General Fandom Meta

fairestcat - Whither the Queer Slasher - One of the perennial questions of fandom came up on metafandom today: "Is heterosexual women writing/reading and breathing male/male slash, at the root, homophobic?. "[...] There are a lot of problems with that question, but let's get the big one out of the way first. Since when was slash fandom solely the province of straight women? I've seen the definition dozens of times, the flippant description of slash as "gay porn written by straight women." And every time I see it I wonder, "well then, what about me? Where do I fit into that definition?"

twinkledru - Procrastination via meta! \o/ - Oh dear. The old question of 'is straight women writing slash homophobic' is making the rounds again, apparently. // So, because I have a big mouth and this ties into some of my issues with fandom, you know I'm gonna weigh in. And here's the thing: no. Not in and of itself. No more than my writing het pairings is fundamentally damaging to heterosexuals.

cereta - Fandom, fun, and some other stuff - What I have here is not a Unified Field Theory of fandom, but only a couple of small perceptions of my own.

tigertrapped - I'm getting sick of saying this but - - Slash is not a mattress; it doesn't require a warning sewn to one side on pain of a large penalty. // Nor does it need to come with a great big Capital-Lettered Apology from those who read or write it.

slodwick - There is no such thing as private on the internet, just boring - My take is what it always has been: never put anything in writing I wouldn't want people to read or that I wouldn't be willing to own up to, and once something is posted, I have to accept it's On The Big, Bad Internet. If I say something stupid (or angry or insulting, whatever), if I flash my ass, I can try to take it back, but if people saw that? Well... I said something stupid, I flashed my ass, and there you go. And it certainly won't be the last time. I'll either apologize or stand by it.

thelastgoodname - On being popular (if everyone knows about fanfic, is it still fun?) - Many people have noted in recent months that the media have begun to accept (or at least publicize) fanfiction as a semi-legitimate fan activity

ely_jan - Two Cents - Last night I was discussing fic with menomegirl, and we got onto the topic of AU fiction. // This is what it boils down to for me // You don't bend the character to fit your world, the world bends to the character.

i_am_schizo - Totally incoherent thoughts on slash = porn or whatever - Why the hell do some people insist on equating slash with porn??? I understand that PWPs have some porn-ish quality about them but when you have a say 300+ kb story in which there's the odd - admittedly explicit - sex scene, what the hell is pornographic about that?

indefatigable42 in fanficrants - On warning labels - It just occurred to me that there's a problem inherent in the warning label system. The people that the labels are made for can't actually read the stories if it's a matter of an emotional triggering issue, so it's sometimes hard for a writer to know what kind of labels should go on a particular story.

ethrosdemon - [untitled] - Sometimes I wonder where the impulse to be proprietary over characters comes from—besides someone being deranged—if it's a natural instinct to claim and own, the same kind of human impulse that makes people jealous. Y'all don't really know me, but if you did know me in real life, you'd know I struggle with understanding jealousy. I don't feel it, and I don't understand it, and it makes me a little confused when I'm confronted with it. In the same way, I've never understood the desire people have to "own" another person or a thought or a concept. The whole beauty of life is we can *share* those things and be closer as people through our shared enthusiasm. That is what fandom *is*. We're all in the yard because of our shared love of hotass. No one owns the hotass (except maybe Tom Welling).

worldserpent - Thoughts about sl0ring - What does it take to get you into a series?

babyofthegroup - think it was the fourth of july - I just find it fascinating, seeing how fandom has a synergistic effect not only in increasing readership but also in possibly bending people to like something by peer pressure. I wonder to what extent the latter happens -- do you find you objectively like something more if your friends like it? Or do you find yourself wanting to be seen as liking something, even if it doesn't make much of an impression on you?

