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a random, non-linear fic rant - cause I'm bored
Awhile ago I reached the point in fandom where I've pretty much stopped seeking out fic to read. Not to say I'm not reading, but I'm not eagerly reaching for every piece of fic in every fandom to read.
This really started in SGA, where the sheer volume of fic is too much for a single person to read. I also found I was wading through too much crap to find a few gems. I found the same thing in SPN recently, though that one is more 'wading through the Wincest to find the Gen'.
(At this point I should note that I've pretty much given up on the Numb3rs fandom in general, because if it's not Eppescest, then it's all Charlie-based and I'm more of a Don-girl. Where's all the long, involved Don-fic that doesn't involved a borderline Mary Sue? Where's my epic Don/Coop or Don/Edgerton?? These are important questions I tell you!!)
I've become very picky in what I choose to read, sticking mostly to authors I know and like, or recs by people that I trust to only rec the good stuff. I will sometimes go looking for recs in other places, which is how I found Stele3 in SPN who created the best OFC I've ever seen in Freakboy and Dykegirl (I'll do a proper rec for this later, because it deserves some serious warnings).
I rarely deviate from this course unless I'm *really* bored or entering a new fandom.
This week I've been *beyond* bored, hence my trip over to TtH to read 3 truly horrific (and *long*) stories in a row. I didn't plan it, but I managed to hit 3 stories that bugged me in 3 completely different ways, one after the other.
This post is really about wondering how other people choose the fic they read - (and hoping for some epic story recs in return) - and what makes you hit the back button fast?
Some of mine:
- serious OOC-ness
- genderfuck (not the same as an AU where the characters are different genders)
- incest (with very, very few exceptions)
- serious canon errors
- a character suddenly becomes 'super' and goes around kicking ass and taking names and teaching everyone valuable lessons
- Mary Sues
- enough bad grammar/spelling that at every other sentence I have to stop and try to figure out what the author really meant
- a 'secret past' that completely changes how someone acts
...actually, most of these are on the Bad!Fic Bingo card I made a while ago. Hmmmmm......
The one thing I will absolutely never forgive:
- misspelling of names/places/things in a *book*-verse (HP fandom, I'm looking at you!)
I mean, honestly people!
This really started in SGA, where the sheer volume of fic is too much for a single person to read. I also found I was wading through too much crap to find a few gems. I found the same thing in SPN recently, though that one is more 'wading through the Wincest to find the Gen'.
(At this point I should note that I've pretty much given up on the Numb3rs fandom in general, because if it's not Eppescest, then it's all Charlie-based and I'm more of a Don-girl. Where's all the long, involved Don-fic that doesn't involved a borderline Mary Sue? Where's my epic Don/Coop or Don/Edgerton?? These are important questions I tell you!!)
I've become very picky in what I choose to read, sticking mostly to authors I know and like, or recs by people that I trust to only rec the good stuff. I will sometimes go looking for recs in other places, which is how I found Stele3 in SPN who created the best OFC I've ever seen in Freakboy and Dykegirl (I'll do a proper rec for this later, because it deserves some serious warnings).
I rarely deviate from this course unless I'm *really* bored or entering a new fandom.
This week I've been *beyond* bored, hence my trip over to TtH to read 3 truly horrific (and *long*) stories in a row. I didn't plan it, but I managed to hit 3 stories that bugged me in 3 completely different ways, one after the other.
This post is really about wondering how other people choose the fic they read - (and hoping for some epic story recs in return) - and what makes you hit the back button fast?
Some of mine:
- serious OOC-ness
- genderfuck (not the same as an AU where the characters are different genders)
- incest (with very, very few exceptions)
- serious canon errors
- a character suddenly becomes 'super' and goes around kicking ass and taking names and teaching everyone valuable lessons
- Mary Sues
- enough bad grammar/spelling that at every other sentence I have to stop and try to figure out what the author really meant
- a 'secret past' that completely changes how someone acts
...actually, most of these are on the Bad!Fic Bingo card I made a while ago. Hmmmmm......
The one thing I will absolutely never forgive:
- misspelling of names/places/things in a *book*-verse (HP fandom, I'm looking at you!)
I mean, honestly people!
no subject
I agree with you on TTH. I've found myself lurking over there quite a bit recently (thanks to my office server deciding to block other fic websites - I was *not* best pleased) and, well, okay - I confess to writing some pretty poor fic myself - but some of the stuff on there makes ff.net look like a shining gem of fic perfection by comparison. Something that I hadn't noticed back when it was originally set up. It got me wondering whether fic sites deteriorate the bigger they become? I don't expect brilliant fic on every page... But wading through tediously boring and badly written fic to find a decent story is never pleasurable.
I can cope with most of the list you've written - as long as the writer can convince me it *works*. Except constantly poor spelling. I saw one the other day where a character experienced 'organisms' which certainly made me laugh!
no subject
And I have enough bad fic hidden in my closet to choke a Wraith so I really shouldn't be all judgemental, but I like to think I've improved over the years. A lot of these writers have been around the site for years, and they're still writing the same horribly written stuff time after time.
no subject
To be honest, I stopped visiting last time after they changed the appearance of the site. I go to sites for stories - not for the aesthetic appeal of the websites in question!
I hadn't really paid attention to who the writers were as I was too busy pressing the back button. I'm guessing then, that they feel they've found their writing niche and churn out similar fic all the time - hence their continued association with the TTH fandom?
no subject
TtH feels like all the crossover writers from ff.net who were feeling underappreciated decided to migrate to a prettier looking site.
I think a lot of people are noticing this, too, because when I check the reviews for the really bad fics, all I find are glowing reviews and *squee!!*. The reviewers who use to take the time to write a nicely worded critical review pointing out what could have been done better, have disappeared. Like they got tired of being called trolls and meanies, or something.
I'll still continue to post over there, however, because I'm weak and a good 75% of my reviews - *cough*egoboost*cough* - comes from there. LJ is starting to even it out, but there were times when my only feedback came from TtH.