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crack_van2012-08-01 06:47 am
duonoaikouka.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2012-08-01 06:47 am
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Fandom Overview: Grimm
NOT JUST A FAIRY TALE: A GRIMM FANDOM OVERVIEW
Hello and welcome to the Grimm Crack Van for the first time on this comm. I tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I know some ambushed me and made an appearance despite my efforts (the sneaky little buggers). So be on guard for those. Otherwise, buckle up and prepare yourself for some basic info in the overview and some fantastic ficcage to follow!
Overview and Plot:
Grimm first aired October 28, 2011 on NBC and has developed into one of the more successful dramas on that network for this last TV season. It combines the police procedural genre with fantasy, fairy tale elements for a blend that has worked after a full season of episodes. Grimm started out a bit slow but started to find itself about a third of the way through its first season. Now it's a stronger show with a deeper mythology than when it started and some dang fascinating plot points that I personally can't wait to see explored in Season 2.
The basic storyline of Grimm is Nick Burkhardt, police detective with the Portland police department, finding out that his family tree hides more than just heart disease or a history of cancer and how that discovery influences his everyday life and future. Nick starts to see odd things that throws him for a loop. He'll see faces morph into nightmare-inducing masks of horror. His aunt comes into town, dying of cancer, and informs Nick that he is a Grimm, among the last in fact. A Grimm is a descendent of the Brothers Grimm, a line of hunters who are charged with keeping the balance between the human and creature, or Wesen (pronounced Vessin), worlds. Throughout the series, Nick will be faced with different types of Wesen as he solves crimes and delves deeper into the mythological world of fairy tales and his role in that world.
So that's the basic idea. Rooted pretty firmly in a "weekly baddie" style of storytelling in the beginning, Grimm has worked out from there to built a pretty impressive mythology for future episodes to explore. And yet, it still incorporates all the crime-solving a police procedural fan would love. With special add-ons like a Royal in the background working either for or against Nick (the show still hasn't answered that one!!), a Wesen govermental body called the Veraat operating out of Europe plotting this and that, a group of creatures called Reapers out for Nick's head (literally!!!), and a budding reputation among the Wesen of Portland as a Grimm who isn't the nightmare of their childhoods like the others, you've got a show that is still growing in potential and that will hold this fangirl's attention for awhile.
Characters:
Alrighty, lets meet our cast shall we? First up...
Main Characters You'll Most Likely Meet in Ficcage
Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli)
Nick is our main character, an all around good cop and guy. He discovers he's the latest in a familial line of creature hunters and peacekeepers. As the show progresses, he learns to balance his regular human life with this new Grimm life of fairy tale creatures and big baddies. Beyond the ability to see creatures for who they really are in moments of high emotion, Nick also is revealed to have superior strength, endurance, speed, and reflexes (at least according to Grimm Wiki, not too much visible in canon on this). This enables him to take some of the biggest Wesen on and live to tell the tale.
Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell)
A reformed Blutbad (wolf like Wesen, NOT a werewolf) and clockmaker/fixer, Monroe provides a valuable insight into the Wesen world for our Grimm. Though their relationship started out rocky with a mistaken accusation of kidnapping in the pilot, it has become a very strong influence in Nick's life and developed into a very deep friendship. Monroe is Nick's partner for all things Wesen; he contributes knowledge above Nick's Grimm books about the Wesen world as well as being back-up for when things get hairy (sometimes literally!). Another interesting note is a missing second name. You'll see a lot of fics put it as Edward/Eddie (taken from a early scrapped script?), but that hasn't been confirmed at all.
Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz)
Sean Renard is Nick's superior officer in the Portland Police Department. He is connected to (member of?) one of the Seven Royal Houses of the Wesen world, but it's not made clear whether he's Wesen himself. He's dignified, determined, and ruthless. He is also, arguably, the character of Grimm with the most question marks about him. We don't know for sure whether he's ally or foe to Nick. From what I've seen, I'd lean towards ally. But at the end of the day, I think he's got a higher vision and goal that hasn't been made evident to the audience yet. End of story, he's a big mystery that I can't wait to get cracked a bit in Season 2.
