Wasting time on a Katims level
Ever read a fic with an ending that made you so mad, you just want to start throwing things? I just finished one such fic: Training and Confrontations by DrT. Lordy, what an absolute waste of my time!
Those of you who are or were in the Roswell fandom will well remember the false spoilers that came out at the end of Season 3. Remember the whole plot line about one of the podsquad using the Granolith to go back in time to the pilot, thus saving the world, but preventing everything that had happened in the past 3 years? I remember how relieved I was that this didn't actually happen. After all, I didn't suffer through all that angst and misery in Seasons 2 and 3 just to have Jason Katims yell, "Do-Over!" because he didn't have the balls to stand up to the networks from the start and produce a series we could all be proud of!!!!! (Note,
Tasyfa, I am limiting myself to 5 exclamation marks, to make it clear I am not entirely deranged. LOL!)
Whew. Anyway.
So I just read this fanfic which was begun in 2004, post-OotP. The author had a premise which worked and is a technically proficient writer, as I indicated in an earlier post. However, by about chapter 30 or so I realized I was getting bored as the plot was dragging (they were very long chapters), but I stuck it out for the remaining 23 chapters in order to see what would happen.
What happened was that Voldemort was defeated in about 2 paragraphs, just prior to the release of HBP. Then the author cried "Do-Over!" and had Dumbledore & some other wizards turn time back to the end of OotP, so that HBP could take place unaltered.
Um, what?? I put up with a lot of angst only to see some very significant threads get dropped and the entire purpose of the story completely invalidated! I found myself imagining the author's conversation with the fic's beta:
Author: So I'm on chapter 49, and I really don't know how to end this, plus HBP is about to be released, and I really hate writing AU fics.
Beta: Well, can't we incorporate HBP in to the story somehow?
Author: Too big of a risk. We have no idea what HBP will do or who will die. Plus, I have to admit that the plot has gone on so long, and gotten so complicated, I'm not even sure how I'm going to end it anymore.
Beta: What about just ending it really quickly? Just have Voldemort show up and Harry can kill him suddenly, then everyone lives happily ever after.
Author: Too many plot threads I haven't solved. It'll take me forever to figure out all the little unanswered questions, much less answer them all. Unless...
Beta: Going to abandon the story? Or just kill everyone off?
Author: No, better yet! I'll just say none if it happened! Like a dream sequence or some sort of time-travel adventure! Mwahaha! Everyone will love how creative I am, and I'll never have to actually finish what I started!
So in spite of my earlier recomendation for DrT's fics, based on how good his/her short stories were, please consider this a solid "NO" vote for Training and Confrontations.
Ugh. Now I feel like I need to go kick something. Or eat a lot of chocolate.
Those of you who are or were in the Roswell fandom will well remember the false spoilers that came out at the end of Season 3. Remember the whole plot line about one of the podsquad using the Granolith to go back in time to the pilot, thus saving the world, but preventing everything that had happened in the past 3 years? I remember how relieved I was that this didn't actually happen. After all, I didn't suffer through all that angst and misery in Seasons 2 and 3 just to have Jason Katims yell, "Do-Over!" because he didn't have the balls to stand up to the networks from the start and produce a series we could all be proud of!!!!! (Note,
Tasyfa, I am limiting myself to 5 exclamation marks, to make it clear I am not entirely deranged. LOL!)
Whew. Anyway.
So I just read this fanfic which was begun in 2004, post-OotP. The author had a premise which worked and is a technically proficient writer, as I indicated in an earlier post. However, by about chapter 30 or so I realized I was getting bored as the plot was dragging (they were very long chapters), but I stuck it out for the remaining 23 chapters in order to see what would happen.
What happened was that Voldemort was defeated in about 2 paragraphs, just prior to the release of HBP. Then the author cried "Do-Over!" and had Dumbledore & some other wizards turn time back to the end of OotP, so that HBP could take place unaltered.
Um, what?? I put up with a lot of angst only to see some very significant threads get dropped and the entire purpose of the story completely invalidated! I found myself imagining the author's conversation with the fic's beta:
Author: So I'm on chapter 49, and I really don't know how to end this, plus HBP is about to be released, and I really hate writing AU fics.
Beta: Well, can't we incorporate HBP in to the story somehow?
Author: Too big of a risk. We have no idea what HBP will do or who will die. Plus, I have to admit that the plot has gone on so long, and gotten so complicated, I'm not even sure how I'm going to end it anymore.
Beta: What about just ending it really quickly? Just have Voldemort show up and Harry can kill him suddenly, then everyone lives happily ever after.
Author: Too many plot threads I haven't solved. It'll take me forever to figure out all the little unanswered questions, much less answer them all. Unless...
Beta: Going to abandon the story? Or just kill everyone off?
Author: No, better yet! I'll just say none if it happened! Like a dream sequence or some sort of time-travel adventure! Mwahaha! Everyone will love how creative I am, and I'll never have to actually finish what I started!
So in spite of my earlier recomendation for DrT's fics, based on how good his/her short stories were, please consider this a solid "NO" vote for Training and Confrontations.
Ugh. Now I feel like I need to go kick something. Or eat a lot of chocolate.