General Fandom Meta

executrix - Rosaline's Beauteous Cloaks (Sex Scenes and Fandom Transitions) - I don't know if I thought, or hoped, or what, that B7 pimping would rekindle my fandom lurve, but now I feel a bit like Romeo "Rosaline WHO?" Montague. [...] However, perhaps for those who are truly multifannishly inclined, the transition works more like Midsummer Night's Dream than R&J--that, depending on what hit your eye most recently, you can love Helena, then Hermia, then Helena....

trinityofone - Rite of Passage - There comes a time in every young fangirl's life when, should she still reside amongst the chalk-dust lecture halls and book-dust libraries of academia, she must pick up the mantle and write an academic paper about slash. And for me, brothers and sisters (mostly sisters), that time has come.

cyborganize - politics of fandom - I'd prefer to position fan production not as resistance to capitalism _plasticity_ promises to kick my butt if I backslide), but as a limit case of capitalism. because what it highlights (as a marginal practice) by carrying productive consumption to its extreme is the inherent contradictions and instabilities of this economic system. a paradox: the only way for the entertainment industry to make money off the texts they supposedly own is to turn them over to their audience to make what they will of them, thus challenging this very conception of ownership.

starrysummer - Fandom Question: reccing taboos - Okay, so I've seen a couple of recs lately saying something to the effect of "well, this was written/drawn for me, so I really shouldn't rec it, but I will." // I've never really thought of this as a fandom taboo. Is it off-limits to rec stuff that was written or drawn for you? As a gift? As a part of an exchange?

lexin - If you must write MPREG... - Some thoughts for those who feel they can't help it. [...]// Before we start, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those who hate MPREG. I just hate it done poorly. So, before you put MPREG into your story my advice is:

lunacy - [UET all the way, baby] - Possibly, you could make a case that desire-- a central drive-- is related to longing, and is the bedrock on which dramatic fiction is built. So of course we as readers are drawn to the characters with both the most conflict and need unfulfilled. If you started working with a character who basically had what they wanted in life, where would you go with that story? // Also, perhaps you could make a case that slash & stories about m/m attraction would be more wholly and explicitly about this Desire because of the sheer difficulty and the obstacles in pursuing it even currently in the Western world. Slash sort of-- purifies this theme, or maybe just strengthens it. Gives it that dramatic push that you would need outside circumstances for in m/f romance

commodorified - So, this is my Theory - m/m is the genre with the least effective outside competition. I suspect this accounts for quite a lot of its numerical advantage inside fandom. // Good het is everywhere. Good f/f is, in fact, everywhere, for values of everywhere which include access to a decent library or a GLBT bookstore, brick or online

permetaform - Slash Theory - So, my thoughts on why I slash (and it is a multi-part reason, this is just one of many) has recently dovetailed with fannish thoughts on gender in SGA and thoughts on Feminist representation of the female body in visual language and I wrote this paper where I'd addressed slash sideways, with some realizations that I'd come to over the course of a month of discussions here and there, online and off.

sine_que_non767 in fryandorlaurie - Are we all 'going to hell in a handbasket': How to write guilt-free RPS - Based on how I felt as I considered the characterisation, personality traits and bedroom fantasises of 'Stephen' and 'Hugh', those quote marks around their names began to appear. I was taking everything I knew, inferred, wished and hoped about the real Stephen and Hugh, but as I began to flesh those ideas out, actual characters began to emerge. Stephen and Hugh became 'Stephen' and 'Hugh', two characters of my own construct, which in the last analysis owed more to my personality, fixations and desires than to the real people. How could they be like the real people? After all, I've never met the real Fry and Laurie in my life. I don't kid myself that I 'know' them from their work or interviews. // Thus, my logical conclusion: If you write about a human being in literary form, they become a character by definition.

strlingdragnfly - Fandom question about readers, writers and commenting - As a reader, I've noticed that not every writer feels a need to respond to their comments. Often, it seems that the 'bigger' the name in fandom, the more likely it is that they don't answer. [...] As an author, I love each and every comment I get. I try to answer all of them, even if it's only with a 'thanks for reading.' I know I miss some, but I do try. [Poll]

apetslife - upstairs and downstairs the lady ran - I know many of my fellow writerly types are inspired by feedback (I know I can be), and it's gotta be karmically beneficial to express thanks and appreciation for something that's brought you enjoyment, so we can all agree that feedback is a wonderful, lovely thing. Everyone should do it. Lots! // But what about RESPONSES to feedback? How do you, as a feedbacker, feel if you don't get a reply from the author when you leave a note? Are your feelings different if you've left a one-line "love it!" that didn't get replied to, instead of a three-page line-by-line adoration? [Poll]

ausmac - A Poll - I did a post awhile ago about sex scenes in slash, but i'm curious to get some statistics. Please feel free to add any comments relevant to your selections. You can comment anonymously if you wish. [Poll]

Fandom-Specific Meta ( Cut for potential spoilers in the following fandom: HP )

On Writing/Creating

resonant8 - How to write a sex scene, part 3 - Make the sex fit the characters (and not the other way around) // Some writers can stay in character for any scene but a sex scene. It's one of the most frustrating things in the world to be reading along, having a good time, following our guys as they do their thing and are entirely themselves, until suddenly they disappear and are replaced by two porn stars who superficially resemble them.

resonant8 - How to write a sex scene, part 4 - Choose your details carefully. // When I was in college, a student group showed a bunch of Swedish porn films from the seventies. (In fact, that was all the porn I'd ever seen until somebody on my flist uploaded her Patrick collection.) One of the movies began with a shot of a nipple that filled the entire movie screen. Not the aureole, mind you -- just the nipple. The pores were bigger than my head. It took me several minutes to figure out what it was. // I always think of that nipple when I'm tempted to put too much detail in my sex scenes.

jmeadows - Using all the muscles. - I think it has something to do with what writer-types call the tip of the iceberg. The audience/reader sees just the tip, even though there's a whole ton of stuff going on below the surface. Tightened muscles, slight balance shifts to give just the right effect/depth of characters and world, subtext... // They won't notice all that unless it's not there. Because then you're boring. // Use your muscles. Reach.

maticoquala - [untitled] - Use your coolest ideas, in other words. Push yourself with your most challenging stories. Write the exciting bits now, not later. Don't hoard your stories, because the cleaner you scrape the bowl, the faster it refills with even better stuff, and that filler you packed in there to try to dole out the good ideas? It's just going to have to be cut anyway.

mrissa - Two More Things - I can't decide whether I'm in mild disagreement or violent agreement with matociquala here. She's talking about using everything up in your story, not trying to save anything for the swim back, to take the "Gattaca" approach to writing, and I can't decide whether my reaction is "yes but" or "yes and." What I'm talking around here is: I really, really like it when I have the sense that other interesting things are going on in the world of the book. That the author is telling this story because it's an interesting story, not because it's the only interesting story available.

sockkpuppett - Fretting about Mashups - Mashups are like vids. Mashups are like collages, aural collages. Making mashups is like making vids and collages. The artist (for want of a better term, but is there a better term, really?) hears music and thinks about how to expand an idea, or how to turn it into something entirely different from the original. He combines different songs in the effort to make a pleasing whole *new* thing. It's derivative art, the same way that vidding is derivative art. That's part of what I find so charming and intriguing about it. And to further derive, I'm thinking of vidding a mashup just because I can. // But can I? Legally, that area is getting grayer and grayer.