This is so painful

[dame_grise]

You know, people write anonymous letters to fan fiction writers on those wank communities, but this is so endemic to what I've tried to read lately that it doesn't need to be anonymous. No single writer could possibly feel singled out, because I can't think of a single fic I've read that doesn't have at least one of these errors in it

Comments

[matrixrefugee]

If I remember correctly, fan works, whether they're prose or manga, based on Japanese intellectual properties fall more or less into the same category as doujinshi, so it's hard to hit the fancreators with anything like a plagiarism suit or something on those lines, unless the fanwriter is clearly claiming the characters, etc. as their own. Maybe if it was brought to the attention of FUNimation, this fanwriter could be given a Cease and Desist, but since FUNimation is working in tandem with the IP owners in Japan, they might have their hands tied.

[dame_grise]

You're probably right. It just makes me mad. And she is so smug and smarmy on her website.

[matrixrefugee]

Did a little digging and I came up with a possible loophole: If she's quoting dialogue from the dub word for word, it might fall under plagiarism, since FUNimation was responsible for the dub and therefore it's more or less their IP.

[dame_grise]

Again, I'd have to give her money to find out. But it's something to look into.

[lady_angelina]

If you're finding the bulk of this fanfic on someplace like ff.net, it's pretty much a lost cause. =P I pretty much gave up on finding decent Legend of Zelda fic there, since most of its fanfic writers tend to be under the age of 15. =P

If there's a particular writer who seems to show even a modicum of promise and says they're open to crit, I'd send this letter to them (albeit a bit more tactfully written XD ), and see what happens. I know that if I were one of these writers, I'd love to get this kind of feedback. But then again, I'm not really a fanfic writer anyway.

[dame_grise]

The Pit and it's adult equivalent are the worst. There is some decent stuff on Ao3.

[astartes_amazon]

Some fandoms are just a lost cause, I've found, so I just avoid them completely and stick to the ones that seem to attract decent writers. At the moment, this means I'm just reading star trek '09 and Sherlock, and it's fantastic! Maybe it's got something to do with the average age of the audience? I know a few that I avoided (looking at you PotC) because the writers all seemed to early teenagers which led to appalling writing (I am generalizing of course, but that's how it appeared to me) and even then, I've never seen GW, or gone near the fandom, so my comments might be completely irrelevant!

[dame_grise]

It's possible. Very possible.

All I knew about Gundam Wing fandom is that it was one of the earlier ones to have rabid fangirls shipping the pretty boys and hating the girl characters. And compared to many shows, there are plenty of strong-minded female characters in noticeable roles. But still, does being rabid make you color blind?

[astartes_amazon]

Girl-hating is appalling, I don't understand it at all, especially coming from women. I'm an equal opportunity reader, as long as the characters are well written, I'll read it.
Colour blind about eyes? This has been happening to me lately, even in some of the good stuff I've read. People either aren't paying attention or they have very bad memories. Or y'know, are being willfully obtuse. Depends on the person, usually it doesn't bother me, but if I'm already nitpicking, it goes on my list of criticisms.

[loelia]

I often find that those who get details (like eyes) wrong, haven't actually read the original novel. They've seen the film/TV adaptation and because Brad Pitt, Colin Firth, or Gwyneth Paltrow look a certain way, that's how the characters appear in their mind's eye and that's how they describe them. I'm waiting for Bond fanfic, in which they make 007 a blond... purely because all they've seen is Daniel Craig!!!

[loelia]

PS: should have added a * after all those names and written (delete as applicable)... but you get the idea! :o)

[dame_grise]

Gundam Wing, though, is anime, and yeah the artists change the colors slightly to account for different lighting or even moods, the character's eyes are still not the color they think they are. It's just more exotic and woobie for them to be violet instead of blue.