Will Write for Feedback

Over the past few days Jemima, seemag and lizbee have been reflecting on whether it's arrogant (or inaccurate) to call one's fic a "gift". Jemima thinks "gift" is a perfectly reasonable term. Seema prefers some term other than "gift". And Liz has just amused herself by making a "My fic is a gift" icon, which produced this delightful response from ajhalluk.

I can see everybody's point -- I agreed somewhat with Jemima and even more with Seema -- but none of the descriptions I'd yet heard really seemed to quite describe the way I feel about writing. Then, just this morning, it came to me in a flash of inspiration.

I am a busker.

Here I stand on my little corner of the Internet, playing my fanfic tunes for anyone and everyone to hear, and hoping that some of them will be kind enough to leave some feedback in exchange. Some people pass by without stopping or sparing my fic a glance. Others hesitate a minute before deciding "Nah, I can't get into that old-fashioned het stuff" and moving on. Still more readers wander about in the background until the story is done, more or less enjoying the fic but unwilling or unable to FB. And then there are the few encouraging souls who toss a few coins of criticism and/or praise in the review jar and ask, "Do you do requests?"

Yep, that analogy suits me just fine.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

After reading the latest round of ALIAS spoilers (which really don't say that much, at least not directly), I have just come up with the World's Most Evil Theory about Sloane. I haven't yet been able to think of anything from past eps that could prove it wrong, and I've thought of quite a few otherwise perplexing things that would be explained by it.

Of course, now I'm dying to toss this around with somebody and I can't find any other ALIAS fen online. Where's avarill when you need her? Wah!

(no subject)

Some remarks in the LJ about the release of HP Book 5, and how writing fic isn't so much like giving a "gift" to the fandom than it is like busking.

Hmmm...

Well, I posted my Evil Sloane Theory to the Spoilers forum at Television Without Pity, expecting it to get shot down pretty fast, but so far nobody's refuted it and several people have freaked out and told me that I might just be right...!

I scare myself sometimes.