Fandom 2011 meme
Your main fandom of the year?
Mass Effect, with some dabbling in Dragon Age and Skyrim.
Your favorite film watched this year?
I enjoyed the heck out of Thor and Captain America, and X-Men: First Class was surprisingly good. Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 were also a lot of fun.
Your favorite book read this year?
I wish I could say the long-awaited Dance With Dragons, but that one landed with all the grace of a hippo's bellyflop. So instead I'm going to have to go with the non-fannish but equally geeky Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolski.
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
Always Loved a Film, from Underworld's album Barking. The rest of the album is fairly solid too.
Your favorite TV show of the year?
Fringe. So nice to discover a show like this, with a female main character I identify with and almost never makes my eyes roll out of my head. The pseudo-science conceits are a lot of fun, John Noble is fantastic to watch, and it strikes a good balance of actually answering questions along the way.
Archer is a close second. I realized watching it last night why I like it so much. For once, the characters aren't incompetent at their jobs. Any failure instead stems directly from their intense dysfunction as people. Second, there are no forced fart jokes or slapstick; all the humor flows naturally from the clash of personalities. And there's just a whiff of real pathos, enough to make the humor all the better.
Your favorite LJ community of the year?
Mass Effect wins more or less by default on this one. The Skyrim comm is too young to judge, and the DA comms don't really interest me. I'm sure there are lovely people in them, but the insanity that leaks out sometimes is a little off-putting.
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Skyrim! I'm not all that familiar with the Elder Scrolls universe, and it's been a joy to discover.
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Dragon Age 2. Ugh. Parts of it were fantastic, namely the writing of the companions. But the cut corners were all over the place, from appalling location re-use and pointless fetch questing to nonsensical stories and a slavish devotion to the ENDLESS MISERY=REALISM equation. I've never felt more useless as a main character at the end of a game, and it's not a feeling I would pay money for again. The entire exercise amounted to a fat lot of nothing. The Dragon Age franchise has moved from must-buy to having a lot to prove before I'll consider it.
A Dance With Dragons is a close second. We waited seven years for a book that went nowhere, circling its own bed and leaning on cheap cliffhangers to inject drama into a long-dead horse. This series desperately needs to mount an archeological expedition to excavate its focus.
Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Kaidan remained the stubborn stalwart, with guest appearances by Varric, Ezio and Scouts-Many-Marshes.
Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Hm... I think Aveline takes the cake on this one. Despite my complaints with the rest if the game, she was non-stop awesome.
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Skyrim, I think. The game basically wasn't on my radar up until release, and now I'm sitting on the long end of 130 hours played. I find myself guarded about trailers these days, so in this case, the proof is in the sweet rolls. So nice to have a real product live up to the hype.
The most missed of your old fandoms?
I don't really have any per se. I sort of miss World of Warcraft sometimes, but not much. I also miss enjoying Dragon Age without getting so pissed off at its new multitude of failings.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I could see myself getting more into The Elder Scrolls 'verse.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Mass Effect 3 is the big one, my enthusiasm for which stands mostly undiminished, thanks in no small part to Raphel Sbarge's little hints and general generosity to the fans. I've waited a long time for the payoff, and I hope it'll be at least worth the price of admission. Also hoping Avengers will be good, and I have a few toys on pre-order that I can't freakin' wait to get my paws on.