Fannish knowledge is a zero sum game

[lizardbeth]

Once upon a time, I could play "name that episode" of ST:TNG with my roommate -- we could identify the episode in the first minute of the teaser. Sometimes only a few frames. But I noticed that as I started into B5 and XF, my TNG knowledge started to disappear. Which led to my theory of finite fannish space in my brain -- as I accrue trivia about one fandom, other trivia disappears. This is especially true because I like mythology-heavy fandoms the best where there's just so much to keep track of, it becomes a 'use it or lose it' situation.

This was prompted by realizing I've reached the point in my BSG/B5 xover where To Dream in the City of Sorrows would be handy, and I don't remember it anymore. And the book's buried in the garage. Sad, how much I've now forgotten. :( But hell, it's a crossover in two dead/dying fandoms, so whatever, I'll do what I can, but I'm not going crazy for no point.

(We won't talk about how Not All That We Are taunts me every single day from my layout. *sigh* Yeah, more long BSG fic. I'm such an idiot. bah. But I need to finish it off)

Comments

[herald-mari.livejournal.com]

What do you need? I could ask Steve. He can play "name that episode" with several shows. Has no idea who Lady Gaga is, but ask him something sf related - he's there. LOL!!!!

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

thanks, but azar's got a copy of the book, so I'm good. Mostly I'm just complaining that I don't have perfect recall! :)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I can... still sort of do that with TNG, but not always.

<3 <3 <3 <3 crossover, yay.

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

I can only do it with eps I really liked (or really hated, lol), The rest all blend together. and I used to know a ton of trivia about the ships and minor characters and all that random crap that has long since gone poof. But I haven't even watched anything but random eps of TNG in prob ten years. All that info got replaced by the ships of the Galactica fleet and pilots and that sort of thing...

I was just fiddling with the crossover post Nano and actually moving on it, so it's my project right now, I guess, while I get reacquainted with my Yuletide fandom...

[bluediamond421.livejournal.com]

Heh, I really have to watch Babylon 5 next...

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

it's starting to get a bit dated, esp in the FX, but the overall story is still good.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

I have that book, so if you need any reference material from it, just holler. :-)

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

cool, thanks! I have it... someplace. lol. I know I kept it, since it's the only one of the novels I've referred to in my B5 stuff, but heaven only knows which box it ended up in!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I can still id most episodes of CSI within five seconds of the city shots being over...and that was a loooooong time ago.

But yeah: my Voyager-fu fails me on occasion.

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

yeah, I haven't watched more than random eps of TNG since it was syndicated, and my roomie and I would watch it at dinner back in uni. So that was... '95? ish. I can still figure out which ep it is, but now I have to i.d. it as "the one with the strange glowy dude" since I've forgotten most of the ep titles. And all those little factoids of minor character backstories and extra ship names and that random crap I used to have at the front of my brain got replaced. With the same info, pretty much, just for a different show.

[laetificat.livejournal.com]

I hadn't seen Farscape in about eight years, so when I started watching it again recently I found that while I know what happens at the end and the general arc, I had completely forgotten what happened in the individual episodes and how they got where they got. In this case, I kind of like how there's not infinite space, because I get to see it all over again!

(I'm losing B5 as well. I'm not that sad. I'll get to watch it again!)

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

That's true, it's almost like you never watched it before (except you're spared ridiculously long hiatuses and angst over seasons returning or not!).

But I'd still like to have perfect recall for fic writing purposes -- I'd be my own show wiki, It would be awesome!