Post: When Fandom Worlds Collide

[labyrinth2015]

In the words of Neil Young, off "Fork in the Road", "Truth is fiction, truth is lies, strange things happen when worlds collide..."

Weird things happen when you're cycling through fandoms at hyperspeed so you can get back to actual work! You know how fandom seems multitudinous and labyrinthian at first blush? Then you run across familiar people -- leici commenting on an old U2 story, otherbella popping up in Hunger Games fandom, discovering that twistedchick, the lady for whom I was writing a Yuletide treat, was a friend of my beta for that self-same story, cinco -- and suddenly there are intricate connections across fandoms where you least expect them :)

And of course, out of those different fandoms comes the crossover fic ideas :)

To wit: in Inception fandom, I've been stalled on the Anthemic-as-Inception-team idea for ages (c'mon, who doesn't wanna see DCook as scene-chewing Extractor DCobb?), and Part II of Tommy Solomon-and-crew-incept-Archie elevator!fic is still at the planning stage :(

Over at The Hunger Games, it's easy to picture Cook and Archie as Finnick Odair and his beloved Annie, or to imagine the Quarter Quell kids getting their golden tickets to Captiol Hollywood, and singing for their lives on the Idol stage -- where they meet Haymitch as Simon Cowell and Snow as evil 19E Network producer Simon Fuller (and Caesar Flickerman as their host, Ryan Seacrest!); Peeta and Katniss sing Marly's "The Letter"/Kradam's We are the Champions and Finnick sings DCook's "Sharp Dressed Man" - and in a nailbiting photo-finish, the number of votes cast for the top two are exactly the same and there are two American Idols crowned! I kinda want to write that :)

Where worlds collide there are duets, too, of course. evilgeniuslady reminded me of the epic 80s Springsteen/Sting duet on "The River", and how epic it was. Magnificent, and magnificently slashy, these classic rockers in their glorious youth singing each other's words and getting up close and personal in each other's space:

Then Bruce repaid Sting's nuanced, brilliant take on "The River" by shouldering Sting's arm and the famous stalkerific vibe of the Police's "Every Breath You Take", all the while looking like he'd like to lock lips with and draw breath from the mighty Summoner :)

My new/revived fandom crush, U2, has also dueted awesomely with both Springsteen as well as Sting, and in my brain they make a worlds-colliding OT3/OT6 of awesome. Here they are in Philadelphia with Bruce, taking on "People Get Ready":

And the virtuoso "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", from their 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame outing: "I'm looking for the Boss!" said Bono, gesturing meaningfully, and Bruce indeed stepped up to the mic and in close to the other B., but not before he dallied and traded guitar licks with the obviously smitten Edge:

Check how the Edge grins helplessly and has to hold himself back from fanboying Bruce :) U2 adore the Boss so much they sang Springsteen's "She’s the One" on his 60th birthday, during the 2009 leg of their 360 Degrees Tour – changing it up to "He's the one," of course :) LOVE.

U2 has somewhat less of a connection with Sir Gordon, but Bono did have a celebrated outing with the Police during the "Invisible Sun" in the 1986 Amnesty International concert:

Sting's return engagement was on "One", though I haven't managed to find vid of it - maybe some handy person on my f-list can help :) Vocals awesome, though!

ETA: There is Sting/Bono slashiness on 1984's "Do They Know It's Christmas", where they share a vocal line - 'And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom' - WITH ADDED DURAN DURAN/SLB COLLIDING HOTNESS, WHICH IS ALWAYS WELCOME XD

Things do get a little sketchy, though, where RL collides with fandom. I have no problems with the idea of celeb RPF - actors and musicians and entertainment and sports personalities are public figures, and as such they sign on to a certain amout of stanning and fair play in re: those public images. Reclusive Harvard figures and businessmen may however not be quite the same kettle of fish, and although I've followed The Social Network fandom and the Mark/Eduardo fic with interest, I have always felt there's a difference.



Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg as Savarin and Zuckenberg in The Social Network, image owned by Columbia Pictures

Anyways, I found out at dinner Saturday night that Hub's (lithe, hot, 21-y.o.) second cousin who works at Large International Bank, apparently parties with Savarin at, inter alia, an Island hotspot of some note. It seems the guy is lying low here on the Island post-movie and is cutting a bit of a swathe through the local scene?