flemming - On feedback - If you look at fic as a form of commentary, not leaving feedback makes very good sense. It's exactly like an lj entry. I don't expect everyone who reads my journal entries to comment on them; to do so would be taking self-importance to ludicrous extremes. People reply if something strikes them particularly, or if they want to continue discussing some point I've raised. But who'd want to have their whole FL saying 'Interesting comment' or 'Good point' to each entry of theirs? much less to have your readers flog themselves into coming up with a new and innovative remark each time they dutifully comment on one of your posts

widget285 - Wankity Wank - I was just skimming a my flist and a stumbled upon a fic announcement in a community in which I am a member. The author of the fic posted a link to her LJ, but in fact, as she mentioned in her notes, you can't actually read it. // Why not? // Because the story is "dark" and contains possibly distubing sexual themes, she has made it friends only. In order to read her story, you have to leave a comment and request to be friended.

modillian - I have questions about Fandom and Livejournal. Yes, capitalizations for both. - So many changes concerning icons have occured lately. If icons are a hinging factor in fandom, is Livejournal catering to fandom? Or perhaps a better question, what is fandom's impact on Livejournal?

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

On Writing/Vidding/Creating

birgitm - Having Vids Beta-ed? - I have never had a vid beta-ed -- I've just released them into the wild to fend for themselves (evil me! *g*). How does one go about doing it? What are the advantages of having it done with your own vids? I mean, I know what the obvious advantages are, but don't you just get one person's perspective? How valuable is that, overall?

sdwolfpup - Beta thoughts and a question about a naturopathic link - The benefits of beta'ing, for me - whether it's one beta or many - are: a sanity check that my vid makes sense; that the vid is doing what I want it to do (emotionally or visually or narratively); that I've made it the best I can (I am really, really lazy, so my beta(s) prevent me from just settling because something is "good," and make me make it better); reviewing my intent in choosing certain clips and using certain transitions or effects; and reassurance that at least one person beside myself will get something out of it

renenet - beta you than me - So, yeah... why have a beta? // Because, first and foremost? You Are Not All That. No, seriously, you really aren't. I don't care how good you think you are or how many squeeing fangirls loved your first/last/whatever endeavor — your vids would be better with someone smart reacting to what is and isn't working and talking the vid over with you. Your vids would be better with you being forced to face up to your weaknesses, with you being brave enough to want to let go of your ego and hubris long enough to recognize that someone else might be able to help you make your vid more fabulous than it already is.

wandlimb - CSI of a WIP - In this case, CSI stands for “Creative Story Investigation” and pertains to the evolution and writing of my former WIP, “The Amber Effect”

musesfool - now that my role model is gone, gone - I really loathe the term "audiencing." It's not that I don't understand what it means, or even that I don't use it (er, the process, not the term. I don't use the term. *shudders*), because I do, on both counts.

lunacy - [a true liar and other stories] - I don't think a writer's gift for lying (there's a reason they call it 'telling stories', right?) and wild imagination is the same as the compulsive liar's; I mean, I think a writer is often a good liar to start with (I'm guessing me and ol' Isaac aren't alone), but what I realized when I grew a bit older was-- well, not to put too fine a point on it, but-- basically, you can't be a good writer if you're not into telling the plain unvarnished truth when it would be most powerful. I realized that truth-telling is the writer's calling even if lying is a writer's skill, if that makes sense; the trick is to use one's imagination to make people stop lying-- to themselves most of all-- even if just for a moment, that moment of revelation while reading a really good book that touches you. That moment where the story speaks to you.

veejane - [untitled] - In other news, expository writing is difficult, and requires practice. I never formally learned the principles of exposition; I only picked them up by example (especially by reading newspapers). I can see why the "As you know, Bob" strategy is so tempting, because it lets the author slip into a conversational style, and allows for questions. Expository description, as with How tornadoes form in the middle of a story about tornadoes, is a diifferent animal, and requires some really deft balancing of style and vocabulary.

Miscellany

starcrossedgirl - I suspect stats has taken over my brain - aviss made an interesting post about the different ways of thinking that people have, asking people whether they tend to think more in images or words. I am strangely fascinated by this idea, and more than that, as the subject of envisaging scenes in a story/fanart came up, decided to make a bit of a more detailed poll. [Poll]

fox1013 - lunchtime (you can't keep a good thing down) - Let's say it's the apocalypse, and you have the time (in between saying good-bye to loved ones, finishing unresolved business, lots of sex, etc.) to write one last fic before you go. // What's it gonna be?