- havocthecat posts on girl geeks (re: Twilight & BtVS) and a well-deserved fannish smackdown right here.

- Follow-up regarding The Outsiders' Fanfiction Survey (no connection to Susan E. Hinton) by eruthros in her lj; an earlier summary can be found at thingswithwings'. It seems, however, that the survey has been temporarily taken down. If the intersection of fandom and research is of interest to you, it's best to follow the above links. (That said, one thread in eruthros's lj was particularly illuminative.)

The outsider perspective on fanfic as one aspect of fandom is one I've been following, more or less loosely over at as_others_see_us.

- In addition to that, while in California, I had some discussions with lo_rez about the representations of fandom from within: not just how we represent ourselves, but who among us represents us. I read, write, and loves me some slash, but it still seems curious to me that there doesn't seem to be any widely communicated gen or het framework or content of/for fandom. Or am I just missing something?

Paper Moon at the Hollywood Cemetery via Cinespia was a-mazing. Just - wow. A most gorgeous cinematic experience.

For me, old films are not about fond memories; they are genuinely new to me. ( My families and me )

Also, I love the L.A. freeways late at night. Almost like the Autobahn! (Speed limit, what speed limit?)

::

From stultiloquentia,

a page I've been meaning to make for a long time: a meta recs page for my website. Words that have shaped my ideas, words that are funny and true. Nerdsquee. Mantras.

"Doyle would have known Bodie wanted him to pick up some broccoli."

"ok, so WHAT IF HE DOES TAKE IT?"

"I want us to own the goddamned servers."

"But there were no taverns in India."

"Give it permission to be bigger than you are."

Here is her post; read and share, maybe?

::

coffeeandink collected a few links on racism and homophobia and specifically on the Evil In Our Midst panel at WriterCon '09 - a panel that I attended, and a panel that I didn't just applaud as such but wherein I applauded when a dear friend of mine spoke up. I'll write more about it when I have sorted my thoughts, having previously thought my particular impressions weren't especially, you know. Special. Now, after seeing certain attendants' comments, I'm more than a bit shocked and think, maybe they can add to the writers' input, as linked above. You be the judge.

Christ. What an amazing sci-fi adventure.

Spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth, Day One to Day Five.

( Review/reactions )

• deepad wrote a punch-in-the-gut post about Reading, Writing, & Identity (I Grew Up With Half A Tongue).

  When I was around thirteen years old, I tried to write a fantasy novel. It was going to be an epic adventure with a cross-dressing princess on the run, a snarky hero, and dragons. I got stuck when I had to figure out what they would do after they left the city. Logically, there would be a tavern.
  
  But there were no taverns in India.

• She also wrote a follow-up post:
  
  White people, it's not all about you, but for this post it is.

• ciderpress joined The Remyth Project and writes, so was i born into the world:

  The woman who has my face is a lotus blossom, a dragon lady, a geisha girl, a china doll. She has a painted smile that she hides behind her hand, a curtain behind which the sexual tigress waits to love you long time. The woman who has my face is an exotic accessory draped on the arms of white men and women. She dances and simpers and bows and scrapes, a submissive victim waiting for a white knight to save her.
  
  Only, once upon a time, there was a lotus blossom -- no, that's not how our stories start.

::

( My own ramblings on race discussions - not just on the internet )

Santa The Deutsche Telekom guy was here! I'll save the whoo-hoo emoticon until the Evil Yet Supreme Ruler of the Wires, the Telekom itself, enables the connection again from their end; it's still dead and might be till after noon (though not, as I'm told, afternoon). Which is just as well, since I need to be off to my PT in fifteen minutes, not to mention a last-minute shopping spree for the godparents.

Err, I'll stop before your eyes glaze over. Instead, in fannish meta news,rahirah once again spoke my mind and wrote a great essay:

On Fluff.

Many readers love fluff. But it's often been said that writing fluff will get you lots of comments, but no respect. Ironically, one of the reasons that this is so is that fluff is like haiku - easy to write, difficult to write well. Writing domestic scenes takes just as much skill as writing action or romance or mystery does, but many writers make the mistake of assuming it takes less. As a result, there is a lot of bad fluff out there. Poorly executed fluff will ruthlessly expose a writer's weaknesses. If you can't set a scene, evoke mood, convey sentiment without sentimentality, capture character voices, and do it all in five hundred words or less, then writing fluff is an invitation for the reader to point and say "HA HA!"

The other main reason that fluff gets no respect is that most people feel that stories about unhappy characters are deeper and more insightful in regards to the human condition than stories about happy ones, regardless of the technical merits of the writing in other respects. Whether that's so is an argument for another day, but the perception is alive and well. From my own experience, I merely observe that making a character miserable is extraordinarily easy, while making a character happy in a believable, in-character way which will be interesting to the reader is often extraordinarily difficult. And I've always liked a challenge.

