~~ gimp gimp baby....
Jun. 27th, 2005 01:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaEee, 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.
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.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 11:07 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 08:58 pm (UTC)Let us go hide in our Cave of Shame.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 09:15 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 09:23 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 09:35 pm (UTC)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
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 12:10 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 09:29 pm (UTC)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?
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 02:56 am (UTC)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.