OMG UGAIZ! You made me write an essay...

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Wow. I had not expected such a huge response to my shout out for love; y'all gave such extensive answers as well. Thank you! I've read them all and I encourage you to go through all the comments yourselves to find out how everyone is feeling. (Beware of possible spoilers for S8!)

When did you first notice the Nick/Greg chemistry?

The first episode: they were so cute and awkward talking about football games and anal swabs.

First episode I watched. it was like "OMG!!!!!" and my friend was like *facepalm*

I saw them and went, "Ooh, pretty," first and decided they'd be cute together.

It sort of built, until every time they were on screen together I was like, *squee!* And then I was a fangirl.

I noticed Nick/Greg from the get go. Cute guys, flirty senses of humor - it's all good.

Gosh, um, I read a slashy fic about them, went back to season 1
and watched all my eps and was then, like, duh!

DUH indeed :-)

To summarize: the love for Nick/Greg is still there (YAY!), even though most of us feel let down by canon (BOOH!). Not just because the guys are not getting as much opportunities to flirt, but mostly for story-arch reasons. (We love the science, it's really not all about the subtext, honest;)

When it comes to Nick/Greg fandom: some people miss the 'old' fanfic-authors and others are dissapointed by the current contributions. I share that sentiment, but fear we have to accept that a lot of those awesome writers from the past have moved on after giving this pairing their heart and soul for years. They left such an amazing collection of stories to enjoy. Maybe we should remind new members of our favorites? The Desert site is the best archive for fics, but it can be a little overwhelming if you are not aware of the classics. If you have read something you like, you could tell us all about it: share your love!

As for the quality of new fics: whenever I have the courage to try an unknown author and end up being shocked by the level of writing (quality, spelling, grammar, OOC, etc) I am usually even more surprised to find other people love it A LOT, judging by the fangirl-squeeage. Apparently the only people leaving comments are the ones who seem to be impressed, even if to me the faults are obvious. I'm not talking about content, because we all have different taste, but if we want authors to improve, we should really make ourselves be heard.

I know it's not fandompolicy to leave a comment if you don't like a story, but how can people reach the previously appreciated standard, if they are not aware of possible improvement? Of course the rule 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all' applies. You don't have to be mean to be constructive.
I don't write fics, but I do appreciate criticism on my art. I would never compromise myself to live up to everyone's wishes, but it can be very helpful to know what non-admirers are thinking;) And by all means, let me know if I misspell words in my posts. I live to learn.

Back to the boys
It is my mission to get people who stopped watching back on track. Just because Nick/Greg are in a solid relationship right now (What? They totally are.) and less flirty than before, there is still plenty of fun interaction to watch. (Those of you who have seen S8Ep12 "Grissom's Divine Comedy" know what I'm talking about;) Oh wait, science. Ehm. Well, no. Can't say there is much left of the good old days on CSI, although I thought TPTB made a brave attempt at the beginning of the new season. I'm dreading the final episode though. There is still more to come before the summer-hiatus, yes? No spoilers please.

To prove that the love didn't die after Season 4, I will try to post at least once a week about a random episode from the last three or four seasons. I invite others to join in: did you see any scenes between the boys you liked, especially in later seasons? Make a post! Squee! If we all pull together we might eventually even finish that infamous Nick/Greg scene list! Wouldn't that be a cool reference and inspiration for follow-up fic? (Sorry, had to mention that, it's my favorite kind of story;)

I will also start reading again and leave constructive comments (or the occassional "OMG, that was hot"). I would like to see more people doing that, so consider yourself poked into action;).

*Steps off soapbox.*

The main thing I learned from all your comments is that none of you want this community to fade away. Well, it's up to all of us to get the spark back. I suggest you do try new authors, there are still plenty of stories posted every week. When you don't write fic or make artwork, you can leave comments or post your thoughts (on old and new episodes: essays? screencaps? Everything related to the guys is appreciated) and get involved! If you don't like this place anymore, that's fine, but I for one am gonna stop complaining about the lack of good stuff and will do my part to keep it interesting, at least for myself;)

No matter what happens Nick/Greg will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks to everyone who shared their love in the past, present and future :-)

Comments

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

*applauds* That was some lovely soapboxing, there. =D

If I may make a suggestion? The topic of criticism has come up a few times recently, on metafandom and elsewhere, and there seem to be mixed opinions. My thought is this - what if we established a new section of the header, a "critique" label or something, that would go up with the title, author, rating, etc. That way people who are interested in hearing critique can make that known, and people who don't want to hear it can opt out? I know that I've hesitated to make critical comments on fics because I'm not sure if the author would welcome it or not.

Of course, this is just my two cents. =)


I do also want to say thanks for running this! It was pretty fun to read everyone's comments, and it was definitely interesting to see how the fandom feels about various events and the direction the show is taking. Heh. The writers could probably stand to run one of these little polls themselves! But anyway, it was cool. Excellent idea!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

*takes a bow*

Good suggestion. I passed it onto the mods. I can totally understand if people don't feel comfortable when they fear criticism. This should always be a fun place to hang out:)

I was pleasantly surprised by the massive amount of comments. It's good to know there are still plenty of people who care:)

Thanks for your two cents!

