August 22nd, 2005

09:33 am

General

saeva 2005-08-20: Stargate Meta // Levels of Sci-Fi: So, today I commented on isiscolo's post about how she doesn't like many vids and theory about why in response to sor_bet asking if SGA really did have so much better characters than SG-1 and, indirectly, in response to fabularasa saying that they did. // I mention in that post that I've been wanting to write an essay about the levels of sci-fi and how that relates to fannishness and why for some time and Isis somewhat encouraged me to do so (plus, I'm really easy to encourage, honestly). To give credit where credit is due this post wouldn't be happening without merryish's post about character constructs and how that relates to SGA and SG-1.

st_crispins 2005-08-20: Traditional Story Structure: Framing the Story//So you have an idea for a story. It's a good idea. Maybe a great idea. Maybe it's the best idea you've ever had. The more you think about it, the more you know that you just have to write this story. You can visualize a few scenes, one in particular. And you can hear the dialogue --- what great lines! And you have an interesting innocent. And a really despicable villain. And, and, and... // You never write the story.

minisoo 2005-08-20: RPGs and endings: One of the things that's struck me, both from my experience in RPGs and reading along with others, is the issue of endings. Everyone has different time demands, and may join at different points, and it often seems that some aren't ready to halt a game when others are -- and resentment can result, or the RPG just dies from increasing lack of interest. // So I wondered -- are there RPGs that have a predetermined and fixed plotarc in place from the begining? The RPG will go This Long -- and that's all she wrote? That's kinda like a cross between and RPG and a round-robin, I guess.

thete1 2005-08-20: Meta Lite: Te vs. Gen II, Est. Relationship-fic Theories:
On one end of things, you have fandoms which are both designed to be non-ensemble and *treated* as non-ensemble. There are a limited number of characters for fans to work with, and thus there are a limited number of pairings to work with. On a given 'anything-goes' archive of fan-fiction for this fandom, you will almost certainly find more of one (or two) pairings than of any other pairings. This hypothetical fandom doesn't 'just' have episodes which stand out in terms of 'shippiness ("The Red and the Black" vs., well, most of the rest of XF canon), but is probably known for being a haven of 'shippiness for one (or two) given pairings...

kylielee100 2005-08-21: Fraught thoughts on critical analysis of fanfic: But. Communities like [info]thecuttingboard, while attempting to uplift and problematize fannish discourse by bringing in elements of academic-style analysis and readings, are attempting to make public something that in the fan world is traditionally private correspondence. Is the fan world ready for mainstreaming of academic-style close reading? I'd say no.

savageseraph 2005-08-21: Self Indulgence and the Writer...: For the last several days, more than a few discussions have popped up on my flist about writers and self-indulgence or, more specifically, writers being accused of being self-indulgent. I also stumbled across some comments on poll asking writers to respond to how they interact with readers, and the comments in this poll touched on some of the same issues. And that, my friends, started the wheels in my mind a-turning.

gmth 2005-08-22: Just wondering....: Am I the only person in fandom who doesn't save other people's fics to her hard drive?

bethbethbeth 2005-08-22: To Save or Not To Save (Fanfic): Please note there are two identical sets of questions about saving fic, printing fic, and re-reading fic. The first set of questions should be answered only by people for whom HP is/was their first/only fandom, and the second set of questions should be answered by...everyone else. *g*[POLL]

jaina in fanficrants 2005-08-21: All generalizations are bad!: I've seen the same pissing match phrased slightly differently so many times. "Look at all this slash--god, slashers want to make EVERYONE gay!" "Look at all this sappy romance fic--god, romance writers want EVERYTHING to be happily ever after!" It makes my head go all desky. Some people don't seem to realize--or want to realize--that unless it's a series of fics set in the same universe, each fic is a unit unto itself.

jazzypom 2005-08-21: Quick Question on HBP: Why is fandom calling Ginny a slut? Is it because she's dating Dean and he's well... black?

nostalgia_lj 2005-08-21: nostalgia_lj: "mi transgressiveness iz pastede on yay?": Interesting bit - that I'm rather removed from because my knowledge of academic stuff about fandom is second-hand - is the idea that maybe some of the theory is out-of-date. There's also the related thing I'd pretty much agree with that people in fandom are probably not the most objective observers of What Shit Means in fandom. Fandom does have something of a vested interest in proving that a given fannish activity is Omg So Transgressive. And then I realised what I was interested in here was how academic theory works in terms of that ol' slash/het divide.

clytem in fanficrants2005-08-21: Life after 18: Life doesn't end once you turn 19. This might be a little hard to grasp, but it's true. Maybe it's because people are generally youth obsessed, but being a teenager is not all that great. The majority of fanfiction I tread through read like a third person Avon Minisure version of fandom.

scootermcgaffin in fanthropology 2005-08-21: A question.: Now, I shall be using the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for this example, but the question is extended to all fandoms. // In the "Buffyverse," does Buffy just happen to look remarkably like Sarah Michelle Gellar? Or does Sarah Michelle Gellar theoretically not exist (with her roles in movies going to, presumably, someone that looks different yet has the exact same level of fame and whatnot) since she is, for all intents and purposes, Buffy Summers?

Specific( specific fandom meta cut for spoilers )