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    #16
    Originally posted by RodneyIsGodney View Post
    Oh, and before I forget...great sig/avatar combination you got going there Crichiel!
    Thanks! I have no clue how to do that kind of thing. I asked Switch to help when we were talking at the convention this year. I just said, "This is my favourite shot of Dean. Here's a shot of Sam from the same scene. And here's a quote from the ep. What can you do?" And she worked her magic!

    Another fanfic nitpick. I like angst, and I like h/c. But sometimes the story gets SO angsty and hurt/comfort-y that Dean just comes off as weak. They have him crying left and right. And not in the awesome macho, "I'm trying NOT to get emotional" way that the show does. Just sobbing and falling apart all over Sam and Sam has to rock him to sleep and carry him inside and...whatEVER!! I like my manly-man Dean that stuffs all that hurt inside....but you can still see it all over his little boy face!

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      #17
      Originally posted by starg8fans View Post
      It's not just extra siblings but OCs in a primary role in general that annoy me. There are so many excellent characters on Spn, you can get by with using those. Especially since most of the OCs are either female hunters who are blessed with almost superhuman faculties, or damsels in distress that the one of the boys fall in love with. And I can do without either. I like canon, and canon on Spn is awesome enough.

      And something that goes for fanfic in general, I can't abide bad English. If it's not your first language, get a beta. If you can't spell or use proper grammar, get a beta. I really don't get it, sometimes the synopsis already has a dozen typos in it. Then I don't even bother looking.
      This mostly. Another thing I can't stand is first person perspective (especially with switching viewpoints). I don't really know why it bothers me but I find third person perspective much better.

      Slash is fine with me as long as it is well written. Hell, Supernatural might be the only fandom were slash is somewhat canon, given the crazy amount of subtext between Sam & Dean or Dean & Cas. Is there even a decent amount any non-slash fics out there?
      In the darkness of night we hear the whispers of the void

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        #18
        Originally posted by Jaemal View Post
        This mostly. Another thing I can't stand is first person perspective (especially with switching viewpoints). I don't really know why it bothers me but I find third person perspective much better.

        Slash is fine with me as long as it is well written. Hell, Supernatural might be the only fandom were slash is somewhat canon, given the crazy amount of subtext between Sam & Dean or Dean & Cas. Is there even a decent amount any non-slash fics out there?
        Well, there's deandamage.com if you're into whump - definitely no slash there.

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          #19
          Originally posted by starg8fans View Post
          I meant that I only read Jared and Jensen fics in AU. It would be too weird to read stories about their actual lives, like things that happen on set or with their wives. But I love fics where they are secret agents or firefighters or something - although I must admit that most of them are of that other persuasion that most of you here don't like. At least the whole incest thing is not an issue here.
          Ah. That clears that up. Thank you. Don't think I've ever ecnountered fics like this before.

          Originally posted by Crichiel View Post
          Thanks!
          Y'welcome.

          I have no clue how to do that kind of thing. I asked Switch to help when we were talking at the convention this year. I just said, "This is my favourite shot of Dean. Here's a shot of Sam from the same scene. And here's a quote from the ep. What can you do?" And she worked her magic!
          That is a niiiiiice picture of Dean and real sweet of her to make them for you.

          Another fanfic nitpick. I like angst, and I like h/c. But sometimes the story gets SO angsty and hurt/comfort-y that Dean just comes off as weak. They have him crying left and right. And not in the awesome macho, "I'm trying NOT to get emotional" way that the show does. Just sobbing and falling apart all over Sam and Sam has to rock him to sleep and carry him inside and...whatEVER!! I like my manly-man Dean that stuffs all that hurt inside....but you can still see it all over his little boy face!
          Yeah, I hate it when they make Dean too sappy, too...chick flicky, if you will. Yes, "manly-man" Dean is the best Dean.


          I'm reading a fic now wherein Dean and Sam find a baby in the backseat of the Impala...yes, Dean's baby...and the writer is of the UK variety, no offense. Nappy, capsule, cot...ACK! Diaper, carseat, crib. Dean does not say "Nappy." I do like "pram" though! Not that Dean said that mind you...the writer was simply describing the stroller.
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            #20
            Whew! Had to track this thread down on page 4 just because of the horrible fanfic I just read. Gotta a new nitpick after reading this thing:

            People who can't write kids appropriately.

