[bueller!! Buuuueller!!... oh wait.]
Aug. 29th, 2006 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaSo I was reading through this INFP description (which is my MBTI type), and I thought this actually explained a number of my fannish fixations/behaviors through the years. Um. Naturally I realize this isn't v. interesting to anyone but me, so here, my comments on a few quotes from there.
Okay, um, my biggest !! moment was realizing that I fixate on people's characterization inconsistencies (in re: to canon) in fic becaaause... um, I have such high OTPish value attached to H/D and such importance/value attached to 'the truth of' (or the 'actual character of') Harry & Draco because of that.
I’m too private to push my values on to other people, but I am convinced that one ought to be congruent in their own life if they are going to expect congruence from others. In a sense I hold other people to that standard, and I worry about my own incongruities, inconsistencies, and contradictions.
Yeaaaah. I dunno if most people can notice this online (or in real life, where I speak even less of myself), but I'm totally fixated on the idea of being both authentic and 'congruent' in my vision of characters/text/ideas. Even if & when I write different variations on a theme, I always need a basic, thought-through background understanding to spring from, and it literally BOGGLES MY MIND that people can not just not analyze (which is fine & pretty normal, actually) but not be aware of what their feelings/true views are, in an open-minded but definite fashion. I know I contradict myself-- and I enjoy it on some perverse level-- but hypocrisy or the errors it brings are just extremely frustrating anyway.
I love bringing together different eclectic ideas and seeing what’s similar. I like to have my own ideas, hear others ideas, and have ideas challenged, bantering back and forth.
Yeah, this definitely explains why I'm so obsessed with not only meta but non-wanky discussion-type meta where we can really question everything that goes as an unchallenged assumption. Oh, uh, and it explains why it DRIVES ME UP THE WALL to see people not challenging their own ideas or accepting others' crack or like, being too self-important and certain of themselves in debates/discussions. But the 'bringing together different ideas' is just... why I love meta & crack both. ♥.
Lack of honesty or ethics or integrity in interactions—when someone is saying one thing but doing another—really puts me off.
Another point here is that for me, it's all about 'saying what you mean & meaning what you say'-- personal authenticity. So I'm probably coming from a v. different place, personally, than other people who argue with 'feeler'/sensitive types about the value of truth-in-fic-criticism or any other form of fannish frankness. To me, it's less an issue of feelings vs. truth (because I value both) and more an issue of integrity & ethics, yeah-- while other people make the straightforward connection between 'ethics' and 'niceness', I totally don't at all. My connection is between ethics & authenticity.
~~
Aaaand, somewhat randomly, I've completed my Unpopular Opinions meme with the other 5, 'cause I had more things I felt like saying after seeing others', so. ^^;;;
6. Canon!Ginny does not, in fact, deserve to be Fandom Enemy #1.
[although this applies to any widely-bashed character, like Tonks, Draco, whatever]
See, okay: I'm not blind. I see the problems in Ginny's characterization inconsistencies, the shallowness of HBP!H/G as written, and Ginny's bitchy tendencies. Right. I also see the inconsistencies and flaws in most other canon characterizations & relationships-- yet those are generally more okay to 'fix' and work with & smooth over in one's head, looking at the bright side & so on. Just seeing the huge backlash after HBP made me feel more stubborn about both Ginny and H/G, whom I barely -noticed- in canon in one case & which I didn't like or believe in as it was written in the latter case. So she's bitchy-- she's not the only one. So she's obsessed with a guy-- so is Tonks and arguably Hermione (and hey, James was like that with Lily, and who holds that against him?) In fact, I think a similar process happened with Ginny fifth/sixth year as happened to James around sixth/seventh-- sudden shifts related to romance. It remains possible to see her as a normal girl who's not the Virago From Hell, honestly, with a little imagination-- the same imagination people use on Blaise, Draco, Tonks, etcetcetc.
