FF.net, again

[kriadydragon]

I keep starting all these posts to complain about FF.net only to discard them. I suppose because we've heard everything there is to complain about. FF.net continues to head down hill, and I'm finally starting to reach a point where the only reason I go back to it is to read all the stories I have favorited, and for two WIPS that are taking forever to be written and posted.

It makes me miss the early days of fandom, the plethora of well-written stories and how each day you could go to FF.net and be sure of a story or two to read. These days, for me at least, many of the stories I attempt to give the benefit of the doubt to end up leaving me bitter and annoyed. Also, like CSI:NY, it's being overrun by shippers (no offense to the shippers, it's just frustrating when a genre you're not keen on ends up dominating).

I'm also seeing well-written stories by well-known authors barely getting any reviews (even those stories first posted on LJ should be getting more reviews than they are), and poorly-written stories get gushed over as though they are the next great American novel.

*Shrugs* Oh, well. It's just kind of sad to see it happen. I like to give new authors a try since you never know, but it's gotten next to impossible to be supportive since the bad outnumbers the good, making the wait for the good not all that worth it.

Comments

[ninja007.livejournal.com]

HERE! HERE!

I am very picky when it comes to fics over there. There are some I like and will peruse there once a day, but it's rare now that I find a fic I want to read.

I usually go by what is written in the summary, so I feel sorry to those authors who can't write a summary to save themselves....

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I think with me it's gotten so that there's a lot more that will throw me out of a story than will keep me in. For example, treatment of Sheppard's character has become key for me. I've become incredibly protective of his character as of late. I refuse to read any story where he's portrayed in nothing but a fanon-cliche light (Ex. he's portrayed as a womanizer, suicidal, keeps trying to escape the infirmary for no sane reason, a bumbler, needs to have his demons forced from him by his all-knowing team and so on.)

Then there's the whumping. I like the whumping to be a plot device, not the plot, and more than just a couple of vague injuries for the sake of making him injured.

[ninja007.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree with you. I really hate it when they abuse his character.

It's funny you should say something about the treatment of Sheppard's character. I just read a fic today that had him being a screw up and the bets were on him never going past captain. I think John was serious about his career, until that thing in Afghanistan. The fact he could fly just about anything would make him a serious commodity in any war zone.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

I thought the never past captain thing was canon..? I could totally be wrong.

But yes. I think sometimes authors just take the easy way out regarding characters... just take a couple of ideas they've seen somewhere instead of actually thinking about the character. I think I'm still new enough to the fandom that I will sometimes read stories like that, but I think my patience for them is going down over time as I read more of the same cliches.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I agree with you.

I don't just read SG:A I read across the board, and I have to say that the quality of new work is dropping. I am not sure if its because ther eis a plethora of new writers who are still learning their style or whether its just bad writing in general.

I am also finding that there is a lack of discipline in marking up what the story is about. Again i am not sure if this is because wrtiers are new.. or because a lot of people seem to post a lot of WiPs they don't realise its goign the way it does until too late. But as I tend to read FF.net at work in my dinner hour it can get a bit interesting.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

I am finding that there are a good number of stories that I have read of late where I am thinking.. "have you actually watched an episode of the series or are you just going by what people have told you third party???? and thrown in a few things that you want to see rather than you would see?". I am thinking that again its all part of the discipline thing in writing. there is too much indulgence of ones whimsy and that being put forward as serious writing, rather than personal indulgence.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

If the situation had been "normal" Sheppard probably wouldn't have gone past Captain (if he had stuck around long enough to attain his captaincy, given that he was in teh Af's bad books and pretty much exiled to the back end of nowhere doing grunt work for his sins) due to the black mark on his record.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a bit off in my book. He would have made Major in his time in Afghanistan and I don't think he had problems (discipline) until then.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I'm not understanding this comment. John was a Major when he started in SGC, he probably made Major during his deployment to Afghanistan or shortly after wards before his black mark incident.

I do have to agree with you about ff.net. I don't even look there for fic anymore. It is kind of a wasteland. :( I try to look for fic in other fandoms and have to hunt for LJ coms because searching ff.net is like going through facebook of 16 year olds. sigh

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

he even made that comment in the series to Elizabeth..........
that colleagues bet he wouldn't make it past captain let alone any further.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

he's portrayed as a womanizer, suicidal, keeps trying to escape the infirmary for no sane reason, a bumbler, needs to have his demons forced from him by his all-knowing team and so on.

