Much Ado About Fanfic

[misscam]

Fanfic Author Appreciation Week Meme of the Day - Cam Recs Some CSI Fics

I don't know that many authors that well in the fandom, so a few pics of stories will have to do. (I should befriend more CSI fans, really.)

A Catherine/Warrick story - Far From Beautiful by Britton

Beautiful....a word that doesn't ring true, stirs up old memories best left buried, causes him a momentary panic before he loses himself in what her mouth is doing to him. But even through the ecstacy, a nagging doubt....
And later, much later, when she's pressing against him, well content, her breathing soft and rhythmic, her sleep easy, the word comes back to haunt him.
Beautiful...
Warrick introspection. I love the writing style and choice of words.

A Grissom/Sara story - Lullaby by Blaze6
The road, like a lullaby. The air, thick and heavy like the center of hell. The scenery, bland and monochromatic. No cows, no country, no work crews, no rest. Peaceful, this going-home journey, this company, this state. Everything he wanted.
The pace and the descriptions are just lovely and I love how subtle the Sara/Grissom dynamic is dealt with.

A Catherine/Grissom story (yes, I know. Not my choice of pairing) - All the Way to Reno by spark fanfic
Sometimes, these days, she feels like her body is old and tired and abused. He touches her, and she feels safe, or at least she feels sure. She wonders how he thinks about her, but she never asks. It's enough that he knows her to the marrow of her bones.
The threads of Catherine's life are just beautifully woven together and the writing style stands out. The ending is particulary lovely.

A Sara/Warrick story (not my pairing either - I'm feeling generous today) - New Ground by J9
“That sounds… nice.” She lets those words settle between them, then she shifts, moving closer to him, closing her eyes and pressing her body to his, just as she had when he first arrived at his door. He feels her breathing even out, knows that sleep is stealing her from him, and he closes his own eyes, leans them back on the couch and waits for the nightmares to come.
Revelations of Sara's darker side and the ending doesn't for once fix everything and what is not said is really felt in this story.

Cam's Fanfic Opinion of the Day:

"Summary sucks but story is better" will not fill your readers with confidence that it is indeed so.

Cam's Fanfic Rant of the Day:

I'd forgotten about 'shipper wars. I guess years around the LotR fandom made me used to Sues and slash, but made me rather forget how intense 'shipper wars can be.

I have been reminded. And I'm suddenly remembering why I wandered out of the CSI fandom for a few years. Sometimes, it feels like gangwars. It's particulary bad when they start with specific character bashing and bring it into fanfic. All right, sometimes you just don't feel love for a particular character - I can't seem to feel much either way about Nick, for instance - but making them villains just because you don't like them or they're a threat to your Twu Wub Pairing? No. Just no. Don't make them rapists either, unless you want to give Cam a heartattack. Deal with it some other way. Or perhaps even accept that people can be attracted to more than one person. Gasp! Then rant about your hate on your LJ or something. (As Cam Would Do With Her Hatred of Horatio, the Grief Vampire.) Please, please keep it out of fanfics.

Cam's Fanfic Tease of the Day:

From very, very future chapters of East of the Sun, West of the Moon because I'm a mean, teasing kind of gal.

"Catherine?"

"Mmm?"

She turned slightly to face him and suddenly his lips were on hers, kissing her roughly, possessively, almost desperately. She could taste the dust and the dry of the Nevada desert and it was hardly the most romantic kiss she'd ever had. But she didn't care. His skin was warm against hers, his hands cupping her breasts through the tanktop and she shivered.

His skin was still warm from the sun that had fallen into the horizon and she pressed herself against him, feeling his heat even through layers of cloth. If she survived this, she vowed, she would tie him to a bed and explore him for days. But all she could feel was need and greed and impatience. She didn't want to have died without knowing how he felt inside her.

His jeans felt rough under her hands and she tugged impatiently. Too much clothes. Not enough of him.

'You're rain on the desert,' she thought, 'and I'm still alive.'

*****

He found her at last by the sea. She was standing still, wind in her hair, water in the wind. Hands stuffed in her pockets, she looked out on the illusion of sea and sky meeting on a blue, blue horizon. The waves broke near her feet, reaching and retreating endlessly.

'Like me,' he thought and it was a calm thought, still and true in his mind. But even the sea had a tide and a high that swept across the land.

She looked up and saw him and her face froze. No anger, no joy, merely a frozen look of recognition.

"Grissom," she breathed, his name swept by the wind out to sea.

"Hello Sara," he said lightly.

"How did you know where to find me?" she asked.

"Warrick."

"The traitor," she said mildly. "I expect he told Catherine and Catherine told you?"

He nodded.

"Why are you here?"

"Chasing the fairytale," he said and she stared at him, waves by her feet, wind in her hair. Sea and sky meeting. "I've come to take you home."

Comments

[aervir.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten about 'shipper wars. I guess years around the LotR fandom made me used to Sues and slash, but made me rather forget how intense 'shipper wars can be.

