why? why ask why?

[reenka]

...Unforeseen consequence of reading both too much lj & too many fanfics: starting to read a fanfic in the first person, I have a hard time letting go of the nagging impression that this is an lj entry & I'm reading my flist [with the automatic glazing-over that accompanies that].
    Problem especially compounded by the first sentence being, "God, I'm tired. Beyond tired, actually. I'm heading straight for fall-in-your-dinner-plate tired." Ahaha, oh man. Yes, I'm trying to read Sentinel fic. \o/

In other news, I'm almost willing to join/read in -any- old fandom if I was told they have lots of fanfic!meta. I think it's sort of like... I like to discuss stories a lot, but in a certain way. What way is that? Well!

It's not going over the facts or analyzing 'why did character X do this?' in a detective-story sort of way.
    
I'm a very lazy reader when it comes to all that stuff, I really am. Unless something hits me over the head, I'm totally content to go with the flow-- I mean, I wondered who 'RAB' was, but it just wasn't in me to bother thinking hard enough to come up with 'Regulus A Black' (thank you fandom! or not). I like surprises :P More than that, plotwise, I'm pretty much an escapist fantasy user: I like to be entertained, intrigued, fascinated, driven mad with suspense... but I don't like doing the work myself.

It's a bit different with analyzing characters-- that, I like to do with canon-- but there's so much more I can get into with fanfic!meta that I don't get a chance to with canon!meta. Specifically, I also like comparing/contrasting patterns a lot-- seeing tendencies in a 'type' of story, seeing how the overall symbolism/theme works in a bigger context, seeing the different iterations of an archetype [or a specific character, obviously].

It's like, so much [most?] of canon!meta is about contrasting and/or deconstructing-- setting up characters against each other, going over & over possible motives, fixating on details and minor characters-- all the stuff people don't tend to do with fanfic and I personally don't particularly like to do with canon of any sort. I like to compare and construct instead-- seeing patterns & similarities, the overall effect, paying attention to the linguistic flow & specific passages [something v. few people do with book/comics canon], make suggestions or write inspired spin-offs [without the wank/frustration of knowing you can never really 'suggest' anything to canon creators]. I also like to discuss/deconstruct a romantic pairing without having to first argue how 'canon' it is or whether it's plausible [because in a fanfic it's just there or not], which is what takes up 80% of canon-only pairing discussions :/ Meh.
   EDIT - Actually, I think my comment below articulated my issue a lot better, 'cause it's definitely true you -could- have the sort of canon!meta I'd like, it's just... in HP there are complications. In Smallville & Buffy (from what I remember), there was definitely a different dynamic.
~~

Also, found a link to statistics saying that something like 1/100 people will generally create/upload content & 10/100 would interact online at all. So like, being a lurker = perfectly & even overwhelmingly normal; standard, even. What it makes me wonder is still why; I suspect it's related to why people don't vote, but I dunno :P I -do- know that I was a creator & interacted online as soon as I -got- online in 1996. I made my first website several months after figuring out what this 'web' thing is, and I only continued expanding and diversifying my acquaintance with the various forms of online activity since then. That was way before fandom, lj, knowing anyone online, knowing more than 10 websites [half of them search engines] or anything of the sort. As soon as I -found- a free website provider I liked [not geocities!!], off I went-- and I immediately tried to improve, too-- learn html, fiddle with graphics, upload my poems, create content. It's just natural; I'm not interacting because I am or am not a fan. It's just... impossible for me to be online & like... do nothing for very long (unless I'm on a fic-reading binge where I literally read fic 24/7). o_0

    It's probably different for people online specifically; I mean, I know -I- act differently online insofar as I talk more, interact more. The distance here helps me participate whereas in 'real life' I'm a lot more quiet and non-interactive. Maybe it has something to do with most people being extraverts or something, and getting their push to say anything by their being 'real' other people to say it to [which is probably why people are all over instant messaging and MySpace moreso than more solitary 'volunteer' type pursuits like uploading/posting things or whatever]. Maybe that's why all those teenies do post but beg for feedback and comments, as if they really feel useless/unheard if they're not directly and constantly encouraged & engaged with.

