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Scratching the....something
Jun. 15th, 2011 09:59 pmI frequently say to myself, "Lorraine, you are just like Walt Whitman with your multitudes and your contradictions," and if I am not alone in the room at the time, then I become so shortly thereafter this third-person declaration.
You see, my friends, I know what good writing looks like. I enjoy to read the good writing. I even produce it myself on occasion. And yet I can frequently be found consuming what is best categorized as melodramatic drivel. I don't know why I get sucked in by the pearlescent tears that fall from Draco's cerulean eyes to heal the mortal wound that Harry received while scaling the nearly impenetrable walls of Malfoy Manor to rescue him in a haze of true love and throbbing hearts. I have no words to explain why I'll spend hours reading a story written by someone who seems to know that Jack O'Neill is male and in the military but none of the other salient points of his characterization.
Surely the rest of you do this, too. Yes?
Remember, I'm not asking if you've read the particular fic mentioned or even anything in that fandom, just if you've engaged in reading a "bad" fic for the reasons given in the poll question.
[Poll #1752654]
So, why do we do read these kinds of stories? I honestly cannot articulate a clear and complete answer for myself, but it basically breaks down to a handful of things for me:
1. I find the story amusing in its badficcyness, or
2. I want to cry and be sad and melodramatic crescendos do it for me everytime, or
3. Something about the story is awesome and catches my attention (could be plot, could be character insight, etc), or
4. It hits a bullet proof narrative kink for me (like mpreg or everybody-misunderstands-everyone-else-and-cries-about-it), or
5. It's such a rare pairing that I have to take what I can get, or
6. Just because.
What about y'all?
You see, my friends, I know what good writing looks like. I enjoy to read the good writing. I even produce it myself on occasion. And yet I can frequently be found consuming what is best categorized as melodramatic drivel. I don't know why I get sucked in by the pearlescent tears that fall from Draco's cerulean eyes to heal the mortal wound that Harry received while scaling the nearly impenetrable walls of Malfoy Manor to rescue him in a haze of true love and throbbing hearts. I have no words to explain why I'll spend hours reading a story written by someone who seems to know that Jack O'Neill is male and in the military but none of the other salient points of his characterization.
Surely the rest of you do this, too. Yes?
Remember, I'm not asking if you've read the particular fic mentioned or even anything in that fandom, just if you've engaged in reading a "bad" fic for the reasons given in the poll question.
[Poll #1752654]
So, why do we do read these kinds of stories? I honestly cannot articulate a clear and complete answer for myself, but it basically breaks down to a handful of things for me:
1. I find the story amusing in its badficcyness, or
2. I want to cry and be sad and melodramatic crescendos do it for me everytime, or
3. Something about the story is awesome and catches my attention (could be plot, could be character insight, etc), or
4. It hits a bullet proof narrative kink for me (like mpreg or everybody-misunderstands-everyone-else-and-cries-about-it), or
5. It's such a rare pairing that I have to take what I can get, or
6. Just because.
What about y'all?
