I was just thinking, actually, that when everyone's done the bad metaphor thing to their heart's content, someone should ask about good metaphors: what makes a good metaphor? How far can it be extended before it gets silly? Do you have a favourite one? In fanfic, do you demand that the comparision be with something from the world in which the characters are living, or can you cope with elves whose motors run like a lorry's?
I just think you're freakin' out 'cause you have to fight someone prettier than you.
Dawn ,'The Killer In Me'
Fan Fiction II: Great story! Where's the sequel?
This thread is for fanfic recs, links, and discussion, but not for actual posting of fanfic.
Am-Chau Yarkona - Jun 29, 2005 10:15:06 pm PDT #374 of 10434
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty
P.M. Marc - Jun 29, 2005 10:19:16 pm PDT #375 of 10434
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
I'm finding this all amusing because I'm here avoiding making a meta post on sex scenes.
Specifically, why is it that I (and so many other writers) go for the OMG ANGST sex like flies to honey, when fun sex is, well, fun.
I mean, I've written a lot of sex scenes, in various levels of explicit from Hayes Code to HAWT NUDE CO-EDS FUXING 4 U!, and I'd say a good 90% of them are Hand-Staple-Forehead (dickdickdick). What's up with that? Hell, even when I was Angst Queen of the Known Universe, Depress-O-Chick #1, 90% of the sex I actually had was of the fun sort. (I mean, it may have been sex with the wrong people for the wrong reasons, but usually? Still angst-free for the actual act. Angst usually came later, and was less angst and more ::facepalm::) Why am I not reflecting reality in my writing?
Consuela - Jun 29, 2005 10:25:56 pm PDT #376 of 10434
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
You want a not-in-the-fandom pair of eyes to give it a look?
Errr, not as yet. I've got a little group who will look at it. And no, it's SG-1: the culmination of the big OT3 series I've been working on. Just in time for the New OT3 wars, I think, given what I've seen of the new spoiler pics. Daniel/Cam/Vala will be posted before the end of the first episode, if I know this fandom...
P.M. Marc - Jun 29, 2005 10:32:46 pm PDT #377 of 10434
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
You crazy Stargate kids!
Though, S1 is on my Netflix Queue.
I have no idea where my sex-writing muse wander off to, but she's AWOL at the moment. It's kind of sad, as I used to write sex scenes when I was bored and either AIM them to SA or see if I had a story I could write around them.
Consuela - Jun 29, 2005 10:35:20 pm PDT #378 of 10434
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Just in case anyone wants to weep helplessly: [link]
So. Very. Good. ::sniffles::
Though, S1 is on my Netflix Queue.
Heh. SG-1 is like the Borg, only with worse wardrobes. I think it's the casting: they overlap with Every Other Fandom around, except maybe Doctor Who. Gaeta from BSG even showed up as an Egyptian guy a couple of months ago.
Nutty - Jun 30, 2005 3:32:30 am PDT #379 of 10434
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
It's the sci fi ghetto. It protects (and employs) its own.
Am-Chau's question about metaphor is sort of like defining porn -- it is known when seen, and very hard to describe. I do have to call foul on cross-universe metaphors (elves like jackhammers, e.g.), because unless it's intentional, kicking the reader out of a fictional world and into this one, it's a mess.
I attended a lecture once about historical fiction, and the research done for same. After a while it got into "things you can't do in history," like have someone thrill with electricity before the 1700s, or telegraph his punches before the middle 1800s. A lot of expressions you don't even think about, that are related to technology, embedded in our worldview that aren't appropriate to history (or to alternate, technology-free worlds).
Connie Neil - Jun 30, 2005 4:26:13 am PDT #380 of 10434
brillig
like have someone thrill with electricity before the 1700s, or telegraph his punches before the middle 1800s
Yes, this! I'm just about finished with my 1498 Italian fic, and I kept thinking of all these Shakespearian type things and telling myself "Idiot! He's not going to even be born yet for another 50 years!"
Am-Chau Yarkona - Jun 30, 2005 4:40:22 am PDT #381 of 10434
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty
like have someone thrill with electricity before the 1700s, or telegraph his punches before the middle 1800s
Even good writers and translators aren't immune from this, sadly. I refuse to believe that Virgil actually called anything "gun-metal gray".
§ ita § - Jun 30, 2005 4:45:36 am PDT #382 of 10434
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I refuse to believe that Virgil actually called anything "gun-metal gray".
Well, yeah. He didn't speak English.
I'm okay with a reasonable amount of using current idiom to describe things that happened in the past, if you're writing in a third person omniscient. God knows, if everyone was really period accurate, it'd drive me batshit.
Dana - Jun 30, 2005 5:49:59 am PDT #383 of 10434
"I'm useless alone." // "We're all useless alone. It's a good thing you're not alone."
Heh. SG-1 is like the Borg, only with worse wardrobes.
I stopped in a Walgreens this morning, and as I was wandering down past the pharmacy, I heard the guys behind the counter.
"mumble mumble Stargate..."
My head whipped around.
"Oh, yeah? I liked the movie."
"I've been watching the TV show since the beginning...."
I resisted the urge to actually join into the conversation, but you're not kidding about that Borg stuff.