Rape, BDSM and true love

[fog_dancer]

 Oh dear...

Today is one of these slow days, where you just click on whatever link you see and especially if it is fanfiction, because hey rainbowcrack!, and then you realize that instead of getting flail and sparkles (or, in rare cases, really well written prose) you're getting something like this.

Comments

[kokkaii]

I used to stalk fics at the Ohmiya comm and I remembering coming across a rape-fic. You wouldn't believe the amount of positive feedback it got >< One person actually asked the author to write more of it!

Tenou and I used to discuss that people should have equal footing in a relationship. These new crop of fic writers are fond of having traditional gender roles imposed on Arashi pairs. I guess it's easier to write m/m pairings if one of them is somewhat female? It does completely lose the whole gay thing though, not acknowledging Nino's testosterone (I'm using Nino as an example alot ahahahha).

And it does seem like self-insert - a friend of mine once told me that fangirls would rather have Arashi gay for Arashi than in love with some other girl. I guess writing Nino as a man-girl would be synonymous to writing yourself as Nino making out with Ohno.

I just read a coloured fic and damn it really does hurt my eyes >< Who the hell would be dumb enough not to recognize Nino's words unless they're an excruciating colour (unless it's also badly-written, but then that makes the situation so much worse)?!

Ok, I've always seen this debate: which one's worse bad plot or horrible grammar?

[fog_dancer]

(I use Nino too. Let's all use Nino, you know he likes it. ;)

I sooo want to say substance over style, but if you add spelling to grammar, I'd have to pick the latter.

If something is so badly edited that you can barely read it, you'll never even get to the plot. So, in a way, grammar (+spelling) is more important.

Bad plot usually "just" means that the fic is forgettable, repetitive (or batshit insane), but it's readable at least.

Of course, that's just chosing between a rock and a hard place.

[kokkaii]

If ficdom proves true, Nino loves being everywhere, multiple times

I've always said I value plot over grammar, but a bad first sentence turns me off >< Bad grammar in summaries drive me away too.

Although bad plots are just...

It's like you could fix a grammar problem by getting a beta, but bad plots are hard to mend. Sadly, authors with bad grammar don't have good betas ><

IDK, I'd probably prefer an interesting badly written spy!Arashi fic over a grammatically perfect clingy overly sappy ohmiya fic (*le sigh* and it's been sooo common lately)

[fog_dancer]

It all depends on how badly it's written. I read some fics that would get low marks on any English test, but where you had no problem following the story. So that's okay. But when you can't do that..

If plot is personality and grammar is body odor, then for a date, I'd really be turned off by the odor and wouldn't bother exploring the personality. But if I already knew the personality and liked it, I would probably get over the odor.

Grammar is the treshold. Once you get over this first step, plot, character development etc are what matters. Still, you need to cross the treshold first.

[kokkaii]

Summaries would be looks lol Your analogy is really good btw XD

I agree on all counts. I just wish more new authors would get good betas. The world would be a happier place.

Although I tried beta-ing for someone before and it was a complete disaster. The egos on some people-__-#

[fog_dancer]

I think many new writers expect a beta to solely focus on spelling, maybe grammar too. But as soon as you say something about the plot, it get's tricky. :/ I can understand why people defend their creations but a good thoughtful critique goes beyond "OMG u so awesome, bb" and that's sometimes a hard pill to swallow.

[kokkaii]

Yes! They can stomach verb tenses and misplaced words, but they can't stand someone ruining their 'vision'. It's really frustrating when you know they could do better.