**nods**
He is none of the above......
However, the fact that they insist in so many pieces of ff indicate to me how truly ignorant some writers are or their intense dislike of Sheppard.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

What gets me is there is so much slash anymore e.g. how many pieces of Big Bang was slash??? and what is particularly annoying to me is most of it is done to enhance McKay at Sheppard's expense.....
It annoys me because a character I happen to like very much is demeaned and used.........but I guess as long as you can peddle it people will rush to read it or see it e.g. the acclaimed Ugly Men In Ugly Country, and I am fully aware I am using the wrong title, but to me it was UGLY men and UGLY country........but everyone raved about it and how grand it was.
It was trash in its most sleazy form.
But so much of it anymore is like that so I suppose we ought to just chalk it up that ff is no better.

[reen212000.livejournal.com]

Oh Lordy, yes! It's been such a snooze-fest over there. I don't mind the 'ship stuff (but, please don't ask me to read it!), but does everything have to be teenage kissy-kissy? Not to mention all the poorly written stuff, and that's across the fandoms. I read a. lot. of fandoms, and I end up re-reading the good old stuff.

While I do like some slash, I noticed it's kinda taken over many fandoms. And let me tell ya, there is some horrible fic out there. Most don't have those helpful warnings, or worse, the story doesn't match the summary.

It probably has something to do with cancelled programs, and a lack of DVD releases. Can someone tell the networks to release Women's Murder Club, First Monday, and a whole slew of other shows that I want to write fic for? With the eventual release of ST2009, more people have put my one story on their faves list, but alas, no reviews.

The good fic is hidden in the poorly written, numerous drabbles that keep appearing. Don't get me wrong: I like drabbles and ficlets. But some people need to spread them out! I really don't want 20 drabbles of the same thing. Seriously.

DO NOT get me started on character shredding in said drabbles either. Or spelling. Or grammar. I'm trying to finish what I've started, and I get distracted by RL. I think I'm going to write some tags to fic I've already done. Almost everything I've written has a chapter or two on the editing floor. At least I can post something! I'm a little discouraged right now, but hopefully my cloud will lift soon. I have two sequels (Rosie's Corner Store, and Gemini) that need endings. That's all! And I can't seem to get that done.

Ack! I'm so impatient, and I still have so many ideas for my favorite fandoms...

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

you know, that would be me being a prat.. i strike it up to a very long and extremely stressful day..

I forgot.. captain - major - colonel...

*slaps head* stupid!...I am usually a lot more on the ball...gner!



:D ".......is like going through facebook of 16 year olds"

over imaginative horny inexperience 16 year olds:D

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

" ......how many pieces of Big Bang was slash???"

having worked through the offerings i think the better question is "how much of the Big Bang 2009 is not slash":D:D:D..

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

GMTA
I almost asked that question in my tirade.....
:P
and I see I should have said how many pieces of Big Bang WERE slash?
Not was
**rolls eyes**

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

character shredding

THAT is a good way to describe what I think they do to Sheppard in order to enhance McKay and
I know I will take some incoming with my next comment, but for a few writers, I simply cannot stand McKay.
My dislike began with the pilot.......He improved a bit as the series
continued, but initially I found him very annoying.
I acknowledge brillance in the world, but don't like someone using a sledge hammer to prove it.
It did my heart good when Hermoid put him in his place.
I still fail to see why Sheppard wants to hang around with him
Ronon yes
McKay no.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay :D Hey, I know about being tired!!

[reen212000.livejournal.com]

*ducks flying tomatoes*

I can see where you're coming from. The fact that he has to tell everyone he's a genius every 2 seconds is rather annoying. When McKay first came on the scene, I hated his character so much, I loved him. He came in and knocked The Great Sam Carter off her pedestal, and gave as good as he got. Honestly, he was the reason I started watching Atlantis to begin with. I needed to know if he was going to be the assiest ass there was; there aren't any characters like him on TV that are not over the age of 12. Watching him form into more of a person was a treat for me.

I admit to loving Rodney McKay with all my heart, because in the center of it all, I am Rodney. None of his smarts, but sarcastic, jaded, and a little prickly around stupid people. I can write anything from Rodney's POV... anything. And John likes to hang with him because he values honesty above all else. Also, Sheppard knows he can press all of Rodney's buttons to get the response he wants.

