Why is There So Much.../Why Isn't there More...?
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| Title: | Why is There So Much.../Why Isn't there More...? |
| Creator: | various fans |
| Date(s): | September 9, 2002 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | Fan Fiction, Queen of Swords, Seaquest |
| External Links: | Why is There So Much/Why isn't There More, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Why is There So Much.../Why Isn't there More...? is an essay by Lorelei Jones, Kadorienne, and Lucy Gillam (with massive contribution from Justine). It is a sequel to Lucy Gillam's 1999 essays Why isn't there More...? and Why is There So Much...?
It is part of the Fanfic Symposium series.
Excerpts
Why Isn't There More Queen of Swords f/f? by KadorienneFirst off, I have to admit that the one-season Zorro rip-off "The Queen of Swords" wasn't all that good. The characters aren't very deep and the stories are mostly unabashed plagiarisms of various Zorro movies.
But that hasn't stopped a respectable volume of QoS m/m from being written. And I've written a rant about that as well.
The f/f potential is considerable. There are three beautiful women as regular characters. The central character is a woman, which it seems to me should inspire more f/f than m/m, but that doesn't seem to be the case in practice.
Why Is There So Much Queen Of Swords m/m by Kadorienne The fact that this show was a one-season wonder that admittedly wasn't all that great hasn't stopped a respectable amount of m/m from getting written. And that really puzzles me, because none of the men in this story have what I would consider slashy relationships. Which forces me to digress and define what I consider a slashy relationship. Your mileage may vary.
Why Isn’t there More seaQuest Slash by Lorelei JonesOkay, some people look at me blankly when I say "seaQuest DSV," but I have yet to meet a person who doesn't know exactly what I'm talking about when I say, "You know, the show with the talking dolphin." It's not that the source material is obscure, or even unattainable. Every once in a while, the SciFi Channel dusts off the series and trots it out either for a Chain Reaction or to fill the 6:00 am slot for a complete run. The show ran for three seasons (okay, two if you're a denialist, and I emphatically am), so lack of source material is definitely not a problem. Empires (witness TPM fandom) have been built on less.
Granted, it wasn't the best-written show, but...well, Smallville. The Sentinel. The Phantom Menace. Even select episodes (you know which ones) of Highlander. It's often been mused that bad writing is an attractor when it comes to fanfiction, and I'd have to say all the evidence I've seen points to such. There's more room to play, more to fix, more to interpret or reconcile or reinvent. I *do* think there needs to be some kind of "core of goodness" to work with, a foundation to keep both the show and the fic from unravelling completely, whether it's a basic continuity or a really good premise or characters with "hook," but I think sQ had that. At least as much as the shows I mentioned above (all of which, by the way, are also my fandoms, should anyone decide to take offense).
So, why isn't there more sQ slash? And why is most of what there is so bad?