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[fuckyeah]

I know I am so behind on my paperlegends recs, but they're going to be delayed a little more as I scramble to get ready for my trip. I am not ready in the slightest, and I'm starting to freak out a little. Also, I have resigned to the fact that I won't have this fic done in time for the Teen Wolf contest, haha.However! I did want to open the floor for a fandom

Comments

[tambear13]

I fully agree, it irritates me -- especially when it has nothing to do with the actual story. I don't actually know what story you are referring to, but I have noticed it in a few other fanfics.

Everyone has an accent -- though apparently mine is hardpressed to locate -- and every nationality has quirks that people associate with them. For instance, the Irish love to drink which is true but so do lots of other people from other countries but we're known for it, which irritates me because there's a hell of a lot of other things we could be known for. My point is, when I see it in fics, for example -- a typically drunk Irishman and it has nothing to do with what's going on, it really really bothers me.

I take BIG issue with stereotyping, not if it is central to the story, but as you said but as you said when it's just put in to have a dig or whatever, it's not good. At all.

[fuckyeah]

I have noticed in a few other fics myself as well, just I read this fic and was like, "Okay, I want to discuss this idea."

Ugh, I hate the drunk Irishman stereotype for the exact reasons you listed. And I can't help but think one of the reasons it's still perpetuated to this day is the commercialization of St. Patrick's Day as an excuse to get drunk. :/

[patchcat]

I'm...really glad I don't recognize that 'fic because that author and I would definitely have words. You know that thing about Texans being very proud and very protective of who they are and were they come from. That's not really a stereotype so much as the God's honest truth. We don't mispronounce things. It's called an accent. Deal with it. >_>

There's a fairly well known series by someone I've gotten to know that has a bit of this problem as well, and I growl every time I see it. It's completely unnecessary to the story and really diminishes the enjoyment I find in it. It's gotten better the further the series has gone on I have to wonder if someone mentioned it to the author, but still.

The thing is, though, people use stereotypes because about 90% of them are true. Yeah, they don't apply to everyone, but they apply to enough people that it makes authors feel comfortable using them. Is it right? No. Should it be acceptable? Fuck no, especially not the ones that shame. Are you overreacting? In this case, I don't

[fuckyeah]

I reread the story and while it doesn't come out and say the Texan tourists are saying something wrong, I got that feeling by the narrative stressing how they pronounced a location in a "loud, brash accent". Again, I just wonder what the point is, because it doesn't help the scene at all (neither of the main characters interact with the tourists at all, it's just considered background noise

[patchcat]

Yeah, see, that's just really not necessary. It's not adding anything to the scene, and it's just making the characters -- and by extension, the author -- look like jerks

[fuckyeah]

That's what I thought! I've had friends from Texas tell me something similar awhile back, but I wasn't sure if I was remembering correctly. Even though Maryland is a much, much, much smaller state, we have a similar dispersion of accents from the different regions.

Ehh, to be fair, I think media portrays accents horribly, now matter where they're from, but especially the Southern states sadly. :/

[fuckyeah]

Exactly! I understand wanting to include little details about the people and places that surround the characters, but not at the expense of bashing or poking fun at someone and their nationality.

I think one of the problems is that stereotypes are so prevalent in our society not all of us think twice when we use them. Even if they do have a grain of truth, it doesn't mean we should use them and blow them out of proportion.

[cb_eaglemaniac]

Absolutely; there's nothing more irritating than a blatant stereotype.

But so much YES to the thing about accents in stories. It drives me CRAZY. As I mostly read fanfiction related to BBC series this means I end up reading a whole bunch of people in one generic cockney or chav accent. It's enough to get me backspacing the hell out of there really quickly.

[fuckyeah]

I understand dropping slang words in, and maybe have an accented word every now and then, but I draw the line at full-blown sentences. It can become really incomprehensible quickly if not handled probably, and I think the same can be achieved by something like, "'[Dialogue here],' he said, his accent stressing on certain syllables." Or something to that effect.

[cb_eaglemaniac]

Yes, exactly! I don't mind slang and such every now and again to kind of make the dialogue more authentic, but if you're writing someone with an Irish accent (for example), you don't need to write every last word....well, phonetically, basically.

[fuckyeah]

Oh god, yes, phonetic accents just make my head hurt.

[loaded_march]

Well, I don't really have a foot to stand on here, because I'm just as guilty of stereotyping -- though I swear left and right that I don't do it on purpose. I've done it in the LM series and I've been called on it and accused of being anti-[nationality]. I'm not, by the way. I mean, hell, I've even made fun of my own nationality in a couple of fics, though I'm not sure if stands out to people who aren't, you know, from my country

[fuckyeah]

To be honest, I wasn't thinking about Loaded March when I made this post, but I'm not going to lie: I recall being uncomfortable at some parts. I know now that you're not anti-[nationality], but before I met you and actually got to know you, I did have some concerns. Don't ask me to say which parts exactly, because I've forgotten them already, just I remember being taken back a bit

[loaded_march]

The sad part about having written those things in LM by accident is that I wasn't even thinking about it. I wasn't even aware that I was doing it. I've seen it done in published books, though, and I never thought anything of it. But now that I'm aware of it and even knowing that it's not important to the story, it's easy enough to revise it so that it's more neutral, somehow. Since I plan on going through LM to edit/rework/add scenes once I finish the series (mainly to fix continuity errors), I intend on fixing those parts that might offend someone, too.

I know what you mean about the accent things -- both those that you mentioned are stereotypes. It just tells me that the people who use them might not ever have conversed with someone whose first language isn't English and isn't familiar with the actual accent. Or maybe they just don't know that those are stereotypes.

[fuckyeah]

I understand that. I mean, I've written and said things before that I wasn't even thinking about, and then when I look back I cringe when I realize how it could be taken. I've seen it in published books as well, but I think as a society we move to strip epithets that could be taken wrongly to more neutral ones, we'll see less of it in published works. I hope.

The thing is? Those two examples I listed? I have actually seen comments from people saying they didn't realize writing accents like that was considered a stereotype. *facepalms*