Two recs and a not-rec

[ileliberte]

So much lovely fic to read, yay! And now that my computer's back, have to finish the eleventy million, or, well, three pieces of art for challenges due very soon. Which actually sounds great *squishes computer, but carefully*

Recs:
encycl_of_weird SPN comics. The art is good, the ideas are funny, and makes for very enjoyable reading :)

The Nair incident by kentawolf.
Poor half-bald Sammy! Poor about-to-be-woken badly Dean! Although he probably deserves it. I love the composition and the shading. Sam's hands are a bit too large for the distance, but the faces are awesome. And aw, the flailing mouse!

Re: spn_legacy A bad bad idea, with bad bad potential legal ramifications and putting people in the show in an awkward spot for either seeming ungrateful if they refuse the gift, or opening themselves up to anyone down the line who claims their idea was stolen by the people on the show if they don't refuse the gift. I am somewhat uncomfortable with something as subjective as taste when it comes to fanfic being an arbiter of true quality as well, but that's secondary here. However, as obvious as it might seem to a lot of us, it might not be that obvious to others, and even though most of the comments are fine, some of the comments are rather tasteless. A simple "no, thanks" or maybe an explanation of why it might be a bad idea would suffice, without directing expletives at her and/or misreading the post to assume that this is the only opportunity to say no.

Comments

[machinistm.livejournal.com]

So little time, so much fic! Did you read anything from this week?

Oooh, nice recs, especially encycl_of_weird. It looks really fun, and I wouldn't have found it before.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Yep, read quite a few actually. I'm glad to see so much gen and rps. Last few days have been especially eventful :D

I found it very recently myself! The artwork is generally well done, but even when there are some hiccups, I find myself interested because it's funny, and there's a lot going for the style even with elements I might not care for as much in those cases. Same artist for both recs my admiration for artists notch up that much more when they can do simpler comic styles as well as complicated shaded stuff.

[mystic-reader.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love the two recs you have given! And I am glad to see that I am not the only one who thinks that whole Spn Legacy thing is a bad idea!

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Thank you, they're so good, I had to pass them on :D
And yeah, I think you'll find a whole lot of people thought it was a bad idea :) The person who started it has decided to stop it, by the way, so that's good.

[mystic-reader.livejournal.com]

Yeah.. after I commented here.. I went and looked at her community and saw the post about how she wasn't going to do it. I was so relieved.. but I do feel a little bad for her. With over 500 comments like she got.. every single one of them telling her what a horrible idea it was... She had to feel pretty awful.
But I can't say I'm not glad they convinced her not to do it.

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm a little headdesky about some of the nastiness. It really seemed out of proportion to the situation -- no matter how annoying it was (and yes, very very bad, bad idea. Like that good idea, bad idea they used to do on Animaniacs. Good idea: writing fanfiction and sharing it with your friends. Bad idea: writing fanfiction and sharing it with the actors and the executive producer from the show.)

It's not that people try to gather good fic in one place, it's when they make statements that this is going to be the best of fandom. No, this is going to be the stories that person could find that met their requirements of quality, which is always subjective. Even after assuming some objective baseline of competent writing, it's subjective.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

I can't even understand what the justification seems to be for this sort of disproportionate nastiness from a few of the commenters. Not every issue is that sparkling clear for everyone, no matter how obvious it might seem to some. I felt really bad for the poor girl.

Yeah. I think gathering fic saying "this is what I think is good fic" is perfectly fine, that's what all rec lists are, but as soon as you say "best of the best" with no qualifier, you're stepping into really subjective territory. Not to mention, I think fanfic has another layer of complication in that one person's idea of "in character" can be diametrically opposite to someone else's, and working from the portrayal of an established character is pretty much what forms the basis of most fanwork and makes it recognizable to the canon we love and follow.