Well, the cat is out of the bag....
Feb. 11th, 2003 04:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misscamThe badifc that wasn't
If you're wondering why I'm bringing it up, it's because Saphie told me this before she came clean on various channels, so I've been sitting on it. I'm rather curious what responses it will spark.
And it fits with my feeling that the LotR fandom is getting - bitter, for a lack of a better word. I do believe that when you post publicly, you cannot expect all glowing praise. It is after all called a 'review', not 'worship'. On the other hand... Oh, I dunno. Fanfic should have some standards. Writing for ten minutes without even bothering to spell check should not get 100 'ur so great!'. Effort matters. And when your helpful comments get greeted with 'you're just a heartless bitch', well, any respect for an author goes down the drain. I know my opinion of a lot of authors on ff.net isn't particulary high. There is a big diffrence between constructive critisism and flames. A really big difference.
And whatever else, I will always believe that fanfic requires a certain respect for the original work and that - sadly - many current ff.net authors lack. ('Look at me mangle Tolkien! Whee!')
If you're wondering why I'm bringing it up, it's because Saphie told me this before she came clean on various channels, so I've been sitting on it. I'm rather curious what responses it will spark.
And it fits with my feeling that the LotR fandom is getting - bitter, for a lack of a better word. I do believe that when you post publicly, you cannot expect all glowing praise. It is after all called a 'review', not 'worship'. On the other hand... Oh, I dunno. Fanfic should have some standards. Writing for ten minutes without even bothering to spell check should not get 100 'ur so great!'. Effort matters. And when your helpful comments get greeted with 'you're just a heartless bitch', well, any respect for an author goes down the drain. I know my opinion of a lot of authors on ff.net isn't particulary high. There is a big diffrence between constructive critisism and flames. A really big difference.
And whatever else, I will always believe that fanfic requires a certain respect for the original work and that - sadly - many current ff.net authors lack. ('Look at me mangle Tolkien! Whee!')
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This makes me glad . . .
Date: 2003-02-11 02:05 am (UTC)OTOH . . . perhaps we might also take this as a piece of reassuring information. This story got negative reviews to hell and back. That's evidence that crapfic writers can no longer count on getting a hundred "Ur stuf iz so c00l!!!" ego strokes with no criticism. Given the state of things on ffnet even four months ago, this strikes me as an improvement. When I had to leave Tolkien_Slash as a result of a flamewar with crapfic slash writers precipitated by my making some negative comments about their work, it seemed there was almost no "resistance movement" to the flood of badfic. Now there's a strong one.
Finally, I agree with you one hundred percent about fanfiction writers having an ethical duty to respect the original work. Maybe six months back, whilst writing an OC erotic story inspired by Viggo Mortensen's handsome mug as Aragorn, I posted an impassioned rant in my LiveJournal about how I didn't understand crapfic writers' reluctance to write OC fiction. I still don't, unless it's simply the desperate desire to get praise on ffnet's review boards. If canon is too confining for the story you're writing, for gods' sake why not make it an original character and universe?
Re: This makes me glad . . .
Date: 2003-02-12 03:21 pm (UTC)That's why 'It's fanfiction and I can do what I like!' pisses me off so much. No, you can't. That's original fiction. Fanfiction has a pre-existing Universe. I'm not saying you must follow every rule, but for Eru's sake, at least know what they are and *why* they exist. There is no the-Ring-holds-no-sway-over-me-and-I-can-defeat-Black-Riders-like-that daughter of Elrond in LotR because she could just then wander to Mount Doom, drop the Ring in and the story would have no suspense at all.
And also, Tolkien makes many points about power corrupting. If the OC is so powerful, chances are she could end up like Saruman. Consider the rules. Know why they are there.
/rant
No, bitter is the right word
Date: 2003-02-11 02:50 am (UTC)To me, it's becoming bitter, it's becoming bitchy, and it's becoming entirely to snippy and nasty for my liking.
Of course, against that I have to counter with my own knowledge that this is just the fact that I've been part of a particular fandom for almost a year now. The shiny has worn off, and I'm starting to see the politics underneath. So the bitterness has probably always been there, as have the "more canon than thou" fights. Or at least, I hope so.
Re: No, bitter is the right word
Date: 2003-02-12 03:26 pm (UTC)But for me, the shine wore off in June and I still reckon it's been getting more bitter as of late. Perhaps the fighting will intesify to then lessen a bit. There seems to be patterns to this in fandoms.
But they're not getting OFUM! *hugs it protectivly*
It's called politics :-P
Date: 2003-02-12 06:13 pm (UTC)Bickering and feuding happen in every fandom, I suspect. I've witnessed it in Highlander fandom. It happens even in furrydom (ever hear of the Burned Furs? Good, you don't want to). There appears to be no avoiding it. The human herd is simply subject to mass bouts of hysteria, folly and scapegoating, which does breed bitterness.
It took a while for Tolkien fandom to get big enough for critical mass to be achieved and the infighting to break out, but it's finally happened. We'll simply have to live with it. At least the squealing crapfic-writing fangirls will eventually go away and seek newer crushes, which will remove part of the friction.