One word: X-Files. :D

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I remember. I thought I had forgotten, but I hadn't.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

The bitterness and squabbling between various ships in a single fandom is not new, but it's enough to give me a headache.

I used to be a fan of The West Wing and shipped for Josh and Donna. I don't think I've seen a fandom as fractious as that one. It was insane. There was this whole big thing where to be considered "worthy" in that fandom, you either had to ship Josh/Sam or, if you were into het, CJ/Toby. Everyone looked down upon the J/D shippers as some kind of intellectual defectives. Which isn't to say that I particularly cared for most of the J/D shippers or that all J/D shippers were reasonable or nice or sane. But still, it was enough to annoy greatly. Alas, due to the decline in quality of the show, most of the higher ups in the fandom left. Which left the rabid J/D shippers to take over. At any rate, I'm done with the fandom. I keep hoping it implodes on itself and that the show will be cancelled.

As for CSI, I don't agree with all the Spork-haters, simply because I don't understand their hate. I've never seen Sofia as a particular threat to Grissom and Sara. And while Sofia might have been conceived as the tried, true and very tiring third-party love interest, in the hopes of extending the UST yet another season, I hardly think that tptb have been remotely successful in getting her to embody that role. Louise Lombard might be a fine actress, but Sofia hasn't been a great character for her to play. Too one-noted, not nearly well developed enough to be taken seriously. And she lacks the quirkiness that might set her apart from all the other second-string or third-string characters.

As for the other ships, I don't understand Grissom/Catherine or Nick/Sara. I usually avoid these fics, because I can't work my brain around them. There just isn't the textual proof necessary to back them. And I'm all about the text. (Comes with being an MA in literature...) On the other hand, I can read Warrick/Sara and not get too squicked out, because I like Sara and Warrick (or, rather Gary Dourdan) is all kinds of hot.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

I meant to add this before, but my brain fell asleep. I've only come across one fic that had me seeing red. It was a Grissom/Catherine fic and the characterisation of Sara was so horrid and wrong and demented that I couldn't believe it. It was obvious that the writer had all kinds of issues with Sara and denigrated her at every turn. It was appalling. And not unlike a really bad, 30+ car pileup. *shudders*

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's very common in my other fandom as well - people who don't like Gimli, for instance, make him an utter jerk and pile insults on him. Gah.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

Well, in the fic in question, from what I've read, Grissom and Catherine are happily married with a brood of children, plus Lindsay. In addition, "their" eldest son is actually Grissom and Sara's child, whose conception occured during a brief affair and who was abandoned by Sara when he was 5. My incredulity is at an all-time high. However, what occurs throughout the fic manages to raise the bar even higher. It was quite sad.

Plus, there were a number of technical issues, mostly British sayings and expressions that didn't quite work. Few Americans - and none on the show, certainly - say "I'll ring you up" instead of "I'll give you a call".

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I have some sympathy for that, being Norwegian myself. When you're not living in the country, you just don't get the same exposure to common expressions. But that's what betas are for, really.

(I see the opposite in the Harry Potter fandom - Americanisms all over and danfics about celebrating THanksgiving.)

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

I understand it, as well, because I'm Canadian and regularly (like on a daily basis) converse, write, speak, think, etc. in French. So, my English can be muddled between the two. However, Canadian-English is very much similar to American-English, with a few notable exceptions, like what we call pop, but most Americans call soda or Coke. And few Americans know what a chinook is. It's the spelling that truly does us in. Or, at least, me. Because I totally use most British spellings.

And yes, betas should really be able to point all these things out. And if they can't, then it's time to find new betas.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I'm all for the British spelling love. I use it in my CSI fics, I just have to watch certain words and expression - and not stick 'bloody' everywhere.

Amen to that. Alas, good betas are hard to find...

[beregondsgirl.livejournal.com]

Some Americans say pop... I know a lot of them. I personally say soda, but not everyone does.

[blatant shameless self-promotion] I beta! I beta! LOTR and POTC only, though... I don't know enough about other fandoms to help, unfortunately... [/blatant shameless self-promotion]

*offers chocolate to everyone*

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. The old "my pairing is more worthy than yours". As if it's a contest. I'm sad to say I've gotten that vibe on occassion from G/S shippers about the C/W ship because apparently it's 'less intellectual'. No one romance is the same - but why does the one have to be less than the other?

I never got the Sofia hate either, but then, those eps haven't aired here. People even write Spork-death fics, apparently. Geez, if you don't like her, just write her a transfer or something.

Gary is all kinds of hot, yessss. I think choice of ships can have something to do with who you indentify with and who you find attractive. I mean, if you identify with Sara and find Warrick attractive, that would be one incentive to 'ship them. Other times there may be other reasons.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. And I hope that I'm not guilty of it. I honestly and readily admit to not understanding ships. Which doesn't mean that I'm opposed to them. Simply, that I can't grapse what part of the canon the ship is based on. And, as I've already mentioned, I'm canon!girl.

