[ SECRET POST #2532 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2532 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.



__________________________________________________


11.


__________________________________________________



12.







Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #362.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - 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. http://i.imgur.com/JuTL1dt.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.

This is particularly true of Sherlock Holmes (not sure if that's what you were thinking of, but that background certainly fits) - the setting and the atmosphere of 1890s London is so essential to the appeal of the original stories. I love it as much as I love any of the characters, and it would be wonderful to see fic that emphasizes that more.

[dreemyweird]

This secret is perfection. I love your wording ("writing love letters to the setting" <3) and your choice of background; and I so share your sentiment, both in regards to the Holmes franchise and in general. You're wonderful, OP.

[fleshisyummy]

I definitely agree. Now that I think about it, my favorite fanfics of all time emphasize the atmosphere.

This is something I'm trying to work on with my own writing because sometimes I find the characters "floating in space."

[(Anonymous)]

I couldn't agree more. And yet, I cut down on settings because I find descriptive writing easier than dialogue, characterisation and plot. Maybe I can stop worrying about that?

[writerserenyty]

I tend to agree; I personally am a big character person, in that I love well-written characters and stories, but in some canons the atmosphere/world building is so good.

[(Anonymous)]

What is that image? It's gorgeous.

made an thread for atmospheric recs in GC

[sootyowl]

Great atmospheric fics are lovely. I feel like AUs can do them really well, as they have to create a different universe than the source content.

[fingalsanteater]

I agree. I love a good world-building fic. I've been vocal about my dislike of AU fic lately, but there are also those few AU fics that shatter all my expectations by having amazing world-building instead of just plopping unrecognizable characters in a flat setting.

I always feel a bit weird about world-building my own writing though, because I think that no one cares about my stupid ideas.

[(Anonymous)]

...am I the only one who wishes more pro fic would do this??

Secret 1 - Atmosphere in fanfiction

[transcriptanon]

[Picture is a painting or photograph? of a street from the past in shades of orange. It looks sort of old-fashionedly European in style. There are carriages and several people milling about. The buildings look old, about two or three stories tall? There is a monument of a person high up to the left. It's a very pretty picture.]

I wish fanfic would devote as much time writing love letters to the atmosphere and setting of their canon as they do writing love letters to the characters. Often, the settings are just as fascinating.

[(Anonymous)]

As I think a couple of people have commented, I feel like I see more attention to setting and atmosphere in AUs, where the burden of worldbuilding is on the fic author instead of the canon. The other places are usually things like literary canons with very distinct voices where fic authors make an effort to echo the original tone/atmosphere of the canon, or fic for genres with very distinct atmospheres like noir or horror or the punk genres, or fic for very broad, intricate canons that fic authors focus on unusual parts of (or canons with great ideas but dodgy realisation, where fandom sets out to explore some of the glossed-over implications).

I think it depends on the original canon and how easy/difficult the original voice is to replicate? And on the tone of the fandom and how well it takes to certain things. Instinct might suggest that meta-heavy fandoms might lean more towards setting-focused fic, but I've no idea how well that hypothesis tests in reality.

[(Anonymous)]

This was always my favorite part of Harry Potter (both the books themselves and the fandom). I loved reading and writing stories that were just about people living their lives in that universe without any particular connection to the plot or the main cast.

[tweedisgood]

Quite a few us do try quite hard to do this...

[intrigueing]

IA x10000000000000000000000

(also, that picture is gorgeous.)

[(Anonymous)]

This is one of the many reasons why I love AUs so much. Not the modern ones, really (coffee shops, chefs, highschool, whatever, dime a dozen) but the steampunk ones, historical ones, fantasy ones, etc, etc. Usually the people who attempt those have some stirrings towards original fiction, and they do make the effort to develop settings beyond just background. It's much harder to find with canonverse fanfiction, although I have seen it on occasion.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree completely! There are definitely a few fandoms - Pokemon comes to mind - where I'm just so enamored of the universe that OC fic is as fun to read as fic about canon characters. Provided it's well-written, of course.

Meh.

[(Anonymous)]

Obviously my opinion isn't the popular one here judging from the comments, but I usually don't give a rat's ass about the setting in most fics. Yeah, a little description here or there is fine, but I don't need to have purple prose discussing the desert at night or paragraphs upon paragraphs of setting. That just doesn't interest me, and I don't include it when I write fic, either.

The one exception being, of course, AUs, where there's a completely different world (not high school or coffee shop or whatever, but something where things are COMPLETELY different).

[tabaqui]

YES YES YES.
I hate a fic where nothing about the setting/atmosphere is even remotely touched upon. I don't care if we 'all know' what Sunnydale looks like or we 'all know' what it's like being on the Enterprise - gimme some damn description!!

To me, it's the most fun part of writing *anything*.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you mean: Victor Hugo

(go read Les Mis and read endless pages about the Parisian sewer system)

[(Anonymous)]

Integrating setting and character is one of my favorite parts of writing, and it's definitely something that I'd love to see other authors do too.

[(Anonymous)]

As long as I'm not getting paragraphs and paragraphs of Tolkien-like descriptions of the location, then sure.

[(Anonymous)]

100% agree. Nearly all my favorite stories are my favorites because they paint such an evocative picture of the setting as well as the characters.

I try to do this with my own writing but it's tricky finding a happy medium. You don't want to over-describe a setting or end up writing really purple prose, two common mistakes writers make when they're trying to "write a love letter", so to speak.

[diet_poison]

eh. I think setting is important, but I come to fandom for the characters and they're definitely more important to me than the setting. ymmv.

I have found that when reading books or fanfic that spend lots of time detailing what the city/town/forest/wherever I get really bored and sometimes read quickly to get back to the part where characters are interacting/being described/reflecting/experiencing things.

[augustbird]

can i make a recommendation?

i'm not sure if you really even need to be familiar with the fandom to enjoy this series: http://archiveofourown.org/series/5357