Okay. I was so worried after I made this post, because the first few comments it seemed like people didn't get what I was trying to say, and I know I didn't articulate myself because I was REALLY getting my rant on. Then I got farther down the thread, and now I feel so much better.
I do get uncomfortable when someone writes B/A doesn't really feel B/A, because often I feel like if they don't get what's so special about them really, that specialness won't come out in their writing. Even if they're trying really hard and saying all the things a B/Aer would say, I feel like their hearts not in it, and it doesn't work for me.
This is exactly what I mean. You hit the nail on the head. It's...hard to describe, that lack of specialness. Because the writing isn't bad. The characterizations are good. But that's why I used the word "smell"--I can *feel* it, the difference between someone who loves it and someone who's just "meh". And it makes a big difference in the writing.
But... I don't hate on them. And I don't want to puke. I get uncomfortable, and feel like things aren't quite right, but I do appreciate the effort, and usually can see it for the quality in writing, even if it doesn't match my point of view.
The whole puke feeling was very vehement, wasn't it. I wished I'd used a different word now. But I think I said it that way because in my head, I totally *do* appreciate the effort. Someone said above, from a technical standpoint, making the effort is *so* much better than bashing. But from the standpoint of my gut, it hurts me more to read it done badly than to read bashing. redbrickrose said it above: it's unsettling to read a character the way someone else sees them, when the vibe you get from it is negative, but the presentation is well-written, well characterized, everything. And that's the word I want to use, unsettling. 'Cause it does wrench my gut in weird ways.
But I don't really hate it :o) I don't really hate all that much!
And dude, don't feel obligated to read my fic. You sound like you need sleep! And maybe a foot massage. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I actually made this post is I'm writing Spike in those stories, and that makes my *highly* uncomfortable. I love Spike, but I feel like I don't understand him. And I wonder if people read it and feel like I do, when I read something by someone who doesn't really see what I love in B/A: this person is *trying* to write Spike, but she's not initiated into The Secret That Is Spike, and she never will be. It makes me sad. I bang at the doors of the secret, but it won't ever quite let me in. I am rambling *so* much right now, and I'm about to stop, full stop.
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I do get uncomfortable when someone writes B/A doesn't really feel B/A, because often I feel like if they don't get what's so special about them really, that specialness won't come out in their writing. Even if they're trying really hard and saying all the things a B/Aer would say, I feel like their hearts not in it, and it doesn't work for me.
This is exactly what I mean. You hit the nail on the head. It's...hard to describe, that lack of specialness. Because the writing isn't bad. The characterizations are good. But that's why I used the word "smell"--I can *feel* it, the difference between someone who loves it and someone who's just "meh". And it makes a big difference in the writing.
But... I don't hate on them. And I don't want to puke. I get uncomfortable, and feel like things aren't quite right, but I do appreciate the effort, and usually can see it for the quality in writing, even if it doesn't match my point of view.
The whole puke feeling was very vehement, wasn't it. I wished I'd used a different word now. But I think I said it that way because in my head, I totally *do* appreciate the effort. Someone said above, from a technical standpoint, making the effort is *so* much better than bashing. But from the standpoint of my gut, it hurts me more to read it done badly than to read bashing.
But I don't really hate it :o) I don't really hate all that much!
And dude, don't feel obligated to read my fic. You sound like you need sleep! And maybe a foot massage. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I actually made this post is I'm writing Spike in those stories, and that makes my *highly* uncomfortable. I love Spike, but I feel like I don't understand him. And I wonder if people read it and feel like I do, when I read something by someone who doesn't really see what I love in B/A: this person is *trying* to write Spike, but she's not initiated into The Secret That Is Spike, and she never will be. It makes me sad. I bang at the doors of the secret, but it won't ever quite let me in. I am rambling *so* much right now, and I'm about to stop, full stop.
Yep.
Stopping.