paraka | QaF and fanfic in general

So, first off, Happy Birthday to

anoel! I hope you had a great day!

So I've been thinking lately. About QaF. And fic. Specifically, all the great crack fic QaF had.

I think it's easier to recognize Bad!Fic once you're out of a fandom, and QaF had some of the very *best* Bad!Fic out there (or maybe time dims such things :P).

So I would like to open my comments up to talk about some of the really good Bad!Fic out there. Not the stuff, where there was bad spelling, or a complete lack of plot, but the Bad!Fic that you just couldn't stop reading, even though it was getting really out of character, or was so off from what the characters on the show were that the only resemblence they had were the same names. Some particularly memorable ones from QaF for me:
-Miss Miko's *epic* fic, where we got to spend 10 chapters reading (and seeing, as there were pictures!) about the boys decorating their house.
-That fic, by someone, where in the first 20 chapter part, Justin was a deaf single dad, and then in the beginning of the next 20 chapter part, he got it cured, and the story had like, another 20 chapter part, where you completely forgot that the premise of the fic in the beginning was that he was deaf.
-Amish!Justin
-The one where they were all Space!Pirates.
-*all* the fics where Justin became a prostitute
-The one where Brian was a mobster in the 1920s.
-The one where Brian was the high school kid, and Justin let him move in after his dad beat the shit out of him or something.
-The one where Brian was a Roman soldier, and Justin a Celtic warrior.
-Oh the awesome mpreg one that was told from the two sides (one a Bad!Fic writer, and one where the author tried to keep them in character).

I know there were more out there! I'm sure others fandoms have them too!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...when you say like that, the grocery store thing sounds vaguely ridiculous. LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU.

Anyway. I think popslash had the market cornered on bad!fic for a while. See: anything and everything FictionLyn ever wrote, every single 60 chapter, knocked up, terminally ill Mary Sue epic. I don't even want to know how many hours of her life my roommate wasted reading that crap.

Also, I will never forget the one where the members of Nsync were on a ski trip and everyone kept tripping over JC's dildo. WTF to the nth power, man. (Although they win for best pre-trend mashup name with Trickyfish.) I also thought the hoser!Nsync fic was genius, but I was probably too young and dumb to realize how bad it really was.

And then there was that X-Files series where Mulder fucked Scully with a whole range of household objects. I couldn't use a flashlight for a year after I read that, I swear.

This may very well be the Best Post Ever.

Also, I will never forget the one where the members of Nsync were on a ski trip and everyone kept tripping over JC's dildo.
Ahahahaha, DEAD.

And then there was that X-Files series where Mulder fucked Scully with a whole range of household objects. I couldn't use a flashlight for a year after I read that, I swear.
I really wish I could un-read that. :|

...when you say like that, the grocery store thing sounds vaguely ridiculous. LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU
Ah, ha ha ha. :D
No, obviously A Supermarket in California could have been canon it was so close to real :P

And getting all think-y again. I think SGA allows for more crack fic than some other fandom, not just because things like AUs are canon, but also because the characters are... easier to get close? Like often if you have Rodney being sarcastic and smart and blustery, than people will accept it as being in character, or at least not out of character, but in other fandoms it can be harder to peg a character. I know that was one of the problems with QaF, Brian was a guy who went around proclaiming that he didn't believe in love, he believed in fucking; he'd refuse to give into "romantic" notions like celebrating birthdays or giving flowers. And then he'd go and do increadibly romantic things like show up at his boyfriends prom, or get him a special computer so that his boyfriend can still be an artist after he's injered. Trying to peg down that characters balance of disdain for the traditional yet his obvious love and thoughtfulness is hard, and would lead to a lot of people getting it wrong. QaF was pretty much *only* about the characters, and we knew a lot about them, fandoms like SGA are about sci fi; we may love it for the characters, but in the end, we don't know nearly as much about them.

