The Etiquette of Holiday fics

[geoviki]

Like all the rest of you, I'm delighting in the reams and reams of new stories and art (and this year's art is especially terrific!). There's the granddaddy, merry_smutmas, and then others like harry_holidays, hd_holidays, smutty_claus, lupin_snape.... an embarrassment of riches!

As we are encouraging each other as writers and artists, I'm trying to leave feedback as well. One thing that caught my notice, though, has left me feeling uneasy, and I wondered what your views are: In your opinion, is it uncouth to leave concrit that's negative on a fest fic? (Disclosure: this is not anything that's happened regarding my own fic, just other folk's.)

I don't see the author requesting any, for one thing. Personally, I won't do it, but then I never leave anything less than praise unless I'm asked specifically and privately. If I don't like something, I just pass it by. Which unfortunately is the same response to something I've not yet read, so the writer is never sure if I'm unhappy or just behind (if the writer even cares what I think), but there you go.

But IMHO, these stories are gifts. And I can't see criticising a gift. Am I over-sensitive? What do you authors and artists think?

Comments

[titti]

I knew that story must have prompted this. Some of those comments were totally inappropriate, especially since it was such a good story, very elaborate, with an original plot. To say that it doesn't work because Harry would never bottom it's so stupid. I wanted to answer and ask when in canon does it say that Harry would never bottom? And does that apply to Draco only? Is he fine bottoming to Snape? *heads desk*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Well, exactly. It hurt me as a reader, because I thought the story was utterly wonderful, and I wanted the author to feel the love. And instead the first comment was a litany of what that individual did and didn't like as far as pairing and identity. Which to me was a big WTF.