Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

There was that CHNAGE in O8 sticker in the last episode... Yes... and had it been a House fic maybe the political commentary would have been justifiable, but it was a non-House fic, unsubstantiated in anyway, and really just annoying. There really is a great big elephant in the room now. In a way it's exciting; it's sure gotten everyone's attention; but at the same time it's quite tiring, too. Very true, which might also explain things somewhat. I think we are all in some emotional shock at the moment. Anything current just seems so "heavy." And with a show that is still ongoing, it is harder to "hop" through time. Readers are more receptive to fics based upon recent events, or to fics that are non-time specific. For example, writing a Tritter arc fic now might not get the audience it would have during season three. I pretty much read anything, unless it starts off how my 4 year old niece would be writing. My job is pretty busy and stressful, so I have a limited amount of time (and energy) for "fan play." If I am going to take the time to read a fic, I want it to be something I am really going to appreciate... I am probably more demanding as a reader than some because I can't help but "revise and edit" mistakes as I read, and that can get really tedious when you just want to relax and enjoy a fic. But yes, "goodfic" certainly is relative to some extent, and what might appeal to me may not appeal to someone else and visa versa.

Langiappe, have you read Phinnia's absolutely gorgeous, subtle, stunning Extreme Weather? It's non-finale-related, House and Wilson as friends, and one of the best things I've ever seen. And I'm very, very picky.

Yes, I have. In fact it is on my harddrive right now, and illustrated with a wallpaper photo of beautiful snow and ice of the arctic. :)

Bringing this over from the H/W thread as we got on the topic of post W's H fic and the sex/comfort angle that may be coming up in some of them. I've actually been staying away from almost all post finale fics excepting Colpo di Fulmine by euclase, which Taiga rec'd up thread. That is subtle and evocative and I loved it. With all other's I'm skittish to read any future prospects for H/W until S5 starts up again. Of course with a 3 month wait ahead I may eventually breakdown. ETA, This is also a contributing factor for me. I can't really read the post-Amber stuff yet, because it mostly leaves me cold. I think because the episodes themselves were so emotionally evocative, angsty post-Amber fic right now just seems to over the top. So that is out... at least for now Anyway a fic of OldHamster's was mentioned, on a similar theme, post House's death this time, written long before the S4's last 4 episodes, called "Give Him Back": it's a H/Cam - Cam/W fic but done so well that even a die hard H/W shipper like me enjoyed it. http://community.livejournal.com/house_cameron/2555890.html It's very well done OldHam. Nice touches all around in particular I loved that you used the elements of someone functioning proxy-like for House and even how a large number of scotches could impact on the coming together of two characters well before the show did in H/W/A storyline episodes.

Bringing this over from the H/W thread as we got on the topic of post W's H fic and the sex/comfort angle that may be coming up in some of them. I've actually been staying away from almost all post finale fics excepting Colpo di Fulmine by euclase, which Taiga rec'd up thread. That is subtle and evocative and I loved it. With all other's I'm scitish to read any future prospects for H/W until S5 starts up again. Ofcourse witha 3 month wait ahead I may eventually breakdown. Anyway a fic of OldHamster's was mentioned, on a similar theme, post House's death this time, written long before the S4's last 4 episodes, called "Give Him Back": it's a H/Cam - Cam/W fic but done so well that even a die hard H/W shipper like me enjoyed it. http://community.livejournal.com/house_cameron/2555890.html It's very well done OldHam. Nice touches all around in particular I loved that you used the elements of someone functioning proxy-like for House and even how a large number of scotches could impact on the coming together of two characters well before the show did in H/W/A storyline story. Thanks so much! I just went back to reread it and all the flaws jumped out at me -- like Wilson's "I don't hate him" speech, which now strikes me as much too well-spoken for a guy who's just (a) lost his best friend and (b) consumed five scotches at one sitting. But I am glad you liked it. :D

When re-reading a story that is often a writer's tendency OldHamster. Hell I do it to my posts here all the time, as you can see by the numerous edits I just made to my above post. :oops: But it in no way negates the virtue of the piece which yours most definitely possesses.

Almost as tired as I am of seeing stories where Wilson deals by drinking himself stupid.