I mean, in 'real life', it sort of amuses me to think that those same people currently lurking on this very lj are more likely to strike up a conversation with me if I was a stranger than I am with them. I like... NEVER talk to strangers unless I need directions [and I very rarely ask for directions]. I never ask for the time; I never ask for a seat; I never say anything unless I'm absolutely forced to, unless we're talking 'in class', another place where most people are silent (and often inattentive) listeners. It's weird, isn't it? Where most people would talk [like, also in private conversations], I tend to default to listening and vice versa. Maybe it really is me -liking- the sort of 'quiet space' illusion of posting anything online [still 'into the ether' on this lj 'cause I get so few comments]. It makes me relax and be my most authentic babbly self [because in my head, I definitely talk to myself all the time], whereas maybe for all these lurkers, 'quiet space' implies being quiet in some subliminal way. Or something. Or maybe they see all the [minority of] people talking and it makes them feel intimidated by the noise. o_0

Huh.

Comments

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Huh? seeing tendencies in a 'type' of story, seeing how the overall symbolism/theme works in a bigger context, seeing the different iterations of an archetype and paying attention to the linguistic flow & specific passages: Why is it that it's not possible for you to do these things in canon-inspired meta? However, I will agree with you, even as a person who has little to no interest in fanfic only meta, that it does get tiresome to discuss pairings in terms of only whether they are canon or not, so I prefer discussing very canon pairings, because then you don't get as much discussion of that.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think all those things are definitely possible with 'normal' (non-fanfic) canon, definitely! It's just that they are in the vast minority-- that's the sort of discussion I saw the academics doing at Nimbus, but not so much on lj. The meta on lj tends to be fandom meta or slash meta (which I love too), but the specific canons I follow which have any serious meta community it's not like that (excluding Buffy, which I loved the meta for, but... for some reason I never joined the fandom, prolly 'cause I came so late, I think). I'm just not interested in canon for a lot of fandoms I read fic for [and therefore know much about the fandom of], too-- but the thing is, in HP... well... that guy complaining you linked to was wanky & delusional, but he was on to -something-. There -is- a lack of a certain sort of canon!meta in HP, at least.

I think back when I had thamiris friended, I was a lot happier even though I basically didn't follow Smallville except for a few scattered eps-- but v. few people write slashy meta of that sort in HP. Like... okay, the slash and gen/het segments are pretty segregated and it's the gen/het people that do the type of meta I like, right, except they have a whole community/pairing-bias thing I'm not into. I get the shudders just thinking about discussion of most canon pairings in HP, so... I guess it's a specific problem.

In other fandoms that have a heavy slash contingent-- generally TV-media stuff-- everything is just mixed up in a big happy ball, it feels like, with love of the show overlapping with love of the slash overlapping with some appreciation for canon pairings as well as slashy fanon. In HP... seeing canon appreciation and 'constructive' rather than purely critical meta among the slash contingent is very rare. Maybe this only makes sense if you're -in- HP slash fandom, and I didn't fully consciously realize I was assuming that context.

I think fanfic meta in HP is the only thing I feel happy about discussing with my peers, maybe, because we'd squee about similar things; I'm not sure.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most meta is fandom or slash because a) that's what all the fighting is about, and b) because, honestly, it's easy. It's all abstract theory and doesn't tend to require serious close reading. Also, with HP, honestly, it's hard to do that meta because actually, many people have done it, especially when you count the academics, and JKR is a good storyteller, but she isn't really that interesting as a writer. That's why there isn't that much of this kind of meta. There's a reason it tends to be done by academics.

[discordiana.livejournal.com]

I am a massive lurker, you can quiz me if you want.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I don't have a quiz, I just have disconnected ramblings ^^;;; Am I on to something with my lurker hypotheses?

[discordiana.livejournal.com]

I think the idea of a "quiet place" is a worthy one. I know that for me it got increasingly hard to see lj or other popular boards as quiet places, considering the huge amount of users who might be listening at any time. The more my awareness of an audience increases, the more quiet I get. I like conversation and I like attention, just with not so many people at once.