            Dean and Sam were 5 and 2 (and wouldn't Dean be 6 if Sam were 2?). Sam's speech was the most ridiculous overexaggerated baby speak. I've seen a lot of de-aged stories that do this. People have this very odd idea of what toddlers talk like.

            And Dean? Holy c**p! The stuff she had him doing and saying at age 5 was insane. She was writing him like he was 12! Besides that I SERIOUSLY doubt John would have left them alone for a week at THAT age, 5-year-olds (even in the worst home situations where they have to grow up early) are not capable of the thinking processes that he was displaying here (or the vocabulary!) I have a 5-year-old who's vocabulary STUNS people and this would be beyond her.

            Also Dean's physical strength and agility was crazy. FIVE! That's Kindergarten, lady!!

            I know, I know, I am probably just oversensitve because I have sent my whole life caring for children!

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              #21
              I read a lot of SPN fics, and I do a SPN RP with a friend which will NEVER see the light of day as fanfics cause they are for me and her alone. But here are my two pennies.

              Originally posted by Crichiel View Post
              Ooh! I've been wanting to start this thread for a while now! Now some of these mind you are just my personal dislikes story-wise:

              1) Yes, the siblings fics. Dunlikem.
              I like them if done well... haven't seen any done well. With the RP, the closest we've had to them having a sister is for them to have found someone during a hunt or something and kinda adopted her as a sister. No blood relations for all but one AU SL.

              2) Slash. Dunlikem.
              :hrugs.:: Doesn't bother be when it's done well.

              3) OC fics. Dunlikem.
              Because of the RP, I like OC's done well. But not many are in the ones I've read.

              4) The brotherhood AU stories. TOO AU, it changes their entire backstory of growing up without all these other hunters around. And WHO decided the initial parameters for this AU?
              I've read some that were kinda Brotherhood but never read the "official" brotherhoods... and after seeing the pages for it I was like WTF?

              5) Giving Dean nicknames that all sound so stupid (Deuce, De, Ace). His name is ONE syllable, four letters. Doesn't need a nickname!
              Ace and Deuce bug me. A LOT. De' I am fine with because when I've read fics where Sam calls him De', it's usually cause he was too young to finish his name, or because he was so FUBAR physically that that was all he could get out. But if he's old enough an healthy enough... Dean.

              6) Fanon that has been turned into canon in the fanfic world. (e.g. that Dean always sleeps in the bed nearest the door. No he doesn't. But everyone writes that he does.)
              Meh... Doesn't really bother me.

              7) John-bashing. He was a strict parent with questionable decision-making, but he wasn't abusive.
              If given a good reason to be abusive, I'll buy it. Demon possession, Curse, something like that... I can see it. Otherwise, meh.

              8) Excessive whumping with no purpose (or STORY) other than the whumping.
              Amen!

              9) Unrealistic whumping. (Um....Sam would have been dead four hours ago if those were his injuries!)
              I can give or take depending on my mood.

              10) The drabbles are irritating for me, because they are usually so GOOD and I want them to keep going!
              Yes! But I HATE the drabbles where I have no Gorram clue what is going on!

              11) The spelling and grammar is a HUGE one for me. Another one that comes up a lot, isn't that English isn't their first language, it's that AMERICAN English isn't their first language. Personally I LOVE the slang and such from England...but the boys are American, they wouldn't say words like 'the boot' for trunk.
              With a few minor spelling errors, I can forgive... when it's REALLY bad... I avoid.

              12) WIP. UGH!!!! So often you will read a great first part, then in the A/N you see that they don't even have the rest planned out! They have no idea where they are going!! I know, I shouldn't even read WIP, but I don't mind if they start by saying the story is done, or almost done and will be so many parts, one part put up each week. But when they even ask, "What do you think should happen next?"
              Oh yeah... I hate that also... I will read a great fic... and it's like 13+ chapters long... then... TBC and it's half a year ago! ARGH!!!

              Also... I hate stories where the A/N's are almost as long if not longer than the story! You wanna write a story, write the damn story! You wanna chat, go to a damn chat room!

