• thelastgoodname 2005-07-08: In Which I Am Reflexive (on Recommendations, the Nature of Livejournal, and Various Other Things): I never give an author's livejournal as a specific link, even when I am linking to a person's journal where a fic is hosted. I didn't do this at first because it felt right not to, but it's only now that I have realized why. I don't just recommend fic posted on livejournal. ... The reason I don't specify people who are on livejournal versus people who are not on livejournal is just that: I don't want to make a distinction between people who are on livejournal and people who are not.

• astrogirl2 2005-07-09: One More Thought: Honestly, I do think being told, "You're a good writer, why on Earth are you wasting your time writing fan fiction when you could go pro?" misses the point just about exactly as much as "Honey, with your looks, why are you wasting your time fucking your boyfriend when you could get paid?"
• astrogirl2 2005-07-09: Addendum to the Last Post: OK, OK, apparently I can't quite leave the issue alone... Because there is one argument that anti-fanfic people (inevitably people who write for pay) make that I don't think I've ever seen countered fully anywhere, which is that the work of amateur writers who give stories away for free somehow "devalues" the work of professionals who do it to put food on their tables.

• artaxastra 2005-07-10: Maxim de Winter, Rosie Cotton, Southern Cookouts and Voting in America: Men are mysterious, unknowable, shaped by experiences that women can't share. For three generations of Americans, gender differences are immutable. Men are just that way -- touchy, gloomy, haunted and unpredictable -- and women can never, ever understand. Because they weren't there, on the slopes of Mt. Doom. // Tolkien gives us one counter example -- Eowyn. Eowyn will certainly understand what haunts Faramir, and he will understand what haunts her.

• fabularasa 2005-07-10: It is a far, far better thing that I do. . .: Suppose I grabbed you and shoved you into a dark alley and thrust a copy of Tale of Two Cities into your sweaty palms and then hissed at you, “and Carton GETS IT in the end, so mwah hah hah die Muggle Jacobin bitch!” Would you scream in despair, toss Dickens in the gutter and run off sobbing, “it’s ruined for me now, just destroyed, SPOILED, and I can’t read a word of it”?
• idlerat 2005-07-10: Nerdfest 2005, part OMGPOLARBEAR: On being surprised (meta): And I think Fab has a point, but I think it's more complicated. I actually think that the interplay of surprise, expectation, and experience is one of the most complicated and central things in our aesthetic experience. But it works differently at different times.
• amanuensis1 2005-07-09: More musings on staying spoiler-free.: But just so it's said, the reasons I really don't want them is because spoilers are by definition taking the surprises out of context, and it's the context that makes the story work or not work. I trust Rowling.
• painless_j 2005-07-10: An absolutely not obligatory spoiler statement: Dear [insert a name here]! If you SO don't want to be spoiled, it would be a good idea to make a pause in your LJ reading from now and until you've read the book. People make technical mistakes, like fucking up their LJ-cuts.

• fernwithy 2005-07-10: O.C./minor character disinterest: It's just that it sometimes seems like writing a bad OC gets more attention than writing a good one, and yes, I am an attention whore, for those who have not noticed.


• violetsmiles 2005-07-10: [untitled] : I adore that kind of passion and caring, and I think it's obvious when you see the performance. Some actors just throw themselves into their parts, and while the cameras roll, they become that person. While other actors, not saying it's horrible or anything, but other actors just say their lines, think of a believable way to deliver them, etc..

• londonkds 2005-07-10: Star Whores: I'd be interested to know how it felt to be the only female writer to write an episode with big prostitution content, and whether this fed into making Atherton such a vile character and Inarra's involvement with him so obviously pragmatic. Joss's commentary on Serenity, however, frankly creeped me out with his comments on Inarra as some kind of perfectly understanding therapist and absolver who lives only to make guys feel better about themselves. It reminded me of the more dubious undertones in Deanna's characterisation in Star Trek: The Next Generation

• japanpeterpan 2005-07-09: mpreg rant sans the vitriol: Okay, so there are many baaad mpregs out there. Personally, I don't think this fact should put the nail in the coffin of any genre, especially when it's relatively rare and maybe didn't get a chance before being written off as Eww by the herds. [POLL]

• melisande88 2005-07-09: Are You a Writer? Round 11 -- the nature of criticism: So today I have some questions for you. Answer what you like, or take off on a tangent with your own thoughts. I'm assuming if you're a writer looking for concrit, you want to improve your writing and not simply rack up a hefty review count on a popular archive.