Fanfic: A Number of Things Tangentially Related

[corilannam]

At some point I'd really like someone to explain to me, or point me to an explanation, of the politicky gossip about the SG-1 Fan Awards. I keep seeing mentions of gossip, but no traceable path to the actual gossip. My curiosity is burning a hole in my head, and I don't need any more of those.

Personally, I have a certain fondness for these awards, since last year's nominations were still up when I was a shiny new convert to the glory of Stargate right after MediaWest (bows to deannie and noelql), and they provided a decent place to start a reading list, once I had exhausted destina's rec page. There were certainly some stories nominated which were...well, suited for a different type of award, perhaps (though I did find my very favorite badfic ever that way. *g*) No worse than any other fannish awards I've seen, though, and better than most.

I usually just vote in these things, being too lazy to actually track down stories to nominate. This year, however, in the interests of increasing the ratio of good fic nominated, I'm trying to come up with nominations to make myself. My problem is that, having been a shiny new convert less than a year ago, and having devoured several years' worth of stories in a few months, I don't have a clear concept of what stories are eligible for this year. I'll probably end up just going to my favorite authors' pages and hoping their stories have dates on them.

***
Speaking of shows on SciFi:

For those of you looking for fanfic for the Battlestar Galactica 2003 miniseries (as I always am), look what cryswimmer has done! The Battlestar Galactica 2003 Fanfiction Archive has nearly all the BSG03 stories that have been posted either at fanfiction.net or on the BSG03 fic list. I haven't had time yet to read everything that's up there, but it looks like a pretty good range of fic.

***
Speaking of archives:

I'm getting a little annoyed that my membership status at Henneth Annun went inactive, and that all the e-mails I've sent asking to be made active have gone unanswered. I'm pretty sure I didn't offend anybody there, since I haven't said anything at all in months. I just got distracted by shiny objects for a little while. *g*

***
And speaking of things arising from LOTR and the unfortunate charms of Orlando Bloom:

When the Troy website first opened and I saw the pictures of Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana together, I said to myself, "Self, mark my words, there is going to be a hell of a lot of Hektor/Paris fic coming down the pike in May."

Foolish me. Little did I know there would be a hell of a lot of Hektor/Paris fic coming down the pike pretty much immediately. I didn't even have time to brace myself. I guess I can see where this fandom is going to go. Excuse me while I go weep and dig out the Achilles/Patroklos I wrote in high school.

Note: This section of the post is much less bitchy than when I wrote it the first time. Those of you who have heard this rant in realtime can just fill in the rest. *g*

***
I was going to put some insta-recs in this space, and also some links to the SG drabbles I've been writing lately instead of working on my real stories. But the Chinese food is here! And I'm very easily distracted.

Comments

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

I don't have a clear concept of what stories are eligible for this year.

If it's still working the same way it was last year, anything that hasn't previously won is eligible, no matter how old.

Little did I know there would be a hell of a lot of Hektor/Paris fic coming down the pike pretty much immediately.

Is it wrong that pretty much my first thought about this is "man, poor Andromache?"

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

If it's still working the same way it was last year, anything that hasn't previously won is eligible, no matter how old.

No kidding? Huh. Not sure what I think of that, but it does explain why I saw "Roses in December" listed two years running when I was looking through the old nominations.

Is it wrong that pretty much my first thought about this is "man, poor Andromache?"

It was my second thought, after "@#$%^&* Orlando Bloom!" *g*

The love story of Hector and Andromache is beautiful and I've always liked it, so having Hector go off to sleep with his brother...well, I'm unlikely to buy it.

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Let's see, gossipy stuff.
Last years awards were much better in terms of "Stuff that I'd actually Read." so I was pleased with them. The first two years, not so much. However, some people (most notably Annie somebody or other) had a hissy fit up one list and down another in multiple posts at the idea that the people who ran the awards were allowing their own work to be nominated even though a) no one else said anything before the winners were announced and it'd been that way for three years b) awards committee people don't count votes in categories in which they are nominated and c) no one else cares to run the awards and d) there were no allegations of impropiety. (Impartial runners are great, but I don't think you're going to find people who care enough about fanfic awards to put on awards who don't write it themselves and don't care about being in there because if they didn't care about awards, they wouldn't run them.)

The usual complaints of "you've got your ship/slash in my gen." This was compounded by one story being in the final nominations in both gen and slash, but under two different story names. A lot of the other issues with the ship/slash in gen were not so much with the stories themselves, but with the authors and their outspoken antagonistic manners towards the "other side."

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

This sounds so ... familiar (she said, dryly).

-J

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

*pets the gecko* It's one of those universal truths of fandom, I think.

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

Ahhh. So, the usual, then. *g*

I do think it's silly to complain about the runners being nominated. You're absolutely right that very few people are going to put that kind of effort into a project who aren't writers themselves, and who don't have an investment in the possibility of being nominated. I also tend to think that they would be the least likely to want to invalidate their entire system by cheating.

And yes, I did notice that one story that made it into both categories. I thought it was odd, but not knowing what the deal was, I just shrugged and moved down the list. I suppose the ship/slash/gen arguments are inevitable, especially in a fandom where people feel so strongly about the holy righteousness of their genre.

Not that I want any ship leaking into my gen, either, mind you. *g*

[destina.livejournal.com]

Well, let's see, what can I add to that? I have a few little items. *g*

There were allegations of ballot stuffing (made by a member of the awards team, which you can read here) and writers who were subsequently banned for that; numerous nominated writers who withdrew their work prior to the awards opening for voting (Anna S, quercus, Anais and Biblio, just to name a few); and much discussion of 'best' as interpreted to mean 'the one most people voted for' vs. 'the one people think is of highest quality'. In other words: the usual stuff. *g*

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! That was interesting reading; it's always fun to get the b-t-s view of this stuff. I remember wondering last year what all the withdrawals were about -- whether it was just general anti-awards sentiment, or if there'd been some kind of scuff-up. And in the case of any award, 'best' necessarily means 'the one most people voted for.' One may hope that everyone voted for the one they think is highest quality, but anyone who's been in fandom for five minutes should know that if you lock ten fans in a box to judge two stories, all ten will have a different opinion. *g*

I think it's just been so long since I've been in a fandom where an awards project existed at all, so I'm finding all the political and personality nonsense to be awfully fun as a spectator. Nothing's really changed. *g*

[destina.livejournal.com]

I remember wondering last year what all the withdrawals were about -- whether it was just general anti-awards sentiment, or if there'd been some kind of scuff-up.

The former. There was quite a bit of discussion about it in various locked posts last year.