In Which I Lash Out Viciously at Annoying Things

[allyndra]

This is all grouching. Feel free to skip.

Okay, this may seem petty, but I'm growing increasingly annoyed when I see bad writing or poor quality art being gushed over. I don't think it's sour grapes, because I get nice comments that I truly appreciate when I post. But I'm having to resist the strong urge to leave anonymous comments saying, "No, it's not amazing. It's poorly characterized and badly in need of a beta, so stop encouraging the author with chants of 'Sequel PLZ!'" Aren't they supposed to keep that kind of stuff over in the Pit of Voles? In some of my fandoms, it's no problem at all, but Torchwood has quality appreciation issues. There are some fabulous authors, but those aren't the ones who are bugging me. Does anyone else feel the same desire to chastize the readers who can't tell the difference between good fic and bad? Or is it just me?

Also, the John Paul/Craig Dean shippers (known as McDeaners) are starting to frustrate me. I loved John Paul and Craig. Their storyline was emotional and sexy and riveting. But Craig left and John Paul didn't, and the John Paul/Father Keiron storyline is pretty darn emotional and sexy, too. Saying, "Bring Craig back!" every two seconds or demanding a sunset ending is not going to make the writers more likely to give us good plots and emotional arcs for our favorite characters, especially if Guy Burnet really doesn't want to play Craig anymore. Write good fanfic where John Paul and Craig get back together, put together vids of them, make art and icons. But stop grumbling about the lack of Craig on every clip from the current episodes.

And finally, kink fic is not hot to me if the characters seem like cardboard cutouts, I don't care how many ropes they're tied up with or what position they're in. I mean "Gil is a Master and Nick and Greg are his slaves" is a stretch to start with, but if you don't make any attempt to tie them back to the characters I know, it's poorly thought out OC erotica, not fanfic. And next time I see the word "cum" in a story, I'm clicking the back button immediately.

/rant

Comments

[rasah.livejournal.com]

totally with you, sometimes i get a few paragraphs into a fic that's a bit naff, give up, but decide to have a quick scan of the comments out of nosiness and it amazes me! makes you wonder how sincere anyone is on the old 'net... (just so you know - i never gush unless i mean it ;D)

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

It makes no sense. Why would someone say such nice thigs to such bad fic? I'm baffled.

I only gush over things I love, too. I will sometimes comment on stories I don't love, but it's a much more constructive, reserved kind of thing.

[dancinbutterfly.livejournal.com]

dude, you gonna be around ever?

[xanzpet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Some of the TW (and, frankly, DW) fic I've been reading lately has be all kinds of WTF at the response. Well, of course Ianto would never mind Jack giving John a one-off as a departing gift. Sure, Tosh adores it when Owen treats her like shit, and because she a masochist, it only make her love him more. And how could Rhys ever compete with sexy!virile!time-traveling!swash-buckling Jack for the heart of the fair Gwen, whose dedication to her husband flies out the window when Jack drops his pants.

I'm all for hot sex, but a lot of what I've read lately is just cold porn. It's names ascribed to characters I don't recognize, acting in ways which are utterly bizarre and unfathomable to me. And, hey, I love a good AU, but a good AU retains the core identities of the characters while putting them in different situations. I just...yeah.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

OMG, your description of Torchwood fic is so tragically true. *cries* There is some good stuff, though.

Yes, the whole point of a good AU is "What if this character was a caterer?" not, "Hey, what if I wrote a story about some random caterer?" I took a kink bingo card, so I'm going to have fun trying to stretch myself (since I don't usually write kink at all) and keeping true to the characters while fitting the prompts.

[xenachakram12.livejournal.com]

:-D Great rant!

I agree, too. The whole point to fanfic for me is to read about my fave characters because there simply isn't enough canon! Kink and hawtness are only bonuses! :-)

As for comments, I only comment if I have something good to say. Even if a fic is pretty good, unless I have worthwhile input, I don't usually comment because I feel dumb saying, "Um... it's nice!" lol When I gush, it's def gush-worthy. *nods*

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Great rant! *bows* Thank you!

