fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4839 ]

[ SECRET POST #4839 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4839 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 39 secrets from Secret Submission Post #693.
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.

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Mostly because I'm afraid my fic will be mocked.

When it's real clear the fic has an agenda or the author has a huge kink that they haven't acknowledged and think they're cleverly hiding.

I don't care if they're open about it, YKINMK w/e, but the fact that they think other people can't tell makes me cringe.

I feel a little too old and mellow to mock bad characterisation and self-inserts anymore, I'll just move on if something obviously isn't to my tastes.

But if you don't use paragraph breaks and even after realising you forgot to add them don't go back and edit the damned fic, I hope someone takes away your computer!

Nothing. If I don't like a fic, I stop reading. I definitely don't go around making fun of it. Never, ever. Both out of respect for the author and the people who liked the fic, and because I don't spend energy on things I don't care about.

Really? You don't even link a friend and go "wow lol look at this" in private? I just don't believe that.

SA

Adding that there is, of course, a big difference between sharing something ridiculous and funny you found with a friend vs. posting it on a public forum for people to laugh at, or saying mocking things to the author.

Really. I'm surprised this would seem unbelievable.

I don't do it often either, but to believe someone has "never, ever" done it is yeah, a little unbelievable, sorry. Especially in the context that we're talking on a forum for people interested in hearing other people's secrets and commenting anonymously on them with others.

Okay, admittedly, the "never, ever" is not literally true, I definitely did mock others in the past, but it's been years. At some point I decided that the kind of person I want to be does not make fun of people, not even behind their backs.

And sharing secrets and commenting on them is not usually mocking? Don't tell me that you don't see a difference between saying "I don't like it" and "wow lol look at this". I stick to the former and ignore the latter, which isn't that hard because not that much mocking happens here. It's only the occasional secret or comment, it's not pervasive.

Re: What makes you mock a fic?

(Anonymous) - 2020-04-06 09:23 (UTC) - Expand

Same. Mocking takes more effort than most bad fic is worth. Even the small percentage where I might contemplate it, I consider the author might just be a kid.

Author tracts. I don’t mind if they’re subtle or only take up a few sentences, but I’m not about to sit through a fic where the characters are randomly talking about the evils of abortion.

When it's obvious that the author has never watched the show/read the book and is just repeating the most annoying fandom headcanons.

Awful grammar and/or misspelling the names constantly.

Ohh~ the first one is very valid. I get that a lot in the Newsies fandom... Like 99% are pulling this shit outta their asses and I've read through thousands of fics and have only found like one that captures what it's like to be a Newsie at that time.

Bad characterization (disrespectful of characters/motives, ignoring established character development, not bothering with any character development when forcing character into crazy situations, forcing character into role for the sake of filling a role regardless of who or how they are)

Bad plot twist execution (dumping everything on the reader at the last minute, or pulling random things out of your ass otherwise your story will not work)

Lazy ass proofreading/grammar/spelling (I mean when you're perfectly capable of checking your work and nothing would keep you from doing so.)

Trashing the "other" love interest for the sake of making your OTP look good.

But honestly, if you put a disclaimer or something ("Hey, this is a high school AU and the cast is written like counterparts to XYZ Teen Show, and there's plenty of time travel and Jane Doe being a jealous bitch!") then I'm more likely to either keep that in mind while reading, or just move on to another fic.

And obviously, nothing is 100% perfect. Typos happen, and despite your best research, you might write something inaccurate. I tend to mock things that are done more on purpose. And even lately, I'm too lazy to do that.

To be clear, I don't "mock a fic" in the sense that I post my opinions anywhere or express them out loud. But there are quite a few things...

* No sign of a basic spellcheck or proofread, no effort to write in a reasonably coherent manner with proper punctuation and capitalization.
* Crappy summary, or excuses about how the author isn't good at writing summaries
* Sloppy/lazy writing - see above
* Weirdly messagey, like the author is trying to teach us a Very Important Lesson and thinks that beating people over the head with it is a good way to do that
* Clear signs that the author has Issues of some kind, whether it's a weird hang up about something or a specific kink that they believe they're being subtle about, but they're not
* Bad sex scenes written with hyperbolic, flowery language that make it sound like the author has never had sex
* Terrible characterization - just like, really off the mark can barely tell who you're writing about because it doesn't sound anything like the character

That said, I wouldn't sweat it. Write the best fic you can, and publish. Not everyone will like it, but that's just life.

lol what about sex scenes where a character gives another blowjob and he entire description was them literally 'blowing' on their dick?

The thing that makes me roll my eyes is, fic that's really "faddish" and fic that doesn't give the characters interiority

Thesaurus abuse.

I don't mind a fic with complex vocabulary, but sometimes it's obvious that the author substituted common words for "smart-sounding" synonyms that don't fit quite right and make everything sound silly.

For example: "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were triumphant to verbalize that they were masterfully commonplace, thank you very much."

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

I don't really mock fic, I just nope on out of there if there's something I don't like. Of course there's bad/mediocre fic out there, lots of it, but there are also authors who pour their hearts and souls into that same fic and I feel for them getting mocked for it, you know?

I think of The Eye of Argon, a notoriously bad* fantasy story written in the early 1970s and circulated ever since as a source of lolz. The author was (I think) 14 years old when he wrote it and had intended it to be a serious work, but said he stopped writing when his story became a big joke. Idk why nobody sat down with that kid and helped him out, at least said look you don't have to cram half a thesaurus into every sentence. He would've improved and who knows what else he could've done. But he stopped writing altogether because people made fun of it, and that's just sad to me.

