On the anon meme

[tarigwaemir]

Stanley Hall on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

I gave in and went back to read through the Hikago anonymous meme this morning, after reading people's posts about it. Okay, I change my mind, the meme's remained surprisingly civil and actually has interesting discussion going on in the comments. More positive "share the love!" threads than outright negative comments, which are not as vitriolic as I feared. Also, the concrit going on is really useful to read.

::looks at above paragraph:: You know, that whole paragraph probably falls in with one of the trends being described as stifling on the meme--this self-enforced image of Hikago being a perfect, happy fandom--but I don't think I'm wrong in saying that in comparison to previous anon memes, this one is relatively wank-free. Also, I freely admit to being passive-aggressive and will apologize in advance if that frustrates anyone. I don't enjoy arguing with people unless there's a certain level of trust involved, and even then, I try to avoid confrontation. As a result, I usually don't express critical opinions about fanfic, and most people will agree that I'm only ever useful as a grammar beta.

Anyway, the whole meme has spurred harumi and I to have a great conversation about our writing in aiwritingfic's journal (sorry for taking over your journal, Ai), which I've found pretty helpful, so I'm inclined to think the meme has done more good than harm.

Yours &c.

Comments

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

The anon meme /tried/ to be wanky, but..kind of failed >> Too many people (including me!) prefer passive aggressiveness over open confrontation..

[troisroyaumes]

Heh, I don't know if that's necessarily such a bad thing? Epic wank is amusing only when it involves people you don't know.

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

But really, this kind of cold war between Certain People is even worse. :| At least with a big blowup, you'd know what was going on?

[troisroyaumes]

Eh? I was under the impression the Cold War had been resolved? Or maybe I'm not thinking of the same people as you are? O_O

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

The big one, yes, but it seems like half my flist will not talk to the other half some days..

[harumi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was disappointing. The second page had such potential.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading it too, I can't believe someone thinks I'm a BNF in this fandom! XD;; I feel like I ought to be brought up for dereliction of duty.

(Well, no, I sort of get it - it's because "Proof by Contradiction" is massively overrated in this weird way. XD;; I mean, not that I'm unhappy with the fic per se, but still. I don't know if it's because the fandom really has low standards as everyone is accusing it of or if it's like Suzanne Vega says and you don't choose your "hits".)

[troisroyaumes]

Haha, I suspect my placement on the list has more to do with my association with blind_go than my actual writing. ^_^

I think "A Proof by Contradiction" has the distinction of being the "hit" fic in the first round of blind_go, and at least for me, it still remains one of my top favorites in the fandom because it was so emotionally wrenching once I realized what happened. Also, you pushed the envelope in several ways at the time the fic came out--having Hikaru dead, using the primary source style, the discussion of A.I.--and it felt completely different from anything that had been written before. Anyway, I don't think it's overrated...though perhaps in a larger, more heterogeneous fandom, you would have gotten more mixed reactions to it?

[harumi.livejournal.com]

Well, I do think fandom has certain tastes.

I really tried getting into it. It's written in one of those styles that remind me of all the modern lit I was forced to read at uni and halfway through I just couldn't go on.

It was very well crafted, but not my cup of tea. I prefer a more traditional story-telling style, the kind you read in sci-fi/fantasy books. To be honest, when I saw all the reactions I was painfully reminded of all the times every student in lit class just "got it" and praised whatever piece of literature we were supposed to be studying while I was quietly thinking that it was boring and I couldn't get past five sentences.

I don't think it's low standards at all. I didn't like Proof, but I recognize good writing.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, low standards probably isn't right. I think I meant something more like what Tari said, i.e. a more heterogenous fandom (larger, with less groupthink) would have produced more mixed reactions. I would've expected more people to have had your response, proportionately speaking, for one (of course they could just be keeping quiet ^_^;). One of my good online friends doesn't like it because (she says) it's missing the point to write a story like that for a canon like HikaGo - and I agree, because if I could've figured out how to swing it I would have written it as an original story that happened to be inspired by HikaGo. (Still can't figure it out, since the emotional aspect is basically tied to people going D: at Hikaru dying, and it's hard to get that with an OC.)

[harumi.livejournal.com]

Well, that brings it all back to the thrice-damned cult of nice.As a general rule however when it comes to fanfiction I don't get hung over things like this. If it's well written but not my style, I simply don't read it. I don't think badly of the author in question, though there are times where I feel... alienated? Again, it goes back to the feeling in the classroom where you wonder if everybody else has horrible taste or (more likely) the problem's all with you. Oftentimes it's a mix of both, but the feeling's still rather dreadful.

[love_archived]

Please, I had a great time reading it. NEVER apologize for discussion on my LJ. ^_^