I've been trying to be a more consistent commenter, because I know how much work people put into their fic and how much a comment can mean to them. But I don't gush unless I really love it. (Fortuately, there's a lot of fic I really love. *hugs fandom*)

[sublimatedangel]

I definitely feel your frustration with the praising bad fic issue, although I'd never address it - who am I to tell what someone should like, you know? But I will say that I automatically make a note of who the praisers are, and whenever I see their names, I remember them and don't give much credence to their opinions.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't actually leave rude comments, but I think about doing so. And yeah, those people I now know not to take a rec from or to feel overly complimented if they gush in my direction. :o)

[opalsong.livejournal.com]

*delurks* as a lurker I don't often comment (-.- duh) but I'd like to point out (just give a slightly different view) - When I am getting into a fandom, particularly one that I don't know the source material well for (like if I were, persay to attempt to read Torchwood fic) I have a tendancy to think that fiction is better than it probably really is (can't stand bad writing though...) simply because I don't KNOW how the character really should act. I read another million fics and come to the conclusion that the ones I read first were sucky and go on with my life. However, if I would comment more often I likely would leave a "hey that's cool" or similar message to those crappy fics simply because I don't know better. (I feel dumb saying "hey that's cool which explains the lack of comments but while I'm already delurking - Hey! You're fic is pretty awesome and I'm NOT new to the Buffy fandom!) But yeah, just wanted to add a slightly different viewpoint (though I'm still not sure how badly written fic gets so many accolades...) *relurks*

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Being new to a fandom is an interesting point that I hadn't considered. There was a series in Smallville that I loved when I first started reading fanfic. Just loved it to pieces; it probably helped me get into Clark/Lex. Then a few months ago, I was feeling nostalgic and went looking for it, and I realized it was written by a writing team that I hate. I can't go back and re-read it now, because I know I'll hate it, and I don't want to ruin the memory.

Delurk any time you feel like. :o)

[hull1984.livejournal.com]

OMG! Thank you so much for saying exactly what I've been thinking!! Right down to the temptation to go anonymous (something I've always sworn I wouldn't do!).

Torchwood fandom has scarily low standards if all the gushing and rec'ing is anything to go by. I love janto_recs but currently it seems to have been hi-jacked by one reccer in particular. Now, while I respect her right to rec anything she enjoyed - which currently seems to be anything she's read - it's putting me off the site and I think it's an insult to fics that deserve to be on there. (to be fair I must also say that some of her recs are good).

There are also certain authors that I won't even click on their stories anymore and yet they continue to get numerous, gushing comments. I think sometimes it must be for the sheer number of fics they post - if you see the same name often enough, do you perhaps assume they must be a well known name in that fandom, and therefore must be good?

I have never left a negative comment on a fic - I know all too well how terrifying it can be to post in the first place - and I'm all for encouraging people to write, especially when they're new to it, but sometimes I think silence really is golden.

And ditto to the JP/Keiron too. While I enjoyed the JP/Craig (what little I saw at the time *grumble*) I think the JP/K is much more compelling - and frustrating!! I'm just hoping that now it looks like everyone is going to find out that silly Keiron realises he can't live without the lovely John Paul...and hopefully we'll get to see the nice make-up session ;)

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Torchwood readers really are the worst offenders I've seen lately. In most of my other fandoms, bad fic might get a few really good comments, but in Torchwood they get pages. It's very odd (and annoying).

I'm just hoping that now it looks like everyone is going to find out that silly Keiron realises he can't live without the lovely John Paul Did you see tonight's episode? *claps hands* Of course, they cheated us out of the make-up session, but still. Yay! (and Kris is my favorite character lately. I used to dislike him terribly, but ever since he and John Paul made up, I just love him to pieces. He's so funny, and he makes good sense.)

I enjoyed the JP/Craig (what little I saw at the time *grumble*) crumpetsandjam from James Sutton Fans (http://www.jamessuttonfans.com) has put together a timeline of the John Paul and Craig storyline here (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7D1F38200B994CDF), with links to all the video clips. Beware, though. I lost hours watching them.