Oh how ridiculous is that. 'Hello - I've trademarked the air. If you want some - pay me'.... Hang on... I am just remembering I have a pair of Ugg Boots. If once an expression goes into general lexicon it cannot be trademarked as it is basically a word. But then again - the whole idea of trademarking expressions is disturbing and yet ultimately pointless considering the Internet. PG: find me a jurisdiction to sue me for that. What nasty little bluffers. They know they can bully people into submission - and what's the point of even doing it?

Well, fanfiction writers are hardly the ones who blithely accept corporate culture being shoved down their throats. Intubation aside, however, the MPAA could shut down the biggest fanfic site on the net and tie it up in courts--so of course the Pit bows before them, and I think all the authors and readers there are probably glad they do. Me, I think the fewest headers possible is always a good thing: I like the story to speak for itself. That's why I like the rating system we've got, and I doubt the MPAA is going to go after small fry on individual sites. I don't use ratings to distinguish between sex and violence (although violence gets a higher rating from me than sexuality). Most of all, I hate it when people won't rate slash G, just because it's slash. That really gets my goat.

Sheep, the reason the Pit doesn't use MPAA ratings is because the MPAA has started sending out C&Ds to people who use their trademarked rating system without their consent. This I did not know - I wonder why ff won't license it (is it really that expensive?). Most of all, I hate it when people won't rate slash G, just because it's slash. Are folks that concerned about exposure to slash they won't use G ratings? The writers? Or is this readers asking for the rating to be upgraded. I clearly live in a different world. I have one other question, from the background of a reader. I find it incredibly difficult to read first person fic (I did etc) - I can see occasionally why the stylistic choice makes sense, but its not often in my book. There's not been a lot of new House fic out recently, which I understand, hiatus etc, but it seems (purely gut reaction) that there's been a higher amount (both absolute number & percentage of total fic) of House fic written in this style. Is this a new trend, it just happened writers were on the same wavelength or something & can the writers here talk a little about why they make this choice (& are there other readers who have the same problems reading first person?).

I meant that some writers won't rate slash G because--apparently, I don't know--they think homosexuality automatically deserves a higher rating/more warning, even when the content of the story is appropriate for general audiences. Gah. As for first person--it doesn't work for me, in this fandom in particular. I think it's too intimate a POV for these characters, because it's so difficult to get that deep inside their heads. I know some authors like it and work with it, but I can't read those stories with the same level of enjoyment. Elicia8, for instance. Love her third-person stories, for the most part. Find her first-person work less engaging, because it's more difficult to believe in their internal monologue. I can't lose myself in a first person story because I'm too busy thinking about the writing, and that takes away from the experience. YMMV, obviously. Sometimes the person you choose depends on the story. I just wrote a second-person story, for instance, and I enjoyed some of the techniques and tricks it allowed me to use, that I couldn't have done in third without making it feel too distant. It's not a person I would choose often, however. Third person is functionally "invisible"--the writing doesn't grab my attention over the story--because it's the norm.

I'm much more of a third-person gal for House, but I can read first-person. You've got to be really in the character's head, though, or it's OOC-city. FF.net's rating system is K=kid, T=teen, M=mature. What I see other places, though, and don't understand, is Mature vs. Adult.

I find it incredibly difficult to read first person fic (I did etc) ... but it seems (purely gut reaction) that there's been a higher amount (both absolute number & percentage of total fic) of House fic written in this style. Is this a new trend, ... & can the writers here talk a little about why they make this choice. Great question. I haven't written any first person fic in the House fandom, but I have written second person, and I'm also working on an original work that is in first person. Here's my opinion on how the different POVs work (at least for me) as both a reader and a writer. First person has the marvelous capacity to immediately draw the reader into the narrator's thoughts and, in a way, establish immediate intimacy with that character. The action seems sharper, and there's a natural tension in the reader from being put in the position of "living" the story (think First-Person Shooter-type video games.) However, the limitation to a writer is that the action can only be seen through the eyes of this one character: what the character knows, the reader knows, and no more. The real trick when writing in first person is how to let the reader know something the narrator doesn't know, and that takes a special skill of writing to misdirect the lead character, usually through misinterpretation in the main character's thoughts. In other words, you have to be able to write layers of meaning into the supporting characters' actions and dialogue. Second person POV is very much like first person in the writer's limitations, but second person seems to confer a slight distance between the narrator and reader, which to me, lends a more dreamlike feel to the narrator's thoughts. Um, I don't think I'm expressing myself well on this point, but maybe someone else will explain it more clearly. Third person was the first POV I ever wrote in, because it is, on the surface, the easiest. There is freedom to show actions happening out of the purview of the main characters, and it's often used in the action-adventure genre for this reason. However, that doesn't mean third person is a "write whatever you please" POV. If you've ever read a third-person fic that made you dizzy with trying to follow the characters' thoughts, almost if the "camera" were jumping from person-to-person-to-person--this was probably because the POV was shifting to too many characters in the same scene. For me, the rule of thumb is: single scene equals single character's POV. Sometimes you can switch POV within a scene, but only once, and it has to have a desired dramatic effect. And just to make my life difficult, my original work is action-adventure-mystery...from first person POV. Getting off the soapbox now. :D

