[ SECRET POST #3426 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3426 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Renaud (French singer)]















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 048 secrets from Secret Submission Post #490.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/SSoQAWQ.png

[(Anonymous)]

I mostly agree. It can feel really jarring when reading a fic and a character is really, deeply into something when not only is this not in canon, but it feels really out of character for this person.

However, I love it when the canon sources give characters (who live in the present-day real world) at least a little pop culture knowledge or make them fans of things other than classical music or classic literature. I can understand not wanting the whole thing to get too dated too fast, but I don't like when characters seem to live in a bubble (unless that's intentional). For example, I love that Joan Watson on Elementary has seen Manos: The Hands of Fate.

[lb_lee]

For example, I love that Joan Watson on Elementary has seen Manos: The Hands of Fate.

Man, I have never been interested in Elementary, and now I am. Goddammit F!S.

[(Anonymous)]

The episode where it comes up is called "T-Bone and the Iceman." It's actually a plot point that she's familiar with the movie, but it's only a minor part of the episode.

[lb_lee]

That is pretty awesome and as a connoisseur of bad movies, I approve.

[(Anonymous)]

Or Batman and Martian Manhunter having both watched Sailor Moon. Shame about how fandom them turned that one joke into a dominating feature of the characters for a while. That is the problem with giving a character a little pop culture knowledge, some of the fen then make that the sole entirety of their characterization.

[(Anonymous)]

What's funny is that Batman had that knowledge but an obvious Friends reference went right past him.

[(Anonymous)]

She also played console games as a child.

[(Anonymous)]

cues up the haunting Torgo theme

dinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdinkdink

[(Anonymous)]

It can get annoying, but it can also be fun.

[lb_lee]

Enh, it can be hit or miss for me. For me, the problem isn't the references themselves, but that if the reader doesn't recognize the reference, the joke or enjoyment is ruined.

However, if the writer can sorta encapsulate the reference in a way that a new reader can somewhat get, without dragging things down, that can actually be really awesome! For instance, Spider Robinson got me fairly interested in some music, because he referenced them all the time... but I felt like he did a better job than most at making the references enjoyable even if you didn't know Ray Charles already.

And then you have books like Tales from the Securemarket, which takes place in such a different world that people are making pop culture references all the time... but the pop culture is totally different from ours, so the writer has to insure that people still get the references, you know what I mean?

[dancing_serpent]

I only like it when it's actually shown in canon. Billy and Zoe from Knight Rider 2008 dressing up as Jack Harkness and cheerleader!Claire Bennet in the Halloween episode was funny and cute. *g*

[(Anonymous)]

Oh the amount of supposedly 40 year old characters in the early 00s who were suddenly into Avril Lavigne and Evanescence lyrics. I suspect little has changed. I read a The 100 fanfic where everyone was dropping 21stC pop culture references despite them being from a post apocalyptic world at least a century and a half in the future.

[(Anonymous)]

Batman and Martian Manhunter once made a Sailor Moon joke. Until the Nolanverse came along Batman fandom was rabid in its insistence of them being mega otaku. At least Nolan achieved one good thing with his grimdark, I suppose.

[nightscale]

If the canon takes place during the modern day it wont really bother me, unless it's constant then it could be irritating. But if it's a setting where pop-culture isn't a thing, that will take me out of the fic.

[(Anonymous)]

In my head, I think of this as "The Whedon Effect". He didn't invent it, but it's something I associate with him and his work.

[(Anonymous)]

Whedon's fans made it worse in their exaggeration of it, but then they always do no matter what it is of Whedon's they discuss.

I'd say that sometimes happens in canon, too.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, you can be into something that was big before you were born, that's true, but if the writer is at the right age for it to have been popular with them and their teenage or young adult characters are making the references, I'm going to think there is some projecting.

[(Anonymous)]

It only works for me if it makes sense due to how old the character is and if certain things were big when they were younger. Otherwise yeah, it totally takes me out of the fic.

[(Anonymous)]

depends on the personality of the character. For example, House would NOT listen to Justin Bieber.

Hetalia fandom in a nutshell

[(Anonymous)]

You're right, OP. It's just a weird form of projection. But the opposite or similar situations also occur. The APH fandom does this all the time. For example, they make England obsessed with Dr. Who even though he's never mentioned liking it at all or even the type of person to care about TV. Then you have America who canonically likes pop culture, but then he's turned into an annoying flanderization where every damn thing he says is a reference or something that gets dated really fast. Then for some reason he's also obsessed with Dr. Who in fanon. And then there's shit where Japan is a hardcore weeaboo despite how the majority of Japanese people aren't otaku at all.

Different interpretations are fine, but when the author really forces it for no reason then it's just sad and annoying. You should have just written a fic for the other thing you liked so much.

Re: Hetalia fandom in a nutshell

[(Anonymous)]

Well, it is canon that Japan prefers 2D women over real ones, but other than that, he doesn't seem to reference anime that much. In fact, the canon anime fans [revealed thus far] in Hetalia are France, Taiwan, and Canada. Canada even embarrassed Japan by talking excitedly about Naruto to him! Bulgaria appears to be an Attack on Titan fan, too.

I think England, Sealand, Italy, and America are shown to have interest in ninjas, which also embarrasses Japan.

Japan seems to be very knowledgable about Maid Cafes when he pointed out all the faults in England's 'English Maid Cafe'. Perhaps it's possible that he's a fan? [I can't entirely remember, but I *swear* there was an old blog post that said that Germany was a fan of Maid Cafes. But my memory may be failing me.]

All in all, I don't think it would be too out-of-character for Japan to be a secret otaku but it has to be just that - secret. Very few people would know about his hobbies and wouldn't discuss it very much.

It's a shame that more fanfic writers don't utilize weeaboo Canada, though. I mean, c'mon, he wore a forehead protector and asked Japan to show him how to do a move from Naruto. If that doesn't scream "total weeb," what does?