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Fanfic Pet Peeves

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    Fanfic Pet Peeves

    A place to chat about your pet peeves in fan fiction

    Few rules:

    No bashing of any author or work. If you hate it, leave it be. Saying 'I don't like this' is fine, saying 'so and so sucks as a writer' is not.

    No linkage to adult material directly. You can say 'it's on area 52' or 'i'll pm you the link' but no direct links to adult stuff please

    Be nice. Your personal pet peeve may be someone else's favorite story, so be nice and accept others preferences.
    Where in the World is George Hammond?


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    #2
    Misspelling the main characters names. It usually happens with new authors but come on! I know you don't see their names written out on the show often , but the programmes been on for over 10 years, it's not as if there aren't any resources out there where you can check fact's like that!

    It's just lazy, if they can't be bothered to at least get basic info right, I can't be bothered to read it.
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      #3
      OoC writing. Sam is either condescending or a nervous wreck that falls into tears every two seconds. After a decade living on Earth Teal'c still doesn't understand anything and he's dumber then a rock. Jack doesn't care about Sam in any way, shape or form (and I'm not talking about ship but friendship also) cause he's madly in love with Daniel and Sam just gets in the way.

      And I'll probably think of few more to add later.
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        #4
        I tend to read almost only Sam/Jack so it really bothers me when the writers don't specify the pairings corectly! e.g. When S/J turns to be S/Janet actually

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          #5
          Originally posted by silly sally View Post
          I tend to read almost only Sam/Jack so it really bothers me when the writers don't specify the pairings corectly! e.g. When S/J turns to be S/Janet actually
          Yeah that happens, a simple slash warning would do, but some don't bother to put it. I've run into several fics that should have been Gen. but they turned out Jack/Daniel Romance.

          Also bugs me when writers change their minds in the middle on a fic. Last year I was reading something labeled Sam/Jack, when half way through the fic the author decided to turn it into a Sam/Mitchell without giving any kind of warning to the readers. The outcome wasn't pretty. She strang along many people who took the time to read her story, by promising something which she didn't deliver.
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            #6
            kernal o'neal
            tealk
            danielle

            yeah, those bug me

            'mary sue' fic, i won't even read them. If i see anything like 'sam's long lost sister' or 'jack's daughter' or 'daniel's sister' joins the team and.... I just back away. Not my cup of tea.
            Where in the World is George Hammond?


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              #7
              Originally posted by Skydiver View Post
              'mary sue' fic, i won't even read them. If i see anything like 'sam's long lost sister' or 'jack's daughter' or 'daniel's sister' joins the team and.... I just back away. Not my cup of tea.
              I never got the "Mary Sue" stigma. It is, in fact, one of my pet peeves when it comes to fanfic criticism. I'm fine with long lost sisters, daughters and what will you. I've read some good stories written in this vein. We all write from within ourselves, anyway, and every character is at least a little bit us whether we want it or not. Write yourself in all you want- as long as you make it good. If you can make a character based on yourself believable and interesting- more power to you.

              I tend to be a harsh critic. I can give the writer a LOT of benefit of doubt. I don't care for specific pairings; hook Carter up with Woolsey for all I care. I am only minimally fussy about genre choices (won't read stories that are one continuous sex scene, overly mushy romance, crossovers and certain types of AU). I can tolerate a reasonable degree of deviation from the canon provided it is absolutely necessary for the story's basic premise. BUT I will be very unforgiving should the story contain any of the following:

              1) Consistent bad spelling, grammar and/or punctuation. I can tolerate an occasional typo, but I am absolutely not willing to compromise beyond that. Writing is a matter of language. If you have issues with language, you should not be writing.

              2) Formatting issues. Stories must have paragraphs, sentences must begin with capital letters and end with dots, otherwise they are word salad. I don't eat word salads.

              3) Bad or inconsistent characterization. If you can't consistently write a character as they should be, don't write them at all.

              4) POV shifting from first to third person or vice versa. This is a terrible thing that disorients the hell out of the reader. Pick a POV and stick with it.

