Subject: Read them! Read them ALL.
Author:
Posted on: 2012-12-06 03:01:00 UTC
His short stories are a good place to start, though, for the record - I recommend Fragile Things very, very highly. After that, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Stardust are also amazing. And the Sandman series (which is DC Comics, or Vertigo publishers), definitely.
Basically everything he's done is awesome. And so is his blog.
for a crossover lecture with OFUM and OFAS.
I've seen posts on Tumblr about reminding the Sherlock fandom to be mature about the LotR and Star Trek fandoms and their canons (which somehow got twisted into a OMG SHERLOCK FANDOM IS SO IMMATURE THEY TURN ALL FANDOMS GAY versus DON'T BE A FANDOM POLICE WHO DIED AND MADE YOU AUTHORITY ON WHO CAN BE IN WHICH FANDOM argument), and I've seen the beginnings of the Bilbo/Smaug slash downpour.
So, hermione-of-vulcan, if I could get your help in cowriting a crossover lecture at the MBSFA, that would be fantastic.
And I'd love to borrow Bilbo and Smaug from OFUM, but as we all know, Miss Cam is no longer involved in the OFUs. So what am I going to do in that prospect?
The school year has just started, so I can't really throw something like a crossover at the students just yet.
However, I would love to do a crossover lecture eventually...maybe you could just drop a reference like "OFAS was going to show up, but time moves differently in the Trekverse, so we'll do that another time *evil grin*". Maybe it would be better to do it closer to the time Star Trek Into Darkness comes out, which is in May.
Though, it has already begun.
(Oh c'mon, badficcer, we all know it's Treklock. Because Trek is the adjective for Star Trek, as "Lock" is for Sherlock. "StarLock" just sounds like you made Sherlock into a Sue that came from the stars. Also, capitalization.)
I've seen Starlock and Treklock, so I'm not entirely sure on that (although Starlock is pretty vague; it could also be Star Wars, or Stardust, idek...).
Right, I'll get cracking on a Hobbit lecture, although then by timeline constraints I may have to shove the OFAS crossover lecture into another session of MBSFA.
(Also it would be fab if we could do what they did in OFUM and HFA and sent students to each OFU. Hehe.)
I don't remember how they did it in OFUM/HFA, but that sounds a little easier than an actual co-write.
As to the crossover name--it's not like it's official, but I think it should be Treklock. See Trekverse, Treknology, Treknobabble, and Trekkie/Trekker.
Also, can we coin the phrase "The Cumberbatch Connection" for the connection between Star Trek, LOTR, and Sherlock?
It's like all roads lead to Rome: all fandoms lead to Cumberbatch.
They had something where students from OFUM went to HFA, and vice versa. Stuff like translators were provided, and the staff of the other OFUs berated them for making erroneous connections (Draco Malfoy not being an elf, Gollum not being a house elf, etc) and the students ha to avoid literal pitfalls.
…I remember that scene. That is the crossover lecture you were suggesting, right? Which I can't do yet. Besides, using that format would involve knowing the identity of Benedict's villain. Which probably won't be revealed until the day of release.
Wonder which fandom Benedict's going to invade next…
Ah, yes, Neverwhere. He's playing Islington in the radio adaptation.
And yeah, I figured. I think by then Rose and Co would have graduated from MBSFA and there'd be a new session open, the plot arc of which may mirror the Blind Banker (slightly).
*Fizzles out of existence*
*Fizzles back*
Yeah. I love Neverwhere. Though... I guess he's an actor getting a lot of work lately. But really, radio adaptations are lovely (or would be, if I currently had something to knit so I wouldn't get distracted by the rest of the internet.)
It's okay. That means you'll have one crossover lecture a year, which makes sense, I suppose.
His short stories are a good place to start, though, for the record - I recommend Fragile Things very, very highly. After that, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Stardust are also amazing. And the Sandman series (which is DC Comics, or Vertigo publishers), definitely.
Basically everything he's done is awesome. And so is his blog.
Because I have something lined up which would really benefit from a chapter in OFUM - but, as you say, Miss Cam has gone.
As I see it, you have three options:
1/ Assume the PPC is competent to answer this question, and accept the community's consensus.
2/ Email Miss Cam and ask if you can borrow her specific OFU, rather than just using the concept. (If you do this, try and phrase it in such a way that you find out if she'll allow anyone to borrow it, or just people who ask)
3/ Since she never says we're limited to 1 OFU per fandom now, just have Bilbo and Smaug from some unidentified LotR OFU come over. I don't recall them really being in OFUM anyway.
Oh, or 4/ Find someone willing to write a Hobbit OFU (Official Fanfiction University of Wilderland?).
I think the first two are probably the best - and if I were to offer my opinion on whether you can borrow-with-attribution Miss Cam's OFU, I'd say yes.
hS
Might not play around in PPC-verse anymore, but I am on LJ/Twitter/Tumblr etc, so feel free to poke me if something OFUM specific comes up.
To further clarify what my answer meant: It is okay to have a chapter visitng OFUM a la what Jay and Acacia did in the original, or make references to it or have some of the characters pop by. I don't mind people borrowing stuff as long as credit is clearly given and it's guest appearances, as it were.
It is not okay to use it so much or so frequently you're almost writing OFUM: The Sequel. I may do a minor Hobbit update to it, but either way it's my story to either continue or leave as is.
