It really is like a train wreck...

[ratherastory]

Made the mistake of peeking at my BB thread on the anon meme, and am sort of... I dunno. "Depressed" is too strong a word, because so many lovely NON-anons have come around and given great feedback, a lot of it specific.

The anon meme, OTOH, seems to have had two responses to it. The first was "OMG I had the basic concept therefore the fic cannot be good and I'm not even going to bother!" And the second one was "But she never resolved the mystery!" And apart from one person who enjoyed it, the overall response was "meh."

Damned with faint praise, in short.

The sane part of me is telling me I shouldn't go read that thread at all. The not-so-sane part can't look away, and I keep having to tell myself to sit on my hands because I keep wanting to actually engage in discussion. Like, how resolving the "central mystery or gimmick" as they put it was so very much not the point of the fic, for instance. (One commenter accused me of trying to set up a "cracky spin-off.")

So much for my poor one-off exploration of the relationship between Cas and Dean. ;)

I read a few other reviews out of curiosity, and it really feels as though the anon meme reviewers are determined not to enjoy anything they read. "Damned with faint praise" seems to be the default mode.

There's an expression in French for that, which is "Bouder son plaisir." I'm not sure exactly how to translate that, except as the willful denying of pleasure to oneself. That is, even if you liked something (and I'm not saying the anons liked my story, it's just a theory based on my perception of maybe a dozen or so BB threads), you purposefully seek out the flaws in order to hand in a final verdict of "meh."

And of course, the REALLY paranoid part of me is having conniptions about my fic actually being really terrible and all my friends being too polite to tell me. Which I KNOW is BS, don't worry! It's not rational, and I'm actually very proud of the story. But MEEP!

Okay. I'm going to make breakfast, and try not to obsess. Today's project is the spn_reversebang. Wish me luck!


:::ETA:::

I am kind of weirded out that this post has now made it into that thread. It's my LJ, folks! I can bitch about authorial intent if I want to! What you do with it subsequently is your own affair, but I get to voice my opinions any way I want to! :P

/end random pseudo-rant

:::FURTHER ETA:::

JFC, anon-meme! Am I supposed to apologize for having an opinion now? Aww, poor meme doesn't like it that I was unthrilled with their honest opinions about my fic. I don't like the word "butthurt" for many reasons, but it does spring to mind, especially since it seems to be a favourite of yours. :P

Apparently my posts like these foster anti-anon-meme sentiments. Oh noes! Because I'm sure people wouldn't have these opinions if I didn't post first. *snort* I think you overestimate my ability to influence people, there.

I will HAPPILY cop to the fact that I do enjoy the head-pats and virtual cookies I get about my fic when I post. I am a comment-whore when it comes to my fic and have never made a secret of it. Neurotic? Me? Why, yes. I do like to think that I'm at least a wee bit entertaining about it. Maybe not in this particular post, but in others.

I'd like to point out that nowhere in this post did I rend my clothes, gnash my teeth and wail that the anon-meme was meeeeeaaaan to me. I just said that I was disappointed at what I perceived to be an overwhelmingly indifferent response to my fic (admittedly, there are apparently more positive comments later on that I didn't see). I really don't think that's so very terrible of me. No author wants to be thought of as "meh," do they? It turns out that "meh" is equivalent to a positive signed comment elsewhere, but since I'm not a frequent visitor to the meme, I was unaware of this subtle aspect to the art of being an anonymous commenter. I'm not sure I'm going to thank anyone for that, mind you.

Beyond that? My LJ, meme. I can post what I want (within the TOS, obviously), and if other people choose to air anti-meme sentiments within the post, that's not my doing.

I'm probably going to regret this edit later on, but whatever. Early-morning posting is second only to drunken-posting for later regrets, right?

Comments

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

I read it in parts - don't have the time these days to sit down and read as much as I'd like. BUT what I did read, I liked. And honestly, I don't put much clout with anon reviewers - I find them to be an immature, jealous bunch. It's one of the reasons I shut off the anonymous reviewing on my FF.Net account. I feel that if you want to tell me my writing is meh, then you better d*mn well be ready to say it with your name so I can explain and/or defend myself and/or tell you off. :) In other words, so totally taking a page out of Dean Winchester's book.

