GRRM: ASOIAF

[gwendolyngrace]

Just curious:

Who else out there might be interested enough in George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" to start a discussion group?

I've been lurking for a bit on the existing fan sites: Tower of the Hand*, Westeros, and the Westeros message boards (powered by EZboard), and I found one LJ community recently.

It's strange how fundamentally *different* their fandom feels from my corner of HP. Kinda.... Well, they're more "grown-ups" (at least, supposedly), but their behaviour is decidedly *less* grown-up than I'm used to. They're not as polite with one another, for one thing. Okay, granted, *every* fandom has its snark, and lord knows I'm not naive enough to think that HP doesn't get nasty. (Wank fests? Ship wars? BNF deathmatches? WHO, US? Never.) But I dunno.... Maybe it's because it's more heavily male. Maybe it's because it's smaller. It just doesn't seem a very friendly fandom.

Funnily, someone started a thread there recently asking about people's ships...and one of the first responses was from a (male) user telling the original poster to "Please return forthwith to whatever Harry Potter "ship" you disembarked from." All I could think was, "You arrogant asshat." I mean, sure, a lot of fans can say that HP was their first fandom. A lot of them take shipping too seriously (it's not the be-all and end-all of the series, although I'll state that HP has a different focus and thus the "ships" are part of the resonance of the books). But for fuck's sake, is HP really worth that much derision?

So far, it's attitudes like this that have left me completely uncompelled to comment. But I would like to be able to discuss the books with people who are inclined to speculation (their boards seem more geared toward simple clarification, which I can totally buy. The books are massive and very difficult to keep track of). I crave meta-discussion and filled-in backstory. And I've noticed lately that many on my flist have been reading or are talking about ASOIAF on their journals.

So... anyone out there feel like carving out our own niche?


*This is one amazing site, but I wish it had some more meta conversation as well.

Comments

[meril.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say it's because the fandom's heavily male. The Honorverse fandom absolutely loves speculation and will blather on about ships (both kinds, the spaceships more than the relationships, although after the last book the pairing discussion essentially died because canon settled the issue everyone was speculating upon) whenever they get a chance.

I think it's because the Martin fans think that their preferred series is more "grown-up" than HP and of course they have something to prove.

Keep in mind that I'm out of the HP fandom, largely because of immature behavior, and I'm agreeing with you.

What's wrong with the LJ comm? Just curious. I don't know if I'd be interested in a new one--I still haven't read book 4 and I really prefer Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. ;)

(Also, the Westeros site doesn't use the ezBoards anymore, or shouldn't...have you seen the new forum? Not saying that it will resolve your issues with the fandom, but.)

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

I wasn't saying that it was *because* the fandom is male. I think if anything it's perhaps because the male contingent of the fandom seems to be more cut from the "high fantasy" model of series like Elric, Dune, etc.... and it's just perception.

I'm registered on the Westeros boards, and yes, I've been reading them. That's where I'm getting this "eh, I want to go elsewhere" feeling *from*. As for the LJ comm.... I haven't spent time there, but the moderator did a crack-down recently on fanfic (GRRM is apparently opposed, boo), and again, I just got the sense that it was a little... snobbish?

[meril.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. It's just that certain portion of fandom, the sort of portion that drives me nuts.

Re the LJ comm: Yes, in that case, starting a new one would be good. I've seen other fic/no fic splits in other small-fandom LJ comms, and having a discussion and fic comm together is a good idea for a small fandom. One of the ones I've seen has the fic flocked and potential members have to comment to an open post saying that they're not opposed to fic and won't rat the fic out to the original author. (This is why hms_fearless has a no-fic policy. I'm not opposed to fic, but David Weber is rather averse to having it shoved at him, and a few of the more rabid fans back that up. Also, he ::cough:: knows about the comm. If someone else wanted to start a fic comm, though...::whistles::)