Oh, fanfiction.net... *rolls eyes*

[apple_pathways]

First, I have to say that there will always be a place in my heart for ff.net, as it's one of the places where I first discovered fan fiction. There's a still a lot of awesome stuff there; it just can be really hard to find. (I tend to find an author I enjoy, then read all of their stuff and everything they've favorited. That tends to work.)

Anyway. I have an account there, and most of my (non-porn) stories end up there. The thing is, I'm used to posting my Amy/Rory Doctor Who fics, which are posted and then largely ignored. {We won't even go into how cranky I get when my stories that include The Doctor get more hits on AO3 than my (better-written, I think) Amy/Rory fics.}

Sherlock is an entirely different animal.

It hadn't occurred to me to put my first Sherlock fic for thegameison_sh up there, but when I was archiving my latest entry today I thought, why not? So I put both "Strange Bedfellows" and "Almost Anyone" (formerly called "Of Death and Dying") up yesterday.

"Almost Anyone" got two very lovely, very thoughtful reviews. I was pleasantly surprised, and responded right away to thank them. All good.

"Strange Bedfellows"? I don't know what is going on there. It's gotten about 10 "story alert" subscriptions, and the following reviews:



Review One:

"Oh pretty please add a couple more chapters!

Like John can't sleep because Sherlock kicked him or something...

But not slash.

Just a friend sorta thing..

Please!"


Review Two:

LOL!


Review Three:

I agree with the comment below! Rather than slash, just Sherlock being his incredibly irritating self. Typical things that kids get up to in hotels when bored. The floor is made of lava, randomly springs to mind! Haha. Because he really is just a big child who longs for anything to keep him from being bored.

This just made me laugh, we could all do with a good old funny fic. :)

I do hope you continue with this!


Review Four:

awesome story so far! i can't wait to read more!


First, the less problematic issue to address: what on God's green earth gave you the impression that I was going to write any more of this story? It's barely even a story, really: due to the nature of the challenge (a word limit of 750), the entries are necessarily light on plot. Here's what goes on in the story:

Sherlock and John miss their train. They have to get a hotel room, but OH NOES, there's only one bed available! John is feeling a little homophobic, but Sherlock goads him into sucking it up and getting a good night's sleep. THE END.

Where else am I supposed to go with this? And more importantly, was the original story so ABOMINABLY FLUFFY and terrible that "John can't sleep because Sherlock kicked him or something..." sounds like a fitting sequel?!? (Don't even get me started on the "the floor is made of lava" idea; I KNOW the person who suggested it must be very young, but I've never understood the desire to write grown men behaving as cute little children. That is, when it is OOC for them to do so.)

Not to mention the story is listed as "completed". (Really, I'm flattered that people signed up for a "story alert", but an improvement in their level of reading comprehension might help avoid future disappointment...)

Ok, I'm being a snotty brat, time to move on...

Now for the second issue: no slash? Really? I don't understand this weird phenomenon in fandom where people enjoy male characters cuddling, sharing a bed, tickle-fighting, braiding each other's hair, IDEK! but OMG, NO GAY SEX PLEASE! Where is this coming from? I find it incredibly troubling that the female view of men and masculinity is so...skewed!

I understand slash as fantasy and wish fulfillment. (Not entirely on a personal level, but I get what it does for other people.) This, I do not understand. And I'm having trouble putting into words just what it is that's bugging me.

Any thoughts? Ideas? SHOULD I GIVE THE PEOPLE THE SEQUEL THEY'RE CRYING OUT FOR? (I'm tempted to work in Jar Jar Binks somehow...)

I think I need to go lie down.

Comments

IS IT LOUSY REVIEW WEEK AROUND HERE?

[alt_universe_me.livejournal.com]

I just...I don't even.

First things first, I haven't read your Sherlock fics because I kind of got bored quickly with that fandom :( I liked the series and all, and I'll watch the next one when it comes out, but I only read a few fics right after watching and then...lost interest. I dunno why, I guess neither of the main characters/actors appeal to me nearly as much as my main fandoms.