Juliette Silverton (Bitsie Tulloch)
Juliette is Nick's significant other, girlfriend, and hopeful fiancée (brought up more than once in the show). She's a veterinarian. She is completely unaware of the Grimm side of Nick's life until the last episode. There have been some hints that she might know more than is known, glances and significant looks. But nothing is known for sure. He was about to provide proof to her in the finale of last season of his Grimm life, but one of the big shockers of Season 1 prevented him from doing so. Her fate in season 2 will be one of big things to look forward to.
Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby)
Hank is Nick's human partner at the Portland Police Department. He and Nick are very close friends and work extremely well together. He is completely unaware of Nick's Grimm side life. However, he has been drawn into it unwillingly a lot. He's been the victim of plots to get at Nick and drawn into the Grimm side of things a lot, especially towards the end of the last season.
Rosalee Calvert (Bree Turner)
Rosalee is a Fuchsbau (fox-like Wesen) who runs her deceased brother's spice shop. She appeared about half the way through Season 1, and yet has developed into a very strong ally for Nick. There has even been at least one instance when Nick called her instead of Monroe for advice on a Wesen matter (and oh the look on Monroe's face when he learned that! XD). She also acts occasionally as a Wesen healer for our guys. She's a very strong and steady individual who is a valuable ally.
Adalind Schade (Claire Choffee)
Adalind is a Hexenbiest (witch/demon-like Wesen) and lawyer who works closely with Renard in his plots and intrigues. She is a strong foe for Nick and their showdown is one of the best in the series (in my humble opinion).
Officer Wu (Reggie Lee)
Officer Wu (another poor guy with only one name) is pretty much the grunt worker of Portland PD. He does the information gathering for our hero and partner. He's the character that delivers the memorable one-liners of the show and gets the chuckle out of the audience. He, as well as Hank, has also been drawn into Wesen plots.
Minor Characters I've Encountered While Cruising for Fanfiction Or Will Be Featured In My Recs
Marie Kessler - Nick's dying aunt who informs him of his heritage in the beginning of the series. She has a bloodthirsty reputation among Wesen, but Nick knows her as the loving aunt who raised him after his parent's perceived deaths.
Roddy Geiger- Reinigen (rat-like Wesen) from episode 5 who is a violin prodigy and struggling for acceptance at a high-end musical school.
Barry Rabe - Jagerbar (Bear-like Wesen) from episode 2 who is arrested after attempting to kill two humans brutally in a coming of age ceremony for Jagerbars.
Frank Rabe - Jagerbar lawyer father of the above who is grateful to Nick for not outright killing his family as a Grimm
Holly Clark - feral Blutbad child from episode 7 that Nick and Monroe help bring back to civilization.
Angelina Lasser - unreformed Blutbad from episode 6 who has a complicated past relationship with Monroe.
Hap Lasser - Angelina's brother from episode 6 who is a goofy and lovable guy who just wants to have fun.
Oleg Stark - Siegbarste (troll Wesen) from episode 8 who beats the crap out of Nick and has a past with Hank
Bud - Eisbiber (Beaver like Wesen) who Nick originally frightens but soon becomes a enthusiastic accomplice to Nick's Grimm adventures
Freddy Calvert - Rosalee's deceased brother who originally owned the spice shop
Ian Harmon - Fuchsbau leader of the Resistance against the Veraat who Nick helps escape Portland
Farley Kolt - a Steinadler (hawk-like Wesen) from episode 13 who has a past relationship with Nick's aunt Marie and provides Nick with some family history
Leo Taymor - Lowen (lion-like Wesen) from episode 12 who runs a gladiator-like fighting ring for Wesen
Kelly Burkhardt - Nick's mother who suddenly appears in the Season 1 finale
Pairings
Slash
Grimm is very much a slasher's paradise. The biggest pairing you'll come across, Monroe/Nick, is everywhere, most every community, archive and list. It's probably because from almost the first episode, the chemistry between these two guys is just extraordinary. They just click, from tracking down leads in a dusty trailer to watching each other's backs to putting full trust in each other. So be prepared for a BUNCH of them together.
