Fandom Meta

nothingbutfic - Question: What is fandom? What is fanon? I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I think one of my chief issues with fandom as a concept is that it lies mostly around the notion of a shared identity, and also a escape or sanctuary. . . . So what constitutes a fandom? Sure, we may all like [text A] but if we can't agree on what text A is saying and how, can we ever communicate? Why do we bother?

xtricks - Ohh, look - more opinionated stuff about slash and gender! One thing that just leaps out at me when slash writers/readers/theorists discuss stereotypical gender behavior of characters is ... there's reams of talk about feminine behavior in the supposedly male characters but I've never seen any discussion of masculine behavior/stereotypes in slash stories

butterfly - LJ and Fannishness One big difference between LJ and lists is that LJ is not segregated by fandom. With LJ, you get to see more rounded glimpses of other fans.

Specific Fandom Meta

musesfool - a new hope (on Alias, Lost, and being a fan) All this thinking and talking about Star Wars, and being a fan, and what that means, and what it means is *hope*. I want that story that's going to lift me up, take me out of my life and into something new, something I can lose myself in, absorb and let it breathe in me and through me, make me laugh or cry or think, or change the way I see the world.

commodoresexual - *thoughtful* I was going to recap this episode as I have done so many before it - but I find that impossible, all things considered. There was just far too much going on, too much to discuss, and way too much to analyze properly. [HOUSE]

On Reading and Writing

themostepotente - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy -- The Appeal of Awkward and Imperfect Sex I've noticed come fic exchanges or challenges that a lot of people list 'awkward' or 'imperfect' sex as a kink. Since the notion of imperfect sex is less than ideal, I started to wonder why so many of us found this not only appealing, but in some cases, preferred.

ataniell93 - I adore potter_cliche (and mamadeb and I are having too much fun...) This afternoon the magnificent potter_cliche about fic clichés that have to do with marriage: the magickal love potion, the marriage contract, the soul bond, &c. I’d be the first to admit that the marriages fic characters get into are sometimes scary in their intensity and unbreakability, but at the same time, when the question came up of what this says about our attitudes toward love and marriage, I thought…you know, it says maybe we’re not so badly off.

fabu - Nattering about writing. . . The way I was originally taught to write (fiction or nonfiction) was to create an outline, start at the beginning and write a rough draft, and then go back and revise the entire thing. . . . It turns out this isn't a particularly useful way for me to get things done

guede_mazaka - Style Pastiche Lately I've been jumping from fandom to fandom, so I've gotten a chance to check out how my style changes. Been poking in my head at why I change it where I do, and came up with some thoughts that were fairly coherent.

minisinoo - The Illusion of the Muse: Breaking Through Writer's Block It seems that everyone and her mother has advice on getting past writer's block, but it's a common question for professional writers. How do you write when you don't feel particularly inspired? The following originally began as a response to an email, but I revamped and editorialized it to post publicly.

Links and Things

_par_avion in vidding - Henry Jenkins follow-up Henry Jenkins clarifies some of the opinions he gave in a CNET article about Star Wars and fan culture. [LINK]

elke_tanzer - Obligatory pre-SW post I started a memories category of such posts for anyone who wants to read reactions and spoilers. . . . It's spoileryness is here [LINK]

cemcom in lj_research - You can get to 2.2M people in an average of 6 steps by following friends links We’ve been doing some work trying to understand some basic facts about LiveJournal. For example, can you get from one randomly chosen LiveJournal account to another just following by friends links? On average, how many accounts do you have to go through to get there? What’s the longest distance you might have to go? How many self-contained groups are there on LiveJournal, and what do they look like? [NON-FANNISH]