~~ gimp gimp baby....

[reenka]

Eee, everyone wishing me a happy birthday actually made me happy :D :D Thank you <3<3<3 And if you forgot/didn't/etc, naturally I ♥ you anyway. Love, love for everyone!!1 I am full of glee 'cause... it's summer! It's not too humid! And I have a very comfy chair! Wheee! :D Also, I have a fan :D :D I mean of the electric kind =;
    Also, I saw `Mr & Mrs Smith'-- it was v. good. Angelina Jolie is v. hot. I would so have her babies if she was... well, willing & able. And Seth! Heeeee. I think Seth accounted for my favorite moments, making me want to watch The O.C. like mad. He acts just the same! It's so adorable! Eeeee, Seth!!1 So much cuter than Brad Pitt, baby. Yes.

It's been a bit annoying, the debate about fanfic.


I dunno why it gets to me when other things don't, not anymore-- maybe it's that it's not just fandom. Ask a random writer friend, they'll likely sneer at you when you say you write fanfic, or at least look at you funny. I mean, I -write- original fic, man-- it's not some omg-important accomplishment. Most people who write 'original' fic suck anyway (no, not excluding myself in this). Writers being uptight brings me down. Hurts my mojo. And so on and so forth. Self-righteousness is for gimps. That is my final verdict, yes.
    However, I'm not saying writing shouldn't be taken seriously; people who say writing or reading by definition is 'just for fun' bring me down too. I tend to take fanfic & original fic equally seriously, writing & reading-wise both. I am perhaps more critical with published fiction, but eh. Reading/writing 100% for kink and/or fun gets old after say, 3 years in the same bloody fandom; so yeah, it's not that I've seen it all idea-wise, it's that I haven't. Everything feels recycled and it doesn't have to be, dammit all to hell. Or maybe that's just me! Who knows, who cares, live & let live & gimme more manga to distract me. Wheee, pretty boys nekkid!

I was thinking earlier about cliches, too.... Partly related to the HP cliche community thing, partly other things.

I realized I think basically there is no such thing as a wholly 'original' premise, and the worth of any given fic is in the execution, not the premise. You can easily write a cliche brilliantly and a so-called new idea crappily. The oodles and oodles of bad sci-fi out there attest to the many many flaws with idea-driven writing if taken by itself. Perhaps people who only read -for- the ideas don't care, but me, I want a good story. I don't care if it's got a unique plot if it's clumsily executed and awkwardly phrased the whole way through. Then again, very few ideas are just that exciting that I'd willingly sacrifice any mental pain I get reading about them. I think Piers Anthony taught me that lesson if no one else did; he's like a textbook case of cute ideas and horrendous execution in my mind.

Perhaps it's that I view writing as very much a gestalt-- a combination of various factors at work within both the reader & the writer, creating the finished 'story' that is created. And I do think it's a joint process, and that no two readers see quite the same story. So basically, ideally idea & its execution should work together, and throw in a dab of the reader's own personal/cultural context and you've got yourself a story! Just add postmodernist theory & you're set! Clearly!

...And now, since I'd mentioned pretty boys, distraction & manga, clearly I have to show my favorite panel (so far) of this, heheh.





    I really need to finally watch Episode 3, don't I. Man, I'm so tempted by the idea of falling in love with Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan again. It will always be the only fandom where I tolerate hurt/comfort and mindbonds and cross-gen all in the same fic. The temptation to read Robin Hobb just to write hurt/comfort-crossgen-mindbond fic and mail it to her is great, btw.

Comments

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

*comfort hugs*

Wheee, pretty boys nekkid!

That's my life philosophy!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

>:D<
I like mah pretteh boys nekkid and also not too stupid, 'cause I'm a picky biatch like that >:D
...I mean, in that manga I linked to, boy are they stupid. BUT OMG PUBIC HAIR o_0

...am tempted to always use this icon replying to you :D

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Yes! Happy porn-surfing Harry! *loves*

Pubic hair is love.

