I'm just the opposite. If an author writes B/A in a story, is clearly *not* a fan of B/A but is attempting to write B/A as honestly and realistically as possible, biases aside, I can forgive them for a lot more because at least he or she is trying. Not everyone writes B/A the way I do (and thank god because then there would be even more crappy fluff out there than there already is), not everyone views B/A the same. My 'looking glass' isn't the same as yours or any other fan. And that's fine with me. So, while I may not agree with an author's depiction of B/A, I may think, well, that's not really how I see B/A or how I want them to be, I respect and admire the effort the author made to write B/A in a way that does justice to the characters and the pairing, even if he or she is a rabid A/S fan. The final product says a lot, to be sure, but for me, the attempt--as long as it is a fair, reasoned attempt--means more.
The straight bashing/ignoring of a character and/or pairing drives me up the wall. Now, in my own work, since I tend to write the silly, fluffy drivel, I *don't* always include Spike, or Cordelia, or Character X. Mostly what I write are one-shots to make me happy and I'm not looking to break new ground or explore new dimensions. I want happy B/A, possibly with sex. So yeah, I tend to ignore every character who isn't Buffy or Angel in those silly one-shots. Which is another reason my writing isn't good but it does make me happy.
However, the few serious fics I have written/am currently writing, I make the sincere effort to respect all characters and pairings, even ones I don't care for at all. Recent example is my Angel/Cordelia 'five times' fic. I don't like canon Angel/Cordelia and can really only read one or two author's A/C fic. I have an extremely difficult time accepting the romantic pairing of the two. Writing that piece--and it was only a simple meme request, nothing in depth--was hard for me, and I tried to do A/C justice, despite my personal feelings for the pairing. Did I succeed? I don't know. But I tried my damnedest to be fair to A/C and I hope that was reflected in the writing. So, even if it's not A/C as to a shipper's preference, I would hope that the effort to portray them fairly and in a respectful manner to shippers would count for something. But I'm vain like that. :P
Uhm, I think I have gotten so far off track. I don't even remember what I originally started talking about. Oh yeah. Bashing.
The bashing I can't respect at all. I can't ignore much, either. I wish I could because it'd be so much easier, but when I see Buffy or Angel or Wes or so on and so forth bashed, it's hard for me to say, That's just sloppy/lazy writing. Pfft. I can much more easily forgive writers who attempt B/A respectfully and may utterly fail at it than I can writers who ignore/bash B/A in order to make their pairing work. Which, considering what I mostly write, does sound hypocritical, but for me, one-shot fics that are basically masturbatory fics for the author (example: my HGTV fics. They make *me* happy and for that series, that's really all that matters to me. I'm not trying to do anything serious or blow people's minds. I'm writing fluffy B/A with decorating because it's what I want) are seen differently than serious fics, particularly multi-chaptered fics. The one-shots that may bash/ignore a character/pairing don't get my hackles up as much because I figure, the author maybe just wants a simple A/S or C/A or B/S or Character X/Character Y happy fic. But for fics that attempt to realistically/heartfully/truthfully/what have you portray the author's pairing of choice while bashing another pairing(s) raise my ire completely.
Um, okay. Extremely long-winded ramble short: honest attempt, even if it doesn't fit my view of character/pairing = good for me; bashing/ignoring in a "serious" fic = want to claw someone's eyes out.
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The straight bashing/ignoring of a character and/or pairing drives me up the wall. Now, in my own work, since I tend to write the silly, fluffy drivel, I *don't* always include Spike, or Cordelia, or Character X. Mostly what I write are one-shots to make me happy and I'm not looking to break new ground or explore new dimensions. I want happy B/A, possibly with sex. So yeah, I tend to ignore every character who isn't Buffy or Angel in those silly one-shots. Which is another reason my writing isn't good but it does make me happy.
However, the few serious fics I have written/am currently writing, I make the sincere effort to respect all characters and pairings, even ones I don't care for at all. Recent example is my Angel/Cordelia 'five times' fic. I don't like canon Angel/Cordelia and can really only read one or two author's A/C fic. I have an extremely difficult time accepting the romantic pairing of the two. Writing that piece--and it was only a simple meme request, nothing in depth--was hard for me, and I tried to do A/C justice, despite my personal feelings for the pairing. Did I succeed? I don't know. But I tried my damnedest to be fair to A/C and I hope that was reflected in the writing. So, even if it's not A/C as to a shipper's preference, I would hope that the effort to portray them fairly and in a respectful manner to shippers would count for something. But I'm vain like that. :P
Uhm, I think I have gotten so far off track. I don't even remember what I originally started talking about. Oh yeah. Bashing.
The bashing I can't respect at all. I can't ignore much, either. I wish I could because it'd be so much easier, but when I see Buffy or Angel or Wes or so on and so forth bashed, it's hard for me to say, That's just sloppy/lazy writing. Pfft. I can much more easily forgive writers who attempt B/A respectfully and may utterly fail at it than I can writers who ignore/bash B/A in order to make their pairing work. Which, considering what I mostly write, does sound hypocritical, but for me, one-shot fics that are basically masturbatory fics for the author (example: my HGTV fics. They make *me* happy and for that series, that's really all that matters to me. I'm not trying to do anything serious or blow people's minds. I'm writing fluffy B/A with decorating because it's what I want) are seen differently than serious fics, particularly multi-chaptered fics. The one-shots that may bash/ignore a character/pairing don't get my hackles up as much because I figure, the author maybe just wants a simple A/S or C/A or B/S or Character X/Character Y happy fic. But for fics that attempt to realistically/heartfully/truthfully/what have you portray the author's pairing of choice while bashing another pairing(s) raise my ire completely.
Um, okay. Extremely long-winded ramble short: honest attempt, even if it doesn't fit my view of character/pairing = good for me; bashing/ignoring in a "serious" fic = want to claw someone's eyes out.