Okay, let's discuss something · 6:27pm May 15th, 2013
Take a look at the sidebar, assuming you've got fimfic set to display it. See those first two numbered tabs above my name? Yeah, I've got almost ten times as many blog posts as stories.
Fact is, I like talking a lot. A LOT. It is, perhaps, a personal failing. I am a severe attention whorse and I love nothing better than sharing my opinions with the world wide internets. I make a lot of noise so that people will look at me and maybe glance at my writing, because really, nothing makes me happier than people reading my dumb horse words. There is no 'probably' in "I probably take this too far sometimes."
But a bunch of things that have recently happened, independently but all in a row, have led me to think that maybe, just maybe, my opinions are stupid, or at the very least don't matter and aren't worth sharing.
Let's start on the positive side of things, though. I get the feeling a lot of people liked my writeups of Fallout: Equestria. The post that I just linked to has over 200 views (I usually consider a blog post wildly successful if it hits 100). More importantly, I had a ton of fun doing it and even had a pleasant chat with the author. My season 3 post has spawned a lot of great dialogue about the season. Better yet, hardly anyone agrees with my 100%, and I didn't expect them to. But I've butted heads with the fandom about a lot of directly show-related things for always (most especially Lesson Zero), so I've come to expect that.
So some of y'all like talking to me about this stuff. What went wrong?
Okay, so no one liked the fic. It makes me feel a tad small, but sometimes I like dumb things for dumb reasons, I get that.
What really bothered me though was the reaction against Fiddlebottoms. Six Months in July was suddenly flooded by people going, "Hey, PP said this fic was great, but here's why it sucks." I was honestly frightened, not to mention severely embarrassed for FB. It's gotten to the point where I've stopped commenting on his stories, or at least hesitated greatly before doing so, because I keep wanting to use the same words in reaction (because seriously, I love his work; he's a tremendous trollfic writer) and I'm afraid that he'll be afraid that hordes of people will swarm down after me to tear his work apart. Or at least that he'll recognize that my opinions on his work hold no water. :( Which, I guess they don't. Either way, it'll make him feel bad and I don't wanna do that.
Before I get too much farther, let me say this: nothing wrong happened. I'm not "coming down on" anyone for commenting on his fic. I've just never seen this kind of thing happen before, at least not because of something I did. The whole reason I like spotlighting stories is because I'm catching up with fimfiction vaguely chronologically, and I know how great it feels to get some kind of appreciation for my older works, some kind of signal that they still have value. So yes, please, leave comments. There's nothing wrong with doing so, regardless of how you feel about a piece. Writers need and crave feedback, but I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you folks that.
So that was a kerfuffle. Then there was my ill-fated post on One Man's Pony Ramblings (which, you'll note, I'm not even linking to), that again, everyone pretty much hated. Of course, in hindsight, my whole argument was basically, "THIS WHY I LIKE DUMB THINGS" so it wasn't really worth posting to begin with. But it certainly did nothing for my self-esteem.
I thought there had been a third thing, but I can't remember what. Whatever, those two are bad enough by themselves.
So this all brings me to my point:
Do you guys want me to keep reccing fics?
Because truth be told, I keep wanting to. But ever since Six Months, that desire has been tempered by a sense of, "Well, no one's going to like it." I have no confidence in my own ability to... like fanfiction, I guess? I'm not sure if my opinions are worthwhile, if my analysis is valid, or if anything I read is anything anyone else will want to read. But I still want to do it, because it's more attention for me, and it's more attention for others, and that's two things I care about. There have been at least a half dozen stories worthy of highlighting
I'm sorry to make a big stinky, whiny blog post about this, but really, I do this stuff for you guys and so you're the only ones who can let me know if what I do is worth doing. Regardless of what comes of this, I'll still do the "Present vs." posts, but those are reserved for big "important" fics rather than your run of the mill tale that I randomly stumble across. So there's that, I guess. I'll take any feedback whatsoever; I swear that, for once, I'm not just looking for a pat on the back. This is something that really bothered me and I'd like to get it out in the open.
PP, fuck the police.
Like what you like. You always give a reason. If that reason isn't good enough for Jimmy or Jane Russling, then they can go fuck themselves. Because nobody else will.
Yeah.
The only reason I follow people is if I like their stories or their blog posts, and like you said, you've got like 1:10 stories to blog posts. I don't come to this blog expecting a Fandom Approved™ opinion, I come here for your opinion. Do I always agree with what you say, or your recommendations? Nope. But you express yourself well, and it's at least entertaining for the five minutes it takes you to talk about a story.
Yes. Don't beat yourself up in the that clusterfuck. It sucks, but it happens. It's the internet! When it gets to harsh, just leave your computer and go do something. You have tons of fans who want to hear your opinion, so give it to them!
