more on OTW and fic, and a few more recs

[astridv]

Lee G. has picked up on the OTW debate, and as usual puts his inimitable spin on things. Fun is also had in the comments... like Richard S. Wheeler's comment, in which he points out that - get ready - In typical fan fiction there is not even a physical description of the characters. That means that the work is incomplete and cannot stand on its own, and therefore it has limited artistic merit.

That is indeed a serious problem in fanfic. I've been reading so much Atlantis fic and to this day have no idea what this John Sheppard guy looks like.*le sigh* Come to think of it, I may have seen the occasional writer wax poetical about the Shep's hair. :)

There's lots more but I found I can read the wank only in homoeopathic dosages this time around. Of course, it's up on f_w as well.

ithiliana made the Anti Fanfic Bingo Card, fun for the whole family (tm). This should also make a fun drinking game, come to think of it.

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I browsed OTW's FAQ and saw with much interest that they will archive fan comics and artwork as well as prose fic. I volunteered for beta. Right now my fanart is only archived on my LJ, ever since I gave up my ad-infested geocities site.

Speaking of comics, I was hanging out at the gym, enjoying a particularly nice endorphine high, pondering the two comic ideas I'd had and couldn't quite make fly, and all of a sudden the elusive missing element for one came to me. I could really use flashes of inspiration like that more often. The outline is finished (if a little rough in places) and have started with the panel breakdown & the script (I find it easiest to do those simultaneously).

The thing is going be at least four pages long from the looks of it, which is longer than I had in mind - means there’s no chance in hell, none, to have it done in time for the amnesty deadline. I really wish I'd had that idea back in November when I was waiting for feedback and had all the time in the world, not now that I’m supposed to work on three projects. Apparently my brain can only be creative when it’s otherwise occupied. But I’m happy to have a clear direction where to go.

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fic recs: (I figure if I post a couple every few days, I can slowly work through my stack marked "stuff I must tell everyone about")

Twelve Things They (Will Someday) Say in the Pegasus Galaxy by minnow1212
gen; futurefic; 2,800 words
Summary: They say you can’t spot the Wraithborn, but they’re wrong. There’s always something that gives them away. Something around the eyes. Something about the hands. Something about the smile.

The kind of urban legends they will tell in the Pegasus galaxy - and these legends in turn tell a story. Very cool concept.

No More Quasi-Religious Alien Sex Rituals by icarusancalion
John/Rodney; PG-13; 3,500 words
Summary: John desperately tries to bail himself out of trouble.
As much fun as the title would suggest :)

Benched by cesperanza
Sheppard/McKay; 12,500 words
Rodned gets kidnapped and John is forced to sit out the rescue mission... not something he's good at. At all.

Comments

[lost-erizo.livejournal.com]

Must resist! Must not get drawn in!

Ack!!

Seriously, I'm getting on a plane in two days and losing my internet connection for a week (or as good as - my parents only have dial-up. I don't know how they can stand it). I do not have the time to get into a protracted discussion with Lee G%#^berg and Mr. Richard "I'm corrupted by your existence" Wheeler. I'm getting seriously tired of being told how many awards the man has won - the fact that he's written some good or even excellent books doesn't mean he doesn't have his head up his ass on this point. Hemingway may have been a genius as a stylist, but it didn't make him a better person - he was still a drunkard and a womanizer.


Hey! Don't dis the Shep's hair! It's alive! It's alllliiiiiivvvveee! (cue maniacal laughter)

:-D

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Honestly, you're probably doing yourself a favor by not looking. It's even more brain-breaking than usual. The sentence I quoted above? The previous one is even stupider. It would really help if Mr. Wheeler had at least a vague idea of what he's talking about.

It's alive! It's alllliiiiiivvvveee! (cue maniacal laughter)

It totally is. Did you see the clip in which Joe talks about his hair? I linked it a few entries back... it's a thing of beauty. (As is the hair.)

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

John Sheppard is a pretty, pretty princess (by Joe's own admission:)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Heh.
He's so pretty that, right after I watched my first ep, I had to sit down and draw a few sketches of him, stat.

[crysothemis.livejournal.com]

*resists clicking* *resists clicking* *resists clicking*

I've only read a little of the "outsider" discussion, because the idea that we have to justify our existence makes me crazy. But I'm boggling that artistic merit is to be judged by those outside the community for which the art is created. As if, to pick a random example, the worth of a Tlingit ceremonial mask can only be determined by naive outsiders who have no idea how it is used or what it means.

*clicks on fic instead*

Ah, now I feel much better.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Normally the fanfic wank amuses me greatly. I mean, you can't really take Richard "You're RAPING me, and you're THIEVES, too!!1!" Wheeler seriously. But this time around it really gets my goat... I think it's because of the big fat strawman that the anti-ficcers keep beating at when they say that we're in it for the money, no matter how often ficcers explain that, nope, it's for FUN. Like, a hobby. Argh.

And I'm not clicking on it either now, I'll go back to writing my comic script. *deep breath*

[rahirah]

Arguing with Goldberg is like trying to teach a pig to dance - it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Well, occasionally it can be amusing to watch the pig fall on its snout. ;) The whole thing does make good wank.

But yeah, no point in trying to sway the Goldbergs and Wheelers. However elfwreck said something that made a whole lot of sense: you don't argue for the benefit of the Goldbergs and Wheelers, you talk to the lurkers, the ones who haven't made up their minds yet and can be convinced by a good argument. Which makes the whole endeavor seem a lot less pointless. (Though still time-consuming as hell, which is why I usually sit on my hands and don't say a peep no matter how much I want to shake them and yell, "You're WRONG and here's WHY!"

[rahirah]

Very true. (I used to tell myself just that during the Redemption Wars.) But yeah, time-consuming, and very often emotionally draining as well.