The unfahomable appeal of crappy writing

[wiseheart]

For a while, it was the songfics that flodded the internet. They were shitty, but at least they had some vague resemblance of *stories*. They had some semblance of plot.

Now it's the IM fics. Basically imaginary IM conversations, transcribed. No plot, no description, no characterization, no nothing. Call me a snob, but what exactly makes them stories to begin with?

Either today's authors are incredibly lazy and completely lacking any kind of imagination, or today's readers are too lazy (or too demented) to read an actual, honest-to-earth story. Or it's an unholy convergence of the two above factors.

I think I ought to keep away from every single contemporary and/or sci-fi fandom until this new trend dies down. Not that I'd be killing my eyes by reading this kind of crap, but trying to find something worth reading, in any fandom possibly including the existence of computers, is just too frustrating.

So, back to reading Tolkienfic for a while. Or Cadfael. Or history novels. Anything that's safe even from the possibility of running into an IM fic.

Comments

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I'd vote for unholy convergence, personally. At least in Tolkienfic we aren't bombarded with the Arda equivalent: palantir fic!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You do realize, of course, that you've just cursed it into existence? Now I won't be able to rest until I write it. Sauron/Saruman palantír pr0n, hmmm...

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Seconding the unholy convergence theory! I haven't seen them, nor do I want to. (Although there is still the matter of my endless Mary Sue that needs several more chapters. Hmm...)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Hey, palantír pr0n could be an interesting challenge! Care to put it into the Mary Sue? *evil grin*

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen them, nor do I want to.

You ARE aware you've just jinxed yourself? :)

[jen-rock.livejournal.com]

I don't understand the appeal of those types of fics either. I find chat rooms boring in real life (plus "chat speak" usually makes me cringe,) so why would I want to read something like that between fictional characters? But I guess everyone has their own interests when it comes to fanfic. Songfics are occasionally interesting but mostly I just find them boring.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They *are* boring. Rarely have I found any that weren't.

As for "chat fic" - I can't really imagine mature adult characters to do lame chat. Especially not when they work in the same place, because really, what's the point? If I can just walk ten metres and talk to the person in flesh, why shouldn't I?

Of course, my teenaged students send each other SMS from the great distence of about two metres, so perhaos I shouldn't be so surprised. And they all think I'm a dinosaur because I still haven't got a cell phone.