The fantasy geek's daily laugh

[veronica_rich]

Ah, messagefic before it went sour (and when it was actually GOOD)

Thanks to beldar and the_dark_snack (I'd call her his trusty sidekick if I thought she wouldn't hit me :-P ), I found a great new snark site - much like Something Awful, those Photoshop Phriday features that had "truth in advertising" for movie posters (check out page 4 - I nearly wet myself every time over the "pizza" one, for no good reason).

This one is for sci-fi/fantasy geeks who love their classic literature. They are FTW, I swear to Dog. So far I think there are only three entries, but you might keep up. You can find links to the first and third parts at the very top of the page.

Comments

[concertigrossi.livejournal.com]

OMG that is too funny! I am on the floor, howling at some of those...

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's a few very obvious ones on there. *G*

[mistyzeo.livejournal.com]

AHH! I got to the pizza one and laughed out loud for like, ten minutes. Love.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That was some serious fabulousness. Honestly, to still be funny after all this time? GOLD.

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

These are all hilarious - I especially love the D&D whining. (So why am I thinking "Dogshit" is what made you pass this on? :-P)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Actually, the one I used to head up this entry is the one that made me post the links here. I am SO sick of meta in fandom - its purveyors have pounded the hell out of it and have used it to pound others over the head, and it's been really pissing me off for some time. You can't just enjoy something and discuss its fun possibilities casually - no, now not only does shit MEAN something, it only has one meaning, and yours is usually the wrong one.

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

Yeah. But I still love meta. I also know that meta is supposed to mean discussing possibilities (the more the merrier, imo).

Meta has become 'trendy' in fandom, but the twisting of that trend - the 'hype' and the 'line drawn in the sand' concerning particular interpretations - the relentless pursuit of a POV through promotion of the 'correct' fanfic while simultaneously attacking (de-moting?) the 'incorrect' fanfic - isn't real meta. It doesn't illuminate as much as it tries to negate.

It's fun to play around with what things might mean, but the restrictions and the rancor makes it ugly. And it happens everywhere. No fandom is safe. Having seen so much of it, I cringe a little when I see the most innocent of authors throw up a bit of fanart to 'preview' their soon to be published fic and I find myself suspecting the validity of claims like 'this is in no way meant to bash [insert character]' even when I know the author loves [insert character]. That's what I really wish would go away: how I've let the restricted version of 'meta' affect how I see all of fandom.

And I may be rambling a bit. It's way past bedtime for me.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The key word in all you say is "possibilities," as you go on to explain. "Possibilities" are lost as soon as you start trying to debate with someone and they put you down with a fancy verson of "no, I'm sorry, you're quite wrong and you can't possibly ever be right, here's why ... except I'm not really going to explain why, I'm just going to spend the next 2,000 words running in circles of big words that add up to nothing, hoping I intimidate you enough with my ten-dollar words to shut you up, because EW, you are below me and I CANNOT believe you would deign to comment on an open journal entry of mine."

So, yeah. There's one person in particular who has ruined my meta experience in fandom, and she taught her tricks to a bunch of other people who did, too. But they can never quite equal The Master. :-D