Fun and games, concrit, non-con crit
I seethe with the wrath of the frustrated gamer. I've owned FFVII for years, and it played really badly on my old computer, with which it was barely compatible. So I thought, new computer, yay! Hah. On the new computer, the credit sequence plays in a loop, over and over. That's it. I have a feeling that the game would have run perfectly on the computer in between the old one and the new one, the one I would have upgraded to if I'd had the money. feh. Then I tried to play Morpheus, and that freezes one screen in. Is this a message? Am I going to look out the window next and see Do your dishes instead! in heavenly sky-writing?
My disliked word of the day: constructive, as in constructive criticism. Not that I disapprove of constructive criticism in and of itself, it's just the way every time someone mentions public fanfic reviews or public fanfic discussion, people pop up and say it's only okay if it's constructive. As in, meant for the writers. Eh. Sometimes you just want to talk about a story because you want to talk about a story, without trying to influence the writer's current or future choices. me, I'd give a lot to have people discuss my stuff somewhere without aiming their comments at me, so I could get to see all the offhand stuff like "well, I like the dialogue but I think the story lacks substance compared to the one before it" or "it's a structurally good idea but she hasn't put enough work into it" or whatever. I'd just have to restrain myself from sneaking in anonymously and complaining about flaky fanon JC in Grapefruit Gurus, and so on. So maybe the people who say public fanfic discussion invites anonymous flamers with an agenda are totally right!!!1!!
In a spirit of experimentation, I will now talk about fanfic. Not to offer constructive criticism or a balanced review. Just to talk. I have this thing with cesperanza's stories - some of them I connect with on an emotional level and some I really don't, even if I have the same level of appreciation for the writing, the plot twists, whatever. I've been trying to figure out what it is that draws me in in some cases and leaves me outside in others. I reread Chicago's Most Wanted the other day, which is a total connection story for me. Enduring Distance, connection, Juggling Act, connection. Kowalski is Bleeding and Eight Sessions and The Killer Replacements are more like gorgeous things seen through a shop window. There they are, I totally understand what other people are enthusiastic about, but I can't touch them. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with first vs third person, Ray vs Fraser pov, more serious vs more funny, or any of the usual suspects. I think I've felt it most clearly with A Moment of Insight, where I can't find anywhere to put my feet down. Hang my hat? Sit back and look at the view? That's not to say I want it to be slow. I guess a place to put my feet down equals a point of connection. Maybe it has to do with structure and endings, or rather, figuring out where you're going. Ces's DS stories usually have drive to them, they're going somewhere, it's like hearing someone tell a story enthusiastically and fast with many hand gestures, and maybe the ones where I feel disconnected are the ones where I can't quite settle into the groove of the way the story is going the places it's going. Like Some Strange Prophecy, which I enjoyed madly until right at the end, when I blinked and said "that was the end?" Not that there's anything wrong with the end, just that I was just suddenly getting off the bus without having figured out that that was the end of the line. Hey, so maybe the stories I don't quite connect with are the ones that make me feel vaguely stupid cause I can't work out where the clue bus is going. Maybe it's something between me and the narrative structure - I thought the second half of the storyline was building, not rambling, post-Victoria; I was looking for signposts and missing the views I should be seeing. ::rereads:: Nope, I still get a sense of buildup. And I still feel as though I'm missing something pivotal, cause then I'm post-buildup and I didn't see the story pivot. as it were.
Non-constructive criticism must be non-con crit, right? Maybe there should be warnings.
My disliked word of the day: constructive, as in constructive criticism. Not that I disapprove of constructive criticism in and of itself, it's just the way every time someone mentions public fanfic reviews or public fanfic discussion, people pop up and say it's only okay if it's constructive. As in, meant for the writers. Eh. Sometimes you just want to talk about a story because you want to talk about a story, without trying to influence the writer's current or future choices. me, I'd give a lot to have people discuss my stuff somewhere without aiming their comments at me, so I could get to see all the offhand stuff like "well, I like the dialogue but I think the story lacks substance compared to the one before it" or "it's a structurally good idea but she hasn't put enough work into it" or whatever. I'd just have to restrain myself from sneaking in anonymously and complaining about flaky fanon JC in Grapefruit Gurus, and so on. So maybe the people who say public fanfic discussion invites anonymous flamers with an agenda are totally right!!!1!!
In a spirit of experimentation, I will now talk about fanfic. Not to offer constructive criticism or a balanced review. Just to talk. I have this thing with cesperanza's stories - some of them I connect with on an emotional level and some I really don't, even if I have the same level of appreciation for the writing, the plot twists, whatever. I've been trying to figure out what it is that draws me in in some cases and leaves me outside in others. I reread Chicago's Most Wanted the other day, which is a total connection story for me. Enduring Distance, connection, Juggling Act, connection. Kowalski is Bleeding and Eight Sessions and The Killer Replacements are more like gorgeous things seen through a shop window. There they are, I totally understand what other people are enthusiastic about, but I can't touch them. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with first vs third person, Ray vs Fraser pov, more serious vs more funny, or any of the usual suspects. I think I've felt it most clearly with A Moment of Insight, where I can't find anywhere to put my feet down. Hang my hat? Sit back and look at the view? That's not to say I want it to be slow. I guess a place to put my feet down equals a point of connection. Maybe it has to do with structure and endings, or rather, figuring out where you're going. Ces's DS stories usually have drive to them, they're going somewhere, it's like hearing someone tell a story enthusiastically and fast with many hand gestures, and maybe the ones where I feel disconnected are the ones where I can't quite settle into the groove of the way the story is going the places it's going. Like Some Strange Prophecy, which I enjoyed madly until right at the end, when I blinked and said "that was the end?" Not that there's anything wrong with the end, just that I was just suddenly getting off the bus without having figured out that that was the end of the line. Hey, so maybe the stories I don't quite connect with are the ones that make me feel vaguely stupid cause I can't work out where the clue bus is going. Maybe it's something between me and the narrative structure - I thought the second half of the storyline was building, not rambling, post-Victoria; I was looking for signposts and missing the views I should be seeing. ::rereads:: Nope, I still get a sense of buildup. And I still feel as though I'm missing something pivotal, cause then I'm post-buildup and I didn't see the story pivot. as it were.
Non-constructive criticism must be non-con crit, right? Maybe there should be warnings.