I find that anonymous reviewers as a whole tend to be nastier because they can hide behind the anonymous tag and they don't necessarily have to be constructive. They can be nasty because you can't do anything about them and I think they're just jealous. *sticks out tongue at them like a Kindergartener*

So I say you're awesome and c'est la vie.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

The anon reviewers on ff.net never cease to entertain me, so I leave 'em on. One day I might ban them, but for now I just scratch my head and wonder just what story they thought they were reading. :D

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

They entertain me but on the other hand, I got so frustrated and I'm kind of a private person so I decided to ban them. Not to mention I like replying to reviews... *shrugs*

But anyways, don't sweat it hun.

:D

And what exactly is the BigBang and ReverseBang? I keep seeing them around...

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Big Bang is basically a big fic challenge that starts in January (sign-ups) and posts over the summer. Authors write a fic of minimum 20,000 words, and then artists sign up to illustrate the story of their choice.

The Reversebang is, as the name suggests, the opposite. Artists create a piece, and then authors sign up to write a story based on the art they choose.

There are several Big Bangs floating around. The main one is spn_j2_bigbang, but there's also the deancasbigbang and the gabriel_bigbang and TONS of others from different fandoms and some which are multi-fandom. I think it originally started in the Harry Potter fandom.

[saberivojo.livejournal.com]

I don't think anything I have ever written has been discussed over there but I don't write awesome big stories and I doubt anyone cares enough to spend five minutes discussion my wee little fic.

That being said. I wouldn't believe a word they say. I don't give any cred to a person who won't back their criticism up without a user name.

But if I ever had anything discussed over there, I might find myself looking at it, just because curiosity is something I have in droves.

I might look, but I wouldn't believe. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Eesh. That's what I'm attempting to do, but it's haaaaard.

*clings*

[vikki.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even realized that there was going to be spnanon threads for the deancas bigbang. I dropped out due to personal problems but now I'm kind of relieved, ahgod. D=

Dude. *hugs* your fic is very excellent. I'm personally not reading your bigbang because kidfic does not interest me, but your writing is very skilled. You tell great stories about journeys, where the trip is as important as, if not more so, than the conclusion. It's really quite beautiful. And sometimes it's nice to hear that your work is awesome.

Something to remember about anonymous boards - whether it be 4chan or anonymemes or whatever - is that high praise will inevitably get shot down as whiteknighting or friends of the author/OP or whatever, so people are actually hesitant to give praise anonymously. The 'point' of anonymity seems to still be 'an oppurtunity to give criticism without consequences'. The best thing to see on an anonymeme is people failing to give really bad reviews. *hugs*

I hope this helps, as I hail from lurking the /cgl/ board of 4chan, which is possibly the most catty place of all time and I learned a lot about anonymous comments there.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Whiteknighting, huh? That never even occurred to me.

Good Lord, but that sounds complicated. It's a little sad, too, that any sort of good comments would be automatically dismissed like that. :(

Anyway, thank you!

[authoressnebula.livejournal.com]

Oh god I don't look at those at all. I know that they'd have nothing good to say about it (and by it I refer to any fiction, including my own; I made the mistake of looking at one once regarding mine and I didn't write for a whole month, it made me feel so awful). The thing you need to remember sweetie is that they're probably saying harsher things then they actually mean. It has to do with the fact that it's an anon meme, which means they can say something really awful and no one will know it's them. It tends to bring out the worst in people. Some of them could just be saying shit for the sake of saying shit. Anon memes are for cowards. You want to be a real person? Sign off on it.

I have many issues with anon memes. I don't think they're fair in the slightest. So please, don't take them to heart. Your fics are some of the few that I've actually printed off to save, and that happened even before you and I became friended. Seriously.

Tell 'em to piss off, and if you don't want to, I will. And I'll have no trouble leaving my name for them to see.

