"I guess so," said the blond ex-tin man in the duster...

[verilyverity]

What is up with the burly detectivism in Tin Man?  Never have I encountered a fandom so dead set on replacing characters' names and pronouns with ridiculous sounding proxies.  And passive voice!  With a verb that takes an object!  How can that even sound right to an author?

ETA: Ye gods and little fishes!  *stares at ballooning comments*

Comments

[blade_girl]

Never have I encountered a fandom so dead set on replacing characters' names and pronouns with ridiculous sounding proxies. And passive voice! With a verb that takes an object!

Not to mention unfounded sexual attractions, and canon-free characterizations, and Harlequinesque plotlines, and overwrought dialogue, and... and...

Um.

Sorry.

[verilyverity]

Yeah, but you can get that everywhere.

[blade_girl]

You can get the everything-but-the-character's-name phenomenon in other fandoms, too. SGA is full of "said the stocky, short-tempered scientist with the deep blue eyes" and so forth. Usually, it's the less experienced writers and those who really don't do a lot of reading (outside of fanfic), both of which are fairly common among younger fans. This fandom seems to have a lot of younger writers, so perhaps it's a function of the median age.

[verilyverity]

Huh. There was none of it in Harry Potter, even with the made-to-order stock phrase, and we were drowning in teeny-boppers. Also, none in POTO, which is likewise neck deep in fankiddies. I guess I'm just spoiled.

[blade_girl]

Ah, well, Harry Potter fans may well be slightly better acquainted with writing conventions, since they are at least readers of books. I would venture to say that most of the kiddies writing fanfic other kinds of fandoms - tv shows, anime, manga - don't read proper books often enough to internalize the way things should read.

[verilyverity]

I've heard that said about book fandom vs. TV fandom. I suspect it's true, but I've got to say, Rowling is not exactly a role model for elegant and correct prose (or good story writing, for that matter).

[moony_blues]

So I'm not the only one who thought that DH read more like bad fan fiction? YAY! =D

[verilyverity]

Bah! She jumped the shark in book four. We just didn't know it yet.

[moony_blues]

You're probably right. I need to read those books again this summer...

[verilyverity]

I don't recommend it.

[moony_blues]

I might need the mindless escape... =P

[erinm_4600]

ah... The Boy Who Lived did this, He Who Must Not Be Named cursed that guy, the twitchy little ferret got his feelings hurt...

*gigglesnort*

[verilyverity]

Except they didn't do that. Other than "He Who Must Not Be Named," which is a legitimate proxy, I never saw that kind of renaming, and I've seen plenty of crappy HP fic. It's really puzzling.

[erinm_4600]

and I've seen plenty of crappy HP fic

*hugs*
*plate of Caingerbread*

Sorry, hun... I just can't get myself into a serious-frame of mind today...

I blame the eyecandy from gatechic
*needs to buy that movie now*

[verilyverity]

Ohm nom nom nom.