[ SECRET POST #4650 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4650 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 36 secrets from Secret Submission Post #666.
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]

01. https://i.imgur.com/utIFHo7.png

[(Anonymous)]

I tend to not like first person in specific fandoms/with specific characters, and when I write first person, I tend to tag it as such because of that, but... I mean, it's pretty obvious as soon as you click open a fic if it's in first, second, or third, so this doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

[(Anonymous)]

Same.
Only exception are fics for books written in first person.

[(Anonymous)]

I wish it was common/mandatory to tag for POV and also to specify whether or not a ship in a fic is the central focus or just a side attraction.

The only F/F pairing in my small fandom has 600+ fics, but if you filter out the juggernaut M/M ship, you're left with... 20. It's entirely possible the F/F pairing is also a major focus in those 580 other fics, but I have no way of knowing unless I read it, but inevitably it's just sprinkled in the background of yet another juggernaut ship fic. It's a huge pain in the ass.

First-person POV always throws me for a loop, too.

[(Anonymous)]

OMG, this. That's probably my number one wish for AO3, a way to indicate a major focus pairing vs a background one. I've got several ships that this would be super helpful for. Like you said, there are pairings that end up in the background of the juggernaut ship but are rarely written about on their own. Or, sometimes even canon pairings, because they'll technically be in a lot of fic (since it's canon), but the fic isn't *about* the pairing.

[(Anonymous)]

2019 Problems

[(Anonymous)]

MTE

[(Anonymous)]

I don't get the hate for first person POV. What is so awful about it?

[(Anonymous)]

Not OP, but the thing I don't like about it (and second person) is that it ruins the escapist experience that reading is for me. I don't want to be part of what I'm reading. That's not why I personally read.

[(Anonymous)]

Huh, I've never had the perception that I'm the narrator in Frankenstein, The Tell-Tale Heart, or any of H.P. Lovecraft's stories.

[(Anonymous)]

In my experience, it can be tricky to do it right. A lot of beginners write it instinctively in a very "Hi, my name is [character name] and I'm a slender sixteen year old girl with long, silver hair", etc. etc. sort of way. It feels very forced and artificial.

But when done well, it can be amazing how intimately it brings the reader into the story. It's just that few people can write it well.

[(Anonymous)]

I think first person POV is really hard to get right for me personally. Often characters just don't sound like real people or don't think of stuff a normal person would think about in that instant because plot or whatever. Plus, even in a first person narrative you often need to find a way to make it explicit what the characters around you POV character think without them being a mind reader AND still having to pull of your POV character realistically misinterpreting what the other is saying (I hope I'm making sense here). That takes skill.
There is also of course the chance that your POV character is vastly different from a big part of the readership which has the chance of being really exciting while totally off putting to the others.

Now, throw in writing from the viewpoint of a character that is not your own, that you only know through watching/reading about them from a 3rd person perspective and throw in that you probably have vastly other interpretations of that character than other parts of the fandom even if they agree with your ship/plot idea or whatever. The chances of their voice just sounding really "wrong" are high.
I can count the number of 1st person POV fics I've read (or rather started to read) in the last 15 years of fandom and LIKED on one hand.

[(Anonymous)]

SA: Oh god I should proof-read my past 1am posts. Please excuse all the typos.

[sabotabby]

FWIW it's entirely sensible and I feel the same.

[(Anonymous)]

It removes all of the interest and mystery of the character for me. I would rather be in the head of almost any other character pretty immediately.

FWIW, I generally hate voiceovers in TV shows for the same reason. With the exception of Veronica Mars... until Season 4. Ugh.

[(Anonymous)]

Unless it's a very good writer most of it just feels like the writer self-inserting themselves. First person combined with really OOC just makes it seem like something they should have kept in their heads.

[(Anonymous)]

I find people tend to tag first person where I usually skulk around, or at least I've nearly always exited out of it if as soon as I see it's written in first. I recently went back to one of my favourite fics of all time and was shocked to find it was written in first person. Felt a little bad about it, but after re-reading it I've been more lenient with giving first person a chance.

[(Anonymous)]

Same, except for 2nd person. Unless I get to choose my own adventure, get that shit out of here.

[philstar22]

I hate first person. Second person too. But you generally know within the first few sentences of a fic if it is a first or second person fic, and then it is easy to hit the backbutton.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, people can and do just freeform-tag their fic with what POV it's in (https://archiveofourown.org/tags/POV%20First%20Person). Maybe we should encourage doing this more universally?

[(Anonymous)]

First person makes sense for fandoms where the source material is presented in first person, like ACD!Sherlock Holmes. Or, I don't know. Scrubs maybe?

It's a lot less forgiving than third person, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I am perfectly happy with first person in profic, but in fanfic it's so hard to get the character's voice right - when it's done well (often in fandoms where there's a strong canon first person voice already) it's great, but that's rare enough that I avoid it unless there's a specific rec.

[(Anonymous)]

Hard same, OP. I don't even like published books that are written in first person, i find them so hard to get into.