Discussion Fan Fic Pet Peeves?

I have to agree with most of the parts posted. I also will not read unless; I say unless; it says it is about my faveorite character or unless it gets a title. No title or anything close to it, no more. I'm sick of seeing title like "ummm. no title yet. Can't think of one. Help me with a title." You need a title of your story. Like Spectacular, Spectacular

 

satine, i agree that titles are important.
it's the first thing i look for in a story.
however, a lot of people don't think of a title until their story is finished.
some stories are harder to name than others.

(definitely shouldn't ask the reader what to call it)

 

I beg to differ (no surprise there)--Tarkin was the one who destroyed the planet, and Vader actually appears to have argued with him and lost ("I told you she would never betray the Rebellion!"--in the context of Tarkin not believing that she had lied to him, given the stakes he'd presented her with; this implies that the conversation was along the lines of, "You will not achieve your stated objective by your stated plan. It would... unwise... to proceed on this course."

ACK! I was thinking of a fan fic when I wrote that... *to self* Anna, you're spending too much time in fan fic, go watch the movies...



Mel

 

Oh, don't get me started on titles. I don't know how people can put something up without one. It just doesn't feel right until it has a name. Then again, I couldn't write something for the character sketch challenge without titling it. It doesn't even need to be a particularily good title. Just pick a phrase from the story if you must.

 

Well, a couple of days of searching, three pages, and a handful of really weird dreams later...I finally find my way back to this board. I really should pay more attention to how this whole forum thing works...I actually tried to go through all the bazillion active boards listed to find this one again before I realized I could search for my last posting. Maybe that's why the dreams often involved either ritual suicide or wanton desctruction...

Anyway, since I missed out on the opportunity to actually reply within context (since anything related to what I had first posted occurred dozens of posts earlier), I thought I'd skip on to something else that I often find mildly peeve-inducing. The need to note that characters are 'OOC'.

I never really understood the point of such a declaration. After all, if the characters are OOC, then they aren't really the characters that you're writing them as, are they? Why not just name them something else, give them black hair instead of blond, and give them enough self-respect to stand as their own characters without borrowing the template of another? You don't even have to create your own universe; there's a perfectly good one to play in, after all, and out of trillions upon trillions upon trillions of life forms that populate it, I'm sure there's one that might resemble the cannon characters somewhat, but have enough personality quirks that make them uniquely the 'OOC' character that you're trying to write. If there is a need to mention that a character has acted OOC...then that character is no longer the one you are trying to portray.

However, I'll note now that there is a 'borderline exception' that I consider acceptable depending on its execution. Borderline, because it might *seem* like it crosses the forbidden OOC line, but in a sense, actually doesn't - and that is AU situations.

Sure, AUs may take a huge step from cannon events, but if written well, all characters would be acting IC *within that context*. Sure, the argument can be made that if one is free to construct any sort of situation, then every possible response can be drawn from a character and have it be considered IC in those circumstances. But, again...why bother? If you need to put the character through so much to draw such an unnatural response from them, why not write your own original character and depend a lot less on the reader's ability to suspend their disbelief? I tend to like AUs a lot, just because it allows me to explore the 'what if' factor, the possibilities that would allow exploration of other facets that would never be revealed in a strict adherence to cannon. That is where the fun lies. But...sometimes, there's just so much 'AU' I can take without wondering why it isn't in the original fiction category. Yes, it may be a personal judgement call, and yes, it is a fine line to walk. But all writing is like that; there is always the risk of not grabbing one particular reader - and one should never write trying to satisfy every single person in the world anyway.

And yes, I too have felt the temptation of using well-known characters to grab readers. There is a unique frustration associated with writing original fiction, especially when it is posted on sites catering to a pre-established universe: people tend to be visiting the site because they want to read more about the cannon characters, rather than original ones. Still, if you have a good idea, I'd say it's not worth butchering it for the sake of grabbing a few dozen more reviews. Wouldn't it be all the more satisfying if you let it grow properly on its own, and establish a solid fan-base solely for its own merits rather than reflected ones?

 

Oh my....
I am the perpatrator of a few of these... the Padme' glitch is my biggest one (but 'Word' and I dissagree a lot and I had to surrender on the odd front!).

I'll throw in MY happy list just for kicks:

1) Abusive Anakin stories where they fight and he strikes her, or worse. It get's there and I'm gone.

2) Blackmail stories: "If I don't get this many reviews I won't write" ... Uh... fine... no skin off my nose but it won't make me review.