ANYWAY, I've never posted anything on ff.net, but this is a good warning for me to stay away from there! Those reviews are awful--if they can even be called reviews. I mean, I get that they like your story and want to see more, but what part of 'oneshot' don't they get? I mean, I've had people ask for more on my oneshots, but they at least were polite about it and let me know what they liked about the story. And they didn't beg me for odd variations on my story either. I mean...John can't sleep because Sherlock kicks him? O_o

BUT! Speaking of lousy reviews, here's one that I recently got on my rather lengthy Torchwood WIP:

"grr come on Jack stop over reacting & remember what Ianto has been through. Feel nervous about Unit & what could happen if Ianto can't talk to Jack. When are you posting the next part?"

I mean--really? That was the whole review. And it was from someone that never reviewed before (on a fic that is now over 50k words). I don't mean to sound snotty either, but they could have at least let me know they liked it. And the whole 'When are you posting the next part?' I haven't responded to this comment, and I don't think I will, but if I did I would be very tempted to say: I WILL DAMN WELL POST THE NEXT PART WHEN IT'S WRITTEN ARGH.

So, yeah. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but that 'review' just sounded so entitled. I'm not holding chapters hostage--I haven't written them yet!

So, yeah, I know how you feel about those reviews. And I don't think you're being snotty at all :) And it's ff.net. You didn't promise anyone a sequel, so I would say just ignore them. I'm going to be ignoring the comment I got, anyway :)

Re: IS IT LOUSY REVIEW WEEK AROUND HERE?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sure if I've enjoyed a one-shot story from an author before, I've encouraged them to write more--either more with the same characters, same premise, in the same style, etc. But never dictating the plot as if I were posting a request on a prompt meme!

You don't have to feel bad about skipping my Sherlock fics; after all, I don't read your Torchwood fics! Different stroke, different folks, etc... And to be honest, I don't read a lot of Sherlock fic outside of the challenge I'm involved in. I'm not really into Sherlock/John as a ship (as a hardcore canon girl, I can't see Sherlock as anything other than asexual), and that seems to be the focus of 90% of the fic. Hence, why my story that's focused on those two characters is getting way more attention than the (again, I think, better written) Molly-centered fic.

As for the review you got: Geez, overinvest much? I don't even know what they were trying to say. You're right, why comment at all if not to say you liked something or to offer some constructive criticism?

As for "holding chapters hostage", that is par for the course in some fic communities. Some diva authors will pout and throw a fit and refuse to continue a story if their egos aren't properly stroked. I hate that culture, and it seems to abound on ff.net.

But, like I said, there's still some good stuff there, and I did get two very nice, very thoughtful reviews on one of my stories.

Re: IS IT LOUSY REVIEW WEEK AROUND HERE?

[alt_universe_me.livejournal.com]

Exactly--an individual writer is not a prompt meme!

The female character-centered fics usually don't get nearly as much attention as the male character-centered ones, which is sad. I got way more comments on my Rory/Eleven friendship fic than I got on my Amy/River friendship fic, and I would say that, while neither of them are especially brilliant, they are of comparable quality. However, I did just participate in a female-centered ficathon for Torchwood, which was really awesome. And at least in Doctor Who there are awesome female main characters. In Sherlock, the women got hardly any screen time or characterization. (Which is probably another reason why I lost interest in that fandom)

To be fair, the review I got did kind of make sense in context of the story. And my other reviewers did say some similar things--but the difference was, those reviewers have been reviewing since the first few chapters and have already let me know they enjoyed it. I think it's different when someone you don't even know pops up and asks when the next chapter is going to be.

But, I'm glad you got some nice reviews to go with the bad ones. And thanks for letting me vent with you :)

Re: IS IT LOUSY REVIEW WEEK AROUND HERE?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

To be fair, the review I got did kind of make sense in context of the story.

Ah, see--without knowing the canon, I wasn't sure. And you're not wrong to be annoyed, there's definitely an etiquette to offering criticism, and it's certainly jumping into the middle of a story with a grumble about the characters and a demand for more chapters!

You're definitely right about female-centered fics! I would attribute this phenomenon to the fact that most fandoms tend to be overwhelmingly female (and most of them heterosexual), and that's why the natural focus is on the men for romantic interest, but I fear there are darker forces at work. (You can tell it's getting late; my responses are getting progressively more dramatic!)

We'll have to talk more about female characters in fandom when it's not 1am and I'm hopped-up on cold medication! (I agree completely about the women in Sherlock.)

And thank YOU for venting with me! It made me feel much less shallow for complaining about people who only bothered to take the time to read something I'd written. ;)