It's all about dynamic!

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

I haven't slept for longer than approx 5 hours a night for 2 weeks.. its starting to tell:/

on the upside is i have read through pretty much all the big bang stuff and my tv is pretty much up to date

[sholio]

That's kinda how I see it ... If I had to choose a favorite between them (don't make me choose! *g*) I think I lean a little more in a Rodneywards direction, but really, I like them together -- I like how they're both a little screwed up and not good with emotional stuff, and they kinda get that about each other. I love the team too, in pretty much every combination, and I think that all three of his teammates bring something different out in Sheppard. Rodney's not really a person that can get him to open up about emotional stuff (like Teyla) or someone that he has the kind of quiet comfort and wordless understanding that he's got with Ronon, but Rodney's someone with whom he can let out all of his geekiness and hidden smarts, someone who has the shared cultural history that he doesn't have with the other two -- someone who will parry back his verbal serves and won't be offended. I like how Sheppard's interaction with each of the three teammates is different, and I've never noticed him teasing and bothering the other two the way that he does Rodney; they've got a very sibling kind of thing going.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I envy you. Between going out of town for a week and the energy-zap that writing "Long Ago" did to me...I'm still way behind on reading Big Bang.

One at a time is my motto.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

"but I think my patience for them is going down over time as I read more of the same cliches."

I think that's part of the problem, that a lot of the stories are a lot more incredibly cliche then they used to be. The stories from early fandom did tend to do the same old, same old - like having John's team, or one of his team, force him to see Heightmeyer and open up. Or many of the stories would whump him the same way (punctured lungs were all the rage, as I recall.) However, the plots, at least, were unique and varied. Writers were just as interested in exploring the show and its characters as wish-fulfilling.

Todays, the stories come across as pure wish-fulfillment. There's no real character or canon exploration. If anything, the characters are more plot devices, tweaked and twisted in just the right ways to get the desired result. And, yes, many writers seem to settle for what has been done before, kind of like a clone of a clone of a clone.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

I am guessing the reason why they both get on so well is because they are essentially have very similar base insecurities whcih mean that they both know where to step and not step with each other. But also their individual strenths lie in mutually complementary skills. McKay hides his base insecurities through his verbosity and neurosis.. He keeps everyone at a distance by being loud and obnoxious at them.. I get the impression from various inferences through the SG1 eps and SG:A that He was probably accelerated through school, this means his social skills would be rubbish because he has no connection with the people around him, as they are probably a lot older then him. All he has in this arena is his intellect which he uses to keep those people at a manageable distance his intellect is what keeps him where he is so that is his "thing". Because the emphasis in his life is his brain and not his ability to get on with people that never develops and because it hasn't developed he never considers it to be something he needs to work on (believe me I see it everyday at work, the academics mostly have nil social skills but they are serious leaders in their field, and, like Rodney a lot of teh time never fail to let everyone know) In academia acknowledgement of onse ideas is the goal and is fiercely fought for (hence his highly competative side).

Sheppard is similar but the other way around. he is very smart but never took it beyond anything that ne needed to get out and do stuff (he's a doer not a thinker). He has many base insecurities which he hides behind a wall of outwardly appearing confident and being a bit of a smart arse.

But then you put the two side by side and you can actually see why they complement each other. Rodney will always do the right thing in the end especially when it comes to Sheppard and his team. Both Sheppard and McKay have abandonment issues and are fiercely loyal to each other, and both trust each other implicitly (even if they don't recognise that) because at the heart of their psyches both know where the other is coming from. And to be fair both stretch the other by taking them out them out of their individual comfort zones and bringing them slightly into each others areas.. McKay makes Sheppard think and Sheppard makes McKay do.

Wow that was a bit longer than I intended.. Sorry.. But yeah the thing is not to look at what you think you see but what is there.. which I think JF and DH pull off really well.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I knew of writers (and, yes, some of them were teenagers) who I wouldn't call super awesome blow-me-out-of-the-water writers, but they were still good, their stories still interesting with unique plots and consideration for the characters. I beta'd a story for a girl who was in highschool, and her story was way better than some of the stories written today by adults.

"but I think my patience for them is going down over time as I read more of the same cliches."

Yes. And the thing is, you can have your cake and eat it to - that is, you can indulge and still make it a good story. But like you said, many writers lack the discipline to do this. They want to indulge, and don't care what it takes to make that indulgence happen.