Fanfic squickination. (It's a word. I just made up.)

[annerbhp]

So, there's a lot of fic out there that bothers me. Poor grammar, bad spelling, improbable (even anatomically impossible) porn, absolutely terrible characterizations, etc, etc. These bug me, sure, but they don't really upset me. It's just par for course. And it's not like I pay for fanfic. It's a place for experimentation. A place to get better, if

Comments

[thothmes]

While I agree wholeheartedly with all the gripes listed here, I think that most of them boil down to writing that is severely out-of-character or which is a little over-revealing of the author, when it should be revealing of the characters. I love a fic that allows me to recognize something that I perhaps had not seen for myself in a character, but which rings true. I hate fics that bend the characters into something they are not. The relationship between Sam and Jack can be deep, multi-faceted, rich, and satisfying for both of them, but I suspect that for most of us it would be unsatisfying, because we are most of us not the emotionally buttoned-down, very self-sufficient, highly independent people that they are. We would not have our needs satisfied by the relationship that would delight them Most of us need more validation from without than they do, and if the author writes them with our needs, even if each word they utter sounds like them, and the writing is good, and the plot consistent with the show, it will be BadFic, and

[holdouttrout]

Hmm. Trying to remember the creepiest thing I ever read that doesn't approach She Who Must Not Be Named is a difficult task. I have a story about the Most Awfully Impossible Sex Scene, but that wasn't creepy as much as it was kind of funny.

Actually, something that irritates me is the idea that Sam and Jack* are meant to be together.**

No, no they're not. They're not around the same age, he's her superior officer, they're not even really into the same things***, and this isn't a fantasy novel with actual literal soul-bonding... no. They're not meant to be together.****

That's probably one of the assumptions that I just can't deal with in fic. It also makes me roll my eyes when it crops up in other shows.

*Or pretty much any other pairing.

**Okay, yes, I actually have written this myself, but in my defense, it's crackfic.

***Exceptions include flying and blowing shit up.

****But they want to be anyway.

[traycer_]

I read your post, and was in agreement with a lot of what you said, but then I read the comments.

Oh. My. God.

I think I'm going to need a LOT of brain bleach along with a scouring pad to help erase those images. *shudder* My faith in humanity wavered back and forth with every comment as I was glad I'm not alone in my thinking that creepy fic is creepy to being horrified at some of the examples of fic that cropped up.

I can only repeat what everyone else has said. WTF???