A couple of observations about Teen Wolf fic...

[hells_half_acre]

So, I've been reading Teen Wolf fic for about the last month now, this is what I have learned:

1. People really don't like Stiles' buzzcut in the first two seasons.

99.9% of the fics I read have a line in them explaining that Stiles had decided to grow out his hair a few months before the fic takes place, and now someone's hand is comfortably buried in it while they do various romantic activities.  To me, this shows a lack of imagination on the part of the writers. I once read a very wonderful piece of writing by Joey Comeau that involved a girl with a buzzcut and the narrator VERY MUCH enjoying that buzzcut - and the description was so good that it was almost a tactile experience in and of itself. Seriously... buzzcuts can be sexy too, people.

2. Don't shorten already short names!!

Derek and Laura are both very short names. You do not have to shorten them to "Der" and "Laur"... and don't even get me started on "D". First off, they sound ridiculous. If any of you actually know a Derek or a Laura that goes by "Der" and "Laur" then I apologize, but I highly doubt these characters would respond to those names in the show. I think it's actually harder to say "Laur" than "Laura"... and also, I think Derek would probably end up being shortened/pet-named similar to Eric and end up being a Rick or a Ricky. (And if the character REALLY doesn't look like he would respond well to being called Rick, then odds are he wouldn't respond well to being called "Der" either.)

I get that these authors are trying to show familiarity and affection through names... but take it from someone who HAS a short name - the people who are closest to me and the most affectionate and loving DON'T SHORTEN MY NAME. I even told one of them once that he could, and he acted like I had just force fed him lemon. In not so many words, he basically told me that any shortened version of my name was less beautiful than my name and he only wanted to call me by a beautiful name - because, you know, AFFECTION. (And I'd like to point out that this was just a FRIEND, we weren't even romantically involved.)

3. Supernatural fandom has spoiled me for emotional follow-through

I don't know how to explain this one - but for some reason I've never been as emotionally satisfied after reading fic in another fandom (and I'm thinking of primarily Teen Wolf and Merlin here) as I have after I finish reading an SPN fic. Hmm... exception for Sherlock fic, that tends to be pretty emotionally satisfying too. I always think that's backwards to how it should be though, because Teen Wolf (I'm told) and Merlin both have very little emotional follow-through in the show, so I always assumed that the fic-writers must want to make-up for that... but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's almost like the apple doesn't fall far form the tree - if you think of the show as a parent and the fandom as its offspring.

It's kind of funny, because in Supernatural, you'll have pretty great emotional follow-through on the show, and then when they drop the ball and leave some emotion-based point hanging (like the amulet, or the voice-message), the SPN fandom will have 200 fics to resolve it within a week.

Now, that being said, I know Teen Wolf fiction actually does have more emotional follow-through than the show... but it's still not COMPLETE. So, maybe it's just a matter of the bar being set too low... or my personal bar being set too high. Or, it might actually be a case of people liking the fact that they don't have to worry about emotional follow-through that much and that all people are really interested in is Der sinking his hands into Stiles' suddenly long hair.

Comments

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I watched the first two episodes of TW way-back-when and it just didn't catch me. But that's okay; there's something for everyone out there, right? So I caught an episode last night, just because, I dunno, I just did. And it was a bunch of people with fangs snarling at each other and the kid named Stiles getting all teary-eyed and ... it still didn't catch me.

I just don't get it.

So yeah, maybe you're right: the apples aren't falling very far from the tree. What will I do when SPN ends?? I don't even wanna think about it. *sigh* Probably make 'real' art and write 'real' things. So un-fun. ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, I actually haven't tried watching the show yet. I probably will eventually though, and then I'll probably be sorry for ever complaining about the fanfiction. :P

I figure I don't really have to worry about what will happen when Supernatural ends. With how strong the fandom is, I figure it'll just keep going until I'm old and start forgetting things.

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

You're probably right! At least, that's what I'm buying right now. End? NEVER SAY DIE!

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

Have never watched Teen Wolf, let alone read any of their fanfics. But I do agree with you about the emotional follow-through with SPN fics. That is probably one of the reasons I love to read fics, is I get that emotional follow-through on so many different levels, which is very satisfying. Can't say enough good things about so many of the writers out there for SPN. It's always so cool the way they pick up and resolve issues that weren't completely resolved in the show. Love it!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Reading fics in other fandoms just makes me appreciate how good we have it in the SPN fandom. :)

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

We do have it good. Very spoiled, and I most likely will not read fanfics for any other show because of that. Because if I do, I will always be comparing the content, etc. to the writing of SPN fic writers.