I must say my first fannish instinct was to consider asking Hot Young Cousin for an introduction (which I would only use For Good, of course~!), but my better sense prevailed. Dude didn't ask to be stanned, let alone bombarded by questions about his deep, dark feelings about the ex-best friend who, from some accounts, screwed him over, and whom fandom would impute desires of another similar and even baser nature?

Also: I suspect when RL and fandom intersect, fanfic will always give the more satisfying answer :)



This entry was originally posted on dreamwidth; you can choose to read it there.

Comments

[frackin-sweet.livejournal.com]

Since my revising has ground to a halt, I stop by for entertainment!! Some of those videos, I have never seen! The Springsteen/U2 ones OMG ♥ And THE BAND AID VIDEO. BRB TIME TRAVELING TO 1984 AND CHECKING OUT MY HAIR/OUTFIT. How traumatic that would be :)

I LOOOOVE your Hunger Games/Idol crossover idea!!! That seems PLAUSIBLE, even...NEXT YEAR, IDOL EXECUTES WHOEVER GETS KICKED OFF THAT NIGHT!! I won't lie, there have been times where I would have welcomed it =/

[chemicalwonder.livejournal.com]

I ADORE the U2/Springsteen ISHFWILF duet. <3

[aohatsu.livejournal.com]

All I've got is: yes.

[tristantrakand.livejournal.com]

I've been told that when Saverin is asked about what his involvement with Facebook is, he simply states that he develops Facebook games. And that he's been in Singapore since before the movie came out.

Also, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield make a better picture in my head. XD

[sophie-448.livejournal.com]

OHHHH TSN. It's like ... lapped the FPS/RPS divide or something. Here's the thing for me. The movie is based on a book that was inspired by real events, but by no means intended to be a totally reliable accounting of the facts. I liked the movie as a story, and I enjoyed the characters played by Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg.

Of course I naturally have some curiosity about what really happened, but I DO NOT want to read about actual Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. Because truth be told I know very little about them. And I'm always mildly squicked when I start reading a fic only to discover partway through that it's about the real people rather than the characters (which tends to come about because the fic references the movie coming out).

Honestly, it just doesn't work for me on a logical level to base your characterizations off the movie, and then work backwards and suppose that those characterizations can be applied to the actual people and then talk about how those people responded to their characterization in a movie upon which you based your writing in the first place! Does it make your brain hurt? It does mine.

Ummm ... yes. IDK, I have some thoughts. Way to go you for taking the high road, though, because I'm not sure I would have had that strength ;-)

[fieryrogue.livejournal.com]

Crossovers! I have had ~ideas, but I'm always afraid to do them because I fear where Doctor Who crosses Cookleta is possibly a thin sliver of audience. Haha. For example.

THE BOSS. Oh man. ♥_♥ is all. (Hmm, Born in the USA!Cookleta. Where Cook meets that album cover. Oh yes. [And Archie... um, "admires" said art work. WHAT? Who said that??])

[storylandqueen.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, I want that Inception crossover, it sounds like a fantastic idea! Also, I'm currently reading The Mortal Instruments trilogy right now, but after that, I have Hunger Games waiting for me.

As for the duets, I actually watched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert on... HBO, or something like that, and I loved it. It was amazing and it made me want to watch it all over again.

Also, I thought Savarin lived in Singapore and had been? You have a point about them not signing up for all this, and I notice a lot of people disclaiming that their work is based on the fictional TSN versions of Mark and Eduardo, rather than the actual people. The movie does make people wonder, however, about several things. It would be nice to hear the story in his own words, but he's probably getting tired of it by now.

[rampantskyline.livejournal.com]

I love everything about this post. And I'm excited to read crossovers such as Inception-Anthemic (whattup, that is such a nice thing to picture.

Social Network <3333333

[be-merry.livejournal.com]

Also: I suspect when RL and fandom intersect, fanfic will always give the more satisfying answer :)

I'm pretty sure this is the case. ;)

Also, I love when you run into familiar "faces" in other fandoms. It makes me gleeful. :)