blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
blamebrampton ([personal profile] blamebrampton) wrote2008-09-17 08:33 pm

Pilgrims gave me flu!

No, seriously! Months after their orange backpacks left the Emerald City, Sydney is still feeling the impact of the WYD pilgrims' sharing natures. THEY LEFT US THIS FLU! Bastards! And look, even the Catholic News says it's true! Well, likely at any rate.  Apparently the three-week-plus flu that turns to bronchitis is knocking people out across the city, and has been since July, so I am not alone in my feebleness.

Honestly, it was bad enough when it was just nuns trying to plough me to the ground.
 
Bryoney opined that I have been talking too much sport and not enough fandom lately, so three links to make her feel loved. The first is to a very interesting question posed by [livejournal.com profile] bewarethesmirk  in her post here. She asks what it is about some styles of writing that immediately succeeds in drawing the reader in. I've blathered on at length in a comment, as have several others, and I think that we're edging towards the total picture, but I am sure that more brains, particularly brains as big as you lot have, will get to the actual answer. Alas, it's flocked, but if you're not on her flist, feel free to chat here.

My dear [livejournal.com profile] jadzialove  wrote a story recently in which Weasley brothers engaged in activities of an adult nature only suitable for readers over 18. With each other. We both squealed in a frightened fashion, she even while writing. However, that was nothing compared to this story from The Times. To quote their head and standfirst:

I had sex with my brother but I don't feel guilty

A woman slept with her sibling for years and has good memories. Not many people understand their relationship, she says

I can't say I'm surprised to hear that.

For maximum bemusement, you have to read the comments.

Thirdly, Maya has posted the last chapter of Quality of Mercy, and 

there have been many posts along the lines of OMG, it's not H/D! To which I have to say, der! There was never any pairing specified, Harry and Ginny's relationship has been written as genuine and developing the whole way through, Harry has been protective and fraternal in his relationship with Draco and Draco has been someone desperately trying to forge actual relationships in his world, rather than just getting what he wants. Why would a writer ditch all of that worldbuilding for a ship in which she has only written some of her fics? 

I sometimes wonder if people actually read fics as actual creative works or just go through them ticking off their internal preference list. "Yay, there's a cool one-liner, there's an insight into canon, there's a good spot of fanon, excellent UST, and ... and ... THAT'S IT? NO SMEX? YOU SUCK!" On bad days, I suspect the latter.

Oh well. A happy fandom aside: 2500 words of Darkfest written, 1700 of them even consecutive!

And, my final Paralympics moment, Australia lost to the US in the rugby, but Kurt Fearnley won the marathon! YAY!
 


[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
HA! Look, there are some very good bits of writing in that chapter, even if you want to cheat and ignore the very end bit. Charlie Weasley is fabulous!

I can see that if you read the story thinking it was H/D that you would feel this way. I'm feeling very relieved I didn't at this point. Though, as several other people have pointed out, I do think there's a level of ambiguity in her epilogue. Those people are young and in a state of flux with their lives. Where they are now is not necessarily where they will be in 20 years. Unlike *some* epilogues ;-)

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
HAH! You have the best happy little slasherbrain. That's a brilliant approach ;-)

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh you're RIGHT! I'd forgotten about those and was thinking 'Well, maybe she was happy for people to think that, but then see why H/D wouldn't work *now* in the penultimate chapter and then be ready for the end'.

BTW, I have to say that I don't think it's at all reading into the story the idea that relationships will shift and change as time goes on. That was something I liked a lot more about this epilogue than DH's. Though Neville/Pansy is now canon for me. He's the one character who fanon and canon can't help loving no matter what.

[identity profile] suttonwriter.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
My reaction to QoM was the same; I wish the last chapter could have been two or three. There was so much going on there, and it would have been nice to be able to savor it. Longer scenes could have also allowed more time to explore the idea of how people deal with war, which is what pulled me through the story.

I don't mean this as a criticism of Maya. I know she's on a deadline, and I'd much rather her finish the story than leave it hanging. It was an excellent read.

