teashadephoenix | Fandom | Interacting with Actual People

I realised something last week. It has been so long since I engaged in fandom activity (nearly ten years!) with another person right in front of me that I have sort of forgotten that not everybody watches telly like I do. (Apart from my brother, but he doesn't count because we watch telly exactly the same.)

A new co-worker of mine, Cora, is a big telly geek too. Which has made it crazy fun to work with her (especially in the emotional climate my job is currently in.)

But last week, we got a spoiler photo from an episode of Dexter. And I started postulating who I thought it could be. Midway through the conversation, Cora says to me

"I've never done this, trying to figure out what's gonna happen next."

And I screeched to a halt.

I know I don't watch things the way a lot of people do. I suppose most people watch an episode, and once it's over, it's over. Not for me. I continue thinking about it. I blog about it. I theorise. (Sometimes I fic and get really emotionally invested and cry for way too long when a character regenerates and the show takes a flying leap. That happens too.)

I look at it from a writer's perspective. I know all the tricks and I can name all the tropes. I can ~~usually~~ spot a plot twist coming a mile off, unless it's really clever or really stupid.

So when my prediction on who the murder victim was turned out to be RIGHT...

D8 I feel all guilty now! I totes inadvertantly spoiled it for Cora.

Nevermind that I dont usually get fannish outside of my house to start with. (Cons are just.. ohmgod I get so much secondhand embarrassment. And actors finding out or talking about fic? Or shipping? OH GOD. MY BRAIN.)

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Yeah, I've spoiled people that way too, I'm like, c'mon, it's OBVIOUS! Or "oooh I bet it is gonna be ..." and yeah then they ain't happy!

I've had some really great fangirl buddies IRL over the years though :) I'm glad you have Cora, although yes, her comment about not theorizing made me o.0 too!

I've had a couple of IRL mates, but never any that stuck for a long time. (Except for a girl now known only as Psycho B!tch, because she was nutterbutters.)

Luckily when I talked to Cora today she wasn't upset (sigh of relief) she was just like OMG YOU WERE RIGHT. I told her another of my theories today and she was like "NO I dont want you to be right, that would be horrible!" xD Same reaction as me to my own theory! (it's a horrible thing to do to one of my favorite characters, if true.)

HA. I would never claim to know all the tricks and tropes, because I don't watch enough genres and I don't spend any time at all on tv tropes. And while I don't like to think too hard about it, because I usually end up spoiling myself that way, I am pretty good at guessing plots of the shows I do watch. Also ones I don't, apparently. Terra Nova was on when I was at my sisters and there was some guy who was being generally dodge, didn't remember something he should have and then asked to see a letter he'd once sent. Literally the first words out of my mouth were "He's an imposter". I was right, but it was a plot arc that had been going on for five weeks. FIVE WEEKS. Of course, having said that, I can still never guess what Fringe is going to do, which is why I love it sfm. It's just a world of clever.

Anyway yeah, occasionally I interact with people offline about telly, but what you do is EXACTLY what we do - theorise, try and guess what's going to happen and moan about the fact that it isn't next week.

Or January. Damn you Fringe.

Haha! You would. I think that's just because you can spot fake people, tho.

Thing is, I've been doing this for a good part of my teenage/adult life. Ive always done it. I enjoy doing it. (I constantly get people who ask me, doesnt it bore you to figure everything out before it happens? Uhm how can I put this: No.)

Im going to have to start checking myself around certain friends (not Cora, cause she's awesome) to make sure I dont ruin their day by overanalysing their telly. xD

*squish* It will be here before you know it. January is in like... a few weeks. ;p (Yes I know that doesn't make it better. Fic harder. Write more Torv to the second power.) <3

Possibly, yes.

I get that. Totally. It doesn't bore me, not generally (Sixth Sense being a notable exception) but since most of my recent life has been all about analysis, I'm actually enjoying watching a show where even my CRAZIEST theories are usually only half right. It's nice to see people writing who are cleverer than me. /blatant ego trip.

Lol, indeed you are.

*SPORFLE* I'M NOT EVEN WRITING O². (Though MOAR TORV. never a bad thing.) I'm not even writing the Peter/Olivia for this bloody Secret Santa that I'm supposed to be. Currently I'm dicking about on Neopets while giving myself a break from the most boring book of all time™ that I'm reading, then maybe tonight my words will play and I can prose the scenes I sketched out a week and a half ago. See you on chat tonight?

Yes, I very much like when my theories aren't totally right. (And not in the Moffat Pulls It Out of His Arse way, either.) I dont want to be confused, I want to be dazzled. There's a fucken diff. /soapbox email to Moff

Gooooo wriiiiiiite. Ive fucked around so much the past few days that my wordcount is floating around the U-bend of the toilet. BUT I HAVE THE NEXT THREE DAYS OFF. Writing will commence immediately.

And yes, see you when you pop on. I'm already there. <3

Basically this.

I CANT. I'm writing a brief review of Lounsbury (the boring book I just read) and only when it's done I am allowed to slack off. Talk to my inner phd Nazi. I did sweet FA yesterday - unless you count reading the 60 pages of this damn book, which I feel was actually quite a decent effort - and not much more today. Though again, I just finished the next 60 pages, which has taken something in the vicinity of ... four hours? And will probably spend at least the next half hour on this review, if not more. AND THEN I WILL BE THERE. (Ew, you poor love. I'm sorry to hear that. The u bend and I are not friends. I try to stay well away from it.)

Fandom | Interacting with Actual People

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