Fanfic Pet Peeves

[Skydiver]

this was the fic i was referring to with the 'sam getting drugged'


http://lyssie.livejournal.com/1034944.html

not to pick on it, cause this isn't really a fic discussion thread, but it is the one i was referring to

[iamdragonrider]

The whole Sam getting raped thing is a little overdone. Moreso because the bulk of these fics show Sam as being helpless and not even trying to fight back, or turning into a quivering mess after rather tahn a real life reaction to such a violation, and needing Jack to make it all better. I never did understand why so many authors think that Jack and Sam having sex with each other will solve her difficulties in the aftereffects of the rape.

And worst in my opinion or the ones when Jack rapes Sam, whether out of his inability to control his desires, because he's "punishing" her, or she's "letting him rape her" because "he needed it". (Beyond letting him dominate because he needs it sort of thing) And these are the ones that there is no alien influence, drugs, etc influencing behavior.

Ugh.

And what's scary is these fics, at least most of the ones I found like the above, were mainly Jack/Sam, Daniel and Teal'c are usually not involved, so i really don't know what the author is trying to do but it doesn't seem like they are villianizing someone to thrust forward thier own character pairing, but that they seem to think that Jack forcing Sam is how thier happy little S/J will come. Well considering the major differences in power/equality, I suppose it's not a relationship based on understanding and love but rather lust and need.

[jasminaGo]

The whole Sam getting raped thing is a little overdone. Moreso because the bulk of these fics show Sam as being helpless and not even trying to fight back, or turning into a quivering mess after rather tahn a real life reaction to such a violation, and needing Jack to make it all better. I never did understand why so many authors think that Jack and Sam having sex with each other will solve her difficulties in the aftereffects of the rape.

And worst in my opinion or the ones when Jack rapes Sam, whether out of his inability to control his desires, because he's "punishing" her, or she's "letting him rape her" because "he needed it". (Beyond letting him dominate because he needs it sort of thing) And these are the ones that there is no alien influence, drugs, etc influencing behavior.

Ugh.

And what's scary is these fics, at least most of the ones I found like the above, were mainly Jack/Sam, Daniel and Teal'c are usually not involved, so i really don't know what the author is trying to do but it doesn't seem like they are villianizing someone to thrust forward thier own character pairing, but that they seem to think that Jack forcing Sam is how thier happy little S/J will come. Well considering the major differences in power/equality, I suppose it's not a relationship based on understanding and love but rather lust and need.

Being a S/J fan and a Sam fan, I have a huge problem with those kinds of stories, and the sad thing is that there are a lot of them. I concider them OOC and move on without looking back. So far I've run into only one story that deals with Jack raping Sam, that has a good explanation for what happened and then has the characters dealing with the aftermath, where the solution isn't sleeping together and acting like everything is just peachy. I'm sorry I didn't saved the story in my computer because I forgot the name, and I would like to read it again.

[Major Clanger]

I know this is from about a bazillion pages back, but can I mention the 2IC (or 2ic or 2i/c or 2I/C...) thing...

Actually, I can't ever remember (and I mean ever, even as a kid listening to my dad speak) a 2nd-in-command ever being called anything apart from two-eye-see... if you see what I mean.

So, in speech, in a fic or in a novel I would expect to see 2ic (or variation thereof) because that's how the military talk.

[suse]

you know, it's ok when somoene likes thier own ship. perfectly cool and totally right. That's not an issue. The issue becomes when that person decides and declares that their favored pairing is the ONLY right one.

Which is i think what khent was saying.

Sure, it's 'right'...FOR YOU. and YOU are not everyone. so live and let live. let others like what they like, leave them alone like you want to be left alone

I thought Khent someone was saying s/he'd rather see NO ship at all. Just character interactions. Meh. My brain is swiss cheese today. Maybe I read it wrong.

suse

[hedwig]

Being a S/J fan and a Sam fan, I have a huge problem with those kinds of stories, and the sad thing is that there are a lot of them. I concider them OOC and move on without looking back. So far I've run into only one story that deals with Jack raping Sam, that has a good explanation for what happened and then has the characters dealing with the aftermath, where the solution isn't sleeping together and acting like everything is just peachy. I'm sorry I didn't saved the story in my computer because I forgot the name, and I would like to read it again.

I also consider what you've described as OOC and refuse to read any that I find are leading to that kind of story. Have read numerous stories with this kind of theme, and which seem to have no other point than Jack getting to attack and rape Sam. If there's another point, it's pretty well buried in the rest of the story. I don't know if it's the same story you read, but I did read one story where Jack raped Sam, but it was because of some sort of drug that he didn't know he'd come into contact with that he'd been deliberately exposed to by the bad guys knowing something like this could happen. He didn't even realize he'd done it until later, and was appropriately horrified by what he'd done and felt that Sam could/would never forgive him. It took place somewhere in season 9 because Gen. Landry and Dr. Lam were in the story. I don't recall the name either, and I cringed when I read the story, but at least there was an explanation and an appropriate investigation into the matter, and also Sam and Jack didn't just hop into bed together afterwards. They worked out their emotions involving the situation and moved on. These are not the kind of stories I save, thus don't recall the title or author.