              To add to my pet peeve list... I personally dislike stories Mary Sue Winchester stories. "Oh Dean is perfect and Sam is evil and Selfish to the bone! How dare he hurt Dean like that!" Or "Poor Sammy who's so precious has to live with this neanderthal Dean! Let's get him out of there!" Ugh.

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                #22
                I've recently started reading fanfic (mostly for other shows). Because I've run across a lot of these problems with these other stories, I've avoided them for SPN, because I know they'll bother me that much more.

                For some reason, i've been reading almost exclusively crossovers. Most of my SPN crossovers have been with Criminal Minds. They were surprisingly well integrated, but I have read some where the basic personalities of some of the characters are so out of whack, they are no longer the character I know and love.

                The more general grammer is probably what consistently bugs me the most. Since these fics are based on established shows, I feel like the authors (no matter what country) should be trying to stay within the context i.e. the Winchesters are from Kansas, don't make them use regional slang NOT from the Plains. I recently read an NCIS and Criminal Minds crossover. One is set in DC, the other in Quantico, VA. I looked it up. 45 minute drive between the two, but this author had them fly from Quantico to DC. Even though both places have been mentioned in both shows as being very close to each other. I guess I just feel that if it's real, and fairly basic, you should do a little bit of research on it first. For example, I read one where they found a fiber that had DNA (not possible) that matched something in AFIS(fingerprint database). Not everyone will know that this is [i]completely[/b] wrong, but it's easy to look up and figure out.
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                  #23
                  That's the thing. A lot of authors will say, "I have no medical training, so forgive mistakes." And with the little details, that is totally fine with me. I don't know the exact dialogue medical personnel would use in a given situation. But there are so many answers that are just a quick Google away!

                  As it pertains to my previous nitpick about getting kids right? I suppose it MIGHT be a little harder to Google child development specifics. HOWEVER, I am still shaking my head that someone thinks a 5- and 2- year old would survive alone for over a week, OR that John would do that to them! (Heck, in I Believe the Children Are Our Future, we found out that even when Dean was a teenager, John had the hotel maid check up on them when he was gone!!)

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by Crichiel View Post
                    Whew! Had to track this thread down on page 4 just because of the horrible fanfic I just read. Gotta a new nitpick after reading this thing:

                    People who can't write kids appropriately.

                    Dean and Sam were 5 and 2 (and wouldn't Dean be 6 if Sam were 2?). Sam's speech was the most ridiculous overexaggerated baby speak. I've seen a lot of de-aged stories that do this. People have this very odd idea of what toddlers talk like.

                    And Dean? Holy c**p! The stuff she had him doing and saying at age 5 was insane. She was writing him like he was 12! Besides that I SERIOUSLY doubt John would have left them alone for a week at THAT age, 5-year-olds (even in the worst home situations where they have to grow up early) are not capable of the thinking processes that he was displaying here (or the vocabulary!) I have a 5-year-old who's vocabulary STUNS people and this would be beyond her.
                    OMG! I can't stand it when I read a kidfic/de-aged fic and the author(s) give a 4 year old Sam, for instance, the vocabulary of a 10 year old. Drives me friggin nutz! Makes me think that the author(s) has had no experience with kids. And I'm always aware of the boy's ages in fics, (doing the math in my head) making sure that they are 4 years apart no matter what age they are in the story because that would be a glaringly obvious mistake to make.

                    Oh, and while I'm on this subject, I read a fic where the author had written inner monologues for a young kid (it might have been a young Dean but I can't remember) and these monologues were beyond a little kids vocabulary. I was like, kids don't think like this! They don't say words like this! Come on!

                    Also Dean's physical strength and agility was crazy. FIVE! That's Kindergarten, lady!!

                    I know, I know, I am probably just oversensitve because I have sent my whole life caring for children!
                    Not at all! You just know your stuff and you're not afraid to put it out there.
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                      #25
                      I've been meaning to post in here for ages, but now I see that you've got a lot of them covered it saves me the typing!

                      So:

                      Hair colour, and also eye colour - Jensen (and therefore Dean) hasn't had naturally blond hair since he was a kid. Jensen bleached his hair a few years back, but can anyone honestly expect Dean to do something that lassy? NO. So his hair is brown. End of story! And eye colours - Jensen's eAye are GREEN, Jared's are HAZEL - we see them onscreen all the time - not that hard to work out, especially with all the close ups! Jared's eAye *can* look different colours, but hazel eAye do, depending on the light. I have hazel myself, some days they're browner than others, some days greener, but they're still hazel like Jareds are!!