Speaking of references to OFUM, you may be interested to know that there's a psychic Wall of Mazarbul (also known as the Wall of Mazarbaaaargh) possibly residing in the bathroom with the Witch-Wall. At least, that's where the agents dropped it. It spawned in this bit of mission:
They thought the Witch-Wall might like a companion. {= )They stumbled across a wall that Gandalf discovered to be the record of the fate of Balin's folk."Yeah, because the pile of dead Dwarves wasn't enough to clue them in," Diocletian muttered sarcastically. The other agents, though, were more interested in what appeared to be the Wall of Mazarbul. Since it was given not much in the way of description, it appeared to be the entire Book of Mazarbul chiseled into a rather handsome piece of granite, complete with the trailing "they are coming" carved by what must have been a Dwarf extremely dedicated to stonework.
Nume leaned in with an arched eyebrow, giving every evidence of reading the wall. "The castle of . . . aaaaargh," he groaned with a ghoulish grin. "He must have died while carving it."
Ilraen blinked. "But if he were dying, he would not bother to carve 'argh.' He would just say it."
Nume's grin fell away. "Damn it, Ilraen, I can't tell if you're paraphrasing or just clueless."
It was Ilraen's turn to show his teeth—even a disguise couldn't teach someone who habitually had no mouth to grin properly, but the message was clear.
Suicide contented himself with a golf clap.
In defiance of the agents' increasingly desperate attempts to keep their sanity, Archir stood in front of the Wall of Mazarbaaargh and, being as special as he was, had clairvoyant visions of what had happened to the Dwarves who made their last stand.
Though everyone else at OFUM might not ;)
Well, the students certainly aren't supposed to. *g* Though, it could be a useful teaching aid when it comes to the history of Moria...
~Neshomeh
or am I imagining things?
You know there has to be a limited amount of time you can spend in HQ before someone forces you to watch Monty Python. *g*
(Whole mission is here, if you're interested.)
~Neshomeh
You can imagine a salute here if you like.
In my case I plan (now) to briefly borrow either characters or setting - one chapter at most - to deal with drama arising from the long overdue first year of the Discworld OFU. I certainly don't harbour any desire to steal the place out from under you, even if I get teleported forward in time a hundred years. Well... no. Definitely not. ;)
(And I certainly never meant to imply you were 'gone' in any ominous, woe-be-unto-those-who-seek-her way...)
hS
I just wasn't sure exactly what I was being asked in the e-mail so I went to snoop for more details. I've had people ask me if they can continue writing it in my stead in the past, which I don't really want, that's why I stressed that part.
She did give the blanket approval for OFUs as long as credit was given, and told me that this approval extended to characters mentioned in OFUM as well.
Thank you for doing that.
hS
"Well, you probably could borrow OFUM now and then a la what Jay and Acacia did, visiting, having special classes and what-not just not as a permanent PPC HQ/fixture or anything like that. It is its own thing, you know? As long as it's little stuff you wouldn't really have to ask every time."
I hope that answers your question, too. :'D
I've yet to receive a reply, though.
I could've sworn Bilbo was at OFUM, but I'm not so sure about Smaug. Still, OFUM is definitely in need of an update because seriously with the release of the Hobbit I am predicting Fifteenth Walker Sues (can we get Elrond in on Fundamentally Fourteen?) and Dwarf fan girls (Fili and Kili are too pretty for their own good).
I imagine any sort of OFU of Wilderland would be a sub campus of OFUM as a whole, like how the MBSFA is just the modern London campus of the BSFA (and I have the BSFA writer's blessing for the MBSFA).
Smaug was at OFUM. He was a member of S.I.C.T.N.I.T.M, despite not fitting the criteria. Nobody wanted to turn him away, if I recall. Well, now he has no reason to join it at all.
Dear god, Dwarf fangirls? FIFTEENTH WALKER SUES? That... I have no words. I'm scared.
Personally, I think that Thorin may be ambushed by Sues. We can only hope that Orcrist will soon be known as "Sue Cleaver" as well.
Here's one for your reading "pleasure".
She bosses the Dwarves around, is an Elf living in the Shire as Bilbo's maid/cook, and has an inappropriate name (Elves don't put Eru in their names dangnumbit!).
Dear Glod...that's frightening...
Okay, I have a resolution now...I shall finish my reintroduction mission before the release of the Hobbit movie, so that my agents are ready to help against the deluge.
Bilbo, Thorin, Fili, and Kili. Smaug's on his own; I hope his jewelled underbelly can deflect fangirl glomps.
(Seriously though wow Kili why do I find him disturbingly pretty)
It looks like Lina was onto something with those dwarves...
Also, Bard looks pretty nice too.
I mean seriously he looks like younger, hotter, and shorter Aragorn.
...WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!
I knew the Sues would come in droves. Richard Armitage, both leads from Sherlock, and that guy from Being Human? We're so doomed. Though I have to admit, while I dread the arrival of any Sues, I'd like to see some dwarf fangirls, because the dwarves deserve more attention than they get.
Which Being Human - BBCA or the stupid American version? Is it the guy who plays BBCA Mitchel? Please say it's BBCA Mitchel...
Aidan Turner - and yes, he played Mitchell.
Cannot type because my inner fangirl is doing the happy dance right now. Adrian is lovely~
Makes me simultaneously laugh and cringe.
Smaug's a clever misanthropic dragon who gets riddled and witted at by some bamf little Hobbit who's not only a crack shot but one of those extraordinary everymen who have so much more to them than what's on the surface.
I wonder why the Hobbitlock writers aren't pointing that out instead of just making the two go at it.
(This is definitely going in the lecture...)
Richard Armitage is quite attractive. I saw him in North and South. Funnily enough, he played a character named Mr. Thornton.