[kuhekabir.livejournal.com]

OK...what's an emotional follow through? LOL

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Emotional follow-through... let's see if I can explain this...

Every action, every major event that happens to you, has an emotional consequence. If your dog dies, you are sad. If you've been in an abusive relationship, you have trouble trusting people again. If you're friend nearly dies in some horrible car accident, perhaps you cling tighter to them - you worry about them driving places, etc.

Now, imagine you are watching someone else's life. Their dog dies... maybe they look sad right when it happens, but then they're perfectly fine the next day. Well, okay, you think, maybe they're just good at hiding the pain? Then they get out of an abusive relationship, but seem oddly not effected by it at all. One of their friends nearly dies, and they don't even check up on them... they might TELL you they care about and love their friend, but you don't see it... you don't see any evidence that anything that's happened to them has had any effect on their emotions, or their relationships, or their future decisions. It's almost as though as soon as the events happen, they just forget about them... you start to wonder if they're human, or if they're some sort of sociopath...or perhaps, PERHAPS, they are a character that is written with absolutely no emotional follow-through. :P

[kuhekabir.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes that makes perfect sense. I can see now what your earlier comment was all about! :) Thank you. :)

[mymuseandi.livejournal.com]

Hello!! *waves madly* Can I just say that I miss you?? :)

Okay, so I've been following the new season of Teen Wolf, and I must say that there is some continuity logistics-wise, but yes, the emotional follow through is lacking. I sort of blame it on the relatively not-so-much acting talents of the actors (except for a couple of the 'kids' and the adults). Like, you expect a certain character to act shocked when he found out the truth about another character, but the shocked moment is only shown for like five seconds, and then there's action scenes and emotions are pushed and forgotten. I'm assuming that the scenes were shot out of sequence, but really, it's like the actors focused on the present scene without adding emotional input from the previous one. Flash acting, I call it. All the emotions laid bare for that quick moment, and then boom, back to being stoic/broody/puppy/whatever their default emotions are.

That being said, the show has problems with the writing and the pacing, so it's not just them.

Linking back to the fanfics, I agree with you about the apple and the tree part. I feel that because of the not-so-good acting - primarily acting, but also the pacing, plot holes, etc - the writers can't really grasp the depth of the character from the actors themselves, and the metas I've read always fall back on the dialogue and the structures of the episodes but only sometimes refers to the actions of the characters themselves. And so if the characters themselves cannot present the underlying emotions then maybe it's hard for the writers to write about them?

I may be rambling nonsensical things here, I don't know. It's past midnight here and I'm not exactly coherent LOL But I hope what I'm trying to say gets through, some of it at least.

And let's face it, Supernatural and Sherlock ruined the rest of the other fandoms for us. We're an unstoppable force. We ruuuuule!! :p

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hello!! *waves madly* Can I just say that I miss you?? :)

*waves back* Awww, I miss you too. :)

I think you are probably right about the writing/acting being the combination of things to blame for faults in the fanfic. I'd probably also blame the relative youth of the fandom - as, you know, "Teen Wolf" probably attracts a younger audience than Supernatural and Sherlock. Or, I could be wrong about that...

But yeah, having not seen the show (besides through gifs on the internet), I tend to forget that the actors themselves are young and still cutting their teeth, so to speak. I mean, if you look back at Season 1 of Supernatural, you can see Jared, at 22, is still trying to find his acting groove - and you can see him improve as the show ages and he gets more hours of acting under his belt.

That being said, we probably also cast a bit of the blame on the directors, who are supposed to DIRECT the actors into the performances that are appropriate - but yeah... anyway, basically I'm saying that I think you're probably correct.

In truth, I think part of the reason I've been reluctant to actually watch the show is that I'm afraid that once I do, I'll have an urge to write better fic... and I have other projects that I should be working on. That's how the demented'verse started "I can write a better Harry Potter/Supernatural crossover than that!" and then suddenly I had 3 novels worth of it in about 2.5 years. :P

[mymuseandi.livejournal.com]

"Teen Wolf" probably attracts a younger audience than Supernatural and Sherlock.

I think the primary audience is the younger crowd, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there are older viewers - like me! :p - who got to watching because the other shows are on hiatus right now. I like to just watch the eye candy and try not to wince too much at the obvious gaps in storytelling and acting.

And the actors are young, but not as young as you think. The most talented ones in the bunch of 'kids' are Dylan O'Brien (Stiles) who's 21 and Crystal Reed (Allison) who's 28. The rest fall somewhere in between. I also think that it doesn't help that most of the 'kid characters' interact with each other most in the episodes, so they probably don't have a chance to stretch their acting talents as they would have acting against a better actor.