                      Bad English, spelling & grammar - unless you're a professional writer, proof reader, or an English professor, you can't possibly get everything right, so we can't expect perfection, but basic spelling and punctuation? That's easy to get right. People complain they can't get a beta, and I really don't know wtf that's all about. We all know other people who read fanfic, so ask them! Even if they don't want to do it themselves, they're bound to know someone! I could give you the names of 20 people straight away who beta for other people, myself included!

                      Slash - well, what can I say? *raises hand as a shameless slasher and huge Wincest fan* You don't like it, that's fine by me! Any decent person will accept that other people have different opinions - so for instance, the thought of Mpreg makes me wanna puke - but everyone should respect other people's reading material. No-one forces you to read a particular genré! I'm perfectly happy to read gen fics (gen, not Gen! ), and there are some really good fics out there!

                      As for the J2 stuff - I love that in RL they're all touchy feely with each other, and it's clear they have a great mateyship. They play it up something rotten, and I for one can't get enough of it... however, RPS J2 fics? They make me feel creepy and dirty! And worst of all, the people who whump the actors as opposed to the characters - that really irks me!

                      As far as AU goes, I'm happy to read either. I tend to go for long fics these days, because many are really gripping and well thought out. Here's where a peeve comes into play though - if someone's placing Dean & Sam in an AU storyline, but essentially keeping their characters the same, why write some of the additional character so OoC? I started reading one where it was implied Wincest, and the writer had Bobby sit down with the lads asking if they were happy and basically encouraging it... WTF? That would never happen!

                      Shortening of 'Dean' - something so small, but like many of you have said - one syllable. The time it takes to say 'De' is the same as 'Dean' so what's wrong with these people???

                      Unrealistic whumping. Total whumper here, but I agree, I can't take an author/story seriously if they're putting the character through something no human could handle!

                      US vs. UK words - I have a general objection to American 'English', such as missing letters out, colour, flavour etc. With Spn being a programme set in America, American words should be used, so it does annoy me when I see UK words being used. Gotta say though, when I write my own stuff, I'll use the American words, but won't compromise on spelling... Dean's 'favourite' place may well be on the 'hood' of his Impala, but I'm calling the 'colour' black!

                      Originally posted by starg8fans View Post
                      Well, there's deandamage.com if you're into whump - definitely no slash there.
                      ^^^ I second that recommendation, wonderful site!

                      Originally posted by Crichiel View Post
                      That's the thing. A lot of authors will say, "I have no medical training, so forgive mistakes." And with the little details, that is totally fine with me. I don't know the exact dialogue medical personnel would use in a given situation. But there are so many answers that are just a quick Google away!
                      Couldn't agree more!

                      Another peeve (slash related, sorry!) is when people always think Sam left for Stanford because of his feelings for Dean!

                      And last one atm, people quoting from eps...and getting the quote wrong! Drives me bonkers! Well, more bonkers than I am already!


                      Edit: ah, thought of another... wacky pairings bug me! Whether it's het or slash, e.g. Dean/Gabriel... wtf? And Dean/Ruby... again, WTF??

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                        #26
                        Okay, I got a new one...Supernatural/Dark Angel crossovers...


                        I've recently delved into the land of SPN/DA crossovers and have noticed an apparent lack of plausible ways to crossover both shows. Most common is "Dean is Alec" and vice versa. There is no possible way for that to be since "Alec" is some 15-18 years in the future, depending on what season of SPN the story takes place in. And that is the major plot point of DA that every author, who's fics I've tried to read, has forgotten. And it drives me nuts! And, it's why Dean cannot possibly be Alec.

                        I can come up with two very plausible ideas for this to work... Cas can "zap" Dean and Sam into the future, I mean, if Zacharia can do it then so can Cas! Or, Alec could, somehow, be transported back in time. It's not that hard.

                        Okay, I think that's it for now. Gonna go see if I can find a good SPN/DA crossover tonight. Wish me luck!
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                          #27
                          Originally posted by RodneyIsGodney View Post
                          Okay, I got a new one...Supernatural/Dark Angel crossovers...