~Nebula

[ash48.livejournal.com]

er.. *koff* gets out soapbox.. (sorry)...

but

That anon comm SUCKS BIG TIME! I hate it with a passion. For the very reason of this post... it's so damaging and hurtful and destroys the very thing that fandom thrives on - creativity, passion, the forum to have a go, receiving love and warmth for sharing talents and a sense of celebration. It's mean spirited and people can so easily hid behind being anonymous..... grrrrrrrrr

And as much as people say ignore it, don't go there people do and are invariably hurt. There's no way you'll forget what's been said but you can enjoy the (non anon) comments you have received an enjoyed them. My feeling is that people don't usually lie when commenting. If they don't like it they are more likely not to comment at all.

I didn't read that one because I'm not into Dean and Cas, but I did read the one where John had to choose between his sons and I loved it!! And yes, I have been totally slack and not left a comment because I haven't got around to it, but I'm saying it now. I thought it was great - very engaging and I loved the whole set up.

Anyway. So sorry to rant. It sets my blood boiling when I read that people have been hurt by that place. (I think I'll have to rant on my journal at some stage about it...).

Good luck with RBB. Forget that stupid place and enjoy creating something that many, many people with love.

*steps off soapbox*

[sinnerforhire.livejournal.com]

I made the same mistake you did after I posted my J2 BB. The thing is, I had anticipated some of the things that were said before I even went to the anonmeme, so what really bothered me was the lack of people defending it (well, that and the person who accused me of having a disability fetish). I let it bother me for a pretty long time, but eventually I came to realize what you said, that people ONLY go on the anonmeme to bitch. If they like the fic, they're gonna leave a comment on the fic itself saying so. Also, my thread was really short compared to some others--I had probably 4 or 5 nice comments on the fic for every bad comment on the anonmeme. But really, I would have been better off staying away. It's like you said, it's a trainwreck.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Ack. I hate those anon comment memes. Just a bunch of people striving for the 'meh'.. Jeez. What a freakin' sad way to live your fannish life.

[vikki.livejournal.com]

I went to go look at your thread, and honestly? I think it's pretty good! You got some 'I really liked it!' praise and people saying 'this fic is really very good but here's what I didn't like' which is, like, a birdie on the golf course of anonymemes. *HUGS* I hope it makes you feel better but this basically *is* anonymeme high praise. =DDD

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

LOL

OMG, really? That's so very freakin' sad...

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! I don't think it's worth bothering to tell them to piss off. Frankly, if I had any sense at all I wouldn't even look at the place.

*smishe you*

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

YOUR ICON!

*dies*

And thank you. :)

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I've been telling myself. I mean, there are plenty of people whose opinions I respect who commented favourably.

In short, I think I'm doing pretty well. It's just the neurotic, paranoid side of me that's having a field day.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

"Striving for the 'meh'." I like that! I should make an icon or something... if I were any good at making icons. ;)

[vikki.livejournal.com]

It is sad but there it is ... *hugs again*

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Glad you like the sentiment - and that would be a fun icon! But alas, I too have no talent for such things. Maybe you can bat your eyelashes at somone more talented on your f-list??

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

Now I feel bad because I haven't read your story; I do tend to stay away from wee!chesters and kidfic because I am not very child-sympathetic (my deepest, darkest fan secret is that Colin Ford does absolutely nothing to my heartstrings), but mostly I am just busy for long fics right now. But I'm sure you did a beautiful job with it.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't feel bad about it! I understand that not everybody will like the same things. I was just disappointed that that seemed to be the only reaction for a while.

Besides, I know how busy you are these days.

*hugs*

[jesseofthenorth.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry but I just CANNOT give any credibility to the words of someone too gutless to stand up and OWN those words.
I wish I had enough gas to burn that stupid pile of steaming anonymous crap to the ground.

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

Listen, DON'T LISTEN.

I loved your fic, a lot of people loved your fic, and I really do think people go over to the fic discussions just to bitch. If someone loved something, they'll tell you on the fic itself, not run over to tell a bunch of faceless natterers.

besides

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

I just went over and had a look to see what upset you and -- quite honestly, those seemed like pretty good reviews, compared to what I've heard about the cruelties over there! All the reviews said at least one or two really nice things about your fic. I mean, naturally the criticisms stick with you more than the praise, but there was a lot of praise over there, too.