3) Authors who leave a story hanging without explianation. (Darth real life has put up a block on me but I have posted a follow up stating such... not going to leave it forever) I understand that sometimes stuff happens but at least give your readers advanced warning... the Edit feature is a wonderfull thing or there is the kind option of just removing the fic all together.

4) REAL bad spelling/grammer... Odd mistakes are okay (that's part of the reason we are FAN authors LOL) ... but beta readers are wonderful creatures...

5) Badly written "Jedi nookie"... If you don't feel comforatble writing about sexual situations, find a good transition from (EDIT ) gental teasing forplay to "the morning after" or don't imply it at all. Most readers can fill in the gaps.

6) Certain words should NOT be used in descibing the lovemaking act... I don't need to list, I'm sure we're all familiar with the bathroom wall. On that note, PLEASE, if you're going to write "Jedi Nookie" please leave the "roaring" to the lions...
*shakes head*

7) Belongs higher up but what the hey:
Author intrusion... you're int he middle of a story and all of a sudden there's this message from the author... It's usually something light and insignificant like (Ooh, Ani's just so hot, I wish I were in padme's shoes)
but it KILLS a story.
That's my two CREDITS!! LOL

 

Most of my peeves (such as cringe-worthy grammar) have been mentioned.

An occasional spelling error is to be expected, but if the story is unreadable, what is the point.

Totally out of character relationships. With relatively few exceptions I will not read Obi/anybody fics. Its a personal thing, but it bugs the hell out of me, especially when they either make up a characer, or go for the dreaded Obidala, or Obi/handmaiden pairings. Or worse yet Obi/Ani/Padme. Very OOC people.

Over the top graphic sex. Nookie is fine, but when you cross that line into NC-17/XXX territory, that is just not neccessary.

Interspecies romance. I am sorry but reading about Jar Jar and a human (I saw it done, still scared from that one), or Yoda and anyone, or well you get the picture.

Cutesy names or fics that are so sweet, you need an insulin shot after you read them.

 

the only things I have pet peeves about are


-the misspelling of JAINA as "Jania"

-the misspelling of ANAKIN as "Anikan"

-the misspelling of ROGUE as "Rouge"



Did anyone mention those?


Also, when I see an interesting title and it turns out to be "JA"....that makes me because there are not enough stories with OT characters in them.........

 

Rouge Squadron is such a funny idea that I just can't finish a story that has it written that way every single time . Once or twice I can understand but every time?

 

Rouge

I, also, am also a hater of the Anikan mispellings!

 

Or Obiwan. Or even Obi - that is one my pet peeves too. Don't know why, it just is.

 

Add me to the list. "Anakin" is not that hard to spell, and "Obi-Wan" is "Obi-Wan." I believe there was a point in the past where he was "Obi-wan," but there was always a hyphen, and it was never shortened to anything but "Ben."

 

I guess I'll toss in my two cents worth here. My biggest pet peeve is when writers do not keep the general 'feel' of the Star Wars universe. In the films we saw killing, torture, suicide (and attempts) so all thse things are fair game in SW FanFic. BUT I think some suthors go way too far. I hate reading a fanfic that ends like Reservoir Dogs. (everybody dead in a pool of gratuitous gore.)

The second problem I have is with the know-it-all authors - you know, the ones that know every single major, minor and background character ever created in the SW world and beyond and does their best to include them all in their fanfic. These writers will make sure to include every character's full name, planet of origin, profession and a brief synopsis of everything that character did on page 17 of the 3d Dark Empire Comic. They will do this even if a character is just serving a cup of caf and is in no way relevent to the story. Give me a break, o' lifeless one. Cut back on the obscure characters unless they actually serve a purpose in your story.
This leads into my biggest complaint with writing SW FanFic in general. There is waaaay too much out there in the way of EU for anyone too have read it all. And a lot of the EU stuff contradicts each other. (how old are Luke and Leia in ANH? 18 or 20?) It drives me nuts when I write a fic and somebody leaves a comment, telling me my continuity was off because I failed to take into consideration some obscure piece of EU literature I had never heard of. Give me a break, huh? FanFics are independent works of fiction and should be read as such. There is a fic I just finished (one I started well over a year ago)and I know I'll be flamed in the comments section for not taking into consideration the recednt events of the NJO. *sigh* The WORST comments to get are the ones that go something like this: (and yes, this is an actual comment I read somewhere)

"I liked your story but it could never happen because Anakin Solo was killed in the NJO. So he will never grow up and have a son. You need to switch your character to Jaina or Jacen because they are still alive."

Scary, isn't it? And chances are this idiot gacve that story a very low rating, too.
I'll be getting off my soapbox now. I have a FanFic I need to proof read. Again.
Cheers, all.