I certainly don't think the C/W ship is "less intellectual" than the G/S ship. It hasn't been developed as much, but that doesn't make it inferior in any way. Plus, it has the added bonus of being canon. I may not be its biggest cheerleader, but I don't mind it either. I'm just not as invested in it as I am with the G/S ship.

I do agree with your last statement. I don't ship S/W, but I don't mind reading it, because I identify with Sara and I think Warrick is hot. But it's not a canonically-based ship. Interestingly enough, I don't find WP to be attractive, but I'm all about the G/S ship.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I can't remember you being bad at that - it's just a general sort of vibe I've picked up at the YTDAW forums. I guess a lot stems from frustration that C/W currently seems to be hinted at happening rather than G/S. G/S was my first love so I'm very understanding of the general frustration at lack of progress, but sometimes I just like a break from the angst. And I like sticking my two ships together because they contrast each other. But that's my preference.

G/S does have a different quality to it. This is why squee-ing oversugared fic about it leave me headdesking for hours. To me, it's more about minds meeting than OMG!WUB!

But that could be just me.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I agree. And really, because the forum is so focused on the G/S ship, the forums can be anti-anything that's not G/S.

I'm terribly new to the show, to the fandom and to the ship. I only started watching last fall, so I don't feel the edge of frustration that others feel, because my viewing of the show has been concentrated over such a short span of time.

However, I can empathise with it, because I watched The West Wing in real time and had shipped Josh/Donna from early in season two to when I stopped watching in season five. It's nearing the end of season six and they're still not together, despite many obvious ouvertures over the years. The West Wing was a study in frustration, really.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I mean, I'm there for the G/S. I go elsewhere for C/W (not that there are a lot of places). But just because it's pro-G/S doesn't mean it has to engage in belittling of everything else. That's what bugs me. It's not restricted to the G/S corner in any way, but that's where I've hung the most and thus seen the most of.

Yeah, frustration does pile up - I remember the X-Files fandom. That was... Pain. So I have a feeling of what the West Wing experience might have been like.

[silvery-lass.livejournal.com]

I like CSI but I don't see any particulary paring at all, true enough the only thing I'm looking at is the guy doing the DNA testing (I always forget his name) and the investigation.

I don't think I'll get into CSI fanfiction, though I read yours "When The Dead Awakens" while it was good I found I really didn't care for it that much to read it all.

[chem-nerd.livejournal.com]

I think you mean Greg, at least in earlier seasons. He's one of my favorites.

[silvery-lass.livejournal.com]

I think that is who I meant too, the name seems familiar.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

'Tis okay - I certainly don't expect you to read fanfic for a fandom you're not that much interested in just because I wrote it.

[hadria.livejournal.com]

I'm G/S all the way but J9 is really a fab author. I can read her W/S fics no problem, they're just fantastic and they're so well built on canon.

I enjoy some satires where the author has the character taken to an extreme because they don't like her/him but the fic is usually labeled as satire and I find it amusing. It's not amusing when it's a serious fic and one of the characters is made into an evil vindicative pathetic blob of cliches.

I accidentaly came across some Grissom/Lady Heather fic site and it was shocking. And so disturbing. I mean, how could someone hate a fictional character (Sara) so much that they have her raped by Grissom and then turn into it being her fault because you know, she totally wanted it? Ugh. That's not even character bashing or character assassination or one of those stupid 'he raped her but it only brought them closer' fics, it's woman-bashing. More than half of the fics didn't even involve Lady Heather but were all about how much Grissom hates Sara (BWAH!). And they have a message board and the only thing they talk about is how much G/S shippers suck (and of course how much Sara sucks), every single topic is about it. It's scary. I don't get why anyone would focus so much attention on something they don't like.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Sometimes a writer is so good you just read it for the writing and bollocks to whether or not it's your pairing.

That's... Ugh. I hate HATE hate rape trivialized in fanfic. And while I'm open to the fact that Grissom's feelings for Sara can be interpreted many ways, it's nevertheless CANON that he feels something that isn't hate. Call it attraction, love, friendship, a pull - whatever, but it's not something that would make him subject her to abuse. Not to mention Grissom is not exactly the kind I can see raping anyone.

This is completely unrelated to this journal entry...

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

...but check it out! My friend's journal has been trolled. It's totally baffled me actually, since the post was so innocuous. And mostly she posts about birdwatching.

I so want to poke it some more. But I will restrain myself since I'm sure BJ doesn't want wank on her journal. I thought you might like a look-see, though.

And I do like that Warrick/Catherine bit, even if I don't know who they are. I would say too many clothes though, not too much. It's more correct. (see, I told you GG wasn't dead. ;)

Re: This is completely unrelated to this journal entry...

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Troll is gone. Wah.

Ah yes - long live the Grammar Guru! *hails*

Re: This is completely unrelated to this journal entry...

[beregondsgirl.livejournal.com]

The troll just posted again...

*shakes head* I'm *so* not impressed when people do that kind of thing... hackers and trolls ought to be tossed off Mt. Doom, if you ask me. Then maybe given to Shelob. I wonder if she likes crispy food... marshmallows are good when they're crispy... *ponders*