Bring a Friend to Fandom Day - #3

[beeinmybonnet]

Courtesy of laurenmitchell.(I'll stop now, I promise, I won't spam your f-lists anymore!)

Fandom:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Medium/Media: TV show? Book? Comic? Band? All of the above?
A movie. It was made in 2005, in case anyone's interested.
Extent:What are newbies letting themselves in for - a single book or a fifteen-book saga? A fifteen-episode cancelled TV show, or nine seasons of twenty 45-minute episodes? A set of comics that'll need a truck to deliver?
An hour and a half of pure, unadulterated fun. Even if you don't want to join the fandom, do watch the movie. It's tragically underrated.
Genre: Science fiction? Fantasy? Horror?
Realism, to an extent. It takes place in contemporary L.A., with all that entails.

Canon
Main characters: Name the main characters with a brief bio.
Harry Lockhart (played by Robert Downey Jr) is a pseudo-New Yorker and pushing forty good-for-nothing, who makes his living by stealing audio-visual components. Due to a series of unexpected and accidental events, he gets whisked away to L.A., where he meets the private detective Perry "Gay Perry" van Shrike (Val Kilmer) and reunites with his highschool sweetheart Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), who is an aspiring actress. Harry is hapless and pretty much the adorable personified, Perry is smooth and ice-cold, and Harmony is kind and flaky. Actually, everyone is pretty flaky -- I don't think there is one well-adjusted character in the whole movie.
Main plot: A brief explanation of the main plot of the story. Try to avoid spoilers! If you can't avoid major spoilers, warn for them in your cut-text!
::clears throat::Guided by Harry Lockhart's snarky and metatastic narration, we follow a few days in his life, just before last Christmas. After stumbling into an audition while fleeing from justice for a banged-up B&E, Harry the petty thief gets whisked away from New York to L.A. to do a screen test. In the city of angels, Harry is told to tag along on some of the private detective/movie consultant Perry "Gay Perry" van Shrike's cases, as research for his acting. Both men aren't exactly thrilled by this. In quick succession, Harry also meets Harmony Faith Lane (his highschool sweetheart who slept with all the other guys in school but him) for the first time in twenty years. They hit off good enough, but things go downhill pretty quickly.
On a supposedly harmless and boring stake-out case, Harry and Perry witness the murder of a young woman. Within three hours, another dead female body has been found; it's not Harmony -- as the first (false) alarm said -- but her/the sister Harmony hasn't seen for years and years. Around now, the plot becomes too complicated to try and compress.
Setting: When and where is the story set?
L.A., now-ish. The intro-esque episode takes place in New York.
Why I think you should watch/read/otherwise partake of this fandom: Reasons in canon that new people might be interested.
Because the movie is brilliant and it's a shame the fandom is so small. We need more kids in the sandbox.
Activity level: What's happening to canon at the moment? Is it finished, or ongoing, or debatable?
It's finished. There's been rumours of a sequel for years, but I don't think it'll happen.
Shipping: Does the canon tend towards slash, het or gen? NB this means actual IN CANON pairings, not the sort you see through the goggles (yes, I am as guilty of this as the next ficcer, assuming the next ficcer is fiareynne).
50/50? Harry and Harmony is canon, but they never actually get around to it. And, well, Harry and Perry do snog, even if it's just a diversion. The movie's pretty rife with subtext, if you ask me.

Fanon and Fandom
Communities: Places that new people can go for fic/art/fine dining and conversation - include LJ comms or off-LJ lists, whatever. Might be wise to mention how welcoming the comms are of new people.
As far as I know, there is only one KKBB community, kkissbbang. Yuletide hosts most of the fanfic
Recs: Recommend up to five fics/artses/whatever. (Limit suggested only so it doesn't go on forever.)
- Noir Enough by thefourthvine (NC-17). A classic KKBB fic, told in a pastiche style with some seriously hot sex. Harry/Perry.
- Not With A Bang But A Whimper by Lyrstzha (NC-17). Similar to Noir Enough in that it's written in pastiche style and has great smut in it, but the plot is different. It's just as good as NE, imho. H/P.
- Culture Shock by eighth_horizon (PG-13). Brilliant Harry/Perry fic, more understated than usual and with a lovely tender tone to it. Highly recommended! (Don't miss 50 Things Perry van Shrike Never Wants To Hear From Harry Lockhart, Ever by the same author.)
- In Regards to the Mental Healths of Harry Lockhart and Perry van Shrike by mercilouslia (PG). An unusual KKBB fic, in that it's understated and gorgeous. Lovely. H/P.
- Everything by soraya2004 (NC-17). Want excellent porn? Here you have it. H/P.
Activity level: Roughly how active is the fandom? Can be expressed in terms of community posts per day/week/month/ice age, or just as a general vibe.
Like I said, it's a small fandom, and it's pretty dead. Tragic, really. But it's had a recent upswing with a new kinkmeme being posted and all, and there are still some great older fanfics to be found.
Shipping: Does the fandom tend towards slash, het or gen? Is there a majority-preferred pairing? Does it match up with canonically established pairings? Is the fandom generally welcoming of alternative pairings or will it bite your head off?
Harry/Perry is clear majority, for obvious reasons if you've seen the movie. Some Harry/Harmony shippers exist, as well as several Harmony/Harry/Perry ones. Since these three characters are the main ones, and not a lot of minor characters are introduced, it's them the fans mostly play around with.
Kink: What is the fandom's attitude towards kink? Is there a kink meme?
There are several fics with D/S vibes, with Harry as sub and Perry as dom, so the fandom is not averse to kink. The kinkmeme is located at kinkbangmeme.