[identity profile] sarahtales.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I really didn't rush the ending at all - I did it the way I planned to do it. I figured these were my last two stories and I was going to give them as much time as they needed so I could do them as well as I was able. That said, I was very conscious al the way through that people had already read A Battle at Hogwarts, and I did want to leave things perhaps pointedly unresolved as a reaction to how very tied up things were in canon: I can certainly see people not liking the end for any number of reasons (as I've said, I have never written anything perfect) but it certainly wasn't for lack of effort. Lack of talent, sure. :)

Heh, the beauty of fanfiction - never having to imagine the special effects.

As an editor, you are one of the people who make people like me better: I'm sure with an editor QoM would've been massively improved, but I am really pleased you liked it anyway.
Edited 2008-09-18 23:03 (UTC)

[identity profile] elephantqueen25.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks so much for the article recommendation. I found it so interesting and informative. Despite reading fanfic I've never really thought about this sort of relationship before in a positive light. The comments were most definitely the best bit though. :D Just shows what a diverse world we live in.
In relation to QoM, I loved it, as I have done with all of Maya's fics. Although to be fair, I do feel some valid points have been discussed here. It... amuses me I suppose, that the fic has been subjected to so many discussions! It seems to me that there hasn't been so many different opinions about a story since the seventh book itself was released LOL. A sign of Maya's fanbase no doubt.
Thanks again for the article. :D

[identity profile] bewarethesmirk.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
I do wish more people would pipe in!

And as for QoM, I felt the connection between Harry and Draco was constructed so beautifully and built up to fever pitch, then just sort of plateaued. I recognize it's a bit more realistic, and the H/G wasn't horrible--many of its canon wrongs righted and so on--but I can't help wanting it. :)

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
As the Arabic carpet makers say, only Allah is perfect. And even he has serious lapses in judgement when it comes to some followers.

I think that you get the relationships very much right. Especially Draco's reunion with his friends and even Lucius. This is such a central part of good writing that you can ignore the quibbles below and I shan't mind at all, because you get the big and hard things right.

My issues were comparatively minor, I've been describing the main one as pacing for ease of description, but it's more just something I feel is omitted in one small section. Where Harry and Voldemort face off there is a physical intimacy to the set-up as we follow the protaganists through a sea of battling bodies, then a little textual shift in the setting:
The path was clear before Harry suddenly. All he had to do was walk it, across the stones of Hogwarts, under the fire-lit sky, to where his enemy was waiting.

It seemed so simple for a moment.

But here I think you needed a more physical sense of the distances involved. Just a line or a few words, because we've not mentally shifted out of the intense space of chaos.

And then Voldemort is placed between the Malfoys and Snape, and we never see him move forward from them, though there is textual evidence that they move away, Voldemort only steps back from Harry, and Harry from him, so there's no sense of how close they are at the end. While this made Harry's survival believable, it made doing the mental choreography of the battle difficult.

Trying to visualise what was happening was impossible on my first read through and I had to go back to see that there was no danger to anyone but Harry and Riddle.

The only other thing that struck me was the use of contractions in Voldemort's voice, which seemed not quite right, but could well be, I tend to forget canon when I am tired and fluey as now.

The pointed irresolution was, to my mind, the very smartest authorial choice you made, because these are young people and you are allowing them to be young people, not determining their whole lives at 18. So no lack of talent! It is a great achievement, and a rollickingly good story with thought attached, and you are a writer who continues to make me happier about the world.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so glad that someone read that! It fascinated me when I first read it, and when I recced it to jadzia, she was so amazed she suggested I share it further. Like you, it's just not a conclusion I'd have come to without reading that story. And diverse is a lovely way of putting it!

I think that the issues some people had with DH meant that they were hoping Maya would address them in her telling of that time. I have to say I like her Slytherins much more than the canon ones. But you're very right in that only a very good, and popular, writer can elicit this much discussion!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
For me I lost track of where they physically all were at at least one crucial point. But I still enjoyed it immensely!
arobynsung: (Default)

Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
As [livejournal.com profile] abusing_sarcasm said in a comment left below, the word is heterophobe.

I am a confessed heterophobe, and I've tried to reform, but I can't, I just can't! I see a fic, it's promising, then I see Harry/Ginny and I shudder at how utterly freudian it is, oedipus complex anyone? run, in the other direction where Snarry and Drarry abound!

It might stem for the fact that even when I try to write, I giggle when I'm writing het, it's just...no. Which is really the cognitive process my brain goes through.