 

I agree with you, Jedimama. I mean if someone wants to follow the EU closely in their fic because it better serves their story, that's fine, but in general these are all FAN fics and it doesn't matter so much if we're contracidting something.

 

Yeah, that drives me bats, too, though I've seen it much more in movie speculation threads than in anything to do with fanfic. It has not inspired me to suddenly start including EU in my stories, either, so it seems not to be serving its purpose; all it does is make me shrug.

But I really haven't run into that too much in fanfic. Most ficcers know that fanfic is not beholden to Bantam or Del Rey timelines, etc, and I've only gotten one or two comments about it (mostly friendly questions like "Where's Mara?" or "Is Winter in this?" to which I answer politely that I'm not following or including the EU). And those readers who don't care for stories that don't follow Del Rey continuity generally just stop reading when they notice that I don't have an interest in it, and that's cool with me. We all have our peeves, as has been seen above, and the fact that I don't enjoy, say, smuggler stories doesn't mean that I don't think anyone else should. I assume that the EU fans who don't like to read non-EU-compliant stories don't mind that other people do.

 

I don't mind non-EU compliant stories, even though I love the EU. However, I draw the line at fics with "Han and Leia's son, Joe Solo". I think the names should feel a little more exotic than things like that.

I grow weary of Obidala. I mean, was anything even hinted at between those two on screen?

 

No, nothing was hinted at between Obi/Ami as far as I can tell. But you know SW fans - we just adore a good love triangle, even when we have a sister kissing her brother.

 

True, so true. Though Obidala does irritate me - and why this genre has its own name . . . *shakes head*

 

There's this kid show called Digimon that has a name for every possible couple. At ff.n, you can even search by those names. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that's how Obidala wound up with a name of its own.

 

It has other names, too... I tend to go with "Devil's Triangle."

(Of course, I don't really believe there was a triangle in the first one, either. At ten, I don't remember being terribly confused over who Leia would end up with after ESB. She said she loved Han. That was good enough for me, and I figured Luke was totally out of the picture and would calmly step aside like the hero he was. He had bigger fish to fry than worrying about having a girlfriend, I figured. And at seven after ANH, I didn't want any of them to do gross stuff; I wanted them to all just be best friends forever.)

 

If we can't find a love triangle... invent one? What confuses me is how said genre became so utterly pervasive with nothing to back it up.

 

I gave up trying to figure out the Obidala/trianglists a long time ago. The one thing that comes in second is those that keep fixing up Obi-Wan with every handmaiden and made up character they can think of. I guess people just can't stand the fact that poor Obi-Wan is destined to be single forever.

My other rapidly growing fic peeve is people using real life people in their fics. Especially if it is famous people or such. That is just too weird for me. I have seen one ST fic a long time ago where it worked, because of a parrallel universe. The SW ones I've seen are just bizaare. Even worse are the fics that are just about real people. I mean what the #####! or maybe its just me.

 

as a faithful obidala 'shipper - i have to step in here. personally, i've never really liked anakin. i didn't think jake lloyd was the best actor in ep. and seeing aotc, i realized hayden couldn't even act and that he just whined all the time.

now, i've said that - onto the the reason many believe obi/padme belong together or a romance is at least hinted at in aotc.

1) the first and onlt line they share together shows so much feeling (i know, i've listened to the mp3 so many times).

2) when anakin refuses to rescue obi-wan, padme steps in herself and decides to rescue him. if anakin was a loyal apprentice and knew his master was in danger (which he did know) he should been plotting an immideate course to save obi-wan.

3) my biggest pet peeve between anakin/padme - AGE! i mean, anakin was 9 when he met her and because he was soo young, i'm sorry, but i will always see him as a young kid with dreams and as an adult, whining brat! obi-wan/padme are so much closer in age

4) it just doesn't seem fair that gl would pick a person like ewan to be obi-wan and not have him end up with anybody. it seems like a total waste.

 

um, you went off topic Aeryn Sun.....and anyway, there is a *bigger* age difference between Obi-Wan and Padmé.





The thought of Obidala makes me *shudder*

 

EEEEEEEEEEEK! I'm sorry, there is NO defending the Obidalla syndrome! None NADA Nout!
Scary stuff. It's as bad as the Obi/Ani slash out there...

It's not just a pet peeve.. it's just nasty....
Let's have Obi rob the cradel while we're at it as Padme' is at least 10 years his juniour... yes, he was lusting after her when he was 24 and she was 14 right?

*vomits*