By Jove, I think I've got ... um, none of it?

[veronica_rich]

In the POTC fandom, I used to often wonder why some of the shoviest purveyors and defenders of the Sparrabeth porn (and adjacent fic) were older than about fourteen; like, a LOT older. Like, some of them had adult children. Some had grandchildren. To be fair, I only really wondered about the ones who acted like they were kids and heading up the cast of "Mean Girls" ... but I digress.

Considering the number of older women going for "Fifty Shades of Gray" and the fact the quality of the passages I stood in Target reading a week and a half ago is roughly the same as most J/E fanfic I used to see in POTC, I found this sort of enlightening - though, it did raise more questions than it answered on that front. Why do middle-aged women get off on reading about a 20-year-old woman fucking an older guy? I can't say I do (but then again, my issue with the sparrabethers was never their preference, only that they seemed to think they'd invented a groundbreaking genre of burgeoning-society-woman/older-bad-boy, when Harlequin et. al. had been publishing it for decades). Is it fantasy self-insert? Maybe, if you want to be 20 again. I wouldn't mind having the body and health I had at 20, but you can go hang yourself if you think I want to be that naive or dependent on other people's opinions again, LOL.

(None of this is to insult those who enjoy "Fifty Shades of Gray" - hell, I write fanfic. I used to read this kind of thing when I was a teenager, so I can't even say I've never enjoyed that kind of book. I guess I just think Anne Rice did it better 30 or so years ago with Sleeping Beauty? Not sure what I'm saying; but click on the link above, it's hilarious.)

Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

That is very funny. And you are right.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Did you read the link? The Garfield analogy had me rolling ...

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

I am completely baffled by this trend. Everything about it seems so wrong. But I'm kinda glad it opens up the floodgates for articles like the one you linked. I almost couldn't get past the "I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Team" line for rotflmao. (The titles are definitely the best part of video porn.)

I haven't read this monstrosity myself, just the quotes that so many writers, like the one you linked, are willing to share. They remind me SO much of that epic Sparrabeth fic (that I also only read snippets from, thanks to others), the one that took Jack Sparrow, the stinging trickster we know and love, and transformed him into a weak-as-water imitation of Will Turner. I wonder if that's why I'm finding it so repellent (Twilight and all its baggage aside). It's reopening an old wound. Why would anyone fall for this trash!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I'm torn between slagging off on the book quality (I can easily point to unpaid het fic in more than one fandom that's better, and that's not even including slash - if erotica is what's wanted) and doing the feminist thing of "do you all know how much raw sewage there is in the mainstream for men to get off on? Let the ladies enjoy their questionable turn-on, geez." Not at you, but you know what I mean. *G*

I've read enough excerpts, and I'm a pro enough skimmer to know how to form a quick preliminary opinion, and this book didn't hit either of those favorably for me. Save your money! After all, there's a new Red Dwarf series to buy later this year on DVD. ;-)

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

If I want to read a badly written bodice ripper, I'll find one. I don't need to read a rehashed twitard fan fiction. Amazon keeps suggesting it to me. Grrrr

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I still have old pirate novels and such from Grandma's library if I ever feel that need, LOL.

[day221b.livejournal.com]

LOL! I hear ya! And I think, like you said, we all went through that fantasy self-insert phase - many of us - several times. (*cough* Not that we'll ever admit to it, mind you. :D)

I was actually confronted about this book at work today when a co-worker had just discovered the marvel that is "Fifty Shades of Gray." and I laughed my tuckus off. Whether it's welcomed in fandom or not, fanfic in the mainstream gives me the warm fuzzies even as I cringe just a little bit (or a lot.) I suppose because it's us "coming out" to the world.

Or maybe not.

Oh, and on the wank side of fandom. Kinda got that the other day. Apparently if you're not a BNF in certain fandom, they don't even want to acknowledge your existence even when you write them a glowing review. Once again I'm reminded why I lurk. :) I thought you'd appreciate that bit. Heading over to read the link you provided.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Two women at my work mentioned it last month before I'd heard of it online, really. They said something about "a story about Twilight," and you would have been amused at me trying to explain the concept of fanfic whilst seeming like I didn't know THAT much about it, not really, I just know OF it. LOL!