Also, I love typing the word clusterfuck.
You daft sod. Of course you should keep recommending them!
The only thing wrong with your post to Chris's blog was that you tried to say the fandom should do something rather than you'd like it to. That's a little on the wrong side of opinionated for me, and by the looks of it, quite a few others. That doesn't mean for a second that you shouldn't keep spewing your thoughts out on a regular basis.
I for one am glad to be following you.
-Scott
There is a reason I kept my bitching about the fic rec on the fic rec thread. Since I never would have read it otherwise, I didn't feel the need to tell the author. Much like I bitch and moan about s3 when people most about ti for discussion, but I don't email the show staff and bitch them out. In the statistically impossible event they care about my opinion, they are perfectly capable of asking for it. Ditto Fiddlebottoms or anyone else.
Now, had I liked it and still seen problems, I might have posted suggestions. But that's different.
Besides, if I can't violently explode on people who know I hate everything, I'll probably end up like an old-man version of Seth.
I am sorry, I was under the impression that you were recommending fics because you like them, not because you wanted people to agree with you.
I have recommended fics before that had poor reception. I have had you post a comment on a fic I recommended which was negative and I strongly disagreed with. None of that matters.
I haven't done a rec for a while, but that's because all of the fics I have left that I could rec are either not that great or extremely popular already.
Working through my read later list to remedy that.
Also, if you hadn't recommended A Teatime Visit I would never have found that fic, so please don't act like one instance of your rec bombing means something profound. You don't have to be right all the time to be worth regard.
1082423
Seth just violently explodes inside Trixie instead.
It's easy enough to have doubts when you feel like you've tripped and fallen on your face (which is not necessarily true of you, but I certainly might feel that way in your place), but when it comes down to it, you should just keep doing what you are and being the writer people know you as here. After all, you do have a lot of excellent stories published, and a significant number of followers who read and reply to your stories and blogs. Clearly people appreciate what you do.
So yes, if you enjoy rec'ing stories, keep doing it. I often try out author recs and have found some fantastic gems and some I was not so impressed by, but overall it's very much worth the small effort I make from it... so I appreciate those recommendations.
1082447
Pfft. Implying Seth would ever be inside a Trixie. Maybe a plush one...
1082478
I was implying he is a Bonethief.
1082502
Ah, I was going more for 'fursuiter'.
"Do you guys want me to keep reccing fics?"
Yes.
...
What else am I supposed to say?
Sent you a pm.
Of course you should keep recommending fics. People react rather negatively to FB for many different reasons.
I think part of the problem was that FB is a very inflammatory person and you never really expressed that you liked said fic for it being a "tremendous trollfic." So, it's not hard to see that blog and think that you thought it was legitimately good.
Dude, of course you should keep reccing! I may have an insane backlog, but I'll always make time for awesome fic!
OKAY GUYS I'LL KEEP RECCING FICS THANK YOU ALL
Now someone please help me figure out how to find the last dozen or so I read, because there were a few that were good and I want to talk about. ._. Oh well.
1082391
Well, I didn't mean it that way. :|
1082423
you damn kids get off my lawn or ill send u to the MOOOOOOOON lol
okay too lazy to actually send to moon
1082447
Okay, actually this helps a lot, because I think I remember that story. Or, at least, the response. People can disagree, what a novel idea. @_@
I'm late, but:
Yes. We're here for your opinions, whether we agree with them or not.
Huh. You know, I can be pretty dense sometimes. I wasn't aware that you were recommending Six Months in July as a trollfic... which still confuses me. How is it a trollfic again?
And honestly I don't remember being all that harsh on the fic, just saying that it could stand some fleshing out. I don't know anything that would make me hate Fiddlebottoms as a person, either.
But yeah, hiding unpopular opinions is an urge you're going to want to kill if you want to be a voice of authority. I already cited Roger Ebert as an example of a critic going against the grain before, and it just occurred to me that the ending of Ratatouille has another good example. And hey, if people disagree with you, it's a great opportunity to open a dialogue. That still counts as you getting to talk, after all.
1086714
It's not a trollfic. o.o It's just really dark and not what most people would like.
1086802
Oh, I see. Yeah, the dark subject matter isn't the reason why the fic left me cold. I can't put my finger on why I didn't like it, but I think it had something to do with how the father's death was handled. I can't even remember why they killed him anymore.
1086806
It was an accident. :O
Well, Inkie accidentally stabbed him. The rest of the story explains the motivation behind Blinkie finishing him off.
1088037
Oh, right, I remember now. Honestly, I can't put my finger on why what I dislike about the story. It's not the subject matter or the dark tone, but something about how it's written.
1088926
Well, whattaya gonna do? :B
1089133
Honestly, I'll probably just try and work on my own stories and forget the whole thing.