Cimorene

Well, no. I can't. Part of that is - well, recs are where I talk about stories. I don't have any other way to do that, no other platform in which I can discuss a story. I just don't know how else I could talk about the story - about this brilliant moment that I love, where Clark reveals his alien-ness to Lex - without recommending it. So if I can't, then I don't.

And part of that is just me. I also can't talk about the brilliant moment that I love without discussing the significant flaw, and, okay, it's hard for me to do that in a fannish context. I cringe inside when I see badfic, because I know someone loved it and thought it was good enough to post. I hate it when people's babies, their stories, are horrible and deformed and you can't say, "Oh, what a lovely story!" because, well, it isn't. It has a Problem. I won't pretend the Problem isn't there, and I don't want to criticize the baby, so...yeah.

Plus, I learned early and well that even minor critical comments about stories can sucker punch the writer. And I don't want to do that! That's not why I'm here! I save that for pro writing, where I expect people to be professionals and able to handle criticism (and even when they can't, which is often - look, it's our *job*, suck it up), and it's really hard for me to be critical of a fan, someone who is not doing it for money but out of love. (Well, as a beta, sure. I'll clearly identify the parts that didn't work for me, take apart a story, praise the good and excoriate the bad, fight over commas and word choices, whatever. But if someone asks me for a beta, she's asked for that, all my opinions, good and bad. A stranger? A fan who didn't ask for it? No. I wish I could, but I can't. I feel too weird about it.)