General Fandom

azurelunatic: The WIPO Broadcasting Treaty and LJ: Why I wasn't worried at first, but am now — "In LJ's TOS, it says that it has the right, but not the obligation, to crack down on any violations of copyright. Notice that language. That language is important. If that language ever disappears, and you're in any way dubious about the copyright status of anything you have posted, run."

thete1: Lizard-brain and Writing-brain -- never the twain shall meet? — "If I tell you in the first or second sentence that the story includes one of my bulletproof kinks, if I specify that it *is* my kink -- more than anything else, what I'm *trying* to say is://"Look, I honestly have no *idea* how good this story is. All I can say is that it probably isn't a brilliant work of literature, but if you have this kink, too, you're probably going to find it readable. Or maybe you won't. Eh, whatever, I'm still in my bunk.""

nerdcakes: [untitled] — "It could be the fact that, being a visual thing, it's harder to mentally edit out the little details you dislike the way you might in fic. If someone drops an embarrassing exclamation into an otherwise flawless sex scene, I can mentally smooth it over, if not the first time I read it, then certainly the second, without jarring the overall mood too much. Whereas, it's harder to mentally customise a picture."

losyark in fanthropology: Fanfiction Author = Tie-is Author? — "My question is, do these tie-in authors ever go on to become writers for the original text? It'd be very interesting to see if any fan-author every became a can-author. Obviously they can't for canons like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. But what about Marvel or DC? A currently running television program, like Lost or House, or a future one, like a new instalment of Star Trek?"

linaerys: Rodney and Other Nerds On Screen — "I guess it comes down to the fact that I don’t want to be asked to laugh AT someone who I identify with, when he or she doesn’t deserve it. Rodney is funny all the time in ways that let you laugh with him, or laugh at some situation that he gets into because of his own weaknesses and pecadillos, but when the script simply heaps humiliation on him, does things to him that he's done nothing to invite, it doesn’t strike me as funny, it strikes me as cruel and makes me dislike the characters on screen who are laughing at his expense."

yourlibrarian in fanthropology: Mary Sue moves Mainstream? — "Writers have always had actors playing versions of themselves since they often draw on their own lives for material (and some are more obvious about it than others). Where does the line get drawn?"

stewardess_lotr: Making Peace With Smart Quotes — "Over the years, my eyes have been trained to expect opening and closing quotes, so I prefer “smart” quotes while reading text on the web. // Other people, as helsmeta recently reminded me, "hate" them.// However you feel about smart quotes, you should know that their beauty/ugliness depends on the font used."

elke_tanzer: On the creative fans' covenant — "...now that fandom is getting noticed more outside of fannish circles, I've got a gut reaction whenever someone who does not produce fannishly at all themselves draws attention to someone else's fanwork. The consuming-only consumers of fanwork, in contrast to the producers-and-consumers folks, are not opening themselves up to the same level of risk, and it irks me like an acid mist burning my skin."

opera142: [untitled] — "6 things I learned today while reading fanfic // 6. Consensual sex between adults will only lead to MORAL BANKRUPTCY. Even if one or more of the adults is stupidly motivated."

celandineb: Plagiarism is theft — "I'm a teacher. I regularly assign my students papers to write, and I warn them about plagiarism and how to avoid it. There are two basic principles to follow, and they're pretty much the same whether it's writing nonfiction research papers for a class, or a fanfic to post online."

scarlettgirl: Fandom Musings — "Like I said at the Fanthropology panel at Writercon, television and movie fandoms are the redheaded stepchildren of the fandom world and this just proved that hypothesis. I could swathe myself in Eagles green or fly a Notre Dame flag in front of my home and no one would give it a second thought. Mention that I take great pleasure in watching, discussing and dissecting a televsion show? All of a sudden you're considered a social misfit."

resonant8: My threesome manifesto — "Why I love threesomes: the porny reasons."

losyark: Interesting dialogue... — "Find me a novel, an article, a theorist that can do half as much towards invesigating difficult social themes, as well as breaking down barriers of race in the actual show (the first onscreen interracial kiss, if I recall correctly) as the original Star Trek series, and I`ll eat my hat."

amchara: Musings... — "There are all these cool people who you have things in common with and who you never would have met otherwise. And I love that. While the squeeing is nice, I think that the friendships that come out of it are the best part of fandom. // And that's why I'm having trouble (and feeling guilty) about a new fandom vs. an old fandom. It's hard to move on when your friends aren't moving on with you."

Fan Vids

jadelennox: fan attribution, youtube, and convergence culture — "It's been bothering me increasingly in recent months, as fanvids get posted on YouTube (not by the creators), that my non-fannish friends link to them as just another cool internet video. Of course, how would non-fannish folks recognise the incredible violation of fannish etiquette involved in posting a vid to YouTube?"

elke_tanzer: On fannishness in the public eye — "I think I'd be more interested and willing to get to know the PTBs and to share the entire spectrum of PTB and fan-created wonderfulness if I didn't feel like (whether for personal, business, economic, legal or whatever reasons) they weren't likely to CRUSH ME LIKE A BUG."

thelastgoodname: Discussing things about which I know nothing — "What are the community standards for sharing vids outside the fannish vidding community? What do those other people who make little cartoon vids or whatnot -- the ones that aren't in conversation with a specific fannish text or community, for instance -- think about the questions of sharing and control and the "fan"/"original" question and credit (et al.)? // (Do we even know the answers to these questions? Is there anything such as a non-fannish vidding community?)"

vee_fic: [untitled] — "...I think Jenkins must have a vague understanding of this, and is simplifying so that a general audience can bear his message. Still, it's irritating to be reduced to a stereotype, even a flattering stereotype. I think it's a liberation, to be able to talk about women's fantasies, and to acknowledge that some of them really are as simple as "You're not the usual cabana boy.""

anoel: Vidding Thoughts — "I think it would be so cool to put part of your feedback/commentary/analysis in vid form. I can see this used in different ways from using clips from the vid (this would all have to be with permission obviously) along with connections to other clips from the show or sorting the clips used together to show themes and parallels to using split screens and more screens to compare, contrast, connect, etc more easily. You can even add text to the clips, making it easier for the vidder/others to see exactly what it is you think about parts without having to check back to the vid or feedback/time stamp every second."

wickedwords: Warner Music and YouTube reach agreement — "The thing I am boggling over here is what this means for vidders. Vidding has been so underground primarily due to the music issue. So does this mean that if you use warner's music and post to youtube, then you're legally covered as far as the music is concerned?"

Questions, Polls, etc.

brynnmck: Insert "tense" joke here. I got nothin' — "Present-tense in fic: thoughts?"

tkp: [untitled] — "Does writing fanfiction make you happy?"

complete: reading habits: fic ratings — "I don't know about you're reading habits but for me 90% of the time I don't really like to read anything under an R rating when it comes to fiction and slash."

itsbeenvery: OTP bias and cliche love — "We often talk about how something is OOC or not canon, and whether or not a character's actions and feelings are realistic in regards to canon. Looking specifically at characterization in fics where the writing is up to snuff, is it sometimes possible that we just don't favor character x feeling that way about character y?"

burr86 wrote in feedback: popularity on livejournal — "What makes someone popular/influential on LJ? What makes someone highly-respected within a certain group? What attributes make someone well-known? (Either in a positive or a negative way)"

thecaelum in social_meta: Interesting dialogue... — "This is an interesting look at the popular enforcement of unpopular norms. It has far-reaching implications, both in and out of the fannish experience. // What are your thoughts on this? Have you seen examples of these behaviors in fandom? Do you feel that this is applicable to your experiences in fandom?"