[amyvand25.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a chance to respond to your original post; but I wanted to respond to your paragraph about constructive criticism. I think a lot of us who are authors don't post the con-crit because I have noticed in several fandoms that when someone calls out something in their story that they might want to work on a lot of people get very defensive and butthurt.

Maybe I'm a different person, or maybe it's being an older author or that English is my first language; but I feel that good valid con-crit helps me become a better author and write stories that people want to read.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous icon:)

I can understand if an author simply wants to share a story without running the risk of harassment. I can respect that, but like you, I believe we can benefit from criticism. And when people state they don't use a beta or lack knowledge of the language, I don't understand why they even bother posting in a community. If you only want people to go 'OMG, i loooooooooove it', you should just post it in your friends only journal.

I always thought a community was a safe place to a)meet people with the same interest and b)learn from each other.

:)

[bflyw.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for posting BeeLikeJ! We mods have been talking about posting, but you beat us to it! And as you say: responses show that there is still life and love!

I will probably comment more later, or post a new post about it. Your posting has given me more thoughts to talk to my co-mods with. Just wanted to tell you that we do appreciate your initiative - a lot!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're welcome. I'm glad you didn't think I was out of line. *grins* I really hope we can keep the flame burning. All of us:)

I apologize for not being aware of the CSI-forums for some of the subjects I mentioned. I already explained to you why, but thought I should also let you know that the change to 'a one stop Nick/Greg shop' inspired me to ask for more than only fic and artwork.

I am curious to see what is gonna happen in the next couple of weeks:)

[jayceepat.livejournal.com]

I was absolutely amazed at the comments regarding the lack of stories AND the folks who said they never commented or gave feedback. If it takes something in the heading to let folks know I won't dissolve into a sludge pool if you don't like something then by all means let's change the heading.

I don't have to have folks gushing all over me but it's really difficult when I write something over 5 chapters and spend hours researching my facts to get things right and then maybe 2 or 3 people respond. That's the main reason why I haven't written anything since February. I have a folder of ideas and partial stories but I get to the point where I need to get on-line and start looking up facts to flesh out my ideas and I just decide, "what's the point?"

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

I personally think there are still enough stories posted regularly, but as many others I've been cautious to try new authors after being dissapointed before. I know that's not fair to those authors who do use a beta and spend a lot of time to get their stories perfect. I would love to give feedback, especially when even the heading of a story is already scaring me off (because of errors, not content;), but I didn't want to say anything that might upset the fellow members of the community. I guess that fear of starting a fandomwank -again- made those of us who are dissapointed leave the fic behind. And instead of trying to improve things, we mope and grumble in our own journals about how everything has been going downhill. Not very constructive at all;)
I feel bad that this behavior has caused you to not invest in stories you already started. I really hope that the amount of love shown in the last week will inspire you to continue writing!

[clio21000.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for posting this. It's good to hear that the Love is still there.

My two cents re: Maybe we should remind new members of our favorites? The Desert site is the best archive for fics, but it can be a little overwhelming if you are not aware of the classics. If you have read something you like, you could tell us all about it: share your love! Perhaps this could be done more officially? A list of the classics accessible through this community, perhaps, or some sort of symbols/designations on WMTDB (though it sounds like the admins there have their hands full with moving the site). Community members could contribute lists of their favorite classic fics or vote on the best through this community... Idk, just ideas, to be passed on to whomever you may feel would like to hear them.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're welcome;) I was very happy to be overwhelmed by the Love.

As for a classic-rec list in the Desert, I suspect not everyone has the same idea about what is considered a classic. We could of course go by date and a lot of us are aware of who started this whole Nick/Greg thing in the first place, but from past experience I find it's safer not to be too specific when refering to the old gang (Although some people did do this in their comments, so if you don't know any of the earliest writers, you can look for them there;)

Voting is a nice idea, but from participating in the fanficawards I know it's also a LOT of work. I know the mods read all these suggestions as well, so it might be picked up. I'm only one voice after all;)

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

I'm actually at the office right now and working hard (whut, dude? I totally am!), but I just wanted to tell you how incredibly awesome you are. That is all.

(Ah, and I will try to do my part in keeping this community alive. I'm poking my brain as we speak! ;)

Thanks again for doing this, so much. ♥

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

OOooh, I know you are working incredibly hard, so I appreciate it very much that you took the time to heart me:-p The brain-poking is very sexy, bb. I don't want to distract you while you're doing that, so I'm using my special non Nick/Greg icon;)

[gregisamazing.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is all music to my ears, honestly. I'm glad you stood up and spoke about it.

The main reason I've stopped posting is due to the con/crit angle. I enjoy writing and feedback, and it just started dropping off when I was posting. Then I re-read my stuff and realised just how awful some of it was and wished someone had slapped me and told me XD

I hope this all goes well, and as we speak I'm trying to write something!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

:) Thank you.

I hope it will encourage people to get involved again, even if they are a bit wary to read unknown authors.
When I don't like the tone of the story or the general idea, I don't think I should leave a comment, because that's just my personal peeve. Unless the author specifically asks for my opinion I won't even try certain fic;) But I do believe in giving people a chance, so from now on I will at least start reading community-posts again...

Good luck with your writing!