Fic Rec Post #1! (August 25-312009)

[paraka]

So, as promised here's my first rec post! I decided to do it retroactively, so here's for the last week of August. I did a big Merlin rec list not too long ago for

Comments

[paradise_city]

I lovelovelove the podfic for Another Word for Optimism. That was one of the early SGA fics I read/listened to and I really liked it.

I don't have time to read the subtext meta now, but it raises some interesting questions. I'll have to poll my flist and see if they've had this experience either as a reader or a writer.

[paraka]

Another Word for Optimism was a fic I read early on in my SGA time too. I was still in China so it was quite early on. I just love the whole idea of it. :)

And the subtext meta was really interesting. I think most people are inclined to give the creator's opinion more weight but I don't think we're obligated to. I mean fandom, or at least slash fandom, would have a hard time existing if we listed every time TPTB told us to stop or that we're wrong.

And the thing is, is there really any such thing as a wrong interpretation? There is certainly better or worse supported interpretations but how you interpret something is on a personal level and no one can tell you that your feelings are wrong.

I also found the meta interesting for some of the etiquette questions that came up. Like of author's getting offended that someone saw a pairing that they didn't intent and mentioning it. liviapenn argues at one point that if she writes a gen fic, it's a gen fic. She's written slash before, so obviously she doesn't have a problem making the boys kiss. If

[paradise_city]

I also found the meta interesting for some of the etiquette questions that came up. Like of author's getting offended that someone saw a pairing that they didn't intent and mentioning it.
That's a really interesting point. One of the things that was so interesting to me about House fic is that the line between what's gen and what's slash is really, really permeable given the canonical relationship of the characters. No one has the ultimate authority in deciding if interaction A is homosocial or homoromantic, provided the interaction isn't explicitly sexual. So what Reader B sees as slash, Reader C can read as gen, and one can only guess at what the original writer intended. While it might be unsettling for a writer to have readers see something intended (and I think that speaks more to the writing process than the fannish process), I agree with you -- I think you have to be open to interpretation. To feel otherwise is hypocritical.

I feel kind of dumb posting a rec to a 2 year old meta, but if you want to talk about it over here

[paraka]

One of the things that was so interesting to me about House fic is that the line between what's gen and what's slash is really, really permeable given the canonical relationship of the characters.Ha, that's what Merlin S1 was like. S2 they keep throwing the het at us, but S1 was insanely slashy. There was a slash dragon that kept trying to get them together and would say things like "You're destiny is with Arthur" and "You're one side of a coin" or "One cannot truly hate that which makes him whole