I just like saying the word "manifesto"

[gwyn]

My shipper manifesto for La Femme Nikita's Michael and Nikita is up now over at ship_manifesto, http://www.livejournal.com/community/ship_manifesto/32180.html . I don't really think it's any good, and certainly not something that would draw anyone into the fandom, but I think the fact that I don't get that kind of thing -- luring others into you fandom -- has a lot to do with it. I just did the best I could within my limitations.

I know that sounds weird -- why write a manifesto to pimp a fandom if you don't pimp? Well, generally I don't, but lately I've had unexpected luck with it in The Fast and the Furious, so I figured, since I was asked, why not? A couple people asked me why I was doing it if I didn't believe I could lure people in. The truth is, it's really simple -- I was asked to write something, and I almost never get asked to contribute to anything fannish, so I said yes. I'm a whore, basically. The weird thing is, I never get into fandoms because of something another fan wrote or vidded. If I don't find it on my own, in my own time, I will never get into it. Which is something I'm starting to understand is quite unusual -- almost everyone I know says they love things like the ship-manifesto site to help them find new things to watch and enjoy. And I would just never click on those cut tags to investigate a piece someone wrote about a show or movie I'm not into, so this is all very peculiar to me!

The request was pretty generic, and it looked like any pairings I wanted to say something about were already taken -- Chris and Vin in Mag 7, Bodie and Doyle in Professionals, Buffy and Spike had been done already, and someone far more qualified than I to talk about Dom and Brian in F&F had signed on for that. I thought about going back to X-Files, but I didn't, at the time, really still feel the burning passion for Mulder and Skinner and Scully I used to, so I settled on Nikita and Michael, because dude, no one pays any attention to LFN at all. And then I struggled with what to write, because I knew I'd have to intro the show to people since so few have seen it. Apparently I'm missing the pimp gene.

Also, I am so rarely (well, once, actually) ever asked to contribute to anything that when someone asks me, I say yes. I'm never going to be one of those popular fan writers everyone nominates for all the awards and Better Buffy fic weekends and blah blah blah, so if someone thinks I can contribute to their benefit zine or write a manifesto about a relationship, I'll probably say yes because I'm all Sally Field and going "someone likes me! someone thinks I have something to say!" There you have it -- big ol' ho. Now I'm actually thinking about signing up for something XFian or maybe even Miami Vice, except that I could not remember to post this LFN thing, so I have no faith I'll be able to remember to do it on a real timeline. I'm hopeless about remembering what I wrote even a few days ago.

So anyway, if you want to see what it is about poor old LFN that I love, there you are.

Comments

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

see, i actually don't think it's as much about pimping as it is about reminding people of what they kind of knew all along :-) i only read essays in fandoms i at least vaguely know, and your essay did exactly what i'd want these essays to do...you set up the background, the timeline, remind us of the central scenes, of why at some point we *cared* deeply...you clearly showed your love for the couple and made us share it!!!

in short, i loved your essay!!! thanks!!!

[re fic...LFN actually seems a good Xover fandom, b/c they can become anyone and are all over the world...when i was a little less picky i read quite a few though i couldn't recall a single one...except maybe the one where buffy gets drafted into section *g*...runs off in embarrassment]

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Doesn't that mean, then, that you're just preaching to the converted? That seems so pointless to me, becuase we already know why we like something or are into it... see, this is why I can't do stuff like this. I just don't get it. ;-)

And, um... for years, I've thought of doing a Buffy/LFN xover, even though I DESPISE crossovers. I thought it could be funny if they decided, sort of like The Initiative, to employ vampire slayers or vampires to get rid of supernatural terrorists... but I could never quite figure out how it would work. Because seriously, Spike would make Ops and Madeline INSANE. And that would just be funny.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

that you're just preaching to the converted? but aren't we usually??? i mean, it's like showing a vid to pimp someone into the fandom vs showing one to share your fannish squee...i think, avctually, ship_manifesto does a little bit of both...

LOL about the BtVS/LFN Xover...it is rather tempting, isn't it?

i'm actually a big fan of xovers if they're done well...but yes, thoise tend to be rare :-)

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

IIRC, malisita actually wrote that crossover, though I haven't yet read it.

I should go read it.

Hm.