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franzeskaARE YOU EXCITED? I'M EXCITED!
The Losers is the awesomest fandom evar, and this exchange is going to be great! My letter is going to be great too...once I finish writing it. RIGHT NOW!
Dear fanworks creator, I love The Losers, and I will love what you make for me. AND I AM SUPER EXCITED. I dabble in a lot of fandoms, but it's a rare one that grabs me like The Losers did. The movie is just so big and dumb and colorful and fun! And the comics are gorgeous with an ending that makes me howl with rage. (No, but that's a good thing! How many fandoms have been born from the desire to write fixit fic?)
I love spending time with self-confident, badass characters being competent and awesome. The Losers is fantastic for this. I know some people write Jensen as really clueless, but I'm not buying it: He knows exactly what he's doing when he puts on those ridiculous shirts or decides to hack in his boxers. I see all of the main characters as people who are great at what they do and who know it. They wouldn't have survived this long without being pretty socially savvy, technically skilled, and good at wanton destruction. AWESOME TEAM IS AWESOME!
If I do have one absolutely iron-clad squick, it is for characters who are secretly deeply insecure and wounded inside of the cocky exterior we see in canon. I like my cocky bastards to be cocky bastards through and through! (And I hesitate to say this bit because it's some serious squee harshing, but those wish fulfillment stories in fandom and everywhere in pro writing where someone ~loves~ the wounded character enough to be patient and wait for them... uh... I really, really, really identify with the person waiting. In a bad way. We're talking fridge horror, not romance here.)
But! That's not to say that no characters can have a dark night of the soul or that I only enjoy fluff. I love adventure stories and plot. I love angst... I just love cheesy angst with magical happy endings. I like Hollywood physics and Hollywood medicine and buddy cop-style life threatening injuries that crop up during sweeps week and then are mysteriously all better by the end of the episode. I do not care if it's realistic or if it offends the sensibilities of people who prefer high art: I want my happy ending where everybody still has all of their body parts, their sanity, and probably their job.
Gosh, you're thinking, did you actually read The Losers comic? Yes, yes I did.AND THE ENDING IS WRONG, ALL WRONG You do not need to spare my tender sensibilities with regards to Pooch and that whole torture thing. (Hey, he's not the one who needs to type all the time. He'll deal.) I would be totally happy with movie!fic, comics!fic, or a fusion. If you are using the end of the comic though, let me just say that I am a BIG FAN of fixit fic. Canon divergence, vampires, time travel, it was all a dream, Highlander shenanigans: I don't care how you do it as long as it results in more adventures and awesome and a happy ending. As much as I hate sad endings, I love the manufactured angst of characters being presumed dead. The best part of the comic is that bit where Jensen turns up all smirky and self-satisfied and everyone else is like "WHAT?!" It's not just the tacklehug that I like though: it's how the whole thing is milked for maximum ridiculous angst first. I mean, was it really necessary for us to get several panels of Pooch bitching Clay out or for Clay to tell Cougar it was his fault..?
OF COURSE IT WAS! Needless cheesy drama is the entire point of an event like that! When it comes to literal cliffhangers, fake death, and melodrama, I am a more is MORE kind of girl. OHOHOHO!
As is probably hilariously obvious every time I write about The Losers, my favorite character is Jensen--followed closely by Aisha. I like Cougar a lot, but I like him best for introducing me to Óscar Jaenada and his awesome oeuvre and hilarious interviews. (I read Barbara Goenaga's political tweets. I've watched their short where everything goes backwards a whole bunch of times. I may go bankrupt ordering obscure DVDs from Spain. It's kind of sad.) But everyone in the movie is super amazing, and I like the comics-only characters too. Some, I like more in a love-to-hate way (comics!Roque) or in a lulzy wtf way (movie!Wade). Some I want to like, but they never got to do much (Fahd) or love but want a different ending for (comics!Aisha, what are you doing? AAAAH!). I find movie!Pooch very appealing but minimally developed and comics!Pooch better developed but not that appealing, but if Pooch is your favorite, I am sure you can work wonders with him. I do not have strong feelings about the barely-there characters like Jensen's relatives or Jolene. I do have kind of mixed feelings about movie!Roque. I just cannot see him as his fans do--not to write him myself anyway--but if you want to totally redeem him, I will enjoy watching you do it. I do love a good secretly-not-evil story almost as much as I love a secretly-not-dead one.
