General Fandom Meta

carlanime - I have to ask... - Real Live Fakes // If you found out a person you had "friended" was a different age/gender/whatever than they'd said they were, how upset would you be? [Poll]

painless_j - The merits of sock-puppets - I don't care if you are not a 35-year old woman from Canada but a 20-year old one from Brazil as long as I like the fic you write or as long as what you say when we talk seems interesting (amusing, weird in a good sense) to me. I don't care if three people on my f-list are in fact one person as long as I enjoy all the three. If I don't, I'll stop reading the one I don't find interesting anymore. And if I don't like (or am not interested in) what you say on your LJ, I'll quit reading this LJ.

cursive - fandom weirdness - I get why it would be fascinating to try and see what your friends would think of you if you were someone else. I even get why it might be a very entrancing way to see if someone would love you... because really fanfic, fandom journals, and RPGs and so on are a bit like that anyway, aren't they? I don't think you have to be as sad and lonely as this girl represents herself as being to do that. In tiny ways we all adjust ourselves here, experimenting with what it might be like to be a little more X or whether we could be a bit more Y. What she did was a hyper-exaggerated version of that, wasn't it?

azdak - No comment - I read a fair amount of fanfic in three different fandoms, and unless I know the author very well (well enough that they will expect me to see their story) I don't leave comments. The reason for this is simple, even if it sounds harsh – most of the fic I read simply isn't good enough. I don't want to send feedback that isn't honest and say that a story was great when it has all sorts of flaws, and I don't want to send feedback that discourages the author, because writing fic is a hobby, not a profession, and I don't see why someone should be slagged off for not attaining a high standard in something they do for fun.

branchessays - Authors as Real People - Many of the things I see said by RPS authors about the source-person sound remarkably similar to what I see literary critics say about creative authors. It isn't about the person. Despite the fact that the production in question uses that person's work, their name, the details of their life--it isn't about them. // Also, incidentally, it's a lot easier to write about people who are safely dead.

brn_gamble - Community-Related Thoughts -- The Fake Cut - So why do I believe people should avoid the 'fake cut' (or outside link)? // To me, it's all about SUPPORTING the communities you belong to. Rather than using links to take people AWAY from the community (for commenting in your private LJ), I feel it's better to post a link inside your private LJ -- which then has the potential to drive your flist back to the community to view and comment.

Fandom-Specific Meta ( cut for possible spoilers in the following fandoms: Harry Potter, Stargate: Atlantis )

On Reading/Writing/Creating

reenka - [stuff the blue ribbon, kthnx.] - There is definitely something that drives me absolutely up the wall about the idea, baldly stated, that of course one writes in order to be basically worshipped by one's readers. Not just to be read (something I do identify strongly with-- more readers, yesss!!), but to be admired. Oh my gahd. Gag. Me. Now. // That is such a... such... a complete disregard of craft and a sort of dismissal of any kind of pride or pleasure in being a writer in the first place....

sophia_helix - "the mystic caves of creation" seems appropriate (note: no plato intended) - How much of a "group" project do we expect or want our stories to be? Fandom has such a mix of approaches to writing, from the interactive writing circle to the unlitateral, one-way deliverance of story, emerging from the mystic caves of creation, to...well, acknowledging that fandom actually does have an influence on what stories are written and how they're written. And everyone seems to find their own niche in this very sliding scale of creative production.

tarie - [untitled] - What are your bullet-proof kinks in fic/art/etc? [Discussion]

General

• fiercelydreamed: 2005-08-29: Meta: I read this again, and for the first time thought about it in the context of romantic and/or sexual fanfiction (in all fandoms and genres), and went, Yes. That's it exactly. I mean, what are we doing if not engaging desire over and over again, as readers and writers, in every guise we can think of?


• rotpunkt 2005-09-08: Men On Men: Why Do Women Enjoy Slash?: Even though much progress has been made, there is little to no room for women’s sexual desires in the official mainstream culture. Most women-oriented magazines may speak frankly about sexuality, but more often that not, in terms of what a man wants – rather than what women themselves need and what turns them on.


