Thoughts on fanfic....

[conuly]

I'm not exactly an old hat at the fandom worlds out there, but I do read a lot. (This is what I say all the time: I don't have any kids, and therefore have never breastfed, but, um, I do read a lot... I don't actually know any ASL other than the sign for "cup", but I do read a lot... I don't know how my mind works (nor yours, for that matter), but, um, I do read a lot....)

Anyway, I've lately noticed something. I don't mind a fic that's written to be "AU", assuming the writer is reasonably competant. It can be an interesting bit of fun, can't it? See what one person thinks would've happened if one tiny thing had been different. And fic that wasn't "AU" when it was written, but is now - sure, I can go with that.

But a tiny thing that the books or the movies or the show say is otherwise, instead of a big change - that irritates me. It really does. Going to Harry Potter, the stories you're most likely to all be familiar with, I can live with Neville being the Boy Who Lived. I can live with certain characters being dead instead of alive, or vice versa. I can deal with slash and so on, no problem. Tell me that a minor character in both books and fic is from a different part of the world than where I *know* they're from? That'll piss me off.

No idea why.

In other news, since I'm supposed to hand over the computer soon, saw the kids today. Ana is such a little actress. Today, I mentioned something involving the word "sleep" to her, and she pretended to lean over and snore. Then, when I said it again, she leaned over more, snored louder. Finally, she flops over dramatically, snores, and gets up going "I wake up!" I almost could've believed her. The new baby is new, and still rather boring. Very quiet, though. I've only heard her cry a few times, and one of those was in the voice mail I got when she was being born, which surely doesn't count. Babies this age remind me of nothing so much as brand new kittens, except bigger and with less fur. Ana, dear one, is torn between being the adoring big sister and being jealous. By their very nature, babies steal attention from older children. Additionally, it's clear she doesn't think it's fair that the baby can nurse all the time, and Ana gets told "no, be patient, you just had milk". When the baby does more than drink milk, I'm sure the apparent unfairness will be more obvious to her.

Just so you know, she seems (right now) to fall more on adoring than jealous. We've only been hyping this new baby for a half a year now, after all... But she gets frustrated that she can't do what she wants with the baby. No, Ana, you can't hold the baby. Ana, you have to be careful around the baby. Ana, the baby already has a hat on. ANA! STOP KISSING HER ALREADY AND LET HER SLEEP! No, she's not going to sing. No, she can't dance. Stop telling her to wake up.

Comments

[mhari.livejournal.com]

Generally people have a reason for writing major plot points differently, like, say, "This would make an interesting story". The reason for getting a minor detail wrong is invariably "LOL im 2 lazy 2 look it up" or "well, I like it my way so I'm changing it".

[conuly]

That's almost certainly it. Or sometimes it's simple carelessness or an accident, of course - an otherwise good story marred by one bad detail. Those irritate me most of all.

Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

Be honest. I'm just wondering. Don't mind if you disagree. Could you point to what you refer to? Really, I don't mind criticism that much.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

I'm new to fanfic and I do look up a lot when I write. I sometimes have bad sources online though and sometimes my short term memory just sucks. Maybe it's association or something... Anyhow, I don't know the acronym AU and just tried to find out and got very little. Please answer me as I'm fairly edgy right now wondering about my writing there. I too am a bit annoyed by factual details that might be wrong when I'm in the know.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

AU means alternate universe, aka non-canon. :)

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

What Bridgetester said. AU fics can range from the (generally bad) "Harriet Potter! Girl who Lived!" fics to "Harry's secret twin!" (also usually bad), to (usually better) fics about what would've happened if Voldie had killed Neville's parents instead, or if Sirius hadn't died when he had, that sort of thing.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if AU was "alternate universe". Seems like it would fit then. Thank you for explaining to me. By the way, feel free to friend me. I hope you don't mind if I friend you. But a warning, I'm pretty controversial sometimes, but not bigotted or anything but sometimes skeptical. I also do a lot of quizzes but will try to respect page space. I realize there was no way you could have read my fan fic. I write occasional non-conflicting/(non-AU I think) type stuff.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

My friends list is completely out of control. I know I need to cut people - including, especially, people who post often (guilty here) - but I hate to do so.

So instead I'm refraining from adding new friends for a while.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

No, it's not. It's in reference to one entry on canon compliance and one fic on Pansy Parkinson which, though I thought it quite good, had an error about Cedric's "blood purity". Which was corrected after I pointed it out, but I'm still thinking on it.

I only point to things I'm refering to when I'm, y'know, refering to. In this case, I was being oblique because I was describing general feelings I have - the entries which prompted it were unimportant.

[mhari.livejournal.com]

Generally people have a reason for writing major plot points differently, like, say, "This would make an interesting story". The reason for getting a minor detail wrong is invariably "LOL im 2 lazy 2 look it up" or "well, I like it my way so I'm changing it".

[conuly]

That's almost certainly it. Or sometimes it's simple carelessness or an accident, of course - an otherwise good story marred by one bad detail. Those irritate me most of all.

Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

Be honest. I'm just wondering. Don't mind if you disagree. Could you point to what you refer to? Really, I don't mind criticism that much.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

I'm new to fanfic and I do look up a lot when I write. I sometimes have bad sources online though and sometimes my short term memory just sucks. Maybe it's association or something... Anyhow, I don't know the acronym AU and just tried to find out and got very little. Please answer me as I'm fairly edgy right now wondering about my writing there. I too am a bit annoyed by factual details that might be wrong when I'm in the know.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

AU means alternate universe, aka non-canon. :)

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

What Bridgetester said. AU fics can range from the (generally bad) "Harriet Potter! Girl who Lived!" fics to "Harry's secret twin!" (also usually bad), to (usually better) fics about what would've happened if Voldie had killed Neville's parents instead, or if Sirius hadn't died when he had, that sort of thing.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[lordalfredhenry.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if AU was "alternate universe". Seems like it would fit then. Thank you for explaining to me. By the way, feel free to friend me. I hope you don't mind if I friend you. But a warning, I'm pretty controversial sometimes, but not bigotted or anything but sometimes skeptical. I also do a lot of quizzes but will try to respect page space. I realize there was no way you could have read my fan fic. I write occasional non-conflicting/(non-AU I think) type stuff.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

My friends list is completely out of control. I know I need to cut people - including, especially, people who post often (guilty here) - but I hate to do so.

So instead I'm refraining from adding new friends for a while.

Re: Is this based on what I wrote about Luna Lovegood?

[conuly]

No, it's not. It's in reference to one entry on canon compliance and one fic on Pansy Parkinson which, though I thought it quite good, had an error about Cedric's "blood purity". Which was corrected after I pointed it out, but I'm still thinking on it.

I only point to things I'm refering to when I'm, y'know, refering to. In this case, I was being oblique because I was describing general feelings I have - the entries which prompted it were unimportant.