Burning question...

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

So I've been in the CM fandom for a while now, and as much as I'm loving it, a strange...unease...has been growing in me.

I've been in a lot of fandoms, and I've read a lot of fanfiction. It tends to follow patterns, a sort of rough pyramid; at the bottom, reams of incoherent dreck, narrowing into the realms of 'not too bad' and peaking with a few excellent stories. It's a pattern I've found as unfailing as sunrise.

But this doesn't seem to have happened in the CM fandom. Have I ended up on a strange new planet? Have I found the one corner of the internet free from The Awful? People, I have to ask - where is your badfic?

Where are the Sues, the Stus and the painfully OOC canon characters? Where is TerribleCheesyFlirting!Garcia and SecretlyDescendedFromElvishRoyalty!Reid? Where is the teeth-grindingly awful angst? The nauseating fluff? Where are the cliched hackneyed plots done again and again? Why haven't I seen a single fic where Morgan and Reid are mysteriously turned into three-year-olds and allowed to run around the BAU?

This is like being in a dark room and waiting for the scary monster to tap me on the shoulder. Please, put me out of my misery!

Comments

[jessicafftheii.livejournal.com]

Off-topic, but icon love. <3

On-topic: It's because the CM fandom is just that great.

Better knock on wood though before we get fics like that. :D;;

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

Small fandom, high quality? Actually, I've noticed that before. Hmmm..

Sokka thanks you ;)

[borderlinetruth.livejournal.com]

I haven't looked too hard myself, but I haven't seen anything on either end of the spectrum... nothing is terribly bad, or terribly good. But have you looked at fanfiction.net, I'm sure you'd find something mary sueish.

[madeofsequins.livejournal.com]

i agree with this. i haven't seen much in the way of truly horrid, but not much in the way of epically great, either.

[elekanahmen.livejournal.com]

i just rofflecoptered SO HARD at your post

seriously, i did a dramatic outloud reading of it to my girlfriend.

IDK, now that you mention it I can't recall any horribly bad fic but... hrm... idk!!!

NOW I'M SCARED TOO.

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I amuse! XD

When it comes, we will fight it with flamethrowers ;)

[aoibhe.livejournal.com]

Oh God, I demand a phone post of that, Jax. ::snortwheeze::

[dameange.livejournal.com]

honestly, discounting the mary sues, I don't think this fandom lends itself to elves or things like that. unless its a crossover.

[innerslytherin]

... I've seen elves. But I utterly refuse to point fingers. I don't think it was any of my friends committing that atrocity, but I want to stay safe. >.>

[lady-insanity.livejournal.com]

Fanfiction.net has some dreadfully OCC stuff, but most of the Cm fandom is very good when it come to fic. :)

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

FF.net is somewhere I admit I've been too afraid to try. It's been a while since I braved its murky depths ;)

[hilsongirl.livejournal.com]

Wait, I know I've read SecretlyDescendedFromElvishRoyalty!Reid.

[innerslytherin]

You have. I've seen it too. It made my brain hurt.

[leah1813.livejournal.com]

Definitely go look at FF.net and you'll find some, but I agree, there isn't much out there. You can usually rely on fandoms to provide some seriously horrendous fics, but CM FanFic seems to hover in the centre.

[ct]

I know there's a Hotch/Reid story out there where Reid is actually a fairy, and Hotch has to go fight someone from another fairy kingdom (or something to that effect) so that Reid won't be forced into slavery... but for the life of me I can't remember who wrote it.

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

Then I'm sure I'll come across it sooner or later. I ship that pair.

I'm almost relieved ;)

[dustbunny105.livejournal.com]

... Okay, I just have to admit that I would totally read a fic in which Reid is secretly descended from elvish royalty. And I don't know why.

More on-topic, try fanfiction.net; I've never read Criminal Minds fic there (not that I've read much anywhere, to be perfectly honest), but if there's something awful that's probably the place to find it.

Completely off-topic, I have mad love for your icon ♥

[jasperhale007.livejournal.com]

You know either I don't look hard enough or it's not there. I mean I used to read ton's of CSI stuff and there was a bunch of that kinda stuff. But yeah there is some ooc's on fanfiction.net and I don't really read them. Heh.

[ohh-honeybee.livejournal.com]

OH GOD ICON LOVE. ♥

[finchesenroute.livejournal.com]

This is my favorite entry ever. I love it. :)

Personally, I don't think we'll be a complete fandom until someone writes an angsty Reid mpreg songfic, but I don't think I'll lose any sleep before that day comes.

[mcgarrygirl78.livejournal.com]

While this may be your favorite entry ever, your comment almost made me fall off the bed laughing : D

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

I can't help you there because I stick to reading casefic, and those are always excellent; but there was definitely a Reid-is-descended-from-the-elves fic in there somewhere. :P

If you seek badfic, grasshopper, you must venture into the swamps of ff.net.

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

*shivers* many go forth, but few return...