There was another one where the team was captured on a mission, and because of something their captors did to the guys, each one of the guys raped Sam while she was helpless to defend herself. And when they finally escaped and got back to the SGC, Sam tried to just dismiss the whole thing and pretend as though it never happened, but of course they all wound up in serious counseling in order to deal with it. Not sure what the intent of the story was unless it was that the team had to face it, deal with it, and move on, and even that explanation was a bit farfetched for me, especially given how graphically the rapes were described.

[suse]

I dunno if i'd want it labeled AU, but i do agree. Sam is not 'loose'.

Fair or not, the military does judge how you live your personal life as part of your military life. And even if she's a wonderful officer, if she has a personal rep of sleeping around or the like, it WILL dog her in her career. because, as you go up in the ranks, your reputation matters and comes under scrutiny. Also, those that have...adventurous lives open themselves up as liabilities further on...such as sleeping with the wrong guy that could blackmail you, etc.

Now sam, once a year or so, going out and picking up a guy to scratch an itch, MAYBE, but not as a regular course of events.

I'm sure some of the reference is to a recent fic where a meanie tries to give her ruffies and she fights him off then passes out and is picked up by her friends...i could see it as a bit more likely if she wasn't in a total dive of a pit bar but was in a nice one. Cause, you know, that stuff happens in 'good' places as much as cess pits.

Yeah, Dad's career was hurt a bit by Mom inviting some of the guys over for (after church) lunch on Sundays. No church, no homecooked food. it was fun, but really, it shouldn't have happened.

On topic: Mary Sue characters. They drive me nuts. I want to read about Sg-1, not another character.

Though for some reason the Barista series doesn't bother me. Well, til later in it.

suse

[jasminaGo]

I also consider what you've described as OOC and refuse to read any that I find are leading to that kind of story. Have read numerous stories with this kind of theme, and which seem to have no other point than Jack getting to attack and rape Sam. If there's another point, it's pretty well buried in the rest of the story. I don't know if it's the same story you read, but I did read one story where Jack raped Sam, but it was because of some sort of drug that he didn't know he'd come into contact with that he'd been deliberately exposed to by the bad guys knowing something like this could happen. He didn't even realize he'd done it until later, and was appropriately horrified by what he'd done and felt that Sam could/would never forgive him. It took place somewhere in season 9 because Gen. Landry and Dr. Lam were in the story. I don't recall the name either, and I cringed when I read the story, but at least there was an explanation and an appropriate investigation into the matter, and also Sam and Jack didn't just hop into bed together afterwards. They worked out their emotions involving the situation and moved on. These are not the kind of stories I save, thus don't recall the title or author.

There was another one where the team was captured on a mission, and because of something their captors did to the guys, each one of the guys raped Sam while she was helpless to defend herself. And when they finally escaped and got back to the SGC, Sam tried to just dismiss the whole thing and pretend as though it never happened, but of course they all wound up in serious counseling in order to deal with it. Not sure what the intent of the story was unless it was that the team had to face it, deal with it, and move on, and even that explanation was a bit farfetched for me, especially given how graphically the rapes were described.

It might have been the story you described, but I read it few years ago and now it's mixed up with lots of other stories, all blured into one, tho I'm pretty sure it's the one. The thing about this story is that it made sence. It had a reason for everything that was happening. You had plot, bad guys, and strong character moments, it wasn't a rape just for the sake of writing rape. Now this is the only story that has left such an impression on me, most of the time when I see a rape warning I walk away. And that's another problem with a lot of fics. They don't have that warning. The author doesn't believe that what they're writing is really a rape, but romance. Jack is the Alfa-male, takes command and he and Sam live happily ever after and it's oh so romanic and sweet.

[Skydiver]

There was a story i wrote that had three versions:

the first for a zine was supposed to be a 'smut in a cave' with sam and teal'c....and it ended up with teal'c - in the throes of a flashback - thinking that sam was dreyauc. he and she would have what we would term 'rough sex'...which was really just a 'male dominated society it's all about me' type of situation. She's the wife, her role is to satisify her hubby, whether she's in the mood or not.

Version one just ended with sam denying and there was no resolution because i couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't have been pages and pages and pages.

