Meme and Fic Report Thingy

[tanaquiljall]

Reply to this meme by yelling “Words!” and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

edoraslass gave me Faramir, Betaing, Meta, LJ Friends, Slash, and apologized they were all fannish – but that's not surprising given we really know each other through fandom, and I don't post about a lot else in my LJ. *g*

Faramir Hee! I'm not surprised EL gave me this as my first word—I am rather known for having a bit of an *ahem* obsession with this particular Gondorian. He's my "default voice" for writing in the Tolkien fandom, and it's his eyes I most often see Ardaverse through.

One of the reasons I like Faramir (apart from his general awesomeness) is because of his strong sense of duty and his courage in the face of his fear. I've worked out that this is something that all the fandom men I adore have in common: they're (justifiably) afraid of what they're facing, they doubt themselves and don't think they're up to the task—and yet they still try to do what needs to be done. To me, that's far more sexy than unthinking "heroism".

Betaing I spend a fair amount of my fandom time beta reading for other writers and I really enjoy doing it – that's in large measure because I'm lucky enough to work with a bunch of really talented writers who are very receptive to critique. And they seem to appreciate what I do, even if I often feel like I'm being meddlesome. I guess I'm being meddlesome in the right way. *g*

Meta I like reading meta – canon meta and writing meta. scribblesinink is great at pointing me stuff to read, and I spend quite a lot of time in IM talking meta-ishly with fandom friends (in between the squeeing). I wish I was better at writing meta down in smart essays, but I think it mostly comes out in fic.

LJ friends I love reading my friends' lists—finding out what they've been doing in real life or in fandom or ficcishly. I usually try to read at least once a day and comment when I can (especially encouraging). I'm pretty easy-going about being friended and friending back. I don't feel anyone needs to ask me (I very rarely post anything flocked) and I'm not bothered if I friend someone because their posts look interesting and they don't friend me back.

Slash Not entirely sure why EL put this on the list, since I don't really write much of it. Maybe I've ranted about it memorably? Or maybe she just wants to know what I think. *g* My main problem with slash fics and why I tend to avoid them is really more a problem of characterization and plot!logicfail. (I avoid a lot of het and gen for the same reasons – slash fics just seem to have a higher ratio of more noticeable fail.) I really care about both of those things, so just because two guys are hott together does not make a good story IMNSHO. Mind you, I will never bitch about the quantity/quality of slashfic in any fandom after experiencing McShep in Stargate: Atlantis....

Fic report thingy: I currently have OMG!Chatty!Muses - they're in the most productive phase they've ever been in. When I'm not distracted by pesky RL concerns (and even sometimes when I am) they're throwing out 500-1500 words of fic a day every day... almost effortlessly. Unfortunately for almost everyone on this LJ's flist (except scribblesinink), what they're producing is Jericho fic. (scribblesinink and I have this whole scary post-series shared 'verse going on.) I did write an SGA fic for sga_genficathon and my Tolkien muses are hanging around more than they have for a while, if not actually presenting me with any fic just yet. But I have hopes.... (And it's better than three months ago when I didn't have muses at all, so you still weren't getting any Tolkien fic and there was absolutely no prospect of any!)

Comments

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading your thoughts.I like Faramir for the same reasons.I hope your LOTR Muses return soon.I miss your lovely drabbles.

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks - it was a very interesting set of words to talk about!

And I'm hopeful that the couple of drabbles I've produced recently mean my LotR muses are going to make a reappearance for some more drabbles and some "proper" fic.

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

Is there really any McShep other than in fanfic? (actually, if I thought Sheppard was gay or bi, I could see him with Ronan, very briefly, or even Lorne, but not McKay)

Of course Faramir is absolutely made of awesome!

I should know this, but what exactly is meta?

[tanaquiljall]

Is there really any McShep other than in fanfic?

In my opinion, only if you're already wearing your slash goggles. There's a lot of evidence, especially in the later seasons, that they develop a very strong friendship, and they do squabble like an old married couple, but I think you can only interpret their relationship as having a sexual component if you've already decided there is one....

Of course Faramir is absolutely made of awesome!

That he is!

I should know this, but what exactly is meta?

Umm... "stuff about stuff"? It's discussions about the fandom verse (and even fandom itself) from an external rather than internal perspective. So it's stuff like when people write about the themes in a show (or across shows), or discuss a character's development, or speculate about future storylines. I'd also include when people talk about the mechanics writing - how they do it, what works and what doesn't, and so on. And then there's meta-fic where the author breaks the fourth wall in some way, such as having characters meet fans. Umm, yeah, that stuff. *g*