*It's actually...very bad. It's full of all sorts of grammatical mistakes and horrible purple prose using incorrect words, and is on the internet to read if you Google.

That is sad, like the poor kid didn't have a chance. It sucks because if he was using thesaurus' and gave a shit about what he was writing he'd probably mature into a good author. Too bad he wasn't given the chance.

Same reason I'd mock any story: wildly inconsistent or insane plotting or characterisation.

Bad BDSM etiquette.

Well. I won't mock it out loud, but I'll definitely judge the writer.

Respect safewords and each other's needs, or stop pretending it's BDSM and slap a non-con tag on it.

Nothing really, I basically live for fic, so there isn't much if anything that will cause me to feel that way. Of course this is also because I know what I like, and have enough experience sorting through fic (all the way before AO3, I must say that site has spoiled me rotten) that I can usually tell by the tags/summary/title of the fic what to expect from it. I'll still come across fics that aren't exactly my cup of tea, but it's been year since I've actually been offended by something someone wrote.

Sometimes I'll have a giggle over an unfortunately placed word, but that's generally unavoidable in fics even if they have been checked or beta'd. (and it's entirely harmless to miss a few, I'm just a child apparently and I get a kick out of them.)
Honestly the best way to catch errors like this is to finish editing and wait a full day or two before reading through your work again. That way your mind isn't supplementing corrections automatically as you read. (editing right after you finish a fic is important, but a delayed second look is better because you're brain needs time to separate what you intended to write and what's written on the page, y'know?)

Other than that, all I can say is KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS. Don't rely on popular opinion or PC culture to determine how a character can and will act in canon. I'm having a hard time with this in the 'Stranger Things' fandom, where I literally waited from the second seasons debut until about a month ago to look for Steve/Billy fanfic. Because I just knew that a lot of people were going to edit the hell out of the characters (aka 90% Billy) because it's just easier to pretend he's a good guy, and that there was something to base their relationship on besides the flour and eggs that we were given. (Meaning that the potential between them could have actually become something beautiful, but acknowledging all the anger, beatings, self-hatred, and abuse, is apparently too much trouble, so we're left with the oddly shaped dollar discount versions of them which is literally just Original Fiction with a facelift) Of course this is mostly just my own personal opinion, but the same as when people use characters they relate to as convenient self-inserts, there's nothing that can get me to exit a tab quicker.

Be aware of the fandom you're writing for as well. Tag/post in the appropriate universe/adaption you're taking from. If you are writing about the movie version of a character, post your fic in the category

Post your fic in the movie category, "all media types" would be secondary, and do not add the 'comic-verse' (for example) since those are a completely different set of individuals and not the same characters you are writing about. Also be careful about fourth-wall referencing, I'm not sure how to phrase this, but to use 'Gotham' as an example, it was a big thing in the fandom to ship both the characters and their actors. I had to exit out/pretend really hard sometimes when the author would try to cleverly adding in plugs by way of the RPF shipname and things like that. Basically try not to layer your fic with other forms of shipping that aren't part of canon.

Finally, know your warnings. If you're writing a multichaptered fic, have a plan! You don't need to have the whole thing written in its entirety (though that absolutely helps, and generally prevents stories to go uncompleted) but a basic plan where you know what you want to do with the plot and the characters/their relationships is kinda essential when knowing what to tag. (good tagging lets the people who want to read your fic know about your fic)
Parings. (if there are multiple than the main most focused on relationship first, be it platonic or otherwise, and followed by lesser relationships which take less screen time, and so forth) Triggers/Squicks, F!S has a list of them, tag what applies to what you've written. Theme. (angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, etc.) Leniency to canon. (AU's of any kind, established relationship when the characters aren't together in canon, future fic, and the like)... I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting, but you get the gist.

I'll cut this off now, since I already screwed up and have to double post, but basically so long as you're tagging and listing your story properly, are aware of who the characters are and how they act, and check over your work, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about!
Your skill of a writer can only improve as you continue to write, if you're worried about people mocking you, all you need to do is leave in an authors note that you would like to improve and will accept kindhearted criticism. (of course this is me putting words in your mouth, if you're not a fan/aren't willing to hear criticism please just disregard this) The want to improve, from what I've experienced is enough for your readers to take what you've written seriously. I know some dicks might crawl out of the woodworks, some intentionally, some not, but people are less likely to mock (or think about mocking) when they know you take your writing seriously and want others to do the same. (if that makes sense?)

I don't really mock fics, as in going around making fun of them, but there are definitely things that bother me. There might be others, but these are the main ones.

- Spelling characters' names wrong.
- Getting physical descriptions wrong. I once read a fic that went on about a character's brown eyes, even though his eyes were blue.
- Directly contradicting canon details without acknowledging that it's been changed for the fic or is an AU. For example, Alice has mentioned her five siblings multiple times onscreen, and the fic says something along the lines of "everyone knows that Alice is an only child". It might sound dumb, but it annoys me.

When it's about characterization-related things, I don't really care. If someone writes a character or ship in a way I don't like or doesn't ring true to me, I just won't read it. I'm not going to mock you or judge you just because I don't interpret the character the same way you do or have the same headcanons, and a lot of the time multiple interpretations can be equally valid. Like if you write a fic about how Bob is super into having pudding licked off his balls...no show/movie/book/etc. is going to say he's NOT into that, so go for it.

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[ SECRET POST #4839 ]

What makes you mock a fic?

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SA: Sorry- Cut My Post Off Early

Re: What makes you mock a fic?