Speaking of which... AUs. Canon divergence is awesome. (Someone makes a different choice in this scene; canon disaster is averted.) Vampires/werewolves/immortals/etc. secretly exist AUs are awesome. Hey, they could. If they're secret, it's not like the Losers would have known about them either. Zombie outbreaks and doorways to another dimension and all manner of localized disaster craziness: also awesome! What I'm not that fond of are crack-y AUs and completely job/identity-changing AUs. No everyone is a girlscout cookie anthropomorfic for me. No high school AUs. No always-a-girl. However, if you want to write space opera keeping the whole A-Team wrongly accused plot, go for it. Wrongful accusations are a staple of nautical adventure cheese too (Captain Blood, I am looking at you and your copious gay subtext, yes I am). Changes like what the movie did to the comic, moving Aisha's father's base to Bolivia, I have no issues with if you've got a reason to write the AU that way. What I really love are a sense of place and a glimpse into complex human societies. If the main characters are a similar military-ish team, if they hide out in cities, and if human society as we know it is still intact by the end of the fic, I'll love it. Zombie outbreaks: A++! Zombies destroying every city on the planet and everyone ending up as a farmer with no internet: MY WORST NIGHTMARE! Think of theporn children, fanworks creator!
Speaking of which... if you are a vidder rather than a writer, you can ignore everything I said about crack. I love absurd, cracky vids. You can use sound effects instead of music. You can do a parody trailer. You can do a suuuuuper sappy pairing vid. You can do an ultra-serious vid about women and politics in the comic. Movie footage. Comics panels. Copious footage of the actors in other roles. I LOVE IT ALL! If you're making me a vid, you can straight up ignore everything I said in my signup about characters or pairings. As long as it's conceptually a Losers vid, regardless of who or what appears in your footage, I will be happy. For even more endless drivel about my views on vids, see mysparkletext Festivids letter.
Art... is something I like but that I don't do a lot of myself. I tend to especially like narrative artforms, whether they involve text or not, so I would be especially overjoyed by an illustration that does or could go with a fic rather than a simple portrait, but it's really up to you. Art is such a great place to go for the AU concepts, including all of the ones I'm less keen on in fic. There have been some seriously kickass graphics in this fandom too. If you do something remix-y, I will like that too. I am extremely icon-challenged, both in the making of icons and in remembering to ever use anything other than my default. I have a million free icon slots on my Dreamwidth account; maybe you can fill some of them.
For meta, you're on your own. ;D If I had your thoughts about The Losers, I'd already have posted them, probably with a shitload of capslock. Research something about weapons or food or locations. Analyze Aisha's father's transformation from the timely and politically relevant choice of Afghan warlord to generic Miami Vice-a-licious Latin American druglord. Tell me how the comic fits into the mainstream US comics industry. I don't know. Just give me some meaty analysis of something.
But wait! While I did say that no internet is a fate worse than death, I did not say anything aboutpr0n what sort of relationship stuff I like in fanworks. I am not an OTP type of person, let me say that right up front. I love Jensen/Cougar in that I have, you know, EYES, and have seen the scenes and panels where they are within a mile or two of each other, but I'm totally fine with reading about other pairings, and OT3s are great. If you want to write about Jensen's sister seducing Cougar and Cougar freaking out because he has totally misjudged Jensen's reaction, that would be awesome. (Yes, for the literal-minded among you, that is an invitation to write incestuous threesome porn.) Ditto Aisha dragging anybody back to her lair by their hair. I like revoltingly sweet stuff. I love dubcon of the sex pollen or doing it for the mission variety. I will not be bothered by wacky fetishes or the typical uber-squicks like scat as long as you think they're hot and are writing them that way. (I'm not too keen on 24-7 BDSM relationship stuff or faux-biological determination of who's on the top/bottom though.) I sometimes read nifty.org...
