Firefly Fanfiction: What Are Your Pet-Peeves?
POSTED BY: Xeyra
UPDATED: Friday, November 30, 2012 02:57
VIEWED: 59700
PAGE 7 of 17
Someone mentioned the thing about Zoe & Wash's kid's eyes - mine is about eye colour in general. I've seen a few fics where Jayne's eyes have been described as brown or green and it just drives me insane. It especially irks the portrait-drawing side of me, cause the first thing I always notice about a person is their eyes.
I never read slash, but I don't have a problem with most other non-canon pairings and am a HUGE Jaylee fan.
Grammar and spelling are what turns me off reading a fic. I also have a problem with the misspelling of character's names. (Especially Inara). If the writer didn't make the effort to get it right, why should I make the effort to read it?
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REN: "We're not hitchhiking anymore! We're RIDING!!"
Ren & Stimpy (Space Madness)
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Apart from the various grammar/punctuation mistakes that appear, it seems, in every fandom...
Over-use of Chinese. We rarely, if ever, heard it on the show for anything except swearing, short questions and the occasional greeting. It was there for flavor, a touch of the different. When it's used in fics for entire, multi-paragraph conversations, it's distracting and annoying. I don't care if translations are provided at the end of the story/chapter; it's just too much and way out of place.
I also dislike the tendency to overdo 'verse-speak. "Jist" for "just," "yer" for "your/you're," made-up spellings, too many dropped final consonants, etc. The dialogue on the show had a definite rhythm, with an Old West/Southern sound, but also influences of Elizabethan English. As mentioned somwehere above, making every character sound like a stereotypical hick just doesn't work.
Over-use of sentence fragments. They're fine in very small doses for narrative/dramatic effect. But entire paragraphs composed that way are wrong, wrong, wrong!
Finally, if I have one HUGE complaint about proper usage in Firefly fanfic, it's faulty punctuation of dialogue. I was even moved to devote an entire journal entry on that subject:
http://words-in-flight.livejournal.com/14637.html#cutid1
(And thanks for the oppurtunity ti rant!)
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To follow on from Hawkmoth -
Every character has a unique 'voice', a different vocabulary and syntax. If done correctly, you should be able to read a page of dialogue and know who is saying what.
I'll admit to the dropped consonant school of writing, but I don't think it detracts, if you do it properly. (Immodest cough)
Read the scripts, watch the show, and hear it in your head. The only way to do it. Think about where these people come from, their levels of education (or otherwise.) The information is all there, if you look for it.
SpaceAnJL
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Quote:
Originally posted by CantonHeroine:
Someone mentioned the thing about Zoe & Wash's kid's eyes - mine is about eye colour in general. I've seen a few fics where Jayne's eyes have been described as brown or green and it just drives me insane.
I haven't seen that one, but it would certainly irk me. What I have seen is the hair color desription being off. I haven't stopped reading a good story because of it, but I kinda yell at the screen every time I see, for example, Wash's hair described as red. Kaylee's hair is also described as red in some cases. Hers has red tones to it, but it's mostly brown, and Wash is completely blond.
I agree completely that if names are spelled wrong there's no point in reading the rest. The best fics are written by really hard core fans, and any true fan can spell the names perfectly.
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One summer.
One mission.
One legion of Browncoats.
Starting June 23rd, we aim to misbehave.
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Oh my God. I've created a monster. LOL. Just kidding.
I've been loving all your opinions. I'm glad to see that there are different tastes for everyone. Some like certain pairings, others don't.
And pretty much everyone has some problem with bad grammar and mispelled names (everytime I see someone write Malcom I have an overbearing huge to knock my head against the keyboard, but I don't 'cause I like my head to be whole, thank you very much).
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Wash: This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
Mal: Define "interesting".
Wash: [deadpan] Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die?
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I think it's important to remember that fanfic is almost always born from the writer's need for the series / characters to go on...for them to live another day. While not always done to what "You or I" would write, respect the fact that the writer felt compelled to write, and to share it with the world. It is a nerve-wracking moment…hitting that submit button and knowing your fiction, your idea of “What Happens Next” is available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
That said, I must admit I read a slash story with Wash giving Mal a hummer in the Mess and I was nauseated. Just. Wouldn't. Happen.
I can deal with crossover. I can deal with Original Characters. I can deal with the occasional Mary Sue. I can deal with X rated scenes.
I can't deal with non-canon actions and dialogue.
Agentrouka posted this previously in this thread:
“I mean, there are always going to be different interpretations of a character, but some things are just facts.
Mal is distrustful of strangers, not a noble hero swooping in to save every damsel.
Inara is a dignified adult woman, not a shrieking, hapless and easily manipulated victim.
Jayne has brains - but not too much.
And so on...”
Yep. Yep, Triple Yep.
I personally would rather read one long story/novella than 4,000 ½ page chapters. But hey, that’s just me.
I’ve read some AMAZING stories. I’ve read stories where I’ve questioned the sanity of the writer. I’ve read everything in between. The point is, I’ve read… and shared the author’s urge for the character to live on. To find out “What Happens Next.”
"Have you ever been with a Warrior Woman?"
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:D
Not to mention you go through quite a few keyboards that way! I cured myself of it by buying an expensive laptop. I don't dare slam my head into it.
I think using slang spellings works if it's how the character speaks, it gives the essence of the character's voice. Mal says, "Y'all", Zoe doesn't. She says "You". Simon has the crispest pronunciation on the shi'P' and an author should try to capture that as best they can with his dialogue.
Kaylee says, Capt'n almost slurred to Capmm UNLESS she's teasing him, "Captain Tightpants". She doesn't say "Cap", not that I can recall.
The trick is to recall each voice and bring it to life through words.
ps- I LOATHE Script format fanfic! I want to feel, see and sense each character, set and scene. Script format seems to me like a lazy way to get out of true descriptive writing.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Mavourneen:
I can deal with crossover. I can deal with Original Characters. I can deal with the occasional Mary Sue. I can deal with X rated scenes.
I can't deal with non-canon actions and dialogue.
Yay! Someone who doesn't feel sickened by my embarrassing pervertions (I'm talking here of cross-over fic - for those who like to mash all the good stuff in their life into one fun, if not altogether authentic, package!)
I am glad to see the range of likes and dislikes on this site. After all there is room in the world for all styles (except the badly written!) and if something isn't your cup of mudders milk you can always click the back button!
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Use original characters, but please don't base them on yourself especially when they then have a relationship with a main character it just don't sit right.
Take notice of how characters react and their dialogue, I hate totally non-canon situations.
Oh and stay away from Xovers, they rarely work.
And don't turn it into an epic, I rarely read fanfic which is into chapter twentysomething, it usually loses the orignal story and dynamic. Think beginning, middle and end, turn it into several 'episodes' or sequels if you have to, but don't over do it.
Finally check your spelling and grammar, the basics work best...and if you start a fanfic, for gods sake finish it....don't leave us hanging!
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ekidd79,
Please take care. This about personal pet peeves, not about trying to discourage any writer from creating what their heart desires, be that a cross-over or original character/mary sue fic.
If you don't like them, that's fine, and you're welcome to say so, but others DO like them, enjoy reading and writing them. Please don't stomp on their creative babies just because you don't like them.
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