7. Redeeming Draco doesn't have to be stupid or useless.
[depending on what you mean by that]
Honestly, I've stopped waving my redeemed!Draco flag around long ago, but fact remains my greatest interest in Draco is in seeing him seriously change-- which yes, he's doing in canon, but I suspect JKR won't go deeply enough, far enough, personal enough-- she didn't even do that with Harry. The point is, I prefer Draco unchanged from canon in actual fanfic because frankly, most of the time people change him ineptly or just unsubtly & implausibly and too quickly. But allowing that this is a skewed & customized definition of 'redemption', I still think it's more than okay to not just say 'okay, take him AS IS and don't move'. Draco still NEEDS to move, grow & mature. A lot. AND NOT INTO A SMOOTH SELF-CONTROLLED SEX GOD, OKAY. :O!
8. More than half the time, hurt/comfort or w00bie characterizations lead to... ungood fic.
[so my rule of thumb generalization is that h/c sucks, pretty much, so I'm beyond annoyed at its proliferation in post-HBP H/D :/ *sigh* And this doesn't mean I'm a hardcore angst-whore, either.]
I think it's because people are extra willing to skip steps and overlook inconsistencies just so X character gets a pat on the head-- in a way, it's 'worse' than porn-driven characterization that way 'cause it's more insiduous & many readers and writers don't realize they're doing it. Like... the more you pity a character and try to give them an 'even break', the more you run the risk of excusing or white-washing their actions, which are integral to their actual personality. In my experience, hurt/comfort as a genre & a subtextual flavor both lead to all sorts of ridiculousness, like Draco The W00bie Who Wuvs Nevvie & other sins. :/
9. Fic writers' feelings should not determine all readers' behavior & analysis, given basic courtesy.
[yes, we've all heard this wank before, I know. Well, I'm scraping up the numbers here -.-]
I don't mean just the review wank, though-- I also mean that recent silly remix wank where people were like 'I write fanfic myself, but you cannot riff on my fic because, uh, MY FIC IS MINE'. Uh. NO IT ISN'T!! CHRIST ON A STICK! I'm fine with asking first (I generally would), but the idea that a fic writer is fully within their rights to act as if they have COPYRIGHT on their bloody FANFIC makes me want to CHEW THROUGH SOLID OBJECTS. And to then say '...but think of my feelings!!' is just the icing on the cracked-out cake. Because, hi, difference between courteous dialogue and (100% hypocritical) fannish entitlement, have we met?? APPARENTLY NOT. If this means I'm a bitch? Well, fine, I guess I am; telling me that I'm not sensitive enough is just likely to make me less sensitive. I think my source of irritation is actually the whole 'be more sensitive' argument coming from anyone anywhere-- it just always makes me cranky.
10. Smut is not the enemy. It is also not The Point.
[do I really have to elaborate? Okay, fine.]
Let's see: not the enemy? Because it can be Fun and Educational. Not the point? Because it often isn't since sadly, most people don't write smut that well. However? People not doing something well is not an excuse to say it's useless/sucky/whatever, because by that logic, EVERYTHING SUCKS. Because the point? Is actually twofold: to Have Fun and learn to Do Things Well. Uh, like, in life, not just fandom; whenever you separate these, you wind up... uh... having things suck. -.- And if you don't find written sex fun? Remember that this is more a reflection on your sexual preferences/feelings/sex-drive than... uh... the value of porn itself.
~~
Mostly I made this post because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stellabelle once again wrote the Draco Of My Heart with Because I am a Malfoy, You Blasted Dimwit (Now Where the Fuck is My Tea?) (and also, uh, of my vicious fandom spleen, but we won't mention that, will we. no; because evil makes Harry hot, mmkay!) ♥♥♥~! Aaaand, behold! Verily, ethrosdemon wrote the first SGA fic that made me want to read more, muwhahahah :D :D
Also, this just in: a 'quick & dirty' IQ quiz sez my logical intelligence 'below average'. AND EVERYONE IS SO SURPRISED. Especially considering my ranting re: fandom logical fallacies. =;
Okay, um, my biggest !! moment was realizing that I fixate on people's characterization inconsistencies (in re: to canon) in fic becaaause... um, I have such high OTPish value attached to H/D and such importance/value attached to 'the truth of' (or the 'actual character of') Harry & Draco because of that.