First person has the marvelous capacity to immediately draw the reader into the narrator's thoughts and, in a way, establish immediate intimacy with that character. This is very true--when the story isn't fanfic. This is exactly the advantage that first person offers when you're writing original fiction. But with fanfic, I think, we've known these characters only as third person throughout canon. Unlike, say, Grey's Anatomy where Meredith's voice-over provides some first person context to the show, on House we only see through the camera's lens; the fourth wall is very much intact. I think that might be one reason why I can't make first person fic work in my brain, although it's true of most fandoms. As for third person, it's important to distinguish between third omniscient (the narrator is no one specific person, and knows everything and sees everything) and third limited (the narrator is a specific character and can only see or know what that character sees and knows). I have pretty much the same problems with third omniscient that I do with first.

I'm not a big fan of 1st person either- for some reason I can't hear the characters voices when a fanfic writer attempts it. In original fic, it's fine. But fanfic... it just doesn't feel right. There's nothing wrong with digging into heads and showing pov, but using the word "I" ... it's a difficult thing. I once started a 1st person fic from the pov of "Voldemort" in Words and Deeds. It lasted about 3 pages before I gave it up and moved on. 2nd person seems to work a little better- but using it in a huge novella type fic might put me off. Short fics seem to work well. Oh my... must go now. I'm going to be an auntie. Not really... but the guy's like my brother.

This is very true--when the story isn't fanfic. ... But with fanfic, I think, we've known these characters only as third person throughout canon. Unlike, say, Grey's Anatomy where Meredith's voice-over provides some first person context to the show, on House we only see through the camera's lens; the fourth wall is very much intact. Excellent points. What also contributes to my wariness of first-person House fanfics is who the narrator is. It can be very tricky to have House as a first person narrator and yet keep him in character, because after all, he's the one person who denies any inner tenderness in his character and doesn't seem big on self-insight at all. But I keep my mind open; just because I feel incapable of doing him justice doesn't mean that no fanfic author will ever be able to do so. I very much look forward to enjoying reading a fully-in-character first-person House. The closest I can bring myself to House's POV is second person. Due to the fact that second person is like the narrator addressing an unseen audience, in my second person House fics, he reveals only what he chooses to reveal. However much House might reveal his inner "nice guy" on the show (in interactions with small children and in his protectiveness at times of the ducklings), he would never admit such feelings to himself--at least, not in a "in-character" way. Um, to me, that is; I respect other's opinion of what "in-character" House might think or say.

Most of time time I prefer 3rd person in general, but there was one fic ages ago told from the point of view of a new intern at the hospital, and four people warning you about House. Each person's claims are more and more outrageous as things go along. Then, you finally get to meet House. That was the only fic that I've seen that works in 1st person for House so far. Anyone remember what this one could be? And it totally depends on the author and how well they know the character too.

It's No Mere Mortal, He by Slipstream: http://www.squidge.org/housefanfiction/archive/17/nomere.html And it's second person, not first but I do agree that it's brilliant.

One benefit to first-person, especially for a slash writer, is you can avoid some pronoun confusion. This limited benefit is not usually enough to overcome the character difficulties other people have described so well. All of the characters on House, when you think about it, have their ways that they are distant. They don't touch each other much, don't confide in each other much, don't talk about their personal lives.

I think it's too intimate a POV for these characters, because it's so difficult to get that deep inside their heads. I agree with this. I've never read a 1st person POV H/W fic I've believed, most definitely not in the way I usually fall completely into reading and forget everything around me. I'm an avid fan of 2nd person POV, though. For some reason it almost always correlates beautifully with House and/or Wilson's characters.

It's not a person, it's a beast with two backs.