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Self-righteousness is for gimps. How true.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Gimps & people with Very Important Jobs, which means they must be 'Reasonable', 'Practical' and/or Wanky. It's in the rule-books somewhere, I'm sure of it :>

[fictualities.livejournal.com]

I've dutifully memoried all the links about the fanfic controversy, but have been grateful that I'm too busy to do more than skim. Have the anti-fanfic people come up with any new arguments, like "Writing fanfic will turn you into a lawyer omg!! With warts!" or are they still just ignoring the history of literature and the realities of reader response?

Thanks for the link to the scanlation comm. Despite having No Time At All, I've recently discovered the joys of manga. You are partly responsible, chattering about it on here and making me curious. *blames you* *loves you* (I can't BELIEVE that you can just get this stuff IN THE STORE, where has it BEEN all my life?)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heee! I can almost recognize the artist in your icon. I think I'm getting rusty :> Looks like Masara Minase, kinda :D Mmm, inking.
The stuff in the stores doesn't seem as good, so far (that is, it's okay, but it's the most mainstream/popular stuff). If you wanna follow manga releases, there's tokudane and your handy dandy irc client :D
Am curious now! Do you have any favorite mangaka so far? Which ones do you follow? I think at my high point this spring I followed like 45 or something, which might be why I burnt out a bit. I mean, I used to talk about manga a lot more-- friending you was around the time I decided to focus on HP again, actually :))

I would've just skimmed the kerfuffle, but seemed to have some sort of sick fascination. No new arguments as far as I knew, though I think this is my first wank on this precise topic. I think it runs more along the lines of 'fanfic writers aren't REAL writers', 'fanfic doesn't help you learn, and steals MY BABIES FROM ME' and 'YOU HACKS, GET SOME REAL IDEAS AND STOP VANDALIZING OTHER PEOPLE'S PRECIOUS PROPERTY', etcetc. I think that thing about ignoring the history of literature is something surprisingly many writers/readers make a hobby of, apparently :D

[balfrog.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's that I view writing as very much a gestalt-- a combination of various factors at work within both the reader & the writer, creating the finished 'story' that is created.
Was it the Robin Hobb thing this week? I had to skip over that with an eyeroll- huh, if I want to, I'm going to skip over pages in the middle, read it slant, and doodle rockets in the margins so they take off when I flip the pages, so there, Ms Hobb.

And Yaoi? hehehe... teh crack of choice, yes.

:D

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

The Robin Hobb thing & the um, that-other-guy-on-fandom_wank thing. I was reading it with a sort of horrified fascination, like I really wanted to mock it except I apparently have insecurities or something. Also, I probably do respect the opinions of published writers too much....

Maybe the secret is to vary the crack so that I never spend too long on any one thing, so long that I become actually rational & notice all the holes. Or possibly drawings of nekkid boys make it aaaall better :>

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I kept away from the Robin Hobb thing, because sometimes the very fact that you're reeeeaaallyyyy tempted to jump with a deep and considered opinion in is a sign that you. just. shouldn't. I am practicing keeping my mouth shut! It is a good thing. I did like conversant's take on it best of all, though.

gimme more manga to distract me. Wheee, pretty boys nekkid!

You know, manga is so totally lost on me, I don't know why. You'd think it wouldn't be, since I pretty much endorse the above philosopy wholeheartedly. I scandalized Aja recently by saying that what fanart most needed was "more cock." I am very proud of managing to scandalize Aja.

And last, belated Happy Birthday! I did not know, because I live in a cave. Hope you had a great day. :D

P.S. I haven't shared the love enough about Big Bang. I spent a whole weekend reading all four stories and blowing off work things and it's been a while, you know? It was fantastic, and you (and shaggy and Aja) are the new Three-Person-God.

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Manga is so lost on me, too. *And* I managed to forget about the Big Bang.
Let us go hide in our Cave of Shame.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hee! It's pretty funny you forgot about the Big Bang considering how much I'd pestered you about it in December :))
But on the up-side, we're planning on doing a Book 6, er, Bang, which you could/should definitely participate in, if you have any inspiration whatsoever, that is.
I mean. Think of all the cookies! I mean, reviews.

