Meta: From Ten Seconds of Screentime to Ten Thousand Fanfics: Secondary Characters
From Ten Seconds of Screentime to Ten Thousand Fanfics: How and Why Some Secondary Characters Take On a Life of Their Own
Modded at muskratjamboree by shihadchick and shayheyred; modded for rat_jam by the_antichris.
So, secondary characters. Almost by definition, there's a lot of them out there - it's very rare for a main cast to carry a show on their own, and it seems even rarer for them to carry the entire fandom. Whether it's the secondary characters who recurr from episode to episode (or movie to movie) - like Bob Fraser, or Radek Zelenka, or Wedge Antilles (not to wear my fandoms on my sleeve, or anything, here, ahem) - or the one shot characters who have a single episode to shine in, or, heck, a whole two minutes of screentime total, it seems like there's something about them which grabs our attention as much - and sometimes even more - than the major players in canon.
The idea for this panel sprang for the most part from wondering just exactly what it is about the secondary characters who've really spawned a following that makes us engage with them so much. Why are some of us compelled to do what we can to getturnbulllaid? What is it about Major Lorne and Dr Parrish - the latter of whom is barely visible in single dark scene and neither of whom has a first name in canon - that makes them one of the more popular and constant slash pairings in SGA? How did Mr Spock go from being intended to be a secondary character into one of the most recognisable names and faces (okay, ears) in popculture? To drift back towards due South again in particular for a moment - how do we end up with so many fics featuring Mark Smithbauer, who was, again, a one episode character, and some may argue not even a terribly likeable one? Or all the fics using a single throwaway mention of a man named 'Steve' to help build a history - personal, sexual, whichever - for Benton Fraser.
It seems probable that there could be some underlying themes in terms of the characters who really speak to us as fans, the ones who inspire us to read, to write, to vid, to draw, to engage with the canon and to go on and create. So towards that end, here are a few of the questions we've come up with and would love to hear people's thoughts and perspectives on:
Does the 'blank slate' effect of a secondary character add to the attraction? Is it easier - or just more fun - to play with a character whose history, characterisation and sometimes even name isn't set in stone?
Do the interactions in the canon affect how you feel about a particular secondary character, and how drawn you are to them? Both in terms of the characters who look good - the funny smart sideline people, and in terms of the villains or the comic relief. What does it say when characters are demonised in canon, and then there's almost a reactionary swing inside fandom to rehabilitate them, to give them stories that treat them more kindly?
Does a foreign accent or something exotic about the character draw us to them more strongly? An alien (either in the Little Green Men sense, or even in the fish-out-of-water way) background? Do they usually turn up attached to some kind of tragic secret, or a major plot twist or plot arc? Are we sometimes purely shallow and jumping straight for the eye-candy?
So c'mon and jump in - who're the secondary characters who really speak to YOU, and what is it about them?
Thanks a million to Shay for doing a lot of the heavy liftingthinking, and to Chris for keeping an eye on the online half here. Have fun, guys!
Modded at muskratjamboree by shihadchick and shayheyred; modded for rat_jam by the_antichris.
So, secondary characters. Almost by definition, there's a lot of them out there - it's very rare for a main cast to carry a show on their own, and it seems even rarer for them to carry the entire fandom. Whether it's the secondary characters who recurr from episode to episode (or movie to movie) - like Bob Fraser, or Radek Zelenka, or Wedge Antilles (not to wear my fandoms on my sleeve, or anything, here, ahem) - or the one shot characters who have a single episode to shine in, or, heck, a whole two minutes of screentime total, it seems like there's something about them which grabs our attention as much - and sometimes even more - than the major players in canon.
The idea for this panel sprang for the most part from wondering just exactly what it is about the secondary characters who've really spawned a following that makes us engage with them so much. Why are some of us compelled to do what we can to getturnbulllaid? What is it about Major Lorne and Dr Parrish - the latter of whom is barely visible in single dark scene and neither of whom has a first name in canon - that makes them one of the more popular and constant slash pairings in SGA? How did Mr Spock go from being intended to be a secondary character into one of the most recognisable names and faces (okay, ears) in popculture? To drift back towards due South again in particular for a moment - how do we end up with so many fics featuring Mark Smithbauer, who was, again, a one episode character, and some may argue not even a terribly likeable one? Or all the fics using a single throwaway mention of a man named 'Steve' to help build a history - personal, sexual, whichever - for Benton Fraser.
It seems probable that there could be some underlying themes in terms of the characters who really speak to us as fans, the ones who inspire us to read, to write, to vid, to draw, to engage with the canon and to go on and create. So towards that end, here are a few of the questions we've come up with and would love to hear people's thoughts and perspectives on:
Does the 'blank slate' effect of a secondary character add to the attraction? Is it easier - or just more fun - to play with a character whose history, characterisation and sometimes even name isn't set in stone?
Do the interactions in the canon affect how you feel about a particular secondary character, and how drawn you are to them? Both in terms of the characters who look good - the funny smart sideline people, and in terms of the villains or the comic relief. What does it say when characters are demonised in canon, and then there's almost a reactionary swing inside fandom to rehabilitate them, to give them stories that treat them more kindly?
Does a foreign accent or something exotic about the character draw us to them more strongly? An alien (either in the Little Green Men sense, or even in the fish-out-of-water way) background? Do they usually turn up attached to some kind of tragic secret, or a major plot twist or plot arc? Are we sometimes purely shallow and jumping straight for the eye-candy?
So c'mon and jump in - who're the secondary characters who really speak to YOU, and what is it about them?
Thanks a million to Shay for doing a lot of the heavy liftingthinking, and to Chris for keeping an eye on the online half here. Have fun, guys!