[lastrega.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just me, but I've found very little really good quality fic so far. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but aside from a small number of good writers, I'm seeing a lot of poorly written, unbeta-ed, epithet laden dreck.

If you've a secret cache of good!fic, please share.

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

First: icon love! I lul'ed so hard. :D

Second: I don't think that most of the fic here is dreck; I do see a better quality of fic here than in some other places. Most CM fic I've read (here on LJ, at least), is readable, which is amazing.

It's not all amazing, though. And as has been said above (and below) this comment: we all have different opinions of what's good and what's not. Personally, my definition of a "good story" is one that's well written. Good grammar, spelling, etc. A "great story," to me, is one with those qualities as well as a good plot. Those stories get my lurves. :D

All I can say is: most of my favorite stories are slash. If that's not your thing, maybe the het fics aren't as good? I haven't read them, so iono. But the gen/team-centric/case-fics seem pretty good, too. So, really, iono. *shrugs*

[severity-softly.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's out there. Trust me, it is. Among many of my other peeves, I've read enough girly!cries-over-everything!Reid to last me a damn lifetime. ijs.

I'm of the opinion, however, that you can write "crazy" ideas well, even if they're carzy. I've written "Reid goes undercover in drag" fic before, and Nebula99 writes a lot of crack fic, which is definitely cracky and not everyone's cuppa (obviously), but also well written.

[mcgarrygirl78.livejournal.com]

Everyone's opinion on what's good and what's not is different. I have read some amazing fics, pairings I never thought I would be into, gen fic, case fic, and the shipper fic I love. I have also seen some stuff that has made me close my eyes and hope it goes away. But you know, one person's trash is another's treasure, so count yourself lucky you have mostly been finding stuff that makes you happy.

[maisontv.livejournal.com]

I echo all the sentiments that the badfic is on Fanfiction.net. Thankfully, it seems to be confined there.

In general, the CM fandom is a group of pretty mature and intelligent people, no matter what their age. We all have our moments of squee and capslock, but when it counts, the fans are capable and articulate writers.

[hilsongirl.livejournal.com]

You know, I've never run into RPS in the CM fandom. That seemed odd since every fandom involving real people has it. I dunno may be it is a strange new planet.

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

ALL THE CM BADFIC IS ON FANFICTION.NET. Srsly. I have seen it with my own two eyeballs. O.O

I used to live on ff.net. Srs. Back when I first discovered fanfic and read Harry Potter fanfic liek woah. But there is SO MUCH HP fanfic there, that it is actually possible to avoid the makes-me-wanna-eat-babies-it's-so-bad stuff. If you try. Hard. But for anything else? Yeahno. I have found GOOD CM FIC there, but there only a few. BUT IT'S WORTH IT. 'Cause I loves them so. :D

But yes. Want badfic? GO TO FF.NET. Tie a rope around your waist first, though. Or it will eat you.

And if this person ever reads this, I will surely be eated, but I have found THIS for you: "But the real danger here is dehydration. He is very poorly. We have to go.’" HE IS VERY POORLY, GUYS. :P

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

Same! In some ways I think HP made ff.net what it is today. I mean, it was never exactly good, but HP brought a massive influx of mostly very young readers and writers. And most of the stock cliches seem to have been born (or at least cemented) in that fandom.

(and conversely, some of the best fic ever written was HP. I guess that's just the way it works out.)

Oxygen tanks. Flippers. Bleach. Uzi. Cyanide capsule. I think I'm ready.

[joospjos.livejournal.com]

LOL excellent post.
I think every fandom has its share of disturbing PWP, OOC and just general badness. I don't read much CM fanfiction, but I know I saw a story about Hotch abusing and raping Reid. ;_; I cried a little on the inside. Actually, I've read a few weird Hotch/Reid sporks over at badfic_quotes. It's hillarious.
Ooo, I found the rape!fic:http://community.livejournal.com/bau_fic/311378.html
*shares pain*

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

NO. I WILL NOT CLICK. RESIST. RESIST.

*clicks*

>_

[woodchoc-magnum.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to say how much I love the CM fandom, it's awesome.

[winifredoniel.livejournal.com]

You need to spend less time on LiveJournal and more time on FanFiction.net ..... plenty of horrid dreck to go around there.

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

HEY I FOUND MOAR BADFIC FER YOU:

Story summary from ff.net:
"All about Reid and his drug problems : Also, implied Hodge/Reid."

I was searching for a good story I read once, and I thought it might be there, and I found that... Who is this "Hodge" person that Reid is shacking up with...? *peers* lulz.

And I really hope that no one here wrote that... if so: CHANGE IT LIEK NAO, K? And I really really hope it's no one here 'cause of the username... who calls themselves "VirginsBurnAlot"... for srs...? *ded*

[rabbitwrath.livejournal.com]

*roasts marshmallows on the virgin!fire*

It's been a while since my eyes needed a good sporking ;)