I’m too private to push my values on to other people, but I am convinced that one ought to be congruent in their own life if they are going to expect congruence from others. In a sense I hold other people to that standard, and I worry about my own incongruities, inconsistencies, and contradictions.
Yeaaaah. I dunno if most people can notice this online (or in real life, where I speak even less of myself), but I'm totally fixated on the idea of being both authentic and 'congruent' in my vision of characters/text/ideas. Even if & when I write different variations on a theme, I always need a basic, thought-through background understanding to spring from, and it literally BOGGLES MY MIND that people can not just not analyze (which is fine & pretty normal, actually) but not be aware of what their feelings/true views are, in an open-minded but definite fashion. I know I contradict myself-- and I enjoy it on some perverse level-- but hypocrisy or the errors it brings are just extremely frustrating anyway.
I love bringing together different eclectic ideas and seeing what’s similar. I like to have my own ideas, hear others ideas, and have ideas challenged, bantering back and forth.
Yeah, this definitely explains why I'm so obsessed with not only meta but non-wanky discussion-type meta where we can really question everything that goes as an unchallenged assumption. Oh, uh, and it explains why it DRIVES ME UP THE WALL to see people not challenging their own ideas or accepting others' crack or like, being too self-important and certain of themselves in debates/discussions. But the 'bringing together different ideas' is just... why I love meta & crack both. ♥.
Lack of honesty or ethics or integrity in interactions—when someone is saying one thing but doing another—really puts me off.
Another point here is that for me, it's all about 'saying what you mean & meaning what you say'-- personal authenticity. So I'm probably coming from a v. different place, personally, than other people who argue with 'feeler'/sensitive types about the value of truth-in-fic-criticism or any other form of fannish frankness. To me, it's less an issue of feelings vs. truth (because I value both) and more an issue of integrity & ethics, yeah-- while other people make the straightforward connection between 'ethics' and 'niceness', I totally don't at all. My connection is between ethics & authenticity.
~~
Aaaand, somewhat randomly, I've completed my Unpopular Opinions meme with the other 5, 'cause I had more things I felt like saying after seeing others', so. ^^;;;
6. Canon!Ginny does not, in fact, deserve to be Fandom Enemy #1.
[although this applies to any widely-bashed character, like Tonks, Draco, whatever]
See, okay: I'm not blind. I see the problems in Ginny's characterization inconsistencies, the shallowness of HBP!H/G as written, and Ginny's bitchy tendencies. Right. I also see the inconsistencies and flaws in most other canon characterizations & relationships-- yet those are generally more okay to 'fix' and work with & smooth over in one's head, looking at the bright side & so on. Just seeing the huge backlash after HBP made me feel more stubborn about both Ginny and H/G, whom I barely -noticed- in canon in one case & which I didn't like or believe in as it was written in the latter case. So she's bitchy-- she's not the only one. So she's obsessed with a guy-- so is Tonks and arguably Hermione (and hey, James was like that with Lily, and who holds that against him?) In fact, I think a similar process happened with Ginny fifth/sixth year as happened to James around sixth/seventh-- sudden shifts related to romance. It remains possible to see her as a normal girl who's not the Virago From Hell, honestly, with a little imagination-- the same imagination people use on Blaise, Draco, Tonks, etcetcetc.
7. Redeeming Draco doesn't have to be stupid or useless.
[depending on what you mean by that]
Honestly, I've stopped waving my redeemed!Draco flag around long ago, but fact remains my greatest interest in Draco is in seeing him seriously change-- which yes, he's doing in canon, but I suspect JKR won't go deeply enough, far enough, personal enough-- she didn't even do that with Harry. The point is, I prefer Draco unchanged from canon in actual fanfic because frankly, most of the time people change him ineptly or just unsubtly & implausibly and too quickly. But allowing that this is a skewed & customized definition of 'redemption', I still think it's more than okay to not just say 'okay, take him AS IS and don't move'. Draco still NEEDS to move, grow & mature. A lot. AND NOT INTO A SMOOTH SELF-CONTROLLED SEX GOD, OKAY. :O!