Now I'm curious about that last remark ... but I should be good and not be. 0:-)

(I am only sure it's not me procrastinating a reply because I haven't written fic in months ...)

[day221b.livejournal.com]

*snicker*


I'm with you on how-I-found-out-about-Fifty-Shades. I was so out of the loop that I didn't find out about this series of books until Audible.com was advertising it on their site, and it actually mentioned that it began as a fanfic. I was like WTF?! Then, of course, my inquiring mind had to know.

Then my friend at work began getting excited about it today and began filling me in on this new book I had to read. (She had me watch an SNL sketch about it.) Picture me with my jaw hanging open. Then the laughter. I was so traumatized that I immediately blurted out that "You did know that was a piece of Twilight fanfiction first, right?" And then immediately shut down. I have never, ever done that before. So I feel your ... oh-I-have-no-idea-about-fanfiction-however-I'm-really-well-informed moment.

And no, wasn't you. No way near you or your quality of work. It's just dumb politic-y things, I think. It wasn't so much procrastinating as "I will reply to everyone's response but you." I hadn't responded to a post from that particular comm in....years probably... and I guess because I'm an unknown they were hesitant, I guess. Felt snubbed, is all. Ah, well. It'll save me a few keystrokes in the future. >:D

Read the article. Yeah, I don't think I will be getting this book from the library any time soon. Though I will continue to find glee in my co-worker's new-found obsession. And funny thing about the book mentioned in the article: "Death at Pemberly." I felt the exact same way.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

What I'd like to know is when the first recycled slash fanfic will get a publishing deal and hit it really big. ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm working on it ... LOL. Noooo, not really.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen or read it - my hatred of Twilight is so deep and intense that even the idea of it scares me. And I'm more of a slasher anyway, so there are clearly things I'll never understand XD

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty liberal about read and let read; I know I like some weird stuff by most people's standards. But I'm none too eager to read either of those myself. XD

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

Oh god, that article is stellar. Nearly laughed myself sick.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I wish a GOOD slashfic would hit it similarly big so we could see comparisons in quality from reviewers like this, LOL. Not that I'm a snob who thinks there's generally higher quality in slash fanfic than in het (anyone else remember early Wet Bitch Turner?), but just for shits and grins.

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

That would definitely be amusing. I'd be interested to see how that would go down. (Ha, yeah, good ole Wet Bitch Will - SO in character. Good times. *g*)

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

My favorite line: "That dry, skittering sound you heard is your fallopian tubes curling like party ribbon."

I don't think any of you should be ashamed to know what fanfic is. It's making someone undeservedly rich so obviously now everyone's going to want to do it.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Sure - as long as they write male-female. Trust me, it's still embarrassing to defend; my boss found some of my OLD fanfic (as in before i was bright enough to adopt this name) online before he hired me, which I didn't know until last year, but at least it was het. I'm not sure how I would set about explaining the draw of gay pirates and space losers if confronted ...

[bellumed.livejournal.com]

Waitwaitwait. I keep hearing about the dynamic of this book as innocent college girl defiled by an older man but-- the "older man" is 27? 27?! He's six years older than the heroine, seriously? Most of the 27 year olds I know are living off of sandwiches and coffee, panicking about their dissertations and how to pay off their student loans!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I guess he's a tycoon of some sort? I just assumed it was inherited or he was a Zuckerberg-type dotcom guy. And while I definitely agree 6-7 years isn't much in numbers, I just figured the dude had more "road miles" for his age than the woman here (plus, from what I remember of both ages, there actually is a significant difference in experiences and life outlook, decision-making, etc. between a 20-yer-old and a 27-year-old).

Or, you know, just bad writing. ;-)

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

Well, in this age of Facebook and the false privacy we are all told we're supposed to have, but don't, it is simply wise to adopt pseudonyms. There is no such thing as a private life anymore, unless you make one up :-)