hd_worldcup: The Devil's in the Details

[annafugazzi]

Fourth set of fics at hd_worldcup! The prompt is The Devil.

• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Team Fanon
  Wordcount: 14,066
  Rating: R
  Warnings: AU, non-graphic dubious consent.
  Summary: Draco Malfoy always gets what he wants. Only, this time, what he wants is someone he can never have.
  Author's Note: Thanks to my betas J, S and L. Some text was lifted from DH pg. 458. I used the figurative explanation of 'The Devil'-obsession, losing control, and sexual desire.
  
  
• Smile, You’re on Camera -- Team EWE
  Wordcount: ~14,000
  Rating: NC-17
  Warning: A bit of Harry/Ginny but nothing serious or explicit.
  Summary: Harry Potter has lost sight of what it means to listen to himself—he’s depressed and confused, moving through life only to please the Ministry and the press and his friends. One day he wakes up on a train next to Draco Malfoy and that all changes.
  Author's Note: Thank you so much to Team Sheep and all who betaed. Thanks to other people who helped when they didn’t even have a stake on this team.
  
  
• Better The Devil You Know (Mehen) -- Team Epilogue
  Wordcount: ~14,800
  Rating: NC-17
  Warnings: Infidelity, misuse of magic, self-harm(inflicted by another), angst, mentions of character death.
  Summary: Any chain is freely worn. You are enslaved only because you allow it. Throught the passing of time, Harry comes to realise we are each our own Devil.
  Author's Note: Author's Note The meaning of The Devil card can be found Here Thank you to my teammates and to my betas W&W—I could not have done it without you.
  
  
• Shadowplay -- Team Canon
  Wordcount: 5,500
  Rating: NC-17
  Warnings: Imaginary non-con, violence, and bondage. Non-imaginary (in the context of a fictional story) fully consensual but slightly violent sex.
  Summary: Harry knows what he wants, but Draco knows what he needs.
  Author's Note: "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions."— Jung

OK, re. the hd_worldcup... um, fandom's gone kinda splodey re. this, yes?

Have written and re-written the same two paragraphs about five times, mentioning how I haven't seen any of the authors themselves complaining about their fics being trashed, but there seems to be some hostility towards them for being "whiny" anyway, and how, folkses, it's just supposed to be fun, and...

...and then I realize I can't expand on that in any way that won't add to the wank. ::sigh::

So. To sum up:

1. hd_worldcup = fun.
   
   
2. hd_worldcup = competition.
   
   
3. hd_worldcup = people will give their opinions, for good and bad, and while we might wish some would be gentler and may roll our eyes at others, it's not quite like trashing giftfics.
   
   
4. hd_worldcup mods = doing a great job, IMHO.
   
   
5. hd_worldcup = fun.

Enjoy it, guys. We all worked too damn hard to let it go all pear-shaped, you know?

Comments

[scrtkpr.livejournal.com]

Looks like an excellent summary to me. ♥

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Have to agree that the calls for nicer comments have not been coming from authors, though some have come from team players. I think this is because there has been a lot of bonding done through the cup and people are being protective of others they see as younger or newer and possibly open to being hurt.

I think that this is all motivated by kindness at the base, and that it was just surprise at the critical depth of some comments. A to those comments, I think they are a logical extension of people wanting to explain some of their voting choices and being invited to view the fics as competing against each other.

And yes, the mods are doing a great job, though, given I am about 100,000 words behind in reading, I'm not having fun yet! had some good reads, though ...

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

I think this is because there has been a lot of bonding done through the cup and people are being protective of others they see as younger or newer and possibly open to being hurt.

I think that this is all motivated by kindness at the base,
Yeah, I think so too. The problem I'm having is that the comeback has often sounded very critical of the authors whose work has been criticised. I have this image of a soccer game where a player is accidentally tripped, her teammates say "Hey! Watch what you're doing!" to the tripper, and other players turn to the trippee and say, "If you can't handle this game, get off the field!"

Um... all the trippee did was get tripped. And all her teammates did was tell someone else to be more careful. Nobody called the ref to get the tripper kicked out. So whaddup with the hostility to the trippee and her teammates?

OTOH, I think I mentioned on pir8fancier's lj that perhaps the reason I'm puzzled about this is that I just haven't read the right ljs - the ones where people are complaining about readers being too hard on them. In which case, pls to ignore all I said above. I live in ignorance, and in this situation, ignorance is indeed bliss ;)

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

Both the bottom two links lead to Better The Devil You Know. Which was a great story, even if it wasn't the one I clicked to read. :)

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

EEep!

