tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post8220232345217793795..comments2023-06-25T11:02:00.806-05:00Comments on The Lazy, Yet Discerning Ficster: Admin Essay: Musings of a Tentative Recovering SmutaholicUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-27941267668608005792009-01-13T19:16:00.000-06:002009-01-13T19:16:00.000-06:00well i don't agree with the review count strategy ...well i don't agree with the review count strategy on fic. Afterall, many of the stories on here are EXCELLENT and they are featured because they are not fics with "greater than 500 reviews". I like to get recced to new material...the whole largely reviewed = better mentality is why TLYDF was started in the first place.smellyiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14315692016037258109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-9072491516766623472009-01-12T12:04:00.000-06:002009-01-12T12:04:00.000-06:00I really love this topic! Thank you for addressing...I really love this topic! Thank you for addressing this. I have to admit my own addiction here although the lines between what I am particualrly drawn too and the fact that it's just good writing are constantly blurred. I am a total FF snob. I only read the highly rated and if i feel like it's bad...I admit...I flame. It's bad I know, but I can't help but think that there are writers like you out there that can do so much better. Anyway, my original point of responding to this was to ask this question. Twilighted is more highly "policed" than say fanfic, right? So most everything on fanfic could potentially be good, but there is some real craop out there on ff.net and after reading through too much ridiculous, overused plots and lines, I had to give myself a standard. I don't read a fic unless it has 500 reviews or more. So tell me, how do we discern the good from the bad without being a review snob? Anyone, anyone...?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-38792157750061496132009-01-10T12:51:00.000-06:002009-01-10T12:51:00.000-06:00I too sometimes feel uncomfortable knowing that te...I too sometimes feel uncomfortable knowing that teenagers are reading over the top sex scenes in fanfiction. I, by no means, have any trouble with teenagers reading about sex, but from personal experience, I think it is really freaking difficult growing up, being a teenager, learning about sex and having this really unrealistic view of what sex is really like. Yes, it's wonderful. No, it's probably not mind blowing ALL THE TIME and probably not earth shattering the very first time. I don't like the idea of teenagers feeling like it is going to be this suave, sexy, completely non-awkward thing, and if they don't live up to that standard, something's wrong with them or their partner or their sexuality. It's a standard that I think puts pressure on kids. <BR/><BR/>So that's why I really love the stories (ie Wide Awake) that have a more realistic exploration and depiction of sex that is so much more about the relationship. And the sex is more an exploration of intimacy, than just sex.songforevelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17834216333927097511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-66143398257649229012009-01-10T09:34:00.000-06:002009-01-10T09:34:00.000-06:00I agree with it all. I used to read the sex scene...I agree with it all. I used to read the sex scenes with my mouth hanging open thinking oh my gosh...and now I basically just skim over them. The most explicit ones don't even shock me anymore. I have also been guilty of skipping over stories rated T or PG. Then I worry will people not read my stories if they are not smutty (they definately are not)? Should I lie and rate my stories as worse than they are so people will read them? <BR/><BR/>I agree whole heartedly on the halojones story. One of the best written out there in my opinion. I'll go read your other recs now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-43165833463863761032009-01-09T21:54:00.000-06:002009-01-09T21:54:00.000-06:00Tentatively recovering smutaholic here too...I lov...Tentatively recovering smutaholic here too...I love the lusty stories but if they are just about smut, then they are forgettable - the stories I go back to, and re-read chapters of whenever there's a new post, are the ones where I'm captivated by the characters. I like the sex, but a little goes a long way when the story is compelling and when the physical relationship complements the emotional trajectory.<BR/><BR/>The first kiss from Wide Awake is incredible - highly anticipated, painstakingly described, and a very memorable step in the building relationship of my favorite insomniacs.<BR/><BR/>I also read and enjoyed The Locker (at work...gah! I've got to get this addiction under control!!!)and really, REALLY appreciate the story reviews and recommendations.aquamarinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06256480730459178641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-5308877290506742442009-01-09T13:50:00.000-06:002009-01-09T13:50:00.000-06:00Totally agree with everything you said, and the co...Totally agree with everything you said, and the comments. I almost feel that most sex scenes are written by cut and paste they all sound so similar. They are often emotionless and unerotic. Whereas Twilight and some low rated fanfic is the opposite. <BR/>Thanks for the recs BTW. I was already reading Not Her but read The Locker Next Door last night and adored it.maylinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09276625266772508238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-11428761157524184322009-01-09T11:46:00.000-06:002009-01-09T11:46:00.000-06:00The Locker Next Door was one of my first fics I ha...The Locker Next Door was one of my first fics I had read in this fandom. I absolutely adored it. I thought it was a thoroughly unique way to portray a Canon situation. Truly a great example of creativity and pushing the limits.<BR/><BR/>I find it sad that people automatically neglect fics that arent M or NC-17. Some of my absolute favorites are T or less. I wouldn't call this elitist, but perhaps readers are looking for more adult material. That's understandable and some come on here for the edgier material. If that's the case, then NC-17 or M is the way to go. Now if one's goal is just for good story-telling regardless of the erotic content, then they are missing out. <BR/><BR/>I hear a lot of people talk about "smut without plot". Yes, this is out there in abundance, but no more so than uncompleted stories (my biggest pet peeve - anyone say fanfic ADD?) and smutless fics without the style and panache so many of us enjoy. I think it's important to remember that each genre has it's downsides.smellyiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14315692016037258109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-80853277990914549842009-01-09T00:38:00.000-06:002009-01-09T00:38:00.000-06:00Oh, and I just read The Locker Next Door. Tight. W...Oh, and I just read The Locker Next Door. Tight. Well-written. And the blog comments were LMAO. And you know I reviewed...Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561522780035839951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-51416586668138686052009-01-09T00:12:00.000-06:002009-01-09T00:12:00.000-06:00Nice view bb! Thanks for the recs as well.Nice view bb! Thanks for the recs as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-89120330678805248962009-01-08T23:34:00.000-06:002009-01-08T23:34:00.000-06:00I must say that I've become a little fanfic elitis...I must say that I've become a little fanfic elitist as well. I tend to migrate toward the M and NC-17 ratings, holding little regard to stories with ratings below that. But I'm trying to change. I'm going to give lower rating stories a chance.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00182407412836525970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-36699349237339812302009-01-08T21:04:00.000-06:002009-01-08T21:04:00.000-06:00Hmm. Smut is a tough thing to do well, I think. ...Hmm. Smut is a tough thing to do well, I think. Well, first I should admit I don't even like the term "smut," although I realize it's used sort of in fun. I think the reason is that I feel like "smut" shouldn't be in a story unless it either furthers the plot or the characterization. So yeah, I reckon that makes me an "erotica" elitist. ha.<BR/><BR/>But really, IME reading (and I've been reading both fanfic and published fiction for years, as well as being a journalist by training), SEX is one of those things where otherwise really good writers fall head-over-heels into terrible cliches. All the originality one sees in other forms of description are just ... lost. And I want that originality. I'm less interested in "hot" than in "real" and "furthers the plot." Otherwise it's just junk-narrative and should be cut out.<BR/><BR/>That said, I'm also funny about being too COY in sex scenes too. Call a dick a dick, please, and a cunt a cunt. "Her core" ... I mean ... what? It's her CUNT, or her vagina. It's not her "core." It's not his "manhood," either, it's his cock. So even while I don't like sex scenes just for titillation, I also don't like sex scenes with silly allusive language. POETIC allusive language is fine, but cliches? No thanks.<BR/><BR/>For me, that's what it ALL boils down to, whatever one's writing ... the overall QUALITY of the writing, the believability of it. I don't want sex just to have it, even as I don't want a story to avoid it just to avoid it. I've read some of the most AMAZING powerful stories that are PG and even G! But the impact of that story? The beauty of it? The emotional TRUTH of it? It's astonishing. Just slapping an adult rating on a story doesn't make it adult. Sometimes, actually, it's really juvenile, while "G" rated stories may be beautifully adult in the *ideas* expressed.<BR/><BR/>So I get impatient with readers who dismiss stories with low ratings because they have low ratings. Sometimes they're missing the best stuff. But I also get impatient with readers who won't try adult-rated fiction because they assume it'll be badly written porn, because I've also read some just amazing adult stories.<BR/><BR/>It has nothing to do with the rating and everything to do with the ability of the author.<BR/><BR/>But I would advise those who write "adult" stories to check the language. Read it out loud. Avoid overuse of terms, avoid cliches. For instance, some of the verbs I see used for "kissing" that are cliches include: captured, devoured, plundered, slanted (his mouth for a kiss), and "their tongues danced." Those are used so often they're no longer unique and it's better to settle for the *simple* -- kissed -- in a case like that. Most of those terms listed for kissing sound sorta like somebody CONQUERING somebody (and man, is that really an image desired in sex? Personally, it turns me off because it conjures ideas of noncon and rape ... which is a major turn OFF, not a turn on).<BR/><BR/>So that might be a bit opinionated, but it's honest. I'm probably more leery of adult stories because too often a story I started out liking got ruined for me when it came to the sex scenes because it stopped being unique and interesting ... and/or the sex just seemed shoehorned in to have some sex there -- it wasn't there because the story actually called for it.Katie (that_writr)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09900745643147399259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-63241189527506265422009-01-08T14:00:00.000-06:002009-01-08T14:00:00.000-06:00Angel - I love your writing and I couldn't agr...Angel - I love your writing and I couldn't agree with you more. I read way, way, way too much fan fic. It was actually my New Year's resolution to not add any new alerts to my growing list. I caved 2 days ago. But I have stopped reading a lot of the plotless drivel. It's not bad. I'm just tapped out. I bow at the altar of Jandco and wtvoc - they always have the perfect lemony angst mix. But I find myself drawn to darker fic these days like AG's Wide Awake and Vixen1836's Black & White.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-15794677321789870782009-01-08T12:24:00.000-06:002009-01-08T12:24:00.000-06:00Angel my dear, can I just say that I quite agree w...Angel my dear, can I just say that I quite agree with you...wha I've found that I like to read has definitelty influenced what and how I write...and really, we are all Romantics at heart.<BR/>Well Done!smellyiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14315692016037258109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2291157166360423354.post-31359551066888162752009-01-08T10:23:00.000-06:002009-01-08T10:23:00.000-06:00Here! Here!I got smutted out reading the smutvent ...Here! Here!<BR/><BR/>I got smutted out reading the smutvent calendar... I loved it--at first, but then I started throwing my hands up in the air muttering things like "Couldn't we at least have had four lines of get-to-know-you dialogue before he ripped her panties off?"<BR/><BR/>So yeah, I second you on the romance. And the tension. That's really where SM rocked. It's not interesting without obstacles--it's suburban.Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561522780035839951noreply@blogger.com