rambling, ranting, reccing, running

[isiscolo]

The other night we saw Troy, which was not nearly as bad as somehow I had expected it to be. I mean, it would have been nice if they'd selected a standard accent to use, so that Odysseus hadn't sounded like he was from Sheffield. :-) And some of the dialogue was kinda stoopid. But I didn't get bored for the nearly 3 hour running time, and there

Comments

[parthenia14]

God, I sooo agree about present tense; but loads of fanfic is written in it. I like the invisibility of past tense.

[isiscolo]

Which is why I am tagging this "unpopular fandom opinions" - I infer that since so much fic is written in present tense, it must be preferred by most!

It is the invisibility, exactly, that appeals to me.

[aquila1nz]

I'd been presuming that all the present tense exists because it's easier for new writers to use - they put themselves into being the person and just stream of consciousness it. I'm not sure it's what people want prefer to read.

[isiscolo]

Hmm, I dunno. I certainly see a lot of piss-poor first person present tense that fits that category, but there's a lot of third person present tense out there, often written by experienced writers.

[cordelia_v]

Eh. Someday, somehow . . . . we'll be in the same fandom again, sugar.

This McCoy is still youngish, but I think he's very, very appealing.

[isiscolo]

I hope so!

And McCoy is quite appealing as a character. The actor - I like him better scruffy, because he has such a tiny mouth and I think he looks odd clean-shaven.

[isiscolo]

You are a woman of impeccable taste!

[malnpudl]

I'm with you. Youngsters aren't interesting; it takes a bit of age before I can find a guy hot. Scruffy is good, scruffy is very good, as are a few rough edges. Mmmmmm. :-)

I saw Troy on the big screen when it was first released. I went with two like-aged women friends. We had a lovely time ogling the hot, pretty men, and the theater was so sparsely populated that we could entertain ourselves by chatting quietly when the occasional battle scene got just too damn long to hold our interest

[isiscolo]

Ooh, must get Mal into Sean Bean fandom. *makes note*

Eric Bana doesn't wow me that much, but I liked the character of Hector a whole lot. Meanwhile, Paris was a self-centered idiot, and Achilles an arrogant asshole.

And I'm the opposite of you - I am mostly not interested in the younger versions of the characters I love as adults. (Which is why High School AUs leave me cold - and as someone on my flist pointed out, Reboot is basically Star Trek: High School AU.)

[malnpudl]

And I'm the opposite of you - I am mostly not interested in the younger versions of the characters I love as adults.I did not know that about you. How did I not know that about you? This seems so very wrong. [ETA: Wrong that I didn't know, of course; not "wrong" that you feel that way.] *headscratch

[nomadicwriter]

Funnily enough, I was having a discussion about the use of present tense the other day. My personal feeling is that present tense creates a sort of 'stream of consciousness' feel that works well for stories that are meant to be either introspective or dream-like and disorienting, but is the enemy of that satisfying sense of completeness you get from a story arc clicking together just right. Which is why it works better for angsty short mood pieces but not so much for things that are long, plotty, and grounded in pragmatic reality. (Those being three of the things I prize most in a fic, which is probably why present tense and I on the whole Do Not Get On.)

It occurs to me to wonder, actually, if polling people on whether they consider plot or mood more important in a fic vs. whether they prefer past or present tense might be quite enlightening.

[isiscolo]

Ooh, I think you have it right there in a nutshell, as I am a very plot-oriented reader and writer. You get a cookie!

[tekalynn]

I was going to say, before I saw the above better-than-I-could-have-said comment, that I prefer to use present tense for dreamlike storytelling, when the emphasis is on the emotions experienced by the character(s) rather than the action, or when past tense wouldn't "feel" right.

[isiscolo]

Yes, I think that makes sense. The problem (for me) are stories with action and plot that moves through time, but in present tense. There it is obtrusive and seems "wrong" to me.

[fer_de_lance]

I must be reading different fanfic, or else truly oblivious -- don't remember hardly any present tense! But then, despite being pinged by the Kirk/McCoy in the movie (so it wasn't just me!), I spent most of the other day over at the general kink meme, looking for anything involving pon farr (and mostly failing! what's wrong with you, fandom?), so maybe it's just the Kirk/Bones writers who are in love with present tense so randomly?

Must keep an eye out for this.

[isiscolo]

Haha, I am delighted that so many people are seeing the Kirk/McCoy. It's fascinating, considering that the original slash pairing was Kirk/Spock, and that there is even a sort of Kirk/Spock vibe to the new movie, the "we hate each other -> we are best friends" trope going on.

But in my count I didn't just pick Kirk/McCoy - I counted all the recs/fic on my flist, which actually had a lot of gen and Spock/Uhura as well. I don't recall any Kirk/Spock but I would be surprised if there wasn't some.

[fer_de_lance]

I think I must also have been oblivious -- at least, browsing through Part Three (egad!) of the kink meme, I did notice several examples of present tense. So either it's an all-of-a-sudden let's-spam-part-three-with-present-tense movement, or else I just wasn't noticing it till someone mentioned it. I'm guessing here, but I bet the latter is more likely! :D