)Sometimes a fandom just grabs you, you know?
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Date: 2021-09-07 06:51 am (UTC)"HUGS"
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Date: 2021-09-06 07:51 am (UTC)It's interesting which fandoms grab us and which leave us cold. *G*
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Date: 2021-09-07 01:37 am (UTC)It's interesting which fandoms grab us and which leave us cold. *G*
It's inexplicable, for sure.
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Date: 2021-09-07 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-10 01:40 am (UTC)Harry/Johnny is my THING. And I love the fic you created art for :D