Supernatural Fanfic Nitpics and Pet Peeves

[birthsister]

M, glad you liked it. I tend to go for the emotional whumpin more than the physical, but that damn twisted ankle has been in my head all night....

[m&mnm317]

Another nitpic I have is when a story is not structured properly. I have encountered many a fic where it's just one long paragraph. Or a bunch of thick paragraphs where the dialogue from both boys is all mashed together. You would think that these people must read fics so they'd know how to structure their own, right?

As soon as I encounter one such fic I have to walk away from it, no matter how much I like/love the type of story it is, the idea.

Hear hear! *slams gavel*

M, glad you liked it. I tend to go for the emotional whumpin more than the physical, but that damn twisted ankle has been in my head all night....

So...you gonna write it then??? It's been picking at me as well but if you're gonna write it, I'm gonna let you cause your writing is better than mine.

[RodneyIsGodney]

Okay, back to the US/UKisms...

...ugh. Don't like it when it's blatantly obvious that the writer is British. They gotta know that Dean and Sam don't speak the way the writer does. Just read a story in which the writer has Dean and Sam taking care of a baby that they find in the back seat of the Impala - the baby turned out to be Dean's - and they were referring to diapers as nappies...car seat as capsule...things like that and it just drove me nuts! So while reading I substituted the American English terms for the British terms.


Also hate it when the story body is in the middle of the page, centered if you will. It's just...awkward to read it that way.

[m&mnm317]

Okay, back to the US/UKisms...

...ugh. Don't like it when it's blatantly obvious that the writer is British. They gotta know that Dean and Sam don't speak the way the writer does. Just read a story in which the writer has Dean and Sam taking care of a baby that they find in the back seat of the Impala - the baby turned out to be Dean's - and they were referring to diapers as nappies...car seat as capsule...things like that and it just drove me nuts! So while reading I substituted the American English terms for the British terms.


Also hate it when the story body is in the middle of the page, centered if you will. It's just...awkward to read it that way.

Ugh, I hate it when the body is centered or everything runs together, like it's all one, or even when the paragraphs aren't separated like they "should" be.. It all drives me NUTS!!!!

The British thing can sometimes get on my nerves but I try to be tolerant; mainly because I've tried doing the opposite - writing a British fanfic when I'm American and it's hard. As long as they're tolerant of my idiocies when it comes to their language and stuff, then I'm tolerant of theirs

[RodneyIsGodney]

Ugh, I hate it when the body is centered or everything runs together, like it's all one, or even when the paragraphs aren't separated like they "should" be.. It all drives me NUTS!!!!

Word.

The British thing can sometimes get on my nerves but I try to be tolerant; mainly because I've tried doing the opposite - writing a British fanfic when I'm American and it's hard. As long as they're tolerant of my idiocies when it comes to their language and stuff, then I'm tolerant of theirs

Yeah, I'd probably be the same if I were to write a British fanfic. I'd understand.


Oh, and I hate it when writers get the year of the Impala wrong! I mean, come on, if you're any kind of SPN fan there's no way you could get that wrong!

[m&mnm317]

Yeah, I'd probably be the same if I were to write a British fanfic. I'd understand.

I've dabbled in Doctor Who and Harry Potter (even put them both in one ) - those are most definitely British So yeah, I'm forgiving.

Oh, and I hate it when writers get the year of the Impala wrong! I mean, come on, if you're any kind of SPN fan there's no way you could get that wrong!

What year did they put it as??

[RodneyIsGodney]

I've dabbled in Doctor Who and Harry Potter (even put them both in one ) - those are most definitely British So yeah, I'm forgiving.

Interesting mix. I like HP but not DW (Doctor Who I mean not Dean Winchester, him I definitely like ) so probably would't read that one. Sorry.

What year did they put it as??

I've seen it as '76 impala ...and I think '69 Impala. *shakes head*

[m&mnm317]

I've seen it as '76 impala ...and I think '69 Impala. *shakes head*

What year is it? I thought it was a '69

[RodneyIsGodney]

What year is it? I thought it was a '69

It's a 1967 Chevy Impala.

[m&mnm317]

It's a 1967 Chevy Impala.

Oh. Well at least I was only two years off, lol.

[RodneyIsGodney]

Oh. Well at least I was only two years off, lol.

Yeah, not too bad.

[Melia]

Here's my two cents...

Okay, as someone who has spent much of the last ten years or so perusing ff.net, in various fandoms, including SPN since it pretty much started, I like to think i have a pretty good grasp on a lot of the pet peeves that have all been mentioned here.

Hair/Eye Color- I agree with this one. It’s not difficult to get the correct color of their hair or eyes and if anyone thinks that Dean’s hair is anything but brown, they need to get their eyes checked.

Extra Siblings- This one doesn’t really bother me. I’ve read some really good stories that included a third brother, one specifically where he was older than Dean.

Sister Fics- Don’t really have an opinion on this type of story, don’t read them so I won’t cast stones.

OC’s- Now I’m on the fence about this. Done correctly adding an OC into a story can actually make it more interesting and give it an added depth that it just wouldn’t have if it focused solely on the boys. Now everything has it’s time and place and that is especially true when dealing OC’s. Now done wrong OC’s can detract from a story, especially if the story focuses on the OC and not on the boys.

