[ SECRET POST #5828 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5828 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 25 secrets from Secret Submission Post #834.
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

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

SA

All right, so my fandom has this fic that's close to 200,000 words long, 2500+ comments, 4000+ kudos. Shows up on nearly everyone's rec list. Has some technically good writing, in that you can tell the author has studied the craft and knows how to plot, pace, etc.

But I hate it. This is my list of reasons:

1) The title is not original. In fact, it's very common; if you search for it on AO3 without specifying fandom, you will get a page of hits.

2) The characterization for the female lead is off. She's transformed into a petulant teenager (and the bizarre thing is that this isn't out of hatred: the author adores her! The primary ship involves her!).

3) There's a courtroom scene that makes absolutely zero sense. It takes place in a military context, in which court-martial might be appropriate (although that'd be stretching it, with the scenario the author devised), but a standard court proceeding would not. It comes across as the author wanting to flex the fact that she's in law school.

4) It turns a character who is, in canon, somewhat morally grey but definitely on the side of the good guys into a mustache-twirling villain, which no explanation for it, and no explanation for why the command structure around him goes along with it. There are people who outrank him just being like, "well, Dave's being kind of an asshole here, but I guess there's nothing we can do!"

5) For plot purposes, it has a military outfit turn against people who have saved their asses twice and contributed to them having their single most significant victory.

6) It has one of the most offensive metaphors for coming out that I think I've ever seen. A man who has defected from the fascist-coded enemy wants to keep wearing the enemy's uniform, because that's who he is. The soldiers who are uncomfortable at him wearing the fascist enemy's uniform are presented as bigoted. He's ultimately allowed to keep wearing the enemy's uniform to show that the good guys are embracing his identity.

7) It also has this offensive section where, in a clunky attempt to avoid ableism, she frames a man wanting to keep the use of his legs as being because he has PTSD and needs to keep running from his problems.

8) She originally advertised the piece as eventually having smut. Instead of admitting that the plot wouldn't allow for it (because it really wouldn't. There's just no good place to insert sex, and that's fine! Sometimes you realize that the things you intend aren't going to pan out, and you adjust accordingly), she declared that every single character is asexual. Every. Single. One -- except for one guy. She describes him as the "token allosexual," and he happens to be the only character throughout the whole piece who has zero sexually or romantically charged interactions with anyone, making him, in fact, the most likely to be ace. The two characters in the primary ship have a make-out session in a supply close and are written as experiencing sexual attraction to one another (they very explicitly want. His lips on her neck feel like being shot through with lightning!), but she says that they're asexual. Because...they told her that they are.

I still can't believe I read the whole thing. I think I just wanted to be sure about it.

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Lmao everyone else named their fic and fandom but I didn't. Well, what the hell? It's "floating, sinking" in Rogue One fandom.

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

The enemy uniform bit has me thinking it was Rogue One lol. Let Bodhi have a new uniform, goddamn.

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

omg I didn't remember the name of the fic but it sounded familiar and I *wondered*, mostly because those tags are obnoxious.

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

yikes

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

big fucking yikes lol

Re: Popular fics you just can't stand

[(Anonymous)]

Oh my God yikes