(I think part of the problem is that writing good plotty casefic requires the ability to at least fake the forensic science end of things convincingly, which is hard.)

Most certainly. But NCIS has the forensic techspeak too, yet there're more actual casefiles to be found. Whereas from some of the stuff on ffn, you could think Bones fandom is downright obsessed with the thought of getting Brennan knocked up. What's that about?

I'm a gen reader, but I don't mind shipperfic as long as it comes with good plot & characterization... just that a lot of the time those fall by the wayside to make room for the OTP getting it on.

I'm having a vague idea for a Bones/NCIS crossover. I mean, speaking of OTP... those two shows ask to be crossed. They even take place in the same city. Weird than no one has done that so far (or I missed it).