Me: amanda abstract pastel

Fannish Friday Five

Name five plot points/arcs you hated in fandoms you ordinarily love.

I take this to mean, "Name five plot points/arcs that occurred in fandoms which you normally love, but you hated this particular plot point/arc." Just for clarification, because I had to read the original wording a couple of times before I decided I was interpreting it correctly.

Spoilers herein for Doctor Who season 3, Gilmore Girls last season (7?), Red Dwarf (one of the later seasons), The Office (American version, general), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

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All right, argue with me. :)
B: yeahrightbaby

Reading fanficrants Made Me Think of This

So, we have long, careful lists of things to warn about here in fanficland. A lot of them are even fandom-specific, like the existence of a person resulting from the season four DW finale that I won't reference here because it's a spoiler.

There is much faffing about whenever something someone thinks should be warned for isn't mentioned in the header. Triggering, squicking, all these terms we have for it. I mean, I have squicks and personal preferences for subject matter I find entertaining. I've never left a ranty review, though, when something I don't like is in a story and it wasn't mentioned in the header, and these are common squicks that are usually warned for, so I'm sure a lot of people would say I was somehow warranted in complaining had I done so.

When did we enter this contract, though? Has it just been mostly mutually agreed-upon in fandomland? I don't read something or invite any sort of fiction into my world with a preconceived notion that it shouldn't make me uncomfortable or sad. (Wouldn't watch Doctor Who at all if that was the case, right?) Why should I expect to be prepared for every emotion that a fan-written story might wring out of me? Why would I possibly be mad if someone wrote well enough to elicit a response from me, even if it was to make me maudlin, or contemplative, or even just vaguely uncomfortable?

I'm not a particularly well-adjusted person, but I think this growing movement of "warn for everything under the sun because there's SOMEONE who will be squicked by it" is lunacy. Fandoms warn for gen, het AND slash. I'm sure someone out there once got some bad news while smelling a daisy, and someday that person will leave nasty comments on a fic featuring someone smelling a flower as a throwaway plot point. It's crazy. I'm so weary of re-examining every word and worrying about being jumped on for not warning for a squick. I don't expect that of scripted television or a book I choose from the shelves of a bookstore or a library, and it's crazy that we expect it in our fan communities.

Am I nuts here? Insensitive? Wouldn't be the first time on either count, so telling me so if you think it's the case will honestly not hurt my feelings in the least.
STOCK: peachy rose

Book Meme: Everyone ELSE is Doing It

Stolen from darn near everyone on my friends list, but I saw dynapink did it so I mean to do it and then go look at her list. :)

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

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