Hold up there, buckaroo! Take a deep breath and let the negative chi/karma/vibes out...because there is some emotional backlog there, RR ;)

Have no interest in being patronizing or harsh - though it will probably come out that way - but till Joss comes down with some 'Versefic version of The Ten Commandments...fanfic writers are rather free to monkey around in the sandbox till the get sick of it. We have zero clues about how Joss was going to handle Zoë’s desires for having a child or children after Wash's death. For all we know, he would have gone with the cliché of having her knocked up shortly before the crash landing on Mr. Universe's Moon and worked it like no one’s business. There are more than a few women out there who have found themselves pregnant and alone after their spouses have suddenly died. However, I think Joss would have done some spectacular work with the topics of dealing with being a single mother, the possible option to have an abortion while still in the immediate grip of grief, and the consequences of raising a kid without a direct father figure. Lots of uncles and aunts to go around...but only a mommy as biological parent :(

And if I wanted to get critical...you're not exactly free of using clichéd plot twists your own self, reginaroadie. Just off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 clichés you've used quite readily in "You Can't Go Home Again," though you at least took the time to work on making the clichés fresh in how the BDHs involved or affected by the clichés dealt with said plot twists.

So yeah...you got a strong opinion. I respect you for having it and for the point it makes. However, I am not too enraptured by your tone...mainly because you're dismissing a lot of peoples' work as crap simply because they took an easier road for their first fic or an early one if they have been a bit more prolific. Everyone who writes fanfics for the FF verse is using another person's property, so I would be careful about what you dismiss out of hand...or you might find Joss making you look the fool by using a plot device you've derided as sappy and melodramatic;)

BEB

I may be a newbie and inexperienced, but I don't dislike "pregnant Zoe" fics. Some are sappy, but some are done well. Because Joss is not involved, fic writers can write whatever they please--some people will read and like, some will not. I think the quality of the writing can make almost any storyline plausible. The ones I don't like, I simply don't continue to read.

I like this plot line as long as its presented in a creative, not overdone way. Otherwise, I just tend not to read the story.

People can write what they want. Not everyone is going to like it.

If you read somethng you don't like, leave that author feedback and tell them why you didn't.

I think if Joss had written a baby into a post BDM story, Zoe would have lost it.

Hey, call me sappy and a new fanfic writer.
You'd hit the mark on both counts.
I've still got the training wheels on, but people have nice and enthusiastic things to say.

I had her go back for frozen embryos several months after the BDM.
AND she's carrying twins. Hoo boy! How hackneyed a plot device am I using?! (Just because it is quite plausible medically doesn't excuse me, correct?)

She'd seemed pretty determined to have a child in the series, and I felt like she could use a little happiness making thing in her life. The only thing standing in her way was Wash. Now that he was no longer an impediment (how terribly ironic..) why not?

It was my first attempt at writing. I do not regret the decision. You'll want to steer well clear of anything I've written from the sound of it. There's a lot more schlock and dross from me since July to avoid, too!
There's things others write that I wince at too, but I'm willing to read and let read. There's plenty of things I do like out there.
As for smacking of newbie?
We've all got to start somewhere.

People can write whatever they want. There's plenty of kinds of fanfics that I don't like, and you know what I do? I don't waste my time reading them.

Here! Here! You're absolutely right, this is just the sort of sugary hokeyness that Joss would have never done. Everyone interprets the characters in their own fashion, we all know that, and I have been criticized for a few of my interpretations (which I welcome always.......remember what Lemmy told us: "Maybe you should listen, and leave some room for doubt"), but sappiness should be off limits.