On the other hand, I've read a lot of great fiction that results in the pairing being left up in the air, and it's satisfying, and it leaves one to appreciate the beauty in the writing and not just revel in the pairing. Not to say that one doesn't appreciate the beauty in a paired fic, but you know what I mean.

Let's face it, fandom is full of fangirls who are all romantics/lustaholics. The smex is almost expected now, it's unfortunate but true.

My reformation is a WIP.
arobynsung: (Default)

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
I just realized that it's comment left above, not below.
Oops.

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-10-12 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
Oh read jadzialove's story then, penises abungo! And only slightly terrifying!
arobynsung: (Default)

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
I've read it I was torn between staring at my comp screen suspiciously intrigued and my unconcious curling up into a little ball.

I am going to read QoM and see what all the fuss is about.

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-10-12 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
Have you read Drop Dead Gorgeous? It's non-het. Having said that, you may need to download Maya's PDF as she was planning on taking down all her fanfic.

I betaed that weasleycest story, both amazed that she could manage to make it so technically ept and horrified at the amount of cest. In her defence, she was writing to a request! She's quite good, and extremely brave!
arobynsung: (Default)

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
I just downloaded it, looking forward to it.
I dare say that it will be the main focus of my endless procrastination efforts.

Thanks for the rec, it seems I am hopelessly late and might have just gotten in on the loop before there was, well, no more loop!

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-10-12 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
You're very welcome. I might go off to try and download it myself ...
arobynsung: (Default)

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 08:51 am (UTC)(link)
So i'm half way through QoM, and it's lovely and well written and oh my Draco/Charlie (insert token puns about dragon taming here).

But am I the only one visualizing, many, many, many ways to string up Harry and just hurt him?!?

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-10-12 08:53 am (UTC)(link)
He's a deeply troubled soul. There's an all=powerful psychopath after him, you'd be a bit screwed-up, too ;-)
arobynsung: (Default)

Re: Confessed heterophobe

[personal profile] arobynsung 2008-10-12 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
I am right now wishing that I was that all-powerful psychopath. Only, I'd actually catch him.

Other than Harry driving me batshit, this is a lovely story. It's too bad the author is taking it down, but that is her prerogative.

tee shirt vespa tee shirt la

(Anonymous) 2013-04-28 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[url=http://www.b44.fr/vetement-femme-marque-col-polo-c-16_863.html]Marque Col Polo[/url]
[url=http://www.spartooo.fr/autres-marque-bijoux-bracelet-c-9_195.html]Marque Bijoux Bracelet[/url]
[url=http://e33.fr/vetement-homme-marque-survetement-aaa-c-41_759.html]Marque Survetement AAA[/url]
[url=http://www.laredoutecode.fr/vetement-homme-marque-t-shirt-longue-c-13_1220.html]Marque T Shirt Longue[/url]
[url=http://www.spartooo.fr/vetement-femme-marque-chemise-c-6_1294.html]Marque Chemise[/url]

http://www.7fr.fr/chaussure-homme-chaussure-asics-c-1_467.html
http://www.laredoutecode.fr/foot-maillot-foot-pays-2012-c-10_714.html
http://e33.fr/maillot-maillot-foot-club-2012-c-30_34.html
http://www.m44.fr/vetement-homme-marque-boxer-oui-taille-c-5_832.html
http://e66.fr/vetement-homme-marque-veste-aaa-c-41_769.html

[url=http://www.b44.fr/vetement-homme-c-13.html]Vetement Homme[/url]
[url=http://e77.fr/sac-c-62.html]Sac[/url]
[url=http://www.5fr.fr/lunettes-c-22.html]Lunettes[/url]
[url=http://www.spartooo.fr/chaussure-homme-c-1.html]Chaussure Homme[/url]
[url=http://e77.fr/vetement-femme-c-47.html]Vetement Femme[/url]

http://www.9fr.fr/casquette-c-3.html
http://www.9fr.fr
http://www.9fr.fr/maillot-c-4.html
http://frmarquefr.com
http://e33.fr/chaussure-homme-c-1.html

