Oh, ff.net, why do you treat me so?

[ratherastory]

Don't get me wrong. Fanfiction.net is where I started out as a fledgling fanfic writer, and I have a soft spot for it.

That being said, the people on there constantly flummox me with their inability to grasp what I'm driving at with my fic. It's a small percentage, maybe 10% max, but their reviews eat at me.

So mainly what I was trying to do in that last coda-thing-whatever was to demonstrate that in all the effort to give Dean a happy ending (no matter how stupid the notion is that Dean can possibly be happy while Sam is dead/in hell), no one at all took Lisa's feelings into account. No one asked her if she wanted a psychologically damaged alcoholic with abandonment issues and no valid means of supporting himself to land on her doorstep and basically try to insert himself into her life.

In short, I was trying to convey that she as much as Dean is lost in this situation. Lost and frightened and not a little angry at having this dumped in her lap when she's worked so hard to get her life together and make a good life for her son. It's not that she doesn't care, not that she doesn't want to help. It's just too big for her, and so she's doing what she can with what she's got.

What the ff.net reviewers got out of the story, however, was that Lisa is MEAN and CRUEL. Or, in a complete 180 from that, that OMG how dare I imply that Lisa wouldn't be thrilled and totally awesome and understanding and 100% supportive of Dean no matter what?

Eesh.

I am fine. I have to go answer all the nice comments I got in the last few days (I am SO behind!), and answer the not-so-nice ones. Well, the not-so-nice ones that actually deigned to give me the option to reply. :P

Comments

[hansons-angel.livejournal.com]

I have such a love-hate thing with ff dot net -- like you, I started there (though not in SN, a different fandom) and while I initially had a wonderfully positive experience there -- and still do, for the most part -- I don't know. It's just such a different vibe than at LJ. Like the people at FF feel -- entitled? Maybe because many of them are younger and aren't capable of picking up the things you -- me -- are trying to get across and just want to see the fics go a certain way or whatever? I don't know. I have much better luck with my 21 Jump Street fic than my SN fic as far as readers "getting" what I'm trying to do, and I know it's because it's a smaller fandom and my readers there are a little older, a little more "mature" -- so I often wonder if it's that fandom, the SN fandom, that makes things difficult over there. I just know that I consider LJ my fic home and while I post stuff on FF still I -- really am ready to say goodbye to it once I get done with this 21 JS thing I'm posting right now. I really only post SN stuff there now because a couple of readers have told me they don't have access to LJ but then again, I've not had a review from them so really, what's the point? Anyway, we all know you're a brilliant writer so try not to let the peeps on FF get under your skin. . . : )

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit more blasé about the ff.net folks now than I was even a few months ago. I'm not nearly as upset as I was the first time I got an anonymous review telling me I was Doing It All Wrong™.

I still post there because I have a few readers and faithful commenters who don't appear to be on LJ, and I do enjoy the extra feedback when it's positive. :)

[hansons-angel.livejournal.com]

I know -- it's hard to leave it completely, especially when you have readers that don't have an LJ or whatever. . .I just don't want you to be upset is all. And I'm sure the reviews are more positive than negative or whatever. . .it's just that one crapper review that always stands out against the gazillion awesome ones, hey?

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Pretty much. And I'm overly sensitive to the one-bad-review-among-the-good. *shrug* It's a character flaw, what can I say? ;)