The second largest slash pairing I've come across is Renard/Nick. They're especially strong on AO3's Grimm section. The draw here, at least for me, is the relationship between Royal and Grimm that is hinted at so strongly in canon. There's also the power dynamics that are hinted at as well. And I mean, come on!!! Just look at Sasha and Nick side by side.... *wipes drool* Yeah, prettiness definitely plays a factor, too.
Other slash pairings might come across occasionally will be Hank/Nick (I think I remember seeing this once early on in fandom and haven't been able to find the fic again), Hank/Wu, or Barry/Roddy.
Now this last pairing is almost exclusively on AO3 and just boggles this fangirl's mind. As far as I know, they never meet in canon. There's no basis for this pairing that I know of. So how it arose is beyond me but it's definitely out there. Cruise AO3 enough and you'll hit it.
Het
The het side of Grimm fandom is pretty darn small. The number of fics exploring these pairings are few and hidden pretty well overall. However, for the fan willing to do the searching, they are out there.
Of course, you have your canon pairings of Nick/Juliette and Monroe/Rosalee. Out of the het pairings, you'll find these featured the strongest . The rest of the pairings are almost as varied as the characters in the show. I've seen (most in passing) Nick/Adalind, Hank/Adalind, Renard/Adalind, Monroe/Juliette (in a threesome/moresome setting usually), Nick/Rosalee, and Monroe/Angelina.
Gen
Gen fanfiction for Grimm is pretty average to above average in size of offerings. Fanfic.net is the main repository for these fics with a pretty significant population on AO3 and LJ as well. You'll find some dang wonderful character studies, humor, and casefics among Grimm's gen stories.
Femmslash
I have yet to come across anything in the femmslash category outside a moresome scenario. Possibly because the female characters in Grimm are not as popular as the male characters (at least from what I've read and come across), they aren't written about as much, especially in exclusive female pairings. That may change with a female character being made a main character and another being added as a recurring. As of the writing of this overview, however, the pickings are extremely slim, if nonexistent.
Threesome / Moresome
The biggest of these you'll come across is Nick/Monroe/Juliette, Nick/Renard/Monroe, and Nick/Juliette/Monroe/Rosalee. I don't read a lot of this genre in Grimm fandom (besides stuff like the one pure porn piece I'll be exhibiting this rec cycle) so I'm not up to speed as to quality or amount beyond what I casually glimpse. But knowing some of the depth I've read in Grimm fandom, I'm sure there are some stellar examples out there.
Fandom Resources
Useful Links
Another recent overview on Grimm by the ever lovely
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
laceymcbainGrimm Daily on DW - this DW comm will be your light, your love, and your huggable treasure of Grimm fandom. It tracks every fic posted across multiple platforms and pulls it all together in daily posts for easy accessibility.
Grimm Wiki
NBC Official Site
Grimm's Kink Meme on DW
Grimm on AO3
Grimm on Fanfic.net
Monroe/Nick on tumblr
Nick/Renard comm on DW
Exchange comm on DW
LJ Communities
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
grimm_tv - main LJ comm for the show with news, icons, and general stuffgrimm_fic - main ficcage commgrimm_challenge - challenge commgrimms_tale - mixture of ficcage, icons, and screencapsgrimm_icons - icon comm that's just getting off the groundgrimmpendium - some lovely metagrimm_cop - mix of icons, news, and episode chattermonroe_nick - Monroe/Nick slash commcaptainrenard - comm dedicated to Sean RenardSo hopefully, this has given some basic knowledge of the wonderful world of Grimm and its fandom for your enjoyment. I know I probably left some stuff out, not meaning to. Even for a pretty darn small fandom, it's dang big! XD So feel free to leave anything I might have missed in comments; I love to learn more about fav fandoms. Enjoy what ficcage I have to offer and please feel free to park in line for a change to drive the Grimm van yourself here. Let's get this road trip started and more scheduled, people! :D
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Good work on the info, but maybe edit the formatting?
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And yes, definitely time for the Grimm Van. :)
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