LOL For a person who's just started watching the first 4 episodes, I have to agree with you about the urge to write! It helps that my enthusiasm levels are not as high as they were a few years ago, so the urge passes after a day or so LOL

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

And the actors are young, but not as young as you think.

Oh trust me, I know exactly how young they are - I looked them up so that I would know exactly how creepy I should feel for lusting after them.

FYI: Derek is the same age as my little sister, which makes him FAIR GAME.

But yeah, early twenties is still pretty damn young, and it's not so much about age as it is about experience. I know both Tylers (Derek and Scott) have been acting since they were kids, but that doesn't necessarily mean much - not to mention that you also have to take into account how they're being directed. And I have a feeling the directors tend to focus on the action/visuals, rather than the emotional storytelling.

I haven't been writing at ALL recently. I tried to start the Sassy-fic that I had been talking about doing, but it just kind of came out flat and I haven't touched it again. I don't know if I'm just in a slump, or if I'm too busy trying to figure out a good plot for my next original novel, or what it is. On the one hand, I kind of miss writing, but on the other hand I also sort of feel like I'm taking a nice vacation - so maybe I'm just a bit burnt out?

[khek.livejournal.com]

I've watched the show and read the fanfic...and I like both. I think that the show is good for what it is...it's on MTV, so not only is it a young cast, it's on a network that doesn't DO regular drama shows. I'm not sure that the executives/directors/producers care about crafting a good story. They're experimenting with a new format and looking for viewers.

I kind of like shows that leave a lot of holes in them, because then I can fill in those holes with my own ideas. Now, if I was patient enough to write them down, it would be great...

I do think a lot of the fanfic writers are young. I think the show writers might be too. As an example, in last week's episode, there was a teacher who spent the night at the school, working on correcting papers and having unlimited access to the supply room (which was in boiler room.) Now first, I work for a town. I have friends who are teachers all around the country. There is no school that I know of now where teachers can stay in school after a certain hour. Supplies are usually under lock and key, and often teachers don't have that key, and a boiler room is usually only accessible to custodians, not teachers. And who keeps paper in a boiler room anyway? Then this week they had the kids get supplies from the janitor's closet, which was it's own separate room, somewhere near the classrooms. And they sent kids in there, unsupervised, to restock it. It didn't make sense. To me, that speaks of either lack of experience, poor research skills, or no common sense. Maybe all three.

But the show is fun to watch, even if I shout at the screen every now and then. And the eye-candy is certainly pleasing. (Except for the new Desperate Housewife twins, who I think are just plain ugly, and who look too much like wolves to play them on TV.)

I think you probably would end up writing fic, so if you have too much on your plate, don't watch! But, because I'd love to see what you'd do with some of the situations, my real inclination is to say...Go! Watch! See what you think! :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm inclined to agree with your assessment of the show. And yes, I've never worked as a teacher, but I have BEEN to school - and I know the general rules about when the building gets locked down and where supplies are kept and who has access to them! :P It sounds like the writers are too eager to brush aside restrictions in favour of using convenient storytelling.

I probably WILL watch, eventually, but maybe not until the fall, at the earliest. My summer is looking to be fairly busy. Mind you, the fall is when the SPN DVDs come out, and then I usually have a month solid of doing nothing but clothing-catalogue and SPN rewatch. So, watching any new show might end up waiting until 2014. :P

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

but for some reason I've never been as emotionally satisfied after reading fic in another fandom (and I'm thinking of primarily Teen Wolf and Merlin here) as I have after I finish reading an SPN fic.

That's what brings me back into the SPN-fandom all the time I drift off. It's not that there aren't fics - but there is apparently not the same dedication in writing them as in "my" fandom.
Also, even though the majority of SPN-fics is slash in one way or the other, there's still plenty gen to be found (which is also pretty darn well written!) - and if I stumble upon something gen in another fandom, it's mostly very ... blunt. Not bad per se, but just not satisfying.

Maybe other people experience the same things when they stroll from their fandom? Dunno.

Or, it might actually be a case of people liking the fact that they don't have to worry about emotional follow-through that much and that all people are really interested in is Der sinking his hands into Stiles' suddenly long hair.

Oh, yeah. That, too :-D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it'd be interesting to find out if other people experience the same thing when they stroll away from their core fandom and try out others (or SPN).

But then again, this is part of what encourages me to write in other fandoms - "I need to inject a bit of emotional follow-through into this fandom for these guys!" :) (of course, whether I succeed or fail is up to the readers)