Yes. That. Don't get me wrong - I'm possibly too fond of writing angst as well, but from a meta reader's perspective, I couldn't agree more with Barb. And it's why I admire authors who can write light-hearted yet fully rounded stories so.

stultiloquentia has written a little gem of a post on Porn and the Reading Process:

"When you read (fiction, for simplicity's sake), how much do you visualize? Does a full-blown movie spin out in your head as you go along? Do you have a general sense of setting and movement, but hazy details? Or do you see nothing but words on the page, and then add the rest while you're daydreaming later?"

She also talks about well-chosen details in writing, hind-brain activity, and the essential intimacy factor. Go contribute, if you like!

In SGA news, I made another icon as a contribution to mcsmooch. You can check out John and Rodney kissing here.

You guys, I love Bones so. Very. Much. ♥

( Almost done with Season Three now... )

When I'm done, though, I want to see all your reactions. I'm going to make a Bones reading filter (for those already on my flist) and will read anything in the way of ep reviews & meta that you link me to (if you're not on my flist).

Poll #1195355 Bones!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 47

So?

...remember, if you're not on my little flist: Links to your Bones post(s) in the comments? I'm very interested! & :-)

On to the meta part of the post! A couple of nights ago, just before dozing off, still smiling from the responses to my Bones Appreciation Post, I read one line in a fanpost that resonated with me -- she said what she loved best was the "casual confidence of the women on the show." And I thought, yes, that's it, right there.

We do see confident women in other shows -- but is there anything casual about the confidence of these women? Looking at the Doylist and the Watsonian level, the writers' portrayal as well as the characters' actions, I don't think that's too common. How 'bout we take a peek at The X-Files, House, and CSI? All of these, to some degree, served as templates for the Bones creators.

( The X-Files )

( House, M.D. )

( CSI )

( And then, Bones )

Thank you, anonymous donor! I've stocked up immediately. ♥

For the rest of you, if you need a laugh and have at one point seen BtVS and AtS, do head over to rahirah's last entry, wherein she comments quite, uh, unambiguously on sloppy spill-over characterisation in fanfic. & ;-)

toomuchplor is hosting a new twist on the old challenge:

"So - six word stories in the comments, any fandom, any pairing, any genre."

Right now, it's way too Atlantis-heavy for some of you. & ;-) Come play!

Which reminds me -- she and I had the best-ever conversation regarding Rodney so-not-bottoming, thanks, over at thingswithwings, who had the liveliest fanfic!pet!peeves discussion. I think there's a certain Need To Know element, as in: Do I really need to know this ohmygod?, but really, if canon characterisation as applied to sexual preferences and habits interests you (and if you're reading this lj, it probably doesn't abhor you, at least), feel free to scroll down to my comment and the ones following it.

I continue to looove The Sarah Connor Chronicles. ::doodles little hearts:: Evil FOX, keeping me hangin' and hopin'. Icon recs, fic recs (gen so far, I'm thinking)?



ETA: Ooh, thanks to whoever it was who said awesome / things about me in svmadelyn's Valentine's Day Game!

If you're active in fandom, you should totally check it out; there's a good chance at least one friend left you an anonymous love note.

If I were into the "x AUs I'm not writing" meme, I'd totally (not) do a Vineyard AU, you know? ( Not just John & Rodney's Big Wine Adventure... )

...but well, I'm not. I'm just trying to get my fix of John'n Rodney and tasty wine at the same time.

(Then again, what are AUs, after all, than a fic-writing way of combining two things we love--our pairing or dynamic of choice with a classic movie, the world of academia, or *gasp* high school?)

While I'm doing my exercises:

Ask me for a fannish opinion, in any fandom I've ever shown any more than a passing interest in. Ask about a character, a plot point, for speculation (whether canon or my own fanon). Ask me about some meta issue, whatever.

I omitted the sentence that wasn't true (hi, Siri).

I spent my lunch-break bitching about discussing a certain story and pondering its terminology in a general slash context. In German, sorry.

Let me throw the core question at y'all.

( Poll: Excuse me, ma'am, have you seen this acronym? )

PS: Yes, as the icon implies, I'm liking Life so far. Not terribly original, see my previous estimation, but it has more interesting (and more central) female characters than, say, Numb3rs where I've so far liked Amita and Charlie but am often stuck watching The Don & Department Show.

PPS: I really like to eat beef liver, but gah, preparing it is a bloody mess. Literally. Also, if you're interested in prettily displayed nutrition details for all kinds of foods, do check out this site: Nutrition Data (I'm eye-rolling at all the mentions of "weight-loss," mind you. As if that -- and not a healthy life & good meals -- were important. & :-)

i updated my sga genderswitch post -- if you see me missing a favourite of yours, feel free to drop me a line, always.

a propos, you can imagine the point where i squeed when watching ugly betty: "canonical genderswitch! awesome!" of course, a second later, i went, "...or is it?" awesome, yes. but genderswitch (from the show writers)? i wondered about the classification issue while updating above entry, too; it's not always so clear-cut, or at the very least the "genderswitch" label just has different definitions to different people.

