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May. 30th, 2016 07:32 pmI was going to sign up for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mm_rares (signups open here) but then I realized you have to both request and offer a minimum of four different fandoms, and I just don't have that many I'm interested in writing. For some reason I'd thought it was four different pairings, which I could've managed between AC and the MCU, but no. Ah well, maybe I'll pick up a pinch hit if any catch my eye.
I'm presently re-reading Robert Asprin's Myth books. I came across a couple of them while cleaning out my bookshelves, and I don't think I've read them since I was a teenager. They're turning out to be surprisingly not-terrible, considering that the last time I tried to read one of his more recent books (one of the Phule ones) I noped out just a few chapters in. I'm not sure if I'd recommend them exactly, and they're definitely products of their time, but they're fun. Also, it is really amazing how growing up can change your perspective on character dynamics.
12-year-old me: Man, Aahz is a jerk. Though he can be cool sometimes.
Adult me: Wow, Aahz has the patience of a saint.
Seriously, I remember him being basically a jerk, but at worst he's abrasive, somewhat mercenary, and ruthless when cornered; I was completely unprepared for how patient, protective, and generally decent he is. Though maybe he gets worse later on; I seem to recall the characters getting slightly flanderized as the series proceeded ... moreso than they already were, as most of them are basically parodies of various stock fantasy types to begin with.
It's also making me think about how popular SFF comedy was in the late 70s/80s, and how few books along those lines there seem to be now -- just off the top of my head, there were Asprin's books, the Xanth ones, Spellsinger, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the early Discworld books, at least three different series I can think of in which an ordinary Earth schmoe answered an ad to be a wizard/king/etc or otherwise got tapped for a similar fantasy-kingdom gig while woefully unprepared ...
And it's just not really a thing anymore, I don't think. At least it's not a bestselling thing. It made me wonder if the same ecological book-niche as comic fantasy held in the '80s (light, bestselling, brain-candy spec-fic) is currently occupied by urban fantasy instead.
mm_rares (signups open here) but then I realized you have to both request and offer a minimum of four different fandoms, and I just don't have that many I'm interested in writing. For some reason I'd thought it was four different pairings, which I could've managed between AC and the MCU, but no. Ah well, maybe I'll pick up a pinch hit if any catch my eye.I'm presently re-reading Robert Asprin's Myth books. I came across a couple of them while cleaning out my bookshelves, and I don't think I've read them since I was a teenager. They're turning out to be surprisingly not-terrible, considering that the last time I tried to read one of his more recent books (one of the Phule ones) I noped out just a few chapters in. I'm not sure if I'd recommend them exactly, and they're definitely products of their time, but they're fun. Also, it is really amazing how growing up can change your perspective on character dynamics.
12-year-old me: Man, Aahz is a jerk. Though he can be cool sometimes.
Adult me: Wow, Aahz has the patience of a saint.
Seriously, I remember him being basically a jerk, but at worst he's abrasive, somewhat mercenary, and ruthless when cornered; I was completely unprepared for how patient, protective, and generally decent he is. Though maybe he gets worse later on; I seem to recall the characters getting slightly flanderized as the series proceeded ... moreso than they already were, as most of them are basically parodies of various stock fantasy types to begin with.
It's also making me think about how popular SFF comedy was in the late 70s/80s, and how few books along those lines there seem to be now -- just off the top of my head, there were Asprin's books, the Xanth ones, Spellsinger, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the early Discworld books, at least three different series I can think of in which an ordinary Earth schmoe answered an ad to be a wizard/king/etc or otherwise got tapped for a similar fantasy-kingdom gig while woefully unprepared ...
And it's just not really a thing anymore, I don't think. At least it's not a bestselling thing. It made me wonder if the same ecological book-niche as comic fantasy held in the '80s (light, bestselling, brain-candy spec-fic) is currently occupied by urban fantasy instead.