Jane Austen fanfic fandom and other non existent things
Following on from What annoys me about fanfic meta about itself, the OTHER thing that annoys me about "fanfic" meta about itself is the assumption by people in the american dominated english speaking scifi-con-culture-associated mostly-inspired-by-mainstream-tv-and-movies LJ-based metafandom-reading part of fanfic-and-other-related-fannish-creations fandom (also known in some circles as Ponies) is that that's either ALL there is to fanfic-and-other-related-fannish-creations fandom, or that they/we are at least the central or most important part.
I was reminded of this by hlbr(*), who pointed out that I was making EXACTLY the same assumption myself. Oops.
Anyway, to counteract that, some meta about another part of fanfic-and-other-related-fannish-creations fandom:
I've been reading a bunch of Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice meta recently, mostly inspired by the aforementioned hlbr and the wonderful Anghraine’s Blog she introduced me to.
On of the annoying things with Jane Austen fandom for me is the realisation that (a) I really like it (the fic, the meta, all of it. Well, ok, I haven't been that impressed most of the fanart or vids, but I probably just haven't been looking in the right places) and (b)It's almost all on blogs and forums and and NOT on lj.
And this reminded me why I switched to lj from my blog in the first place: Unlike some people it wasn't only because my friends were here. I also can't stand internet communication between a large group of people which doesn't have both email notification AND threading. It's too hard to keep track, and you can't easily split off into little sub-conversations so it's this huge nebulous time-wasting morass. And it's not just that I've gotten spoiled: I remember getting constantly frustrated by online conversations on forums etc back in the day. I stuck with them because there was no alternative, but now that I have one I really don't feel like wading back. That said, modern forum/blog software does allow for both of these things more than it did in the 90s, maybe I just need to dig deeper.
Which is a rather ironic counterexample to the "Non-Pony fans are hidebound and cantankerous for not understanding and adapting to our ways ie lj" trope.
Anyway, something I've noticed in what P&P meta I have read is that pretty much the nastiest thing anyone says in a review (especially of a professionally published "sequel", and the existence of those is interesting in and of itself): "Clearly she has only seen the movie/tv series and not read the book" :) See for example This review of “The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet” (which also has some unsympathetic things to say about us Mary fans but I forgive her)
(*)No relation, and I'm pretty sure the "br" doesn't stand for "bear" :)
I was reminded of this by hlbr(*), who pointed out that I was making EXACTLY the same assumption myself. Oops.
Anyway, to counteract that, some meta about another part of fanfic-and-other-related-fannish-creations fandom:
I've been reading a bunch of Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice meta recently, mostly inspired by the aforementioned hlbr and the wonderful Anghraine’s Blog she introduced me to.
On of the annoying things with Jane Austen fandom for me is the realisation that (a) I really like it (the fic, the meta, all of it. Well, ok, I haven't been that impressed most of the fanart or vids, but I probably just haven't been looking in the right places) and (b)It's almost all on blogs and forums and and NOT on lj.
And this reminded me why I switched to lj from my blog in the first place: Unlike some people it wasn't only because my friends were here. I also can't stand internet communication between a large group of people which doesn't have both email notification AND threading. It's too hard to keep track, and you can't easily split off into little sub-conversations so it's this huge nebulous time-wasting morass. And it's not just that I've gotten spoiled: I remember getting constantly frustrated by online conversations on forums etc back in the day. I stuck with them because there was no alternative, but now that I have one I really don't feel like wading back. That said, modern forum/blog software does allow for both of these things more than it did in the 90s, maybe I just need to dig deeper.
Which is a rather ironic counterexample to the "Non-Pony fans are hidebound and cantankerous for not understanding and adapting to our ways ie lj" trope.
Anyway, something I've noticed in what P&P meta I have read is that pretty much the nastiest thing anyone says in a review (especially of a professionally published "sequel", and the existence of those is interesting in and of itself): "Clearly she has only seen the movie/tv series and not read the book" :) See for example This review of “The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet” (which also has some unsympathetic things to say about us Mary fans but I forgive her)
(*)No relation, and I'm pretty sure the "br" doesn't stand for "bear" :)