              5) Bad naming. Seriously, Ford was Namer Extraordinaire compared to some fanfic writers out there. Names borrowed from popular movies and TV shows are bad. (If I see another Draven in a fanfic that isn't for "The Crow", I'll flame the author so hard his computer will combust). Anime-inspired pseudo-Japanese ones are twice as bad, because chances are you don't even know the language in which you're naming them. Made-up "talking" names like Xander Bly (from Power Rangers, a treasure trove of all things tasteless) are a total disaster; unless you are a genius of Joss Whedon's magnitude, stay away from those. And yes, damn it, it does apply to Flash Gordon, Victor von Doom and the rest of the Marvel Comics superheroes. It looked cool 40-50 years ago; today, it just isn't. A kid so named wouldn't have survived highschool without some serious scars. For that matter, be careful with "real" names, too; you REALLY don't want to end up with a Richard Large or a Gayford Buttram.
              If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.- Abba Eban.

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                #8
                in my experience, very few mary sue fic are what i'd call good. Most of them that i've read hit every cliche up to and including the naturally curly red hair and heroically saving SG-1's incompetant tushies

                as to names, some homage can be fun. And if you write a lot of fic, you often find yourself creating a consistent 'cast' of extras to be in the fictions.

                but, what i do for names is, use the names of towns or cities or roads. Or, in one fic i wrote, i needed a lot of names, so there was a sam and a seaborne adn a copperfield and a neighbor's name...i pulled them off stuff that was on TV, then swapped them up and switched first and last.
                Where in the World is George Hammond?


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                  #9
                  Guold. Guld. Ghould... etc. Usually a newbie mistake, and I freely admit that one might find one or two of those I missed correcting once I knew better, in my earliest story or two.

                  Stories that lack detail/descriptives, and basically read like a script, both ones where it's not identified who is speaking (unless it's intentional as a comedy) or ones where it IS a script... literally, with character names on each line and maybe even some stage direction. Umm, what's the point? Stories are for being able to see more than what's on screen, being able to get into the character's head, and know the thoughts and feelings.

                  Kidfic, where the parent/child roles merge into a relationship. Most frequently occurs in Sam as a child stories with Jack as the caregiver, which is unfortunate in my opinion, because I love kidfic, and there are so few Sam ones out there, particularly compared to the vast number of Daniel ones. I storngly believe that Kidfic is no place for romance of any sort when one of the pair is still an adult and the other a child, whether or not the child possesses thier adult memories.

                  Or "kidfic" where Sam and Jack, if not the whole team are regressed either mentally or physically to children or adolescents, and go from acting like spoiled rotten brats to kissing and getting it on, with very little real plot to the story.
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                  Some people have a way with words. Others not have way.

                  http://www.fanfiction.net/~iamdragonrider

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by silly sally View Post
                    I tend to read almost only Sam/Jack so it really bothers me when the writers don't specify the pairings corectly! e.g. When S/J turns to be S/Janet actually
                    Tee-hee; I read the story you're referring to and it fooled me, too. But the writer did it with such tongue-in-cheek it made me regroup, even if the pairing had been what I thought! But yeah, basically it burns if you're not into the 'other' pairing.

                    Tough critics here! Makes sense though if you really get into fanfic; you have to draw the line at what you'll finish and what you won't. I applaud a thread like this; it should be recommended to all prospective fanfic writers.

                    Womble, I find that many language errors can be traced to writers who speak another language. I check their profile if I encounter continuous errors just to be sure. If the story hooks me anyway, a word to the writer to seek a beta (or offer to beta) is warranted. Sadly if this isn't the case I will still advise beta help and see if the writer is able to deal better.

                    My pet peeves are the formatting but many times it's out of the writer's hands. I found that on Fanfiction.net that when I posted a story/chapter, words randomly stuck together likethis, even after muliple proofing. I've gritted my teeth at this but it happens no matter what so there that is. Other matters like paragraphs, spacing, etc. just need more attention from the writer; again, suggesting a beta would be in order.

