[ SECRET POST #2356 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2356 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________



17.


__________________________________________________



18.


__________________________________________________



19.


__________________________________________________



20.


__________________________________________________



21.


__________________________________________________



22.


__________________________________________________















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 134 secrets from Secret Submission Post #336.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

02. http://25.media.tumblr.com/cd2d01dc122e200bbab98ec3016f6665/tumblr_mo6x3vIA8W1rq2vv5o1_500.png

[(Anonymous)]

It depends on the line. If it specifically refers to a plot point or spot in a character arc that hasn't been resolved yet or is continuously shoved aside, then it has a purpose.

[fenm]

Yeah... I once started a fic by "replaying" a scene from the show, so yes, I quoted the show, but there was a point to it.

But I agree that just plugging a stock phrase (or worse, a phrase completely out of context) is lazy.

[(Anonymous)]

Right there with you. I hate it and it usually feels so forced. I can get behind it if the characters themselves are referring back to the event or if it's something that the character often says. Otherwise it's a cheap trick.

HOWEVER I hate it even more when writers take lines from other sources and stick it in the middle of a fic. It's distracting and screams 'I can't think of anything witty/deep to include.'

[intrigueing]

It really depends on the context. Recalling a line from canon can be an important, meaningful, and useful narrative device, just like an author echoing a line used several chapters earlier in the story/in a previous episode or installment of a story.

But sometimes, yeah, it's just kinda uncreative and dumb. Which describes most writing devices -- very few of them are universally bad or good, it depends on how the writer uses them.

[seventh_seal]

Some short phrases that are specific to the character or to the setting of the original are OK, but I think transplanting whole sentences is lazy.

That said, I hate the overuse of the trademark phrases (like Spock or Snape saying "Indeed" to every damn thing like a broken record.)

[chardmonster]

Well, yeah. I mean if I've learned anything from watching quality television, it's that good shows never, ever, ever have callbacks.

But don't look at me. I'm a doctor, not a screenwriter.

[deadtree]

I haaaate having to use lines from the source material but when you're incorporating a canon event it feels even weirder NOT to use them.

[(Anonymous)]

Supernatural fics are so full of this that I want to set my computer on fire.

[(Anonymous)]

This is why I hate the Inception crossovers I've read

[forgottenjester]

Depends for me. If it's a catchphrase I won't care because it's a catchphrase. If you're leading out of a canon scene for story reasons I don't mind having the last two lines of it being done or something. So I guess the big thing for me is that if you have canon lines in your fic I need a good reason for it to be there.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, if it's a few lines intermittently dispersed throughout it's not a big deal. But if it's lines that get used over and over and over again, then I'm going to question the writer's creativity.

So basically what everyone else has said, it depends on context and frequency.

[cassandraoftroy]

The only time this really bothers me is when fandom latches onto a one-off line and turns it into a catchphrase. Yes, the "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" quip was great -- ONCE. Seeing it another fifty times in fic kind of made me want to set something on fire.

[pantasma]

Similar. I don't read fic to read what original author wrote, but for extra adventures.

[popkin16]

I kind of like it? It's a callback to canon, a way that strengthens the connection between the fic and the show. It's fun :)

[terabient]

I wouldn't say I like them, but there are a lot of mediocre fics that suddenly become hilarious when the author clumsily works in lines from canon.

so there's that at least

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. It's lazy writing.

[straycatblues]

I agree.In the fic I've seen it used,it's boring and not very well done,but maybe it depends on the writer and the fic.

[blueonblue]

It may not be clever, but sprinkling ACD quotes over Sherlock fic amuses me.

TRANSCRIPTION

[(Anonymous)]

[A blank image with only text.]

I don't think using lines from the source material in fic is clever at all. In my opinion, it shows an inability to keep the character in-character on the writer's part.

[truxillogical]

Yeeeeeah, I am not so much a fan. I mean, it can depend. Like, I've written TF2 fic where I've dropped in in-game dialogue if it seemed like it fit, but it was something I used veeeerrry sparingly because, well, it's easy make it look like you just threw game quotes at a story because dialogue is hard. But it's a game, and in-game there isn't much plot, so if the idea of the fic is that it's the plot that goes on alongside the game, well...

But in Avengers fic you see a lot of it. Especially with Tony. And that's so much more annoying because Tony doesn't recycle his jokes. He probably doesn't even remember what funny things he called *insert character X* two minutes ago; he always comes up with something new. Now writing that rapid-fire clever-and-quippy dialogue is hard, but IMHO it's better to just write it straight than to simply re-quote the cleverness.

[perfidiousfate]

I kind of agree, yeah. If it's executed poorly, it's incredibly grating. Or if it's so overused it shows up in every. Single. Fic. And you just know it's because of an endless feedback loop of fic writers reading other fic and deciding to use the same quote everyone uses.

But, on the other hand, sometimes there's a reason to it. For example, Homestuck has plenty of reoccurring quotes, sometimes changed slightly, for thematic reasons. If people echo the same lines in the fic, it fits the tone of the canon, so I don't really mind. It depends on how well the writers use it, basically.

[al28894]

Echoing what others have already said up there: it depends on the type of fic.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! If I have to hear "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" one more time.....

[(Anonymous)]

I get why this puts people off and it has annoyed me before (especially in Supernatural fic). Then I realized I'm guilty of it. I wrote an Avengers/Toy Story fusion fic series where Agent Coulson is Andy and the Avengers are his toys. "Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" was mentioned twice because it became the equivalent of "space ranger" there---it probably would have been a marketing tagline in that 'verse. I did pepper the first couple of fics with lines from both canons, but the dialogue eventually became more organic, with an occasional reference here or there, usually in more mundane lines.

So yeah, I've done it. We've all probably done it, especially when we're newer to fandom. It can be really annoying if overused, but I find it more annoying when people type out a scene from canon---like when someone tried to insert Nine into Tenth Doctor episodes of Doctor Who.