But, hey, Jensen probably reads it too. I have said it before, but I will say it again: What is up with those action figures at the beginning of the movie? Are those the words of a man who is merely trying to freak Pooch out? I THINK NOT! Those are clearly the words of a man with a large stash of furry tentacle hentai hidden on his computer. And probably a bunch of that stuff with "interrogation" scenes featuring bottle blond nurses in skimpy uniforms. The man asks Aisha out: He clearly either has a deathwish or likes to be on the bottom! I am convinced that most of the Losers characters are total kink fiends of one sort or another. There's that bit in the comic where Clay tells Cougar he's got a dirty mind. There's Clay and Aisha destroying a hotel room. There's Aisha... LET'S HAVE SOME VISUAL AIDS!
Did I forget anything? I FEEL LIKE I'M FORGETTING SOMETHING. Oh yes:
The Losers is the awesomest fandom evar, and this exchange is going to be great! My letter is going to be great too...
Dear fanworks creator, I love The Losers, and I will love what you make for me. AND I AM SUPER EXCITED. I dabble in a lot of fandoms, but it's a rare one that grabs me like The Losers did. The movie is just so big and dumb and colorful and fun! And the comics are gorgeous with an ending that makes me howl with rage. (No, but that's a good thing! How many fandoms have been born from the desire to write fixit fic?)
I love spending time with self-confident, badass characters being competent and awesome. The Losers is fantastic for this. I know some people write Jensen as really clueless, but I'm not buying it: He knows exactly what he's doing when he puts on those ridiculous shirts or decides to hack in his boxers. I see all of the main characters as people who are great at what they do and who know it. They wouldn't have survived this long without being pretty socially savvy, technically skilled, and good at wanton destruction. AWESOME TEAM IS AWESOME!
If I do have one absolutely iron-clad squick, it is for characters who are secretly deeply insecure and wounded inside of the cocky exterior we see in canon. I like my cocky bastards to be cocky bastards through and through! (And I hesitate to say this bit because it's some serious squee harshing, but those wish fulfillment stories in fandom and everywhere in pro writing where someone ~loves~ the wounded character enough to be patient and wait for them... uh... I really, really, really identify with the person waiting. In a bad way. We're talking fridge horror, not romance here.)
But! That's not to say that no characters can have a dark night of the soul or that I only enjoy fluff. I love adventure stories and plot. I love angst... I just love cheesy angst with magical happy endings. I like Hollywood physics and Hollywood medicine and buddy cop-style life threatening injuries that crop up during sweeps week and then are mysteriously all better by the end of the episode. I do not care if it's realistic or if it offends the sensibilities of people who prefer high art: I want my happy ending where everybody still has all of their body parts, their sanity, and probably their job.
Gosh, you're thinking, did you actually read The Losers comic? Yes, yes I did.
OF COURSE IT WAS! Needless cheesy drama is the entire point of an event like that! When it comes to literal cliffhangers, fake death, and melodrama, I am a more is MORE kind of girl. OHOHOHO!
As is probably hilariously obvious every time I write about The Losers, my favorite character is Jensen--followed closely by Aisha. I like Cougar a lot, but I like him best for introducing me to Óscar Jaenada and his awesome oeuvre and hilarious interviews. (I read Barbara Goenaga's political tweets. I've watched their short where everything goes backwards a whole bunch of times. I may go bankrupt ordering obscure DVDs from Spain. It's kind of sad.) But everyone in the movie is super amazing, and I like the comics-only characters too. Some, I like more in a love-to-hate way (comics!Roque) or in a lulzy wtf way (movie!Wade). Some I want to like, but they never got to do much (Fahd) or love but want a different ending for (comics!Aisha, what are you doing? AAAAH!). I find movie!Pooch very appealing but minimally developed and comics!Pooch better developed but not that appealing, but if Pooch is your favorite, I am sure you can work wonders with him. I do not have strong feelings about the barely-there characters like Jensen's relatives or Jolene. I do have kind of mixed feelings about movie!Roque. I just cannot see him as his fans do--not to write him myself anyway--but if you want to totally redeem him, I will enjoy watching you do it. I do love a good secretly-not-evil story almost as much as I love a secretly-not-dead one.