Thanks for the heads-up; fixed now :)

[casynne.livejournal.com]

I don't know about other readers and commenters of the hd_worldcup stories, but I, for one, have tried to comment every story I read and, as not all stories are equally well written, some authors may have gotten more concrit for their work than others.

However, reading the posts made by furiosity, pir8fancier, and frayah which, may I tell you, took me completely by surprise, I realized that perhaps, instead of offering concrit, I'd be much better off leaving out those parts of my comment that could be considered open criticism. I'm considering making the comments shorter (one or two 'thank-you' lines) to fics that I did not particularly like.

Feeling rather discombobulated here *g*

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

I realized that perhaps, instead of offering concrit, I'd be much better off leaving out those parts of my comment that could be considered open criticism.
Oh dear.

Feeling rather discombobulated here *g*
Yeah, I can imagine.

I haven't read a lot of the discussion on those posts - waiting for them to die down so I don't miss good comebacks - but as a writer, I can tell you that I personally don't mind concrit. In fact, I very much appreciate it.

Concrit does not, of course, include comments like "This fic was a steaming piece of **** and you suck!" - those are just flames that you can use to roast weenies. But other comments, pointing out that this character didn't ring true for the following reasons, or the ending was too abrupt, or the reader didn't understand why X happened - those are useful. IMHO. To me, as a writer, it shows that the reader read closely enough to be able to notice parts that needed improvement. Not only that, they also thought enough of my story and of me as a writer that they took the time to help me out, so that I might be able to improve my story before posting it outside the competition, and maybe avoid the same mistakes in a future fic.

I'm only speaking for myself here, obviously. But that's my two bits on it.

I'm just adding to the discombobulation, aren't I? ::sigh::

[casynne.livejournal.com]

The confusion also stems from the fact that, seeing as it is a competition of sorts, I felt justified in my efforts to offer an honest and sincere comment, letting the author know my reasons for giving a higer/lower rating for their fic. I never meant to offend anyone with my criticism and now I'm vacillating between confused and ashamed for hurting someone's feelings when it was never my intent in the first place.

Also, being a fast reader, I've read all of the stories posted so far, and I've noticed that some (at least two of them) are a head above others. Maybe I shouldn't be so "harsh" and expect all the stories to measure up, because there are some young writers new to this in this fest, and I'd never want to discourage them from writing.

[frayach-nicuill.livejournal.com]

Oh no!! I didn't mean to contribute to the brouhaha; I was actually trying to get people to chill out (although telling people to chill out usually has the opposite effect . . .). Anyway, I'm in complete agreement with Anna. I simply have not seen any writers complain about the comments they've received. Furiosity's and Pir8fancier's (and a couple others') posts came out of total left field imho and strongly suggested that authors were being jerks. The main point of my post was to say that I've seen no evidence of authors being jerks. Perhaps I should have just written F and P quietly and expressed my concerns directly to them . . . but anyway. Sorry. I didn't mean to add fuel to the fire.

And you shouldn't feel like you can't offer your opinion!! I have no doubt you know how to do so constructively and respectfully. Please don't feel like you can't share your impressions. I think it would be really very sad if that was the take-home message commenters are receiving from this whole tempest in a teapot thing.

[frayach-nicuill.livejournal.com]

One more thing, I just now glanced over a handful of your comments, and there is absolutely nothing at all objectionable about them. Seriously! You're fine. Please don't worry about it.

[casynne.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you for your reply! I did want to hear more opinions. See, my problem is that English is the third foreign language I speak and, whenever I make a comment, it could just happen that whatever I say comes across as more rigorous-sounding or acerbic than what I intended. What I wouldn't do to be a native English speaker! *g* So I was worrying if my concrit could be taken the wrong way :(

And thank you for taking an effort to look over some of my comments *blushes* I'm feeling slightly more reassured now.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

my problem is that English is the third foreign language I speak and, whenever I make a comment,
Oh to have this problem - a third foreign language, I mean :D :D :D

I am, as ever, in awe of the fact that so bloody often people who say "Please excuse my English - it's not my native tongue" have far better grammar, spelling and usage than about 75% of us native English speakers. I get a little short of breath even thinking of writing in Spanish, which was the first language I ever learned and which I still speak fluently, because I just know I'm dropping accents and conjugating oddly and all that. And don't even get me started on writing in French, which I had to do all day at school from ages 12-18. The mere thought gives me hives.

Anyway. All this to say: you certainly look like a native English speaker from this side of the screen. Go you!

[rainae.livejournal.com]

Changed account~ Add me!

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Done!