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Roisin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 449
Location: U.S.A.
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 Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 7:21 am Post subject: What are your fanfic pet peeves? |
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When wading through fanfic.net, what makes *you* want to tear your eyeballs out and run screaming from the room?
Roisin |
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Roisin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 449
Location: U.S.A.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 7:24 am Post subject: |
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Oh, and I forgot to answer my own question. 
ONE of my pet peeves is when Legolas is portrayed as weak or helpless. Usually in a slash fic. Good God, did these people NOT see the movie or read the book?
Roisin |
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Ellbee
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 172
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 8:11 am Post subject: |
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Gotta be teenage-girl-falls-into-Middle-Earth. For one thing, I think it's just the silliest idea imaginable (right up there with Mpreg), and I refuse to believe it can work at all except as humor (just like Mpreg.) And for another, gawd, do these people not know that there are probably 15 thousand of those stories on there already? At any one time fully half of the stories on the Just In page are those. 
-Ell
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dolarabee
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Posts: 175
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 8:57 am Post subject: |
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Pet-peeves? More than the clumsy Mary Sues, which can sort of be excused by the writers' young teenage raging hormones? MSTs for one. Then the MPREGs are up there too. (Or should I say *down* there?) Then usually anything that portrays canon characters OUT of character... you're right Roisin, a defenceless Legolas is ridiculous. And there are the Aragorn-goes-bent-and-crazy-and-rapes-everything-that-moves ones. And I've seen Boromir ending up like this too. ::shudders:: Unless the author can convince me with a damned, bloody good, believable reason why these men would turn in such beasts - more than the usual excuse of the One Ring - I cannot bear it. Or the Boromir-as-Aragorn's-lap-dog ones... I guess the list could go on... and on. I find I have trouble with inter-species sex as well. Nothing to do with gender or races, but more with physical constraints. I mean how can you possibly see Treebeard having it with Pippin?
Anyway, enough ramblings...
do.
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Je sais de la vie qu'elle se termine souvent au lit,
Et que d'autres ont bien plus de chance trépassent de rire ou de jouissance,
Mais pire que la mort qui vient c'est l'amour qui ne vient jamais.
~ Daniel Bélanger |
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Hathor
Joined: 09 Jun 2003
Posts: 346
Location: Lancashire, England
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:52 am Post subject: |
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Modern terminology being used by Elves, like "okay" and "psacing out"
It really makes me want to hurt someone when I see that. Preferably the author. And all those weird slash pairings just done to get Legolas with someone. I mean, Legolas/Balrog? Gyah!
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Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis... |
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Roisin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 449
Location: U.S.A.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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Another pet peeve of mine is the whole "beautiful-mysterious-girl-appears-suddenly-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-and-Legolas/Boromir/whoever-instantly-fall-in-love" genre.
There were a couple where the amnesiac girl would appear in Mirkwood forest and be discovered by (of course) Legolas.....they really leave you hoping for the timely appearance of a hungry spider.
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Hathor
Joined: 09 Jun 2003
Posts: 346
Location: Lancashire, England
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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I don't mind it when "girl drops into Middle-Earth" because it's an inter4esting concept. I don't mind it if they fall in love with Leggy and vice versa.
It's just done so badly so often that... ugh.
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~Hathor~
Owner of 'Just Another Hole' and Lindir, The Pretty Noldo Totty
Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis... |
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sheraiah
Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 28
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Evil Thranduil fics and elves speaking like illiterate middle schoolers are what torque my cork. If I wanted to have speech like that inflicted on me, I'd go visit the local movie theatre where all the kids in town hang out. As for Thranduil being protrayed as evil, I just can't see it. As for some of the things the rest of you have mentioned, well you have to figure that the professor is spinning in his grave like a high speed lathe from some of this stuff. |
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Scribe
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Betelgeuse
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 6:02 pm Post subject: Pet Peeves |
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Well Easterling and Patient are the result of my pet peeves.
After reading the ludicrous concepts for some Mary Sue stories, I set out to write something that I hope does justice to Leggy and the OFC.
Also the two girls fall out of the sky to middle earth or Legolas falls out of my closet is another reason why I chose to write the Patient just to see if it was possible to do a decent story about the modern age. (IT IS).
Any of the characters turning into a rapists ticks me off, as well as fathers being made into monsters, see Elrond or Thranduil. MPREG is so frigging stupid that words just fail me. Even in humour, its stupid!
I am noted for my absolute hatred of MSTs because its....mean.
That and people who thing Legolas would not shoot an arrow into anyone massacring the English language with the use of the word kewl and the fact that he can understand it in the first place, since the language of the time is Westron and every fan girl who drops into Middle Earth brings with her the instantaneous knowledge of English to everyone in the place.
Oh and slash.... |
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Roisin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 449
Location: U.S.A.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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I forgot to mention Evil Arwen fic.
Roisin |
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dolarabee
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Posts: 175
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Evil Arwen? Pfft! I've never come across one of those yet. Thank the gods.
_________________
Je sais de la vie qu'elle se termine souvent au lit,
Et que d'autres ont bien plus de chance trépassent de rire ou de jouissance,
Mais pire que la mort qui vient c'est l'amour qui ne vient jamais.
~ Daniel Bélanger |
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sindohte
Joined: 13 May 2003
Posts: 1621
Location: Rubbing up against an Elf
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| Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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My pet peeve is when writers will actually literally plagarize entire paragraphs from the books or from the movie dialogue and insert it into their story and then do a rehash of what has already been done. I once read a Legolas fic that did a blow by blow recounting of the Council of Elrond. You would think that after blatantly plagarizing the movie, that this particular section of the fanfic should have been halfway decent, but it sucked rotten eggs. 
Another thing I cannot stand which Roisin mentioned is when Legolas is characterized as some sort of weak, namby pamby figure. In slash fic, the poor boy is taken advantage of by every Elf or human who has a sexual urge. And don't even get me started on the whole Legolas pregnant with Glorfindel's or Aragorn's baby. I will also refrain from going into the whole King Thranduil as an insane physically or sexually abusive father.
My final peeve is when good characters go bad -- evil Arwen, evil Eowyn, and of course everyone's favorite -- evil Boromir the rapist. My feeling is why tinker with a perfectly good character, when you can create an OC who does the slow slide into evil and insanity?
Well I shall step off my soap box for now and have a nice cold drink.
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abandon thought, and let the dream descend... |
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Roisin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 449
Location: U.S.A.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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It's odd how there are certain fanfic "conventions." People seem to see Boromir as being very sexually aggressive, when my own view of the character is that he would be sort of uncomfortable and not real "smooth" around women.
Roisin |
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sindohte
Joined: 13 May 2003
Posts: 1621
Location: Rubbing up against an Elf
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| Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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Roisin,
You are right about Boromir. I recall from Tolkien I do believe (puh-leez let me the upholder of canon be right) that Boromir spent most of his time training with weapons and involved in other manly type pursuits. Such a lifestyle would definitely make him less than smooth and self assured around the opposite sex.
And I have never been able to understand the following illogical equation
Lust for the One Ring = Boromir is a crazed rapist of anything that walks on two legs
Just doesn't add up in my book.
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abandon thought, and let the dream descend... |
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NancyBrooke
Challenge Admin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 160
Location: In a motel 6 by the airport
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| sindohte wrote: | I recall from Tolkien I do believe (puh-leez let me the upholder of canon be right) that Boromir spent most of his time training with weapons and involved in other manly type pursuits...
Lust for the One Ring = Boromir is a crazed rapist of anything that walks on two legs
Just doesn't add up in my book. |
Where exactly is this "Boromir the Rapist" fic? I've often heard it reviled, but I've never actually seen it and I'm curious.
Appendix A of LOTR (ROTK, specifically) says Boromir was like Earnur of old, "taking no wife and delighting chiefly in arms." So, yeah, you're right, but what I don't understand is why "taking no wife" often translates to "isn't interested in women."
I do think of Boromir as a passionate man; passionate for his City, his family, his duty. It seems as likely that he might be awkward around women as he might have had as many as he might like. I figure he's good looking, the second most powerful person in Gondor, young and male -- I bet he's had all the opportunities he could want to learn about the opposite gender.
I also wonder if he might not have an addictive personality; Why did the ring choose him? I'm struggling to write a fic currently that explores that question and the situation he may have been in in Gondor before the battle at Osgiliath. Don't hold your breath to read it though.
My pet peeves are, to get back to topic, bad spelling and grammar, Mary Sue's, and all the others y'all just mentioned. Oh! And unfinished fics! There's nothing worse than getting all into something only to find it unfinished and abandoned. Grrrrrrrrr. |
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