The decline...

[highlyeccentric]

Of my visceral anti-fanfic stance starts here. *All* Arthurian literature is basically fanfic, right?

The lovely fahye was offering two-sentence slash fics, and I requested Lancelot/Gawain, *after* the death of Gawain's brothers (a la Malory):

Honour is a French word.

Gawain rubs the heel of his palm against his eyes until his brothers' judging faces have disappeared and thinks, uncharitably, about the irony of etymology.

eta: holy jam on toast, the woman writes well. Four-sentence Narnia and, bizarrely, two-sentence lemonade/sunlight slash.

~

On the other hand, I am *not* going over to the Dark Side. For a period of about two hours this afternoon my parents were going to buy me a Macbook, and then I returned to the light with the realisation that not only would I need to buy OfficeMac, but I'd also need new speakers¹, *and* my only MP3 Player options would be IPods. Since the aforementioned IPod shuffle no longer meets with my approval, due to lack of screen or playlist sorting options, and Myer had a lovely Walkman MP3 Player at $100 off... no, I don't think I want a Macbook after all. I want to keep all my accumulated PC accessories, and just have a new PC to run them on.

1. I've just been informed that no, I would not have to replace my speakers. But my Macbook lust has worn off a little, and methinks it's not worth it after all. Methinks I know my way around a PC, more or less, and that's good enough for now.

Comments

[fahye.livejournal.com]

FANFIC WILL WIN YOU IN THE END. MUAHAHAHAHA.

In all seriousness: this is simply how I react to the fictions that I read or watch. I rarely write commentary or meta -- I tend to work my opinions and theories and what-ifs into prose and explore them that way. Other people use fanfic differenly, but that's my take.

[phrasemuffin.livejournal.com]

Why can't you use any other type of MP3 player on a Mac? You just plug them in via USB, right? The Mac can't stop you from moving files across to the new hardware (ie the player) unless it is physically unable to move the files across, surely. Or am I just showing my lack of Mac-knowledge?

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

many MP3 players don't work with drag-drop function, they need to be synced with a particular music player ;)

[phrasemuffin.livejournal.com]

But you can get other players for a Mac, surely...?

[tarimanveri.livejournal.com]

Could the decline of your anti-fanfic stance be hastened by the promise of Gauvain/Yvain slash, should I ever manage to write it instead of as a completely legitimate exercise in close reading related to my Yvain paper?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Also, I've found that the best and so far only way to understand medieval literature, both in terms of the way authors used it to comment on the issues of their time and in terms of the medieval understanding of literary originality, is to think of it as fanfic and apply all the fanfic-related theory I've picked up in fandom. It works very well, as long as you keep in mind that unlike modern media fandoms, medieval literature didn't always refer back to a single, authoritative "canon" version of its subject matter.

I even said as much to my medieval French lit professor earlier this year... I think it was lost on her, though.

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

I might indeed by tempted by said Gawain/Yvain slash...

although, really, I'm not sure that there's any *point* in anyone writing Gawain slash... the Pearl Poet nailed it so perfectly...

[tarimanveri.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it's five years (far too long) since I read Sir Gawain in my Arthurian Tradition class and I only vaguely remember the slashiness. However, in terms of Mallory Slash, I seem from this post (http://tarimanveri.livejournal.com/2003/04/17/) back in the day to have considered the possibilities of Lancelot/Bors, Tristan/Tristan, and Mordred/Agawain. Here (http://tarimanveri.livejournal.com/2003/04/21/), I also discover slashy Perceval/Galahad moments...

Possibly I need to reread the Pearl Poet.

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

when you do, you should definitely read David L Boyd's article 'Sodomy, Misognyny and Displacement', for all your slashy needs.

[tarimanveri.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I am definitely (always!) open to article recs. Will read! I've been thinking that it might be useful for me to look at some queer-theory oriented stuff for this paper on male friendship. Even if it isn't, really, it's as good an excuse as any, and I am trying to come at it from a gender and ideology sort of direction...

In other words, if you have anything else you think I should read, please do tell!

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

mmm... Boyd's the only really good rec I have for that sort of thing, but fish through his bibliography and I suspect you'll find something :)

[avedaggio.livejournal.com]

I was a slasher.... then I became an academic. Or, I started thinking that I wanted to become an academic, and am still trying, with limited success.... :P

There's been some good pseudo-Arthurian slash based off of the King Arthur movie. Say what you want about the film (though I quite enjoyed it, after turning off my inner historian)-- the men are HAWT.

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed that movie! It came out when I was in high school, in my pop-arthurian phase, and I delighted in it.

Well, except in the Leather Gwynhfar thing. WTF? HOT, but WTF?

I think I have a Ioan Gruffyd poster on my wall somewhere at home, but the male cast didn't really make a huge impression on me in that movie...

[kayloulee.livejournal.com]

Well, DUH. Of course it is, and I'd know, I hope, because Lawrence just spent a semester drowning us in the stuff.

Anyway, I thought your anti-fanfic stance had already started to decline.

And! I have to agree with tarimanveri on how well interpreting medieval lit in the same way as I interpret fanfic works.