8. More than half the time, hurt/comfort or w00bie characterizations lead to... ungood fic.
[so my rule of thumb generalization is that h/c sucks, pretty much, so I'm beyond annoyed at its proliferation in post-HBP H/D :/ *sigh* And this doesn't mean I'm a hardcore angst-whore, either.]
I think it's because people are extra willing to skip steps and overlook inconsistencies just so X character gets a pat on the head-- in a way, it's 'worse' than porn-driven characterization that way 'cause it's more insiduous & many readers and writers don't realize they're doing it. Like... the more you pity a character and try to give them an 'even break', the more you run the risk of excusing or white-washing their actions, which are integral to their actual personality. In my experience, hurt/comfort as a genre & a subtextual flavor both lead to all sorts of ridiculousness, like Draco The W00bie Who Wuvs Nevvie & other sins. :/
9. Fic writers' feelings should not determine all readers' behavior & analysis, given basic courtesy.
[yes, we've all heard this wank before, I know. Well, I'm scraping up the numbers here -.-]
I don't mean just the review wank, though-- I also mean that recent silly remix wank where people were like 'I write fanfic myself, but you cannot riff on my fic because, uh, MY FIC IS MINE'. Uh. NO IT ISN'T!! CHRIST ON A STICK! I'm fine with asking first (I generally would), but the idea that a fic writer is fully within their rights to act as if they have COPYRIGHT on their bloody FANFIC makes me want to CHEW THROUGH SOLID OBJECTS. And to then say '...but think of my feelings!!' is just the icing on the cracked-out cake. Because, hi, difference between courteous dialogue and (100% hypocritical) fannish entitlement, have we met?? APPARENTLY NOT. If this means I'm a bitch? Well, fine, I guess I am; telling me that I'm not sensitive enough is just likely to make me less sensitive. I think my source of irritation is actually the whole 'be more sensitive' argument coming from anyone anywhere-- it just always makes me cranky.
10. Smut is not the enemy. It is also not The Point.
[do I really have to elaborate? Okay, fine.]
Let's see: not the enemy? Because it can be Fun and Educational. Not the point? Because it often isn't since sadly, most people don't write smut that well. However? People not doing something well is not an excuse to say it's useless/sucky/whatever, because by that logic, EVERYTHING SUCKS. Because the point? Is actually twofold: to Have Fun and learn to Do Things Well. Uh, like, in life, not just fandom; whenever you separate these, you wind up... uh... having things suck. -.- And if you don't find written sex fun? Remember that this is more a reflection on your sexual preferences/feelings/sex-drive than... uh... the value of porn itself.
~~
Mostly I made this post because
stellabelle once again wrote the Draco Of My Heart with Because I am a Malfoy, You Blasted Dimwit (Now Where the Fuck is My Tea?) (and also, uh, of my vicious fandom spleen, but we won't mention that, will we. no; because evil makes Harry hot, mmkay!) ♥♥♥~! Aaaand, behold! Verily, ethrosdemon wrote the first SGA fic that made me want to read more, muwhahahah :D :DAlso, this just in: a 'quick & dirty' IQ quiz sez my logical intelligence 'below average'. AND EVERYONE IS SO SURPRISED. Especially considering my ranting re: fandom logical fallacies. =;
| Your IQ Is 115 |
 Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional |
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 12:50 am (UTC)Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional
Your General Knowledge is Genius
I beg to differ with this IQ test. Below average logic WTF?
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:29 pm (UTC)I think that's why it also makes me crazy when people will say something like "You're being hypocritical/dishonest when you just said this and now you're saying that--they contradict each other" when to me they don't and I'm like, "But can't you see there is a clear thing in both of those things and that's what I'm basing my feelings on and that's why it is consistent? We've just got different priorities!" And the same thing with other people--if they believe two things that seem contradictory I love looking at what's really the motivation underneath. I'm like a detective!:-)
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 05:22 pm (UTC)Yeah, this happens to me too-- like, it -seems- like I'm contradictory but I never really am if you know me & you know why I see certain things-- what I look at in them, specifically (which may not be what anyone else notices). And you totally are like a detective!
...I'm more like a wandering randomness investigator :>