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

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I haven't read your coda yet, but I'm a little behind on fic right now. However, what you're describing is something that I've never understood. People are never all good or all bad, and just because someone is a Big Damn Hero(ine) doesn't make them perfect, or mean that they should't be held accountable for their actions around others.

Of course, maybe some people need to see their heroes as infallible or alone against the cold world, but the demonizing of (female) characters who disagree/don't indulge the hero or who are in the way of someone's OTP is something I've seen in fic for multiple fandoms, and it annoys me quite a bit, so I try to steer clear of it. For a space that I've always considered to be female dominated, media fandom is sometimes very unsupportive of female characters.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I don't really get it, myself. I actually like Lisa quite a bit. She's a strong, independent woman. I just don't think she's going to want to put up with Dean and his issues permanently. She'll help, because she's a kind person and she's grateful, but I don't think she loves him or wants him to stay forever and host barbecues with her.

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. Remember how the gossipy neighbor women said she'd referred to Dean. She called him Best Sex of My Life Dean, not The One I'm Waiting For or My True Love. He saved her son, she is grateful and thinks he's a good man and shows him compassion.