Speaking of which... AUs. Canon divergence is awesome. (Someone makes a different choice in this scene; canon disaster is averted.) Vampires/werewolves/immortals/etc. secretly exist AUs are awesome. Hey, they could. If they're secret, it's not like the Losers would have known about them either. Zombie outbreaks and doorways to another dimension and all manner of localized disaster craziness: also awesome! What I'm not that fond of are crack-y AUs and completely job/identity-changing AUs. No everyone is a girlscout cookie anthropomorfic for me. No high school AUs. No always-a-girl. However, if you want to write space opera keeping the whole A-Team wrongly accused plot, go for it. Wrongful accusations are a staple of nautical adventure cheese too (Captain Blood, I am looking at you and your copious gay subtext, yes I am). Changes like what the movie did to the comic, moving Aisha's father's base to Bolivia, I have no issues with if you've got a reason to write the AU that way. What I really love are a sense of place and a glimpse into complex human societies. If the main characters are a similar military-ish team, if they hide out in cities, and if human society as we know it is still intact by the end of the fic, I'll love it. Zombie outbreaks: A++! Zombies destroying every city on the planet and everyone ending up as a farmer with no internet: MY WORST NIGHTMARE! Think of the
Speaking of which... if you are a vidder rather than a writer, you can ignore everything I said about crack. I love absurd, cracky vids. You can use sound effects instead of music. You can do a parody trailer. You can do a suuuuuper sappy pairing vid. You can do an ultra-serious vid about women and politics in the comic. Movie footage. Comics panels. Copious footage of the actors in other roles. I LOVE IT ALL! If you're making me a vid, you can straight up ignore everything I said in my signup about characters or pairings. As long as it's conceptually a Losers vid, regardless of who or what appears in your footage, I will be happy. For even more endless drivel about my views on vids, see my
Art... is something I like but that I don't do a lot of myself. I tend to especially like narrative artforms, whether they involve text or not, so I would be especially overjoyed by an illustration that does or could go with a fic rather than a simple portrait, but it's really up to you. Art is such a great place to go for the AU concepts, including all of the ones I'm less keen on in fic. There have been some seriously kickass graphics in this fandom too. If you do something remix-y, I will like that too. I am extremely icon-challenged, both in the making of icons and in remembering to ever use anything other than my default. I have a million free icon slots on my Dreamwidth account; maybe you can fill some of them.
For meta, you're on your own. ;D If I had your thoughts about The Losers, I'd already have posted them, probably with a shitload of capslock. Research something about weapons or food or locations. Analyze Aisha's father's transformation from the timely and politically relevant choice of Afghan warlord to generic Miami Vice-a-licious Latin American druglord. Tell me how the comic fits into the mainstream US comics industry. I don't know. Just give me some meaty analysis of something.
But wait! While I did say that no internet is a fate worse than death, I did not say anything about
But, hey, Jensen probably reads it too. I have said it before, but I will say it again: What is up with those action figures at the beginning of the movie? Are those the words of a man who is merely trying to freak Pooch out? I THINK NOT! Those are clearly the words of a man with a large stash of furry tentacle hentai hidden on his computer. And probably a bunch of that stuff with "interrogation" scenes featuring bottle blond nurses in skimpy uniforms. The man asks Aisha out: He clearly either has a deathwish or likes to be on the bottom! I am convinced that most of the Losers characters are total kink fiends of one sort or another. There's that bit in the comic where Clay tells Cougar he's got a dirty mind. There's Clay and Aisha destroying a hotel room. There's Aisha... LET'S HAVE SOME VISUAL AIDS!
Did I forget anything? I FEEL LIKE I'M FORGETTING SOMETHING. Oh yes:
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