Version two - which i rewrote a year later - changed things a bit. They made it back and the guys found out - Daniel and Jack that is. Teal'c leaves the SGC. they deal with it just in the way that sam is pissed that teal'c ran away, jack and daniel only 'accept' it because sam understands in a way what happened. (remember, she's dealt with her own demons and having flashbacks or hte like is something she can identify with, even if hers aren't to the extent of his)

the second one ended with her going to teal'c and calling him on being a coward in leaving and hear saying 'come back when you can face what you did'

Then i rewrote it a third time and took the sex out of it. Teal'c just thinks that Sam is Terok (from serpents venom) and attacks her. It just takes a bit for them to figure it out and to realize that he's still experiencing flashbacks, etc, from being tortured in Serpents Venom...and they have to track teal'c down who's gone off world and help him remember that he was still messed up from Serpents Venom

and it ends unsettled but on the track to healing

Some fic is people having fun iwht familiar characters in unfamiliar settings - especially sam and jack (or jack and daniel) in smut settings. All you can do is hope that people warn for what their fic truly is so readers can make educated decisions on what to read

[iamdragonrider]

I know. It's been mentioned already.

Misspellings in the title or story description. I mean, c'mon... Why even click when they can't even spell the title right, or character names in the intro???

(This currently after looking at FF.net recent stories and seeing a story about "Jak")

Also, when there are all sorts of abbreviations in the intro. I've been reading fanfic for years and am still trying to sort out all them.

[KatG]

I personally think it came about for a few reasons. We rarely hear about their personal lives or activities outside of work, not that we really would, it's like why we rarely see them going to the bathroom, it's uneccessary to the episode, but it doesn't mean they don't do that activity.

Also there was an ep in season 1, I can't remember the name, the one where the orb spikes O'Neill through the shoulder, and Jack discovered that Daniel and Sam had spent most of the night studying the Orb, when they should have been in bed as they had been due to go on a mission. I think people have combined these with a few small other occurences, such as Daniel and his 'inability to drink more that an ounce of beer without it rendering him unconcious' and just decided they are so dedicated and facinated with their work that they don't eat, sleep, bathe, change clothes ect!

There's also "The Other Side" where O'Neill comes in early, and thinks Sam/Daniel beat him to work, only to find that they never left.

The Daniel "can't hold his beer" thing probably came from Children of the Gods, when Daniel says one beer is "starting to go to my head." I always assumed that Daniel was trying to cover up his emotional state, but Jack called Daniel "a cheaper date than my wife." And instantly a fanon cliche was born.

Then the show reinforced the idea in "Lost City", but I honestly can't think of any other instances where it's mentioned.

Personally, I find the little fanon cliches really funny because I came into SG-1 in season 7 and kept wondering why people described Daniel as a coffee addict who always forgot to sleep or eat at regular intervals. Actually, I'm still not sure the coffee addict thing is really fair, considering all of the characters drink coffee on a semi-regular basis.

I actually think the "coffee addiction" came from the movie. When Daniel is trying to figure things out, he goes through a ton of coffee.

[SGLAB]

There's also "The Other Side" where O'Neill comes in early, and thinks Sam/Daniel beat him to work, only to find that they never left.



Then the show reinforced the idea in "Lost City", but I honestly can't think of any other instances where it's mentioned.



I actually think the "coffee addiction" came from the movie. When Daniel is trying to figure things out, he goes through a ton of coffee.

To the bolded part. Yeah I think that comes from the movie. I also used to see in (but no so much anymore) fanfic stuff on his love of chocolate which came from the movie.

[Skydiver]

I know. It's been mentioned already.

Misspellings in the title or story description. I mean, c'mon... Why even click when they can't even spell the title right, or character names in the intro???

(This currently after looking at FF.net recent stories and seeing a story about "Jak")

Also, when there are all sorts of abbreviations in the intro. I've been reading fanfic for years and am still trying to sort out all them.

oh yeah, i see misspellings in the synopsis i don't even bother to give them a read

[Khentkawes]

On topic: Mary Sue characters. They drive me nuts. I want to read about Sg-1, not another character.

Though for some reason the Barista series doesn't bother me.

I agree. And really, it's not just "Mary Sues" but the vast majority of original characters. The truth is, even if a fanfic author writes one of their "original characters" really well, I still don't care much about them, because I'm reading for the SG-1 characters that I already love. It's really hard to sell me on a new character, even if it is well-written (and not a walking stereotype like most original characters).

With that said, there are a few authors who have made me care. The Barista series is a great example because it's simply so well written. And I don't think that author really writes Mary Sues, just interesting OCs. There are a few other writers who have managed to win me over with their own characters. But I still want SG-1 to be the focus and the OCs to be supporting characters.

I actually think the "coffee addiction" came from the movie. When Daniel is trying to figure things out, he goes through a ton of coffee.

Probably. Although I always think of Fragile Balance when Jack wakes up and complains about not getting his coffee yet... I could probably make a case for Jack and Sam having coffee issues as well if I compiled all the evidence from all ten seasons... but that would be way too time-consuming to even contemplate!

[Skydiver]

the thing is with teh coffee...ANYONE that drinks coffee knows that if you don't get your caffeine fix, you get a headache. You go through withdrawl and get a headache.

if i don't get my diet coke by 10am, it's brutal. which is one reason i don't drink coffee much, because i don't want to get hoooked on that much caffeine.