( musings )

eta: forgot to mention that "has always been [gender x x/y]" stories, alternate universes, are also a different animal, and yet again, i included jenn's story (of a girl) -- same issues, different level; it's all in the meta: like modern art, such fanfiction relies on the perception of the reader, i.e. her or his background of both canon and fanon. the power and impact comes from that contrast/comparison rather than internal story developments.

I was cleaning the dishes, as one does. And I idly wondered about fannish feedback culture. As one does.

We like responses to our fanworks. That's a no-brainer. But every time there's another debate or wank about the merits of a piece or the people involved or, fine, another instance of me giving in to the urge of posting unsolicited concrit, I'm baffled anew at people's responses.

Mona, you sigh say, haven't you learned by now that most fans don't want criticism? That a large faction of fandom hates anything but happysqueeyourock! comments?

But, but, but, I respond, WHY?

The question isn't whether we like criticism -- we generally don't. I sure don't. You probably don't. Your five-year-old neighbour with the crayon set won't cherish having all the flaws in his doodles pointed out to him. And yet, to me, that doesn't account for these emotional and occasionally anguished responses. ( ... )

Saw "Be the biggest among all your friends!!" spam in my junk mail folder and immediately thought, but why would I want to-- before remembering that on-line spam (much like real life) isn't isn't from women for women, i.e. isn't fandom.

*

Obviously, I'm back from the office ( ... )

*

In more positive news, after coming home from the Sunday half of the weekend's all-day classes, I watched yesterday's Tatort. The Münster duo is my favourite, and this episode was especially delicious -- a crossover with the Cologne Tatort ( ... )

*

A propos of a friend's recent post, I've been thinking about ( the language of the social sciences )

the_royal_anna, thank you! (She sent me this and a lovely card with handwriting that's still the prettiest. & :-)


If you're at all interested in characterisation as it pertains to reading and writing, run, don't walk over to rahirah's latest meta post, who, as so often, speaks my mind.

"Most of us have an image of the characters in our heads, based upon both the bare facts of canon ("Buffy wears what appear to be designer clothes") the inferences, logical or otherwise, we draw from those facts ("Buffy must spend a fortune on those/Buffy must be buying knockoffs on deep discount") and the interpretation we impose upon both facts and inferences ("Buffy is a canny shopper/Buffy is a spendthrift.")"

'you come in here with your guns and your brush cuts....' (some personal thoughts on FanLib) by telesilla

"I still believe that what we do in fan fic fandom is merely a modern version of what people have done since there was language. We tell stories, we use words to entertain. We tell the myths of the Greek gods in our own words as Homer did, we rewrite the Matter of Britain and put in that French OMC**, we piece together things from dozens of different sources and make something new out of it the way Chaucer and Shakespeare did. We are the latest in a long line of this kind of storytellers and when we're good, goddamn do we hit it out of the park."

If you haven't seen -- or want to see -- Joss's post to whedonesque regarding a crowd of young men murdering a woman by stoning her to death, here's the direct link to Equality Now. I cherish the fact they recommend different actions for different crimes against women; I feel concrete options for direct intervention are a wonderful thing (as I am both naturally lazy and unnaturally time-constrained).


::goes back to her books, sigh::

Yeah, many of us just want to get away from this topic. But some of us can't. Which is pretty much my point.

Livia Penn's original post I considered thought-provoking and well-argued, but the entries that most adequately and comprehensively reflect my opinion are these:

• but you're better than normal. you're abnormal. by ciderpress

• As the bowl of petunias said, *Oh no, not again* by telesilla.

If you don't have much time or interest, read them and not my ramblings. I tried to delete all self-indulgent blather. That was right before I realised there would be nothing left. ( A few random points )

Disclaimer: I don't consider myself a confrontational or controversial person, but if any of this bothers you, please feel free to take me off your flist. No, really, it's okay -- this wank is the least of my problems. So, every day is Unfriending Day in my LJ. (Every day is also Clarification Day, but remember as of today 11pm, I'll once more have about 30 minutes per day for surfing.)

If you've always wondered what gen-fic is, and how the gen categorisation works (or doesn't, really) -- my two cents.

wesleysgirl, wickedwords turtlespeaks, whichwitch666, alizarin_nyc, geeklite, lizamanynames, shehasathree -- this is for you: ( 2006 Fanfic in Review )

( Turns out I was a gen writer by a wide margin. )

Already had PT and went the store; now I'm sipping tea and mentally going through a list of bookstores -- I need new learning material, and I need it now. After that, a trip to the hairdresser's: so very necessary.

In fannish news, icarusancalion has created The SGA Project, a.k.a., "Flavor Of The Year." She has created *what*? you ask. She says her goal is to "provide a rec-list with context, a description of intertexts, and explanation" because "[f]anfiction is interdependent, relying what happens in canon, in mainstream media, and in between other stories in fandom."

So, rez_lo, superplin, cathexys, this might be interesting to you not (only) because of content but structure and system. Mmh, intertextuality.

Since all the cool kids seem to be doing their 2006 Fanfic in Review posts:

Poll #900275 2006 Fic in Review
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

Interested in me listing all my fanfic written in 2006?

ETA: The Bad Hemingway Story Generator. *ggg*