                          I've recently delved into the land of SPN/DA crossovers and have noticed an apparent lack of plausible ways to crossover both shows. Most common is "Dean is Alec" and vice versa. There is no possible way for that to be since "Alec" is some 15-18 years in the future, depending on what season of SPN the story takes place in. And that is the major plot point of DA that every author, who's fics I've tried to read, has forgotten. And it drives me nuts! And, it's why Dean cannot possibly be Alec.

                          I can come up with two very plausible ideas for this to work... Cas can "zap" Dean and Sam into the future, I mean, if Zacharia can do it then so can Cas! Or, Alec could, somehow, be transported back in time. It's not that hard.

                          Okay, I think that's it for now. Gonna go see if I can find a good SPN/DA crossover tonight. Wish me luck!
                          There's two DA/SPN crossovers I really like... one I lost and am trying to find again, it dealt with Time Travel on Alec's side of the fence, and one that the author admits to it being AU because of the time difference. Lemme grab it for you:

                          http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4460817/1/Its_in_the_Genes <--- Like I said, they screw with the timeline a bit but I REALLY like it, and Dean is NOT Alec in this. Here's the sequel if you like ---> http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5541723/..._In_The_Family

                          FOUND IT! This is called Devil's Gateway, it deals with time travel to keep the timelines correct! Enjoy: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4763947/..._bs_bGateway_b

                          Also this fic has the boys finding Max in 2009: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6601416/1/A_Different_Life

                          And this one also keeps the timelines correct with the kids being kids in 2009, I thought the way it portrayed Dean was excellent: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6864475/1/Wrath
                          Last edited by SkeksisGirl; 02 May 2011, 06:26 PM. Reason: Fixing links

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                            #28
                            Originally posted by RodneyIsGodney View Post
                            Okay, I got a new one...Supernatural/Dark Angel crossovers...


                            I've recently delved into the land of SPN/DA crossovers and have noticed an apparent lack of plausible ways to crossover both shows. Most common is "Dean is Alec" and vice versa. There is no possible way for that to be since "Alec" is some 15-18 years in the future, depending on what season of SPN the story takes place in. And that is the major plot point of DA that every author, who's fics I've tried to read, has forgotten. And it drives me nuts! And, it's why Dean cannot possibly be Alec.
                            I started to read one, but it was really long and I lost motivation, so I don't know quite how Jensen overlapped in it, but the way it started was plausible. Dean was pulled out of Hell in 2020, or some time much closer to DA. So it's pretty much AU after S3, but he seemed okay. I'll have to get back to that one soon.

                            And this is starting to become my #1 nitpic. I was reading one the other day about an American show. The author did a decent job with dialog and stuff (I think they were from the UK), but at one point there were 3 people in the car- one stretched out in back, and 2 up front, one of which had a completely inoperable arm at the time. So clearly the healthy one was driving. But the author wrote that he "turned left to look" at the one with the busted arm. If you can get all the dialog to match American speech, can't you at least get the driver's side of the car right?

                            EDIT: For anyone interested, here's the DA/SPN fic I'm talking about. They even provided correct (some guessing on the DA front) ages and birthdays.

                            http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5382298/...the_Status_Quo
                            Last edited by warrior_chic; 25 April 2011, 07:50 PM.
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                              #29
                              I know queen already covered this but it bears repeating...

                              I keep seeing this one lately and it drives me up the wall...writers seem to think that Dean is a blond. Really? Blond??? Are they that blind? Are they watching a different Supernatural? Or, do they just not know what blond is?

                              It's like queen pointed out, Jensen has not been naturally blond in a looooong time. And, yes, little 4 year old Dean was a blonde but his hair darkened with age. As some blonds tend to do.


                              Also, I'm seeing quite a few fics in foreign languages and every last one is a J2 (slash) story. I have never seen one J2 story in English. Why is that??? Its'...bizarre!
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                                #30
                                Okay.. First - y'all have kinda scared me out of writing a fanfic I understand your pet peeves though

                                The main ones I have are grammar/spelling and punctuation and Wincest. I'm no stranger to slash but the fact that Sam and Dean are brothers puts me off that.

                                OC's don't bother me mainly because it's hard to find a female that can provide comfort for the injured character without changing a bunch of other things during the timeline. You know?

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