Our fandom has a reality squick. Who knew?

[brainofck]

Well, well, well.

I seem to have tweaked a fandom reality squick.

But I still think RDA seems to be much taller. Or at the very least, camerawork makes Jack much taller.

Considering how much it pisses me off when people make Orli way shorter than Viggo, though, I am actially considering a rewrite.

Which THEN leads me back to my constant wish for a brain-ectomy.

Stupid reality squick.

*glares*

Comments

[theemdash]

LOL!

I'm not saying it bothered me, but I just felt like I should tell you that in reality RDA and MS are pretty similar in height. *giggle*

*hands over brain dribble pan* This will at least allow you to put your brain back in when you're done.

No money back

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

What, exactly, would be the point of *replacing* the brain? *glares at brain* :)

Re: No money back

[theemdash]

Purely to continue operating basic functions.

[uisgich.livejournal.com]

You have way too many tags!!

Is your totally orgainsed memory system not enough??

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

No. It is not. And the Brain is highly affronted by your suggestion. *snert*

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Eh. I've never seen the show but am hooked on your fic anyway. *contemplates brainofck-ectomy* ... *no way* Er, point. So a rewrite doesn't have to be drastic. Even if Jack is only 2 or 3 inches taller than Daniel (a good compromise between actor heights and camera cheats?), it would still be unusual for a man to be kissing someone taller than himself, and I love that whole psychological thing it brought to the story.

Well, *you* try living with the stupid thing...

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

:) I think their height difference is similar to mine and my husband's, about 3-4 inches, as you say. A head taller is a bit much, maybe, but then you get into all those technical details when you're driving for the porn... I was lazy.

But no, a rewrite would not have to be drastic. And who knows? I have posted a disclaimer of sorts over at the communities jackslashdaniel and stargateslash were I annouce this sucker. Maybe I'll let the disclaimers stand and just try not to do anything quite this egregious again...

And my brain appreciates your vote of confidence. :)

Re: Well, *you* try living with the stupid thing...

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

And my brain appreciates your vote of confidence. :)

Good, good. *puts away saw and dull spoon*

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Realism is way cool so long as it serves the story. If you're changing something because the story you're telling requires that particular change, then do it, write it, and don't apologize to anyone. In this case, I liked the scene where Jack and Daniel (am I the only one who can't read their names in that order without thinking of booze...?) kissing, with Daniel up on his toes and a bit off balance and wondering if that's why women like tall guys. It fit Daniel's personality and the exploration he was doing, to relate what he and Jack were doing to his experiences with het sex. IMO it worked well, it served the story, and that's a good enough reason for it to be that way.

If you're "changing" something just because you can't be arsed to pay attention or look something up so you shrugged and took a wild guess, then that's something else. That's just being lazy and although a bit of it isn't a major problem IMO it can escalate and get silly. But even then, there are circumstances. :P When I'm writing RPS (which is pretty much all I've done recently) I don't worry about "canon" and even deliberately ignore things at times. I figure, we make such a big deal about the disclaimers, going on about how this isn't real, we're making it up, etc., that we're just writing a story and casting the movie at the same time and all that, so getting obsessive about "canon" in RPS is, to me, a ridiculous contradiction. So ferinstance, when my Johnny needed a middle name, I just picked one and kept going. I could've looked it up but it wasn't worth it for an RPS AU.

I guess what it comes down to is that, in my opinion anyway, it depends what you're changing and why. If you're doing it deliberately, for a reason, then go for it. And regarding the specific situation you referred to above with the height difference, I think it works well and you should leave it.

Angie, tossing in her two cents' worth

My research

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you saw the comments on the piece. Nothing hostile. The gentlest criticism!

My reply is here. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/brainofck/64179.html?thread=319667#t319667)

I think there is a fair basis for my belief that Michael Shanks *is* smaller. So it wasn't just a too lazy to research mistake. IMDB shows them being much more similar in height in real life than they appear to be in the show. The blah blah is through the link.

The reason I would consider a revision is thus - it drives me CRAZY when people write Orli shorter than Viggo, even though he's clearly not. I HATE that! :)

Your RPS argument is a good one, though you have to be careful about the people who *know* the trivia. Once you know stuff, deviation from *reality* can be quite distracting.

I was totally bummed when I realized, for instance, how very briefly Beanie was in New Zealand. Several of my own stories don't account for this, and now they bug me.

At this point, I would like to direct you also to my comments above about the need for a brain-ectomy...

:D

Re: My research

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't see any of the comments on your story; I was just looking at your comments above. I guess the bottom line from my POV is that you wrote a good story, the deviation from reality works and supports the story rather than just hanging there like a label someone forgot to cut out of their shirt, and I don't see any reason to change it.

And yeah, there are a lot of little things that fandom in general didn't always know, things that people just made up, things which were assumed and were later discovered to be wrong. It bugs me a bit when I read a story where the guys are living in their trailers -- including the Cuntebago -- when actually they had houses or apartments or whatever. But a "mistake" has to be seriously grievous, and pretty clearly a matter of the writer not paying attention to even the fringes of detail-obsessed fandom, and just sort of stuck in as a mistaken detail, rather than something that supports the story, before I actually get annoyed with it. I guess everyone has a different threshold for this stuff. [shrug] I don't pay very close attention, myself. I mean, I read stories and such, and I've seen a few discussions here and there of what the guys actually did or what they're doing now or whatever, but for the most part it's the fiction that interests me, so I guess I figure that if I know something then it must be pretty widely-known [wry smile] but I don't obsess over what date -- or even what month -- someone arrived in or left New Zealand, or whether Orlando and Viggo lived within walking distance of each other, stuff like that. Is it a good story? If so, then a few mistaken facts don't bother me, and if it's not then getting absolutely everything spot-on perfect won't make me like it.

I like your story. It's well done, it's interesting, I like the characterizations and the interactions between the main characters. I don't think a "mistake" regarding a few inches in height is worth worrying about, is all I meant. But being me, I had to take two fairly longish posts to say so. ;)

Angie

Re: My research

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

I love your rambles. Please feel free whenever! :)

[amise.livejournal.com]

I was totally bummed when I realized, for instance, how very briefly Beanie was in New Zealand. Several of my own stories don't account for this, and now they bug me.

If it means less Sean, I say screw reality. Screw. It.

As for Stargate, I haven't watched enough of it to notice. The scene in question worked, and would continue to work with less of a height difference.

P.S. MORE BEANIE! MORE BEANIE! MORE BEANIE!

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

Well, you wouldn't necessarily have *less*. But I bet you could really do some emotional distress... Not allowed to use the word angst anymore. *glares at certain parties*

Yes, I know. More Beanie. Possession is nearly done, then Beanie can come back out to play! :)

Just so you know...

[amise.livejournal.com]

That was meant to be a plea for more Beanie in general, and not a hurry-up-and-finish-Possession-so-we-can-have-more-Beanie plea. I'm quite enjoying Possession.