Subject: ...'s true.
Author:
Posted on: 2011-01-05 16:54:00 UTC
But these people appear to not understand that some badfic is lacking in effort and completely deserving of sporking.
Subject: ...'s true.
Author:
Posted on: 2011-01-05 16:54:00 UTC
But these people appear to not understand that some badfic is lacking in effort and completely deserving of sporking.
So, um.
I'm a moderately active member of http://sherlockbbc-fic.livejournal.com/.
I posted (stupidly, using my mobile) that I wanted to start a PPC spinoff in the Sherlock fandom.
And it appears nobody's even heard of us at all.
This was the fandom I thought was full of cogent thinkers who don't jump to conclusions without info. Good lord, this is disheartening.
Somebody help me defend us, please? I could have phrased my whole original post better, but still, I don't think it merited the nearly-unprecedented-for-this-fandom level of hatred/bigotry...
I'm feeling pretty singed. This was a fandom I thought was pretty dang safe.
Here's the thread, in case you're interested.
http://sherlockbbc-fic.livejournal.com/5284.html?thread=20854948#t20854948/
Also, I think it's cowardly that out of all these people, only one person de-anoned. D:
I'm so, so sorry that this erupted with flaming lava over your head...
All I can say to you is this: You will feel the need to apologize to these anonymous legions of shocked, critical, and horrified people.
Think carefully about what you said, and what you meant.
And if they're the same, don't back down.
At all.
Period.
However, as this is probably a case of mis-wording, it's ...
well, not exactly too late, but- well, er... see, the thing is, they're going to keep quoting your original post, so that doesn't help. If you could post a general clarification without sounding completely meek and cowed, that would be good. "Meek and cowed" is a tempting option, but in the long run, you'll just feel worse. Believe me.
*enter ranting-zone*
""I respect constructive criticism and clearly from the wiki faq the PPC is about authors that don't. I get that. And I appreciate the wiki link so I could see that.""
Who says we don't respect constructive criticism? Excuse me? Thank you! Just because we don't change our minds when someone tells us they think we're wrong! You think, I think, but minority majority and feedback doesn't mean I'll change my mind! THANK YOU!!!! (draws back from the multiple exclamation points to which she had ventured...)
Bleepka. Bleepka. I need Bleepka.
Real *fun,* isn't it, standing out and saying something everyone thinks you're backwards thinking for saying, eh? Here's to us miserable people with morals! *Huge swig of Bleepka*
The thing about respecting constructive criticism could just as easily be interpreted as the person agreeing with Meta and saying that the people who get PPC'ed are the ones who don't respect constructive criticism.
Well, I'm glad the statement is clear to one of us. Because I'm not quite "getting it."
""Even MSTing gave me a bad taste in my mouth, because people were making fun of somebody else's hard work (and writing, good or bad or full of Sues, is still hard work)."""
Tell this person: Sues are obviously not hard work. If it looks like no second read-through was made, it is not hard work. If a person just stared at Orlando Bloom and wrote thier thoughts for ten or fifteen minutes, that is not hard work.
Hard work in writing involves rewriting. It involves effort. It involves getting betas. It involves practicing. It involves breaking through stupid writer's block. It involves pain, and often it involves copious amounts of caffiene in chocolate form.
Some things obviously take little or no effort to write! Just a bit of time and a computer! We should not be rewarding lazy writers with the idea that they have worked, merely because they have spent time writing!
The television series Sherlock(2010), is relatively new, and so far only three episodes have been aired in Great Britain. The series have yet to come to Denmark, however my sister got it for Christmas so we’ve already seen them. But by the Force I already love the show. Completely new thinking both in plot and characters. Because it is so new, you probably won’t find so many fanfictions about it. Another thing would be, that this series so far, only have been shown on BBC, where as the most popular and worst fanfics, comes from movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other well known works. It is simply too isolated and new at this time, to have generated proper badfics. Meaning, it is so small, that people, who write badfics just to create a provocative fanfic, and get response, have so far overlooked it/haven’t discovered it so far. Thank the force for the sheer volume of the internet.
Another thing would be that Sherlock Holmes, though also quit simple, has such a complicated personality. Holmes is an arrogant, sociopath with an uncanny ability to see the smallest of details, and from that deduct the most relevant of information. This, is something the fanfic author has to be aware of, before he make a good fanfic. Where as, writing a Harry Potter fanfic might be easier, Sherlock Holmes is a genre where only the author, who understands the personality of Sherlocks, and is able to create the most detailed scene, with small overlooked clues, can create a great fanfic.