See: anything and everything FictionLyn ever wrote, every single 60 chapter, knocked up, terminally ill Mary Sue epic. I don't even want to know how many hours of her life my roommate wasted reading that crap.
OMG that sounds like the one that I mentioned above by Miss Miko. It seriously took me about a *month* to read it. It was good in the beginning, and then it got OOC, and then it got weird (there was literal conservative bashing, and one of the main characters stepping in to help), then it turned into a big shopping expedition as they decorated their house. :P

Also, I will never forget the one where the members of Nsync were on a ski trip and everyone kept tripping over JC's dildo. WTF to the nth power, man.
You know, personally, I'm pretty sure it would only take my friends tripping over my sex toys once for me to put it away and keep it there (right after I died of mortification) :P
Although, come to think about it, that sounds an awfull lot like all the fics my little sister talks about loving :S

I was probably too young and dumb to realize how bad it really was.
Isn't that always disappointing (and embarassing) when you go back and read something you read and loved ages ago, only to realize during the reread that it's actually pretty crappy? Yeah, that happens to me. :P

And then there was that X-Files series where Mulder fucked Scully with a whole range of household objects. I couldn't use a flashlight for a year after I read that, I swear.
Sara has issues with deleting things, and as a result she ends up with some really weird things saved in places, just because she has this fear of deleting something and then needing it. Anyways, when we were living in China, I would put her vids on so that there would be background music, and there's this one anime one where there are scenes of a guy being raped with a cob of corn. Yeah.
And it was a *video*.
Talk about not being able to look at an object the same afterwards....

This may very well be the Best Post Ever.
*winz*

Thinky again! :)

So (she says, in stereotypical therapist-speak), let me see if I'm hearing you right: do you thing SGA AUs are easier to get right because the characters are more one-dimensional than in other shows or because we're lacking the background knowledge other shows tend to have? (And great point, there -- I tend to forget that SGA is sci-fi. Especially when I listen to Gero on commentary, who forgets the same thing, I think.)

Now, here I'd like to posit a theory for your perusal (thought it may be a bit tangential to what you were saying). I'd say that character knowledge has a parabolic relationship with ease of writing: more information is helpful to a certain point, but when there's too much of it it can become a handicap. I wasn't ever really involved in the QAF fandom (I pretty much gave up as soon as I realized my Michael/Brian OTP was never to be), but I saw some of the same effects of too much character knowledge during my (blessedly) brief stint in the Star Wars fandom. And I think I see the opposite end of the spectrum with Friday Night Lights fic, particularly during the first season, since the only things we learned about the characters were directly related to the school's football season. Little of the early fic in that fandom could achieve accurate characterization.

And there's my bit of thinkiness for the night. Also, if my stats prof could only see that I actually do apply the theories, just not in the way he wants me to!

do you thing SGA AUs are easier to get right because the characters are more one-dimensional than in other shows or because we're lacking the background knowledge other shows tend to have?
I think to some extent yes. I mean if we have a ton of background information on a person that there's less leeway for us to make them do things (although with SGA the writers don't feel bad about having Rodney have a pet whale one ep, and then having a long standing fear of them the next...).
But for example, a writer couldn't really go and write a fic about how Rodney was the coolest kid in school, because canon goes against that (McKay and Mrs. Millar), but before then you could have. If you have less history, then there isn't as much holding you back. Just like, if a fandom has been around for a couple years, it can be really weird to go back and read something that was written in the first year of fandom, since I'm sure there will be a lot that has been given to us in canon since this was written that will make it feel off, if not outright negate it.

As I think about it more though, especially comparing SGA to QaF is, I think Rodney and John fir peoples idea of "normal" a bit more than Brian and Justin did. Sure Rodney is a super genius, and they fight alien vampires for a living while in another galaxy, but the characters themselves. Rodney is bad with women, and a bit of a pig to them. John is charming and a bit of a slut. Someone like Brian though, from QaF spent a lot of time trying to be different when it came o relationships. He actively proclaimed his disbelief in common practices, and lived the kind of lifestyle that not many people live (or can sustain for as long as he did). Author's though, love their OTP and want them to be together, so will give their characters a happily ever after.
So in conclusion, I think it's more the points you know rather than knowing the points, but by default, if you know a lot of points, the more chance of being out of character.

more information is helpful to a certain point, but when there's too much of it it can become a handicap.
*nods*
Like the school example I gave. Having that kind of information doesn't necessarily add to the character, but it could render an idea gone. Or make a previously written fic seem really out of character.
But yeah, not having enough information... leaves things to wide open. Like you can write about a character leaving his dildo all over the place, and no one can *really* tell you it's OOC :P

QaF and fanfic in general

Bad!fic

Re: Bad!fic

Re: Bad!fic

Re: Bad!fic

Re: Bad!fic