                    Just sayin', I enjoy reading Stargate fanfiction as much as the professional novels. The scope of fan creativity is very underrated I say. I hope our fan writers make every effort to do the tiresome barebones construction of story writing that so necessary to a good read. And I know the regular writers on the Board know that "90% perspiration" adage!
                    MISSION: STARGATE REWATCH 2011-2012 ENGAGED DONE!
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                    Beware Helen Magnus - Doctor of A$$-Kicking



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                      #11
                      I will echo the bad spelling, punctuation, grammar, and formatting. It drives me up the wall and I have a low threshold. All I want to do is fix it, not read it. It doesn't take much before I give up on the story, usually after the first two paragraphs I've made up my mind. Though I do sometimes check later chapters if it looks like it might be a good story to see if the writer fixes their problems. I can handle small things, typos are a reality, I can even deal with its/it's etc and genreally point them out. But what bothers me even more is when a writer gets a problem pointed out to them and totally ignores it.

                      I also can't read script format. I don't see the point. I want description, thoughts, analysis, not dialogue and dry, boring stage direction. The second I see that, I'm gone.

                      And the cliches bother me. They're boring and so... well, cliche. People should be more original than Mackenzie is evil, all Marines are thick lunkheads, and so forth.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Skydiver View Post
                        in my experience, very few mary sue fic are what i'd call good. Most of them that i've read hit every cliche up to and including the naturally curly red hair and heroically saving SG-1's incompetant tushies
                        And yet I tend to give the Mary Sues all the benefit of doubt I can. You see, most authors writing Mary Sues are beginners, and I am loathe to discourage people from writing.

                        Besides, I remember the tremendous fun I've had with a good friend of mine when we were developing a pair of characters based on ourselves for a fanfic. Fanfiction is written for fun, after all. (The characters were fleshed out down to the smallest biographical details, and turned out pretty good.)

                        Originally posted by Traveler Enroute1
                        Womble, I find that many language errors can be traced to writers who speak another language. I check their profile if I encounter continuous errors just to be sure. If the story hooks me anyway, a word to the writer to seek a beta (or offer to beta) is warranted. Sadly if this isn't the case I will still advise beta help and see if the writer is able to deal better.
                        In my experience, the cause of bad spelling is usually that the writer is either very young or very poorly read. I am myself not a native English speaker, and my early English stories were problematic spelling wise, but never THAT problematic. It helped that I had a wonderful beta reader.

                        Originally posted by sbz
                        I also can't read script format. I don't see the point. I want description, thoughts, analysis, not dialogue and dry, boring stage direction. The second I see that, I'm gone.
                        I am largely like that myself (and I got quite a lot of grief for it in the previous pet peeves thread from local fanfic writers). But with some effort, there are ways to salvage the script format limitations, to a degree, and give it more literary appeal.

                        Of course, it is pretty rare for fanfiction writers to actually put the required effort into it. For 99% of them, script format is a cop-out to avoid proper descriptive writing.
                        If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.- Abba Eban.

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                          #13
                          Good comments.

                          Just sayin', and will someone clue me: WHAT is a Mary Sue??
                          MISSION: STARGATE REWATCH 2011-2012 ENGAGED DONE!
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                          Beware Helen Magnus - Doctor of A$$-Kicking



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                            #14
                            'mary sue' is a created character that often shares characteristics iwth the author his/herself. they're often long lost family members of the regular 'stars' of the show. usually have some unique quirks and talents, are often welcomed into the fold, become one of 'the cool kids', and sometimes end up 'saving the day' by sacrificing themselves and getting hurt which results in the main characters pulling the obligatory infirmary vigil
                            Where in the World is George Hammond?


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                              #15
                              Doesn't happen so much any more, but writing Daniel as a blue eyed blond haired innocent, the world has not corrupted, naive chap.

                              I always want to email the author and as if I missed an episode. Was there one where Daniel goes and gets 'Nice and Easy'ed. Or if they found him as a fully grown adult grown in a cocoon. Give me a break!
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