all recs, all the time, and communityish thing

Because I've been neglectful as hell.

Exchange by bonibaru. Okay, where the HELL has she been hiding? Totally fooling everyone with the vid-only thing--she can WRITE too! Lovely, LOVELY Lex I could read about all day. Run along and read.

The Color For Her by penelope_z. Mmm. Lana pov CLex. Hot. Sticky. Haunting. And wow.

It Takes a Village to Make a Superhero Look Good by mobiusklein. Hee! Beverage warning please! Hee! How Clark gets his costume! So many good lines I can't even pick one.

It's Cold Outside by bexless. Sweet, funny, CLex, and VERY strange old lady. *grins* Read read read.

Suddenly, Mrs. Devon reached up and ran her hand over Lex's head. Lex, to his credit, only flinched a little, and gave the tiniest grimace as she examined his scalp.

Then she swooped in to Clark and whispered conspiratorially, "He's very shiny, dear. Do you polish him?"

Yes. Like THAT! *eg*

On the Eighth of December by alee. Clark's a superhero, with everything that happens with that. *sighs* He's going to have nights like this, and alee does a lovely job showing it.

Okay, to make this less pointless.

I've been mulling thoughts about LJ, community in fandom, responsibility, et al, but they refuse to come together with anything resembling logic. I'm curious though--whatever your fandom, do you see it as a community, in which you are part of a greater whole, or more of a every writer is an island sort of thing?

Oddly, I'm not sure where I stand on this either. In Voyager, Island, in XMM, clique-communityish, but SV seems like both sometimes, to me. Or neither. It's very--jangly.

See? No logical progression going on. My English prof would be ever so ashamed of me.

Must mull.

Comments

[destina.livejournal.com]

I'm curious though--whatever your fandom, do you see it as a community, in which you are part of a greater whole, or more of a every writer is an island sort of thing?

Honestly, it depends upon the fandom. I've belonged to fandoms where the 'community' was a poisonous thing (X-Files), or a place where there were rarely any flame wars or big egos (TPM), or a place to make fast friends (Highlander), or a place to be avoided because of the sheer annoyance factor (Stargate). But the thing is, nowadays it's always possible to create a community of people who are of like minds - a private list, community journals, and so forth - so folks don't have to cluster together on big lists or on newsgroups and waste time hating each other and flaming trolls. *g* This is more like transplanting all your friends into a suburban neighborhood, away from the urban warfare; it's like a sub-community.

Sometimes I feel those who share single-fannishness via lj are part of a community - it's easy to get news, to see new links and recs, etc - but then again, the cliquishness is much more apparent here, sometimes. More...I don't know. Immediate, maybe? Trends of like and dislike develop much more quickly; for me, at least, it's harder to spot on lists. For me, this is sometimes the down side of this unique kind of 'community'.

And also, part of your comment reminded me fannish hierarchy - is every writer an island? Probably not. All a writer has to do to enlarge her circle is post a story. Even bad writers can do this. But for those who aren't writers...maybe it's a bit different.

I think I need to go back to bed and stop babbling. *g*

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

gah - will be incoherent as well 'cause haven't mulled enough, but in Buffy where I was only reading, I felt like that, a reader. Not even a lurker. Total freeloader. In HP, I made a conscious decision to meet people, mingle, involve myself, and I truly feel part of a community. LJ has definitely cimented that. But I'm not really writing, yet, nothing 'published', so am certainly not an island-writer anyway. In SV, I mostly read ans squee, and I feel les included, because I mostly read and the friends I have there are those I made in HP first anyway...

hm. not a very good answer, but here it is.

(and I bookmark all your recs post, just so you know *g*)

[deadlychameleon.livejournal.com]

I usually feel like I'm part of a community. I read much more than I write, which is because I'm still learning a lot about writing, so it only occasionally turns out to be something other people should read. I got into fanfiction because people I chatted with on fan BBS wrote it. It's only when I'm really in the minority of opinion that I begin to feel like an island, or when I read an author way out in left field that I feel like other people are on islands. Quite a lot of writers read and react to each other, which I think is great. The more unusual (lets say, free spirited) folks who do their own thing can be very refreshing at times too. Truth of the matter is, no fanfic writer is an island unto themself. Once an author posts, people read their work who read other fanfic, develop opinions comparing and contrasting, and poof, they're part of a community.
-Silverkyst

[katkim.livejournal.com]

And also, part of your comment reminded me fannish hierarchy -is every writer an island? Probably not. All a writer has to do to enlarge her circle is post a story. Even bad writers can do this. But for those who aren't writers...maybe it's a bit different.

I think destina makes a very very good point. I don't think fandom is necessarily just a writer's community, but I think the writer's sub-community is the most prominent. This is personal and generalized thought, but I think this is why, if you don't write, it's difficult to get that sense of belonging in the SV fandom. And I think this is the main reason why I think so many people have started to write fanfic. I don't know whether this is just me, but I've noticed a large number of first-fic writers out there.

So, is community one of the main appeals of fandom? For a lot of people I'd say yes. Although of course, nothing in life is so clear cut.

But I agree that a writer may be an island whilst writing, but once it's posted, they become part of it, willingly or not.

General though on the subject - I do think it depends on the fandom, but personally I think the SV community is very closed, especially since it's moved away from the open boards to LJs. But then, one LJ user said to me, that she was glad to get an LJ because she found if difficult to break into the TwoP SV board.

Gah

[lorax]

You know, its entirely your fault that I read SV fic when I don't even watch the show. Well, actually it's my fault for reading your LJ and then clicking on your recs, but I do better when I have someone to blame. Thusly, its all your fault. And you barely know me, but I'm going to blather in your LJ anyways. Hopefully, it won't annoy you too much.

I circulate on the edges of fandoms without ever really getting to know anyone in any of them. I'm not sure why. I suspect its because I'm too shy to contact people that often, other than leaving them feedback. I write in Buffy and Angel, with brief forays into Sandman and Harry Potter. And I read stuff in all of those, plus the occasional Smallville story I get sucked into. ;)

Fandoms often look like a closed circle to me. Outsiders, or at least me as I can't really speak for everyone I suppose, see that as being difficult to break into. I archive my few stories at few places, but don't post them to lists or advertise them very much. Mostly because I'm afraid that A - They suck, and B - I'll annoy people. I respond to feedback on them, and I feedback for authors whose stories I adore. But other than that, I'm just a silent observer on the edges of the fandoms.

Buffy fandom is so huge and fragmented, that it often looks like a catty little circles of people who all loathe one another, and worship a few chosen ones. Smallville seems less acidic from what I've seen. HP is a very circular community. Many authors all lead back to one another and there's just a huge sense of community there - to the point where I've seen those outside of that circle get downright venemous over the cliquey nature of it.

All in all, I think it depends on your view of such things. I think that the communities seem like just that - a community of like minded people discussing the things they both appreciate, and just generally being friendly. Some people may see that as bad, but I think it's a nice thing. I even envy it a bit. ;) Hence the LJ lurking probably. (Though I promise it's mostly to keep up with your writing.)

And now I've babbled. I'll be going now.