Neil said:
With no need to add anything, no need to speculate on what might have happened, there would be no fanfic to write.
Even a long-running show generates at most around 150 episodes, most a lot less--there'd be plenty of fanfic at the margins of this hypothetical excellent show.
Unexpected plot elements are almost, well ... expected, really. If we
knew
what was going to happen, we wouldn't watch it.
We sure know what's going to happen the 13th time we pop a particular tape into the VCR--and even many first broadcasts have, let's say, an air of comforting familiarity.
I have never fancied Blake or Avon.
You're on record about Cally though.
Or Kirk or Spock.
Nichelle Nichols' character (can't remember her name)? Beverly Crusher? Seven of Nine?
So I don't think the attractive appearance of the central characters is a significant pull factor.
But isn't one reason that MarySue stories are in such poor repute is that they express so unsubtly "S/he can pull me any time and twice on Sunday"?
But if we're talking about fans as people who are motivated to do more than simply watch, and to participate in fandom
through
writing, modelling, con-going, putting up websites etc, then there are
just
too many men to cite the sex appeal of the (usually) male leads as a significant pull factor for *fandom as a whole*.
OK, but the model for fandom as a whole has to be adjusted to account for the difference between fanfic writing and other fannish activities, and perhaps for differences in the gender ratio of fen in different fandoms.
-(Y)