This means that, it might discourage people from trying to write a fanfi...il they’ve researched both characters, and have developed a proper plot. I get the impression that many of the people on that forum, takes their work so seriously, that when written they tend to either rewrite it or change it constantly.
The need for proper villains in Sherlock Holmes fanfics, almost screams out, for either unusual situations, or for a near Mary Sue or Gary Stue villain. The villain has to be near perfect, yet so flawed, that only Sherlock will be able to find him. This means, that this genre, is one of the only ones, where a Mary Stue or Gary Stue villain is (to some degree) tolerable, but not necessary. Meaning, not all Sherlock Holmes stories with Mary Stues og Gary Stues, needs to be purged.
As for their response to PPC, I think they’re a bit ignorant. PPC authors can be looked upon as a sort of reviewers, yet a more lively and serious version. This means, PPC authors don’t necessary mock people on their work (unless it is an intentional slashfic, which means the community itself would disgusted at the work) but rather try and encourage people for better writing and point out overlooked flaws, or mistakes. However, this still depends on the story, and how the PPC author decides to tackle it.
I agree with the others, that your first post has been a bit too, both negative and provocative at some points. PPC is an agency, people should find, not the PPC finding them. Those who are dedicated enough will find it, those who don’t care won’t.
My opinion, just if you’re curious, but don’t take me too serious :p
intentional badfic
Was just wondering, since put that way, it sounds more like someone actually setting out to write what would be considered a badfic. Maybe I'm thinking myself around in circles though.
it would be a troll fic... I hate when I get lost in the meaning of specific words :p
I think they're reacting fairly rationally to someone who just jumped in with such an announcement, if strongly.
People do not take their work being made fun of easily. Especially when they work hard on it or if it's for someone else.
Even more so when it's a fandom that generally prides itself on quality- like that one- and they have generally worked past the point where writing is a 'lolhobby' and instead something they pride themselves on and work towards quality.
Hopefully it won't spread any further than that thread, and it won't be a big deal, but it wasn't a good idea. This sort of reaction is why we don't go around parading the group to the general public. (Especially after the incident that sparked this and this.) Most people aren't as big into the rules of writing as we are. They don't get it, and they're not going to, because they don't share our passions. There's nothing wrong with that, it just means that we don't expect heaps of praise from people who aren't us. You'll want to get used to that before going any further.
Phobos made some excellent points, and I believe Miah recently provided you with the Links on your intro post. You should read them. Perhaps we should start giving them out more frequently again.
~Neshomeh
I've been so busy, I've just been checking in on the Board and not taking the time to greet newbies - largely because giving The Links takes a while. I suppose I shouldn't apologise for that, but it probably would've helped.
Using the word 'invaded' might not have been the best idea, but perhaps a link to the FAQ:For other people on the wiki would help? That seems to me to have a pretty good explanation of what we are (and are not): http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:ForOtherPeople
Also http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/MissionWritingGuide#WhatKindOfThingsCanIPPC.3F - that might assuage some fears. It does address the issue of kinkmeme and request fics, which seems to be something that a lot of people are upset about.
1) You have been here all of a day. Cool your jets, take it slow. You still have a month before you can even get permission to write a spin-off. Use that time to brush up on the things on the wiki. Especially this guide and this faq.
2) Your wording in that post was tailor made to set off a negative reaction. We don't invade. Invading is generally a bad thing. It implies that we are going in to take something that isn't ours.
3) This one is a minor thing... we don't set up our own agencies. The PPC is the agency, our agents work there and get assigned to one or more fandoms. Like I said, a small thing.
4)Some of us like that the world of the internet hasn't heard of us. It is quieter that way... as you have seen.
5)The internet is about anonymity. It is not cowardly to be anonymous. It is just the way it works.
Welcome to the PPC
-Phobos
Anonymity isn't automatically cowardly, but it can be, especially if a person says something hurtful or just arrogantly declares their righteousness and doesn't leave the other person any space to reply. It's like trying to have the last word all the time. I used to use anonymous to review for ff.net, but I realize that if I was responsible for what I said, and I could get messages from anyone about what I said, than I would be way more careful about what I wrote (checking for typos on reviews, for example).
I think that since the Sherlock fandom is kind of small, and doesn't have that much incredibly horrible badfic as far as I know, they're assuming you mean low-average fics that aren't particularly awful.
Right, but don't people these days know about badfic?
Seriously, you go to just about any other fandom, and it's rife with such.
But these people appear to not understand that some badfic is lacking in effort and completely deserving of sporking.