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

I will!
No, I mean, it struck me today, I was like ... big bang... hmm... OMG OMG OMG REENA ME CHOCOLATE INTERPRETATIVE DANCE WHEN CAN I PUT ASIDE A DAY TO READ THIS HOW COULD I BE SO DIMWITTED?
Oh, I hope I'm inspired! I'd love to, if I am. Otherwise lift up my eiderdown: I'll be hiding under the bed until two-dimensional!forever Draco goes away.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

......Not sure about the chocolate interpretative dance (which is all... Delirium? I can definitely see Maya!Delirium, but). Yes. Methinks this is what happens when one has an actual life >:D And also no cohorts to email you about the challenge every few weeks. So yeah, we're definitely thinking of making the duration of the challenge a lot shorter next time, though I suspect you might be one of the v. few people this would help ^^;;

You could also always save canon!Draco/canon from it/himself, and plus it's only book 6. I mean, if not you, then who?
Draco needs you!! :D

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Rather than hide, let us hie us hence, to the Big Bang website! I am due for a re-read, or at least re-skim, because I gorged so much that I didn't leave time for feedback. Which is bad, because everybody involved (not least the writers!) should be showered with glory to encourage them to do this again and again.

I am in one of those moral traps with manga, because I'm pretty sure I don't like it, so I don't bother with it, but that in turn makes me vulnerable to people who say "well, then you don't know anything about it." Which is true, but for the moment, pending a more-or-less thoughtful sales pitch from someone, I am pretty much OK with that. There are comics that I love -- for example R. Crumb, who plays off the traditional low-life and amateurish connotations of the medium. I think that may be it -- I sort of associate manga with melodrama, bathos, unsupported claims to seriousness. Yet I know there are very intelligent and interesting people who love it and write it and draw it. So, I don't know. Life is short!

BTW, I have been rereading some late chapters of UL in preparation for your Grand Climax, and I find myself entertaining the most paranoid thoughts re: Harry. Hmmmm. :) Looking forward to the resolution of all mysteries.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I know, that's why I didn't make a 'real' post about it, and/or any really intelligent commentary. *snorts* Yeah, 'cause. It was all on purpose.
I'm like Switzerland. Don't want to get involved, but sekritly stew in my juices and make growly faces where people can't see. I'm prolly too pissed off at the whole attitude to make a coherent argument on the subject. Actually, I have a coherent argument, but it still involves lots of over-the-top rhetoric, which I hate.

Hee! Maybe you just haven't been seeing the right manga! Like! If you like comics at all, nothing should stop you except bad translations & art that's too spare/cutesy/over-the-top/etc. Something. Hehehe I'm of the firm belief that the world needs more cock up its collective ass, instead of, y'know, its collective head. Er. So to speak.

And thank you >:D I also live in a cave, though I do depend on other people congratulating each other to let me know, and I write my usual belated ficlet, if inspired. Which is probably my equivalent of giving people a banana I wasn't really about to eat. But it's the thought that counts :D

Whee! I love being a third of a godhead. Aja & Dana are most definitely also pleased. I'm so happy you think it was worth it!1 :D!
...Should we do it again, y'think?

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

I'm prolly too pissed off at the whole attitude to make a coherent argument on the subject. Actually, I have a coherent argument, but it still involves lots of over-the-top rhetoric, which I hate.

Ha. No, your post was fine -- I just meant my own tendency to let my mouth go off on autopilot on some of these issues, especially when it's kind of cut-and-dried as a meta issue. I started thinking up replies to Robin Hobb and then I had a rather strong sense that the points had already been made. :) But I really liked your own angle on it, showing that ideas are "not enough," and maybe "not even the point."

nothing should stop you except bad translations & art that's too spare/cutesy/over-the-top/etc.

Yeah, "spare" and "cutesy" are two stereotypes that come to mind - spare like melodramatic, like a cartoon storyboard for spooky moviemaking. Though like I said to mistfl right above, these are impressions and I don't really know that much. It just doesn't tug at me, or else I just haven't stumbled across a compelling example.

Which is probably my equivalent of giving people a banana I wasn't really about to eat.

I had a boss who used to do that. It was really irritating! I mean, what do you say? "Thank you for this lovely piece of fruit which you have spared from the trash. It means a lot to know that I have pressed the correct lever in response to the flash card you were holding up. Now pardon me while my colleagues and I go and groom each other's fur."