Oh noes... not back on the topic of what makes a cliche! Why is it cliche? Because a lot of authors have chosen to mention it? Loss of appetite is after all, a rather common side effect of extreme grief. I suppose having Wilson eating enormous amounts of pie might not be cliche, but I am not sure it would be realistic either. *Down silly plot bunnies...we are not writing a post Amber fic in which Wilson pigs out on rubarb and strawberry pie and gains 200 pounds!* I guess I am not sick of it, mostly because I have been avoiding most of the post finale fics. I actually started writing one of my own. Don't know if it will go anywhere, but I wanted to write *something*. I will try to avoid starving Wilson to anorexic proportions. :P

Well ... so far, I'm not seeing any of the things people are complaining about in the story I've just written, which is very quiet and nobody starves or gets wasted. And that sound you hear is me, sighing with relief. I've avoided most of the post-finale stories too, due to overload and the writing of my own. Those I've read have been by authors I trust pretty well.

Okay Blackmare, You cannot oh so casually mention you have written a fic and not include a link. :)

8. "My fic. My art. Soaring breath becomes me, writhing my head, masturbating, exploding now into space!" Poetic fic for the sake of trying too hard to *be* poetic - to the point that what you are writing actually no longer makes any coherent sense...but it's ART! Beyond something that is poorly written (like a home work assignment done on the way to school while riding the bus) and what for me are just goofy concepts with which I can’t go along, this has always been my #one complaint. If I’m reading a fic and am so completely unable to keep track of what is happening or who is even speaking/thinking that I feel like a 12 year old reading my first Shakespeare well just never mind, because I haven’t been 12 in a long time and you’re not Shakespeare. An artisan approach will never trump clarity. I will say it does seem to be a fairly limited problem and I haven’t noticed it occurring more often recently. And even things set before all this will take a morbid turn. It's kind of hard to even think of Wilson as happy-go-lucky at one point in time, much less write him as such. Oh Yes, Chipper, ITA. This is why I’m not reading much now so I can imagine what it must be like to try and write currently. My past fic reading has been exclusively H/W (surprise!) all variety of stories but the basic premise is always the durability of their friendship whether they are purely friends or established lovers or making the transition from the former into the latter. There’s a hope and resilience and humor that seems almost impossible to believe in right now given where we have left them. It feels like Wilson won’t ever be able to look at House again without being reminded that Amber is dead and that House, however tangential, was connected to the events leading up to it. Then remorse and loss will overwhelm everything. I fear the same will be true for House when he looks at Wilson. I know they will come to look at each other with lucid eyes because they do love one another, time will pass, reason and healing and getting on with the day to day of living will take over and they will laugh together again. As of now though it's as if the specter of Amber will always be hovering over their relationship and threatening to tear them apart all over again, that’s something I just can’t bear to think about let alone read.

On the post-finale fics ... am I the only one getting tired of the skeletal/gaunt/not eating/ Wilson cliche? It wasn't bad at first, but now it seems as if every single story includes it. Not everybody mourns by failing to eat. Some people eat more -- to distract themselves or because they don't know what to do, whatever. Since Wilson seems to take pleasure in cooking, why not have him going nuts in a kitchen just to try and create himself a small bit of normality? Guilty as charged. It wasn't your fic that set me off, travlncarrie, but rather one in which Wilson loses 50 pounds in three weeks and he and House make up with a simple: "I don't hate you" and it all takes place within 300 words. And then there was the other fic in which they renew their friendship by Cuddy's clever decision to lock them both in the janitor's closet until they settle their differences. (Yeah. That'll work.)

Okay Blackmare, You cannot oh so casually mention you have written a fic and not include a link. :) Well, the thing is, I haven't posted it yet. Few people seem to read stories on the weekends (we all know they do it during the week, while pretending to work), and I'm still polishing it just a bit, taking critique from my first-readers. I'll post it on house_wilson and housefic, on Monday morning. Meanwhile, you should see an excellent one (gen, no histrionics, a lot of clarity and some startling looks into House's mind) by Deelaundry sometime this evening. Two other friends of mine have really nice pieces in progress, too, but they're not far enough along for me to say any more than that. :-) Sometimes, I think that it takes a while for the really dramatic stuff to filter through a writer's brain well enough so that they can make a good story out of it. There's a certain processing time. Perhaps the trouble with some of the immediately-written post-eps is that they were immediately written. Yet the complexity of the current situation seems to me to demand an awful lot of thought.

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