• imbrium 2005-09-04: the OMEL manifesto, or "what I do that isn't homework": Not every person is given a fair hand in life, and why shouldn't this be mirrored in fictional settings aiming for realism? However in some cases a character's life becomes overwhelmingly bad to the point of ridiculousness. In this vein the OMEL designation has been established. // Ow, My Entire Life ... ( contains Harry Potter, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Veronica Mars season 1, and Gundam SEED season 1 spoilers.)


• inkywaters 2005-09-02: A letter to a gen archive: Your “right to not read slash”? In what sense do you have a right to not be exposed to a facet of reality? There is no “right” to not be approached by religious groups—I don’t believe all door-to-door missionaries should be muzzled, even if the hateful statements that are made about homosexuals in the name of Christianity hurt me. I understand that many good people sincerely believe this, and their world view is going to collide with mine sometimes. Ignorance is not a right, even ignorance of things you find unacceptable.


• isiscolo 2005-09-11: profanity poll: [POLL]


• herald_visions 2005-08-28: A word about my feelings and views on RPG's: What is a RPG? At its foundation, I personally believe that a Role Playing Game is an extension of the imagination, pure and simple. This can take many forms, from the games played in real time in the woods or a park, with costumes and live people (who are, essentially, acting) to games played around the dinner table with a board and cards and dice, to a newer form of imaginative expression wherein role-playing takes place through the medium of the Internet in real time, more or less, via connections through a modem and technological innovation that allows people to move bits of computer code dressed up to look like somebody or something, or in the simplist versions, a mere bit of code that is hardly more than a chat room.


• _flame_god_ 2005-09-10: Oh noes, I'm on teh ebil Fandom Wank!!!111: Stop worrying about Fandom Wank, you paranoid narcissists!


• morgandawn 2005-09-06: "Top" Slash Fandoms?: Just a quick list (feel free to add since my list is not complete - have to run to a medical appt). What are the more popular/well known slash fandoms currently? // Buffy/Angel, Firefly, Lost, Stargate/Stargate Atlantis // Other Possible?


• shinran 2005-09-10: untitled: And since I haven't read Jenkins' take on slash (so far, he's summarized various academic positions before him) I shouldn't be bitching about the book yet. But, oh what the hell, it's my journal, I'll bitch whenever I want to. ... Why is it that when women are being sexual it is interpreted as them being counter-hegemonic while men are simply seen as being sexual (read natural)? Do women need a reason to be sexual? That's so sexist.


• altar_of_wishes in fanficrants 2005-09-11: untitled: This right here angers me so badly that I don't think I can contain myself. // Ello! this is my first story...all chapters are dfferent murders...the murder?...Ed Elric! *gasp* but if u wanna be killed (and or raped) tell me ur name and any anime character u wanna be paired // I have nothing else to say.
  

Specific

• researchroses 2005-08-26: Research Paper Summary: Here at last, the summary of the 2500 word paper I presented on the results of my research into livejournal fanfiction communities, specifically the dark R/S community, starcrossedmoon. [HP]


• brichibi 2005-09-03: Oh noes Naruto!: What's with the big scare of the squealing Sasuke fans when they already exist! Dubs won't create them, they're already here. Walk around a con sometime, look at webpages sometime. There are already girls claiming Uchiha Itachi as their boyfriends. There are already headband wearing con-goers with no costume. So what are we really afraid of here? Anything that people think dubs bring about is already here. Child fans? I've seen 5 and 6 year olds dressed as Sasuke and Naruto already. What's with the dreaded rise of fans? What rise? Where? Am I the only nut who thinks, "Finally, when I mention Naruto here people won't stare at me funny?" [Naruto]


• carodee in ts_talk 2005-09-07: untitled: Despite our growing presence on LJ, I don't find a lot of talk about TS outside the fandom. Since LJ is so multi-fandom, that seems a little odd to me. I've seen TS dissed as "old skool" and I've seen quite a few people scratch their heads and admit they've never heard of us. I've noticed that the writing trends that sweep through LJ seem to pass us by and I wonder if that's because so many people are mono-fandom and we really do self-isolate and focus inward. [The Sentinel]


• kben in unless_you_suck 2005-09-11: Does Dawn read as queer to you? Why or why not?: cadence_k posed this question in a post about a month ago and I thought it'd be an interesting addition here. [BtVS]