Bad Grammar/Punctuation- Okay, I will agree on this. Bad grammar and punctuation is the quickest way to turn me off of a story. It’s painful to look at and painful to read. If it’s a few minor mistakes, usually I’m already so caught up in the story that I honestly don’t even notice them.

Brotherhood AU stories- Don’t know too much about this type of SPN story, so once again I won’t cast stones.

Nicknames- This is another thin where if it’s done well and it’s believable then I will let it slide. Like if Sam is injured or a toddler, then I have absolutely no problem with it. Now when it comes to John calling Dean “Ace”, if it’s teenchester it doesn’t bother me, if its when they’re adults it can kind of throw a wrench into the story. Generally since it’s such a small detail I normally over look it if the plot line is good enough.

Fanon=Cannon- Okay so the whole thing about Dean taking the bed nearest the door is actually something I’ve noticed in the show. Now before everyone starts disagreeing with me let me finish. Yes he does take the bed nearest the door but then again so does Sam. It’s actually pretty even on who gets that particular bed, so when I read it in a story I just let it go since it’s never been a major part of the plot and it is really a very small detail.

John-bashing- Now this is something else I’m on the fence about. In the show, at least to me, it has been implied that John was a less than perfect father and at times drank to excess. Given the right set of circumstances and a fanfic author can make a plausible situation where he is abusive, I’ll read it. In fact some of the best written stories I’ve read involve John being abusive and Dean taking custody of Sam.

Excessive whumping- Okay this can easily get over the top but again like many things in the SPN fanfic world, it also has it’s time and place. If it can be made plausible and is realistic, then put in all the whumpage you want. If the story is well written, has a good plot, and eventually the boys get better then I’m cool with it.

Unrealistic Whumping- Unlike excessive whumping, unrealistic whumping can be a major pitfall of many stories. Please remember, if you are going to hurt someone make sure the injuries are either; A.) minor enough that you can give him a good amount of them but they wont hinder his movement and ability to protect himself, or B.) 1 or two major ones, that are slow enough to be noticed until he is taken to hospital or that he can realistically ignore until saved or found.

Drabbles- Okay these do kind of irritate me because they really are so good most of the time. In fact if many of the drabbles I’ve read were turned into true stories then my favorites list over on ff.com would be double the size it is now. But despite that, I still do love my drabbles.

WIP- These don’t bother at all. I’m happy to wait around for a new chapter, if the story is good enough I can easily wait weeks or longer for a new chapter to be put up and be perfectly content until it does. And more often then not, for the ones I’ve read at least, they are usually finished eventually.

Destiel/Sabriel- Okay, now these two pairings are something I generally stay away from. I like seeing Sam and Dean have a more brotherly relationship with Cas and or Gabriel, especially when it centers on the less looked upon Sam/Cas angle.

General Slash- If it’s written well and isn’t the focal point of the story then I don’t mind it.

Crossovers- Now crossovers are a gray area for me. I like some but not others. It depends on what show is being crossed with SPN, and if it’s believable or not. Because frankly I’ve seen some pretty far fetched x-overs out there and those are the ones that really just bug me the most.

AU- I actually love this kind of fic. It allows us writers to put the boys into situations that they otherwise would be in. It also allows writers to further flesh out canon characters(e.g. Caleb, Josh, Pastor Jim etc.) and give them a more rich history. AU’s also allow for, what I like to call, what-if scenarios. And its these kind of AU’s that change stuff right from the start that usually end up being not only the most intriguing but also some of the best written stories I end up reading.

[RodneyIsGodney]

Hey Melia.

I agree with everything you've said. And, about Destial, normally I too stay away from them (as I've sais before in here). However, there is the odd occasion where there's been no warnings or tags specifying the story's Destialness so I will read it....but not all of it. Unless, it's written well and not overtly in-your-face Destial. I've read a few that were funny, and I was only able to enjoy them because the Destialness was subtle or part of the story but not the main focus. Sometimes the writer will say "Could be read as Destial if you squint"...9 times out of 10 I won't check the story out.

I will read a summary that sounds great, something that I really like to read bout, an idea that I love but then I'll notice that it's followed by a Destial tag (or Wincest) tag and I'll be like, "Crap. I won't read that one now." This really salt and burns me.>.<


It seems that Destial and Sabrial are more popular then ever amongst fanfic writers these days. It's all I seem to see on ff.net and that's unfortunate for those of us who are not of that persuasion.

www.supernaturalville.net is a great (big) SPN fanfic archive. There are 10 categories, I stick to General myself. Also, you can change the skin on the site, there are only two choices, Fire and Zenlike. I prefer Zenlike, it's easier on the eyes.

[RodneyIsGodney]

I may have already brought this up but it bears/needs repeating...


I simply cannot stand it when a writer confuses "defiantly" with "definitely". God, I just want to scream at them! This drives me crazy on so many levels... Almost every time I see "defiantly" it used wrong, or in place of "definitely". I think I only saw it used correctly once. UGH! I really hate that word!

[Freckles]

I read one the other day that as soon as I read the line I couldn't stop giggling.

Something like "A warm ham ran up his leg"

A WARM HAM! I'm still giggling.