BTW - I hope I didn't offend you! You certainly didn't offend me at all & I apologize if my words came across as a bit brusque. Words on the flat screen (or page) don't always capture tone or intent. in I mentioning my own stuff, it's meant as example only. Anyhoodle...I have NO idea why I had to unscreen this to reply btw; I didn't the last time, I haven't changed my settings and I just commented on one of your posts successfully. Weird.
Sometimes I would say "how is that character suddenly sitting down? Last time I pictured him he was standing on the other side of the room"
I've had those moments. Currently I am a (sometime) Muse to my best friend and it's been less about "how did they get to point A to B?" more brainstorming on themes, plot, characterization, which is a lot of fun. If I really don't feel I can offer advice because she's written something that I can't connect with for whatever reason, she's got other people she can rely on.
I've written a couple of things before and I was pleased with them, but she was the real deal.
Know that feeling all TOO well.
And thank you for laying our your argument/opinion to me; it makes sense to me where I didn't understand before. I can respect that - not your thing. I guess it's the same idea as when I come across fics that contain ideas or tropes that don't appeal to me.? The back button IS MY FRIEND.
someone who has an opinion about the motivation of a character or the meaning of an episode
I think fiction does the same thing in a somewhat different way. Nonfiction is more "this is what I see"; fiction is more "this is what I would have liked to have seen" but that's not true in all cases.
It's not an academic endeavor for me. It's an emotional, gut level experience.
For me ithe emotional level definitely came first. And there are plenty of intellectual essays that go over my head in terms of academic language and I really can't participate. I'm not their audience in those cases. (So I tell myself, to keep my "I should be at that level" feeling of failure from taking over. *lol*) The funny thing is, some of the most intellectual/academic fandom writing to be just as emotional as any other; sometimes the author is clear about their feelings but other times the language serves as a mask, pretending to be objective. We're all fans at heart.
some truly awful fandom free-for-all's
Definitely so. people forget to be civil and respectful sometimes. Again, the back button and "agree to disagree" both come in very handy in such cases. I've slipped up a couple of times and gotten embroiled in heated arguments or said things I regretted later, almost always because emotions took over from sense. Or I've been on the receiving end of someone else's emotional issues (not fun). My Rule #1 - don't reply when I'm tired, angry, depressed, sick, in pain, etc. Rule #2 - I'm not obligated to reply esp if on hot-button issues. I have friends in this fandom I adore and we disagree on what I consider some fundamental issues and I have to ask myself, What's the point of going there? If I'm worried things will get heated and/or I know we're not going to change each other's minds, I try not to go there. I do slip up.
It should be, as you say, a stream of consciousness from the writer
Again, comlodge just said it better than I can. I'll try a better example (hopefully?) of what I mean: lostboy_lj's post "The Monomythology of Buffy" is fanart as meta. He edited it from his original version because of a point that bone_dry1013 made in the convo thread. It wasn't about changing his premise but a single detail that made that premise clearer. If Lostboy had Bonedry look at the post beforehand, might he have saved himself the trouble later? Possibly.
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branchandroot
Edited, Ignore earlier version of this reply, please.
Date: 2013-08-02 05:02 pm (UTC)BTW - I hope I didn't offend you! You certainly didn't offend me at all & I apologize if my words came across as a bit brusque. Words on the flat screen (or page) don't always capture tone or intent. in I mentioning my own stuff, it's meant as example only. Anyhoodle...I have NO idea why I had to unscreen this to reply btw; I didn't the last time, I haven't changed my settings and I just commented on one of your posts successfully. Weird.
Sometimes I would say "how is that character suddenly sitting down? Last time I pictured him he was standing on the other side of the room"
I've had those moments. Currently I am a (sometime) Muse to my best friend and it's been less about "how did they get to point A to B?" more brainstorming on themes, plot, characterization, which is a lot of fun. If I really don't feel I can offer advice because she's written something that I can't connect with for whatever reason, she's got other people she can rely on.
I've written a couple of things before and I was pleased with them, but she was the real deal.
Know that feeling all TOO well.
And thank you for laying our your argument/opinion to me; it makes sense to me where I didn't understand before. I can respect that - not your thing. I guess it's the same idea as when I come across fics that contain ideas or tropes that don't appeal to me.? The back button IS MY FRIEND.
someone who has an opinion about the motivation of a character or the meaning of an episode
I think fiction does the same thing in a somewhat different way. Nonfiction is more "this is what I see"; fiction is more "this is what I would have liked to have seen" but that's not true in all cases.
It's not an academic endeavor for me. It's an emotional, gut level experience.
For me ithe emotional level definitely came first. And there are plenty of intellectual essays that go over my head in terms of academic language and I really can't participate. I'm not their audience in those cases. (So I tell myself, to keep my "I should be at that level" feeling of failure from taking over. *lol*) The funny thing is, some of the most intellectual/academic fandom writing to be just as emotional as any other; sometimes the author is clear about their feelings but other times the language serves as a mask, pretending to be objective. We're all fans at heart.
some truly awful fandom free-for-all's
Definitely so. people forget to be civil and respectful sometimes. Again, the back button and "agree to disagree" both come in very handy in such cases. I've slipped up a couple of times and gotten embroiled in heated arguments or said things I regretted later, almost always because emotions took over from sense. Or I've been on the receiving end of someone else's emotional issues (not fun). My Rule #1 - don't reply when I'm tired, angry, depressed, sick, in pain, etc. Rule #2 - I'm not obligated to reply esp if on hot-button issues. I have friends in this fandom I adore and we disagree on what I consider some fundamental issues and I have to ask myself, What's the point of going there? If I'm worried things will get heated and/or I know we're not going to change each other's minds, I try not to go there. I do slip up.
It should be, as you say, a stream of consciousness from the writer
Again, comlodge just said it better than I can. I'll try a better example (hopefully?) of what I mean: