Tiny fanfic rant.
My fanfic-related pet peeves are no different than the standards we all know and hate. Example: the use of ravaged when clearly the writer should be using ravished.
That said, indulge me while I harp on one that's bothered me for years. One that I'm sure you've all encountered in one form or another. I'm going to call it the "Error of Non-Observation, either Willful or Negligent, Which Results in Inaccurate Physical Description." For short I'll call it the Who Are You Describing? rule.
Too many times now I've read Obi-Wan described as tan. Sure, sure, he could acquire a healthy glow from the right off-world mission (though even then, we all know he'd probably only turn a lovely peach rather than true tan. I know how fair skin works, kthnx). What bugs me is that describing him as tan just seems like an easy way to call to mind widely-accepted notions of attractiveness. Tan is considered more attractive than pale or fair, so tan he is.
A better example: that Obi-Wan is broad-shouldered.
Um. Wut.
Broad-shoulderedness is seen as an attractive quality in a male. Fine. This fact does not change the reality that Ewan-as-Obi-Wan is very not broad. When I see him written this way I wonder, are they looking at the same Ewan I am? Because Ewan is deliciously narrow in the shoulders....not only is he not broad, but his slimness is one of the most fetching and sexy things about him. Gah....that small frame....those fair, lightly freckled shoulders.....*shivers*
Another is that he has long, tapered fingers. *headdesk* I know long, tapered fingers can be very appealing to some, and maybe it's just an easy way to describe the hands, I don't know (after all, Ewan's hands really defy description). But those aren't Obi-Wan's.
So yeah. That was just bugging me.