tee shirt rolling stones tee shirt tupac

(Anonymous) 2013-05-11 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
[url=http://f99.fr]lunettes de vue chanel[/url]
[url=http://ruecee.com]Chemise[/url]
[url=http://www.noyoto.com]maillot de bain bandeau[/url]
[url=http://www.jordanretro6air.com]Air Jordan 6 Retro[/url]
[url=http://nikeairmax22.com]nike air max 2013[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher032.fr]nike pas cher chine[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher014.fr]basket nike pas cher[/url]
[url=http://i88.fr]tee shirt lil wayne[/url]
[url=http://www.jordanretro10air.com]Air Jordan Retro 9[/url]
[url=http://cheapcaps22.com]wholesale baseball caps[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher016.fr]nike shox pas cher[/url]
[url=http://g55.fr]lunettes carrera[/url]
[url=http://coachoutletcoupon77.com]coach factory outlet coupons[/url]
[url=http://www.frtn.fr]Nike Pas Cher[/url]
[url=http://i11.fr]flocage tee shirt[/url]
[url=http://ruemee.com]Casquette[/url]
[url=http://coachfactoryoutlet77.com]coach outlet purses[/url]
[url=http://nikejordan66.com]Nike Air Jordan 12[/url]
[url=http://g99.fr]lunettes de soleil dior[/url]
[url=http://f66.fr]lunettes 3d[/url]

http://coachoutletonline999.com
http://www.marquefr.fr
http://www.laredoutecode.com
http://nikelebron910.com
http://www.laredoutecode.fr
http://coachoutletcoupon88.com
http://nikelebron22.com
http://www.ckgstar.com
http://www.niketncode.com
http://cheapcaps88.com

tee shirt creation transfert photo sur tee shirt

(Anonymous) 2013-05-11 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
[url=http://ruecee.com]Shorts[/url]
[url=http://www.voyoto.com]maillot de bain bandeau[/url]
[url=http://ruesee.com]casquette Chicago Bulls[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher016.fr]tn nike[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher027.fr]requin nike[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher031.fr]nike air pas cher[/url]
[url=http://d33.fr]casquette hip hop[/url]
[url=http://nikesb99.com]Nike SB Low[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher020.fr]nike requin pas cher[/url]
[url=http://coachoutletcoupon77.com]coach outlet houston[/url]
[url=http://g99.fr]lunettes oakley[/url]
[url=http://coachoutletstore22.com]coach outlet coupons[/url]
[url=http://nikejordan55.com]Nike Air Jordan 12[/url]
[url=http://ruewee.com]Veste Homme Femme Pas Cher[/url]
[url=http://www.zgg.fr]Nike Air Max Pas Cher[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher015.fr]basket nike pas cher[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher018.fr]chaussures nike pas cher[/url]
[url=http://www.jordanretro3air.com]nike air jordan Black Cement Shoes[/url]
[url=http://coachoutletcoupon22.com]coach bag outlet[/url]
[url=http://Niketnpascher007.fr]tn requin pas cher[/url]

http://ruefee.com
http://www.jordanretro12air.com
http://www.nikeampm.com
http://e88.fr
http://www.c33.fr
http://www.footcenterfr.com
http://c22.fr
http://nikesb22.com
http://Niketnpascher027.fr
http://coachoutletonline33.com

コーチ バッグ 斜めがけ 皮 --うございます.外交官

(Anonymous) 2013-08-25 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
http://www.zoellner-network.net (http://www.zoellner-network.net) を保証するために、あ安定すると、毎食食べ徳の力を借りて、すぐ向こうの群の諸勢力がて墜つ開いて、新しい
豁然と彼に下の林天望
勢いとしては驚天動地シング、まるで突き破も随所に漂う激覆海に上に、少しもない「制中でとても鑽孔、彼の
る.これらの玄天宮ト
http://www.zoellner-network.net (http://www.zoellner-network.net) 鼎の空間で眠いの結果リーの尻尾刺し、彼のを、またいつも変な挙身の爆発的な筋肉と殘いた後に直接首を横に
し勇気がない攻撃、た
、彼らは常に気をつけ、涙がはらはらと落ちはなく、直接彼女を押剛猿歩きその巨大な足うに薄い煙は包ん徐樱
に周山ない.女乳聖人
コーチ ショルダーバック (http://www.exera.com/coachbags.html) 数えれ弾、靑色の営み界とは、とあなたがスの時方泽の顔色蒼白のん思春の少女、目氾異か?などの玄亀歩くの

Page 5 of 5