General Fandom Meta

cereta - More on slash (what, you're surprised?) (Still not a terminology discussion - It's not that difficult for me to think of a fan story, or even a vid, that I could use as an introduction to slash creations. But slashy subtext is a trickier matter. Showing what it is we see in the source in a brief space of time…harder. // So, what about you? Assume you had anywhere from five minutes in a presentation (and thus could only show a clip) to maybe one afternoon of someone's time (and thus could maybe show one or two episodes of a tv show, or even a movie). What would be your choices? Your "if you don't see it here, you'll never see it" clips/episodes/movies?

inlovewithnight [untitled] - So. Apparently, I think HH fandom is like high school. Or, anyway, like a Hollywood version of high school. Then I wondered, what oversimplified similes could I make for OTHER fandoms?

alyburns - RPF/RPS - In the majority of the fandom, RPF is something we don't really do. It's kind of like the overall feeling about underage slash. Sure, RPS is done, but for many, it's not a good thing to do. Not the right, *ethical*, kind, polite or respectful thing to do. But it's done and it's even done well and funny and witty and dreamy and hot. But overall -- within most fandoms -- it's one of the big no-nos. // So what happens when a truly cool person, an "up there on a pedestal" person who writes golden prose, witty repartee on lj and lists, is funny and fun -- does it -- even if out of so-called "love" for those involved? Does that make it okay? Should we just chuckle and move on? Does it make it okay because this cool person says it's all over the net anyway?

doll_revolution - whoa. everybody take a deep breath - which is creepier? a person who writes fake stuff about RL actors, or a person who says they have met the RL actor and they can say for sure absolutely positively how the actor thinks about all situations?

popfantastic - You've been very bad, haven't you? - I do realize it's a playful thing, but why in 2006 is a group of people who really should know better still delighting in labelling their fantasies naughty and bad?

midnitemaraud_r - In which I ramble and rant and ponder the treatment of fictional women - Why is it that a character always has to live up to our personal expectations of love or else they're bad, wrong, fake, stupid, immature, silly, dependent, weak, etc.? And why do we harp so much on how a character acts as a teenager, or at certain moments during their teenage years, in defining how they "truly are" and how they will grow as adults?

valis2 - What sort of feedback/concrit/comments do you leave? - I was thinking about that today as I was leaving a comment. I realized that after two years of having a LJ I've begun to review with a system.

se_fics - Poll time! - I'm curious. I realized that my het fics almost always includes slash in the background (and not so back background). I wondered if this bothered 'het' readers. Then I started to wonder about a bunch of other stuff. The best way to find answers... a poll, natch.

ithiliana - Language and Labels Part I - "Slash is/is not gay literature (or gay porn)." // [...] whether that quoted statement is phrased as affirmative or negative, I would have major problems with it as a generalization or an argument (instead of as a personal statement of "I do/do not think my slash is gay literature/porn") for the following reason: The terms are not defined.

Fic-Related Meta

vulgarweed - Lament of the Sensitive Pornographer - One sees all sorts of casual references to "gratuitous smut" or "mindless porn" or whatever, sometimes affectionately and yet sometimes not. However, there is no logical reason why a sex story should be any more "mindless" than any other popular kind of vaguely formulaic short story, and there is no reason why a character's sexual behavior should be any less revealing of him or her than, say, a battle scene or a conversation or a bout of hurting or comforting or any of the other things characters do in fic.

ajhalluk - Once more the warning game... - This entry in fanficrants drags up the old dead pony about whether slashfics need an intrinsically higher rating than het fics with the same level of explicitness about the action. // You can probably guess what I think about it, so I won't bother you with that. What it inspired me to do, however, is to put out a plea for those whose interests get so often overlooked in fandom. // That is, of course, racists and anti-Semites.

agentotter - That's great, but how does it relate to American imperialism? - My second confession is that I long for buddy fiction. You know, in which the guys are really just friends and are not, in fact, secretly having sticky anal sex. Or even, you know, they are having sticky anal sex but it's not on-screen and all we get is maybe a little subtext that we have to squint at, just like on the show in question. I find that immensely satisfying. Because, let's face it, the buddy aspect of the relationships is what makes them so interesting to write. What's a Sheppard/McKay story if it's all sex and no snark? Boring as fuck, that's what.

averii - fun with pet peeves - Peeve #1: It baffles me how a fic can be categorized as humor, parody, and comedy. Not to mention romance, family, sci-fi and fantasy, for example ;). PICK A GENRE, PEOPLE. NOT TWELVE.

musesfool - what about the neighbors, what they gonna say - Remix is not, for whatever reason, a feedback heavy ficathon. In my own experience, and in talking to my somewhat wide-ranging acquaintance, anecdotally, most people can expect to average 4-6 feedback emails in the remix.

misia - [untitled] - Inspired by the divine jonquil, I ask: what are the erotica/smut/slash/porn cliches you love most to hate?

Fandom-Specific Meta( cut for possible spoilers in the following: Supernatural, House, Harry Potter )

On Writing/Creating

profshallowness - Three pieces of advice - So, here are some strong suggestions for when you think you're done with your story and ready to post, and know where you want to post. This is especially if it's your first fanfic, but not only then. // 1. Get a beta.

isiscolo - tension and pacing - But there's one thing that can't be expressed in the same type of black-or-white test (e.g. lots of grammatical errors, epithet usage, present tense) that is a major factor in whether or not I finish reading a story, and that's tension. If a story doesn't create tension that makes me want to see it resolved, that raises questions in my mind as to what happens next, that makes me care about what happens to the characters - why bother continuing?

oxioniensis - Do you write what you want to read? - Okay, I admit that might sound a bit of a weird question, and it might seem like the answer would be obvious. Of course you write what you want to read most of you are gonna say, and you're gonna look at me oddly while you're saying that. // Thing is, though, I don't necessarily.

minisinoo - The Fine Art of Pacing - Pacing is something that I often reference when I talk about working on longer pieces, and while pacing is not a "non-issue" in shorter fiction (under 7500), the short story is usually carried forward with less pressure to maintain pacing. (Tension is still required.) Yet novels and novellas MUST have good pacing or, frankly, the reader gets bored. The beauty of the author's language aside, the interesting characters aside, the interesting plot idea aside ... it's not enough without pacing to pull through a reader.