...Should we do it again, y'think?

Absolutely! But first, of course, there has to be a huge round of meta about The State Of H/D After HBP, which I will no doubt personally jump into, thumb deep in mouth. But still, hopefully not two years' worth. We need to get them back to the sex, with minimum distraction from ill-considered canon innovations. :) So the goal could be: early pro-active shaping of the post-HBP fandom. Will be fun to see what people come up with.

[lykaios.livejournal.com]

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY SORRY. I need to get one of those LJ clients that TELLS me things!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Whee-hee! Thanks :D
...In a way, being drawn out makes me feel special, like my birthday just keeps on going. Though I want one of those newer clients too, but I'm so lazy. And I hate those little reminder boxes. And also, I'd feel guilty with the people I don't want to bother congratulating ;))

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

REENA, I'M RETARDED. Please forgive me! I only wish I could buy you dinner to make it up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Well, actually, reena, the Main Pairing of Everyone In the Whole Hobb Fandom is hurt/comfort-crossgen-mindbond, you know. AND IT'S ALL CANON. INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE-SIDED GAY LOVE. So, you know, I'm sure she wouldn't object to that. :) (andI'dliketoseeit! OTP!)

I'd so have Angelina's babies as well. When she hit Seth with the telephone I was all squinty and 'yeah... well... it could be hot...' And if one's bored with one's marriage, the answer is always threesome with a baby assassin. 'S all I'm sayin.'

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Forgiveness is not in question, of course, especially seeing as how I pardoned all and sundry in my manic glee, but I wouldn't mind holding you to a dinner at some future point >:D Because I'm evil like that. *blows kisses* :D

......Now you're really tempting me to read it, y'know. Hurt/comfort-crossgen-mindbond, huh. Well, I assume Ms Hobb would be outraged anyway (judging from her rant and how all fanfic writers are awful heathens and all that), but. Heheh I'm tempted to write -you- something in the universe >:D

HAHAHAHAH ...I cannot see Brad-boy & Seth. Cannot.
...Am trying.... *squints with you*

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Yes! Yes they have a hurt/comfort-crossgen-mindbond! And the hero saves his BFF from DEATH ITSELF, and then his BFF cries and he holds him in his arms (quote) 'as if he were my lover. As if he were my other self.' (/quote)
And I think you'd like the Fool. I reeeeeally do. (He's the BFF.)
OLD MAN: Now boys, it's time for you to do some spying. Fool, distract that young noble!
HERO: But however can he possibly do that?
FOOL: Hello, young noble. You, me, your hot fiancee. How 'bout it?
YOUNG NOBLE: OMGWTF!
FOOL: I kiss you!
HERO: OMGWTF! Come along, I put you to bed now!
FOOL: Rock.
HERO: BY YOURSELF. I like to think about you in bed. BY YOURSELF. Wrapped in a sheet in the candlelight.
HERO: ... I don't know why you're all looking at me like that.
Do read it, even if she is all crazy about fanfic. Do, do, do! I buy you ice-creams after dinner.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hee! I don't know if I quite believe you about it being -that- slashy, but I -have- been wanting stuff to read this summer. Kushiel's Dart doesn't seem that exciting, though I'm really liking Urban Shaman (since it's definitely up my alley what with the ancient Celtic gods and spunky tall girls and like, um, shamans...) so yes. Also, have such low tolerance for typical high fantasy type stuff lately; maybe it's just Avaryan Rising, hehe.

Aaand, am intrigued in spite of myself. Damn your wily temptress ways and cute dialogue :> (Though I always thought BFF = Best Female Friend?? Fool has also got an interesting name.)
Also, ice-cream pretty much guarantees my attention :>

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Ah ah. Didn't she basically say she MUST CONTROL the reader's mind? At least now we know for sure that anti-fanfic comes from power-tripping.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Y'know, when I think of that actually being possible (which it isn't, of course), I get a bit tempted.
It'd be nice to gather drooling minions just by writing fantasy novels. Who'd suspect me?? ahahalkjaslkfjafa