What erks you in fandom???

[Sylvianna]

People reporting stories is big on my list of irks. 99% of the time it has more to do with a certain reader targeting the author than the content itself.

Like recently there was a story where 16 year-old Bella was having sex (not explicit) and someone was trashing the author and reported it to FF for a minor having sex. I go to this persons page and her favorite list is full of fics where B/E have sexual contact together before 18 - I mean wtf?

Or people reporting stories that are clearly marked with another ship that have sex scenes and then have B/E bondage fics in their favs.

In one word: hypocrites. I've never reported a story and would only do so if I was 100% sure the "author" had plagiarized someone else's work and I'm talking about published works because at this point I don't even trust people in the fandom that go about saying someone has stolen their fic. That's what happens when people start using the fandom's good intentions for their own benefit or personal vendettas.

[Sylvianna]

Ok, another thing that's bothering me lately is when I read EPOV's with a feminine voice. You know what I mean? The way the POV is written, the way he expresses himself, the things he thinks about, the things he takes notice of, everything is too feminine. It's like they're not bothering to know the character and find his voice before writing him. Which has some strange results when you know the author is living vicariously through Bella's character but is also blatantly residing in Edward's mind.

It's a dead giveaway about how unable they are to get into the character's head when, even though they are writing in EPOV, sometimes some kind of thought that could only belong into a BPOV slips into his. Something like "Oh, Edward, I'm sure you look perfect in whatever you're wearing...". That in an BPOV is kind of standard at this point, but Edward having those thoughts about himself is a bit worrying!

Seriously, though, I would advice female authors to avoid EPOV's unless they're sure they can hear his voice. Really, no one is forcing you to write EPOV's and if you just want to live vicariously through Bella, it's better to just stick to her POV... Although from what many authors highlight about Edward- how H-O-T he is and nothing else- maybe the problem is not that they cannot hear his voice but that they don't think he has one.

[tigerfly89]

Ok, another thing that's bothering me lately is when I read EPOV's with a feminine voice. You know what I mean? The way the POV is written, the way he expresses himself, the things he thinks about, the things he takes notice of, everything is too feminine. It's like they're not bothering to know the character and find his voice before writing him. Which has some strange results when you know the author is living vicariously through Bella's character but is also blatantly residing in Edward's mind.

It's a dead giveaway about how unable they are to get into the character's head when, even though they are writing in EPOV, sometimes some kind of thought that could only belong into a BPOV slips into his. Something like "Oh, Edward, I'm sure you look perfect in whatever you're wearing...". That in an BPOV is kind of standard at this point, but Edward having those thoughts about himself is a bit worrying!

Seriously, though, I would advice female authors to avoid EPOV's unless they're sure they can hear his voice. Really, no one is forcing you to write EPOV's and if you just want to live vicariously through Bella, it's better to just stick to her POV... Although from what many authors highlight about Edward- how H-O-T he is and nothing else- maybe the problem is not that they cannot hear his voice but that they don't think he has one.

I sooooo agree! I read one once where Edward sounded like a middle aged woman! It go too bad when he started commenting on how handsome all the other Cullen men were and describing outfits right down to the designer shoes. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a man admitting another man is handsome or with a man knowing about fashion, but I didn't know if I was reading Edward or Carrie from Sex in the City!

[alexajaye]

I once had a beta who was reading one of my stories comment on the fact that Edward in his rich, privileged society knew how to shop at Gucci's and almost always had an opinion about the way Bella was dressed. I didn't see a problem with it because in that kind of world - and in my story - appearances were important to Edward. I had to reign it in a little, but it was just for that one story. Most of the time when I write in a male perspective, I try to give him other things to think about other than what someone is wearing or what stores to shop at for the best clothes.

I try to do that for all my characters - not just the male ones. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I don't really care about what people wear even though I know a lot of other people do. There's nothing wrong with that, but when a man does something like that, you almost begin to question his motives in life - and his sexuality.

Although - and this has nothing to do with Edward - but my dad has always been in charge of picking out new things for the house, i.e. sink faucets, shower doors, refrigerators and such, and he always picks out the nicest things. And he used to race cars for a living!

[WithMe92]

I once had a beta who was reading one of my stories comment on the fact that Edward in his rich, privileged society knew how to shop at Gucci's and almost always had an opinion about the way Bella was dressed. I didn't see a problem with it because in that kind of world - and in my story - appearances were important to Edward. I had to reign it in a little, but it was just for that one story. Most of the time when I write in a male perspective, I try to give him other things to think about other than what someone is wearing or what stores to shop at for the best clothes.

This is a really good example of when I don't question Edward really taking notice of Clothes/brands.

I don't want to read a stereotypical man (i.e. a male who knows absolutely nothing about fashion or women) but it makes no sense that he's having an inner dialogue about Bella's lingerie being a cross between baby and powder blue with a sapphire trimming....I'll be willing to bet that most men are thinking half-naked woman willing to have sex with me!

[alexajaye]

I don't want to read a stereotypical man (i.e. a male who knows absolutely nothing about fashion or women) but it makes no sense that he's having an inner dialogue about Bella's lingerie being a cross between baby and powder blue with a sapphire trimming....I'll be willing to bet that most men are thinking half-naked woman willing to have sex with me!

I absolutely agree! It's nice to read a story when the guy who doesn't always think like a guy, but there's a line that way too many people cross without thinking about it. You can give the guy a sense of humor without making him crude, and and he can be sensitive without bursting into tears at the drop of a hat. Something else I really don't like is a guy who either can't cook or doesn't know how to do laundry. It's practically screaming I need a woman in my life because I can't take care of myself!

Too many authors I've read go to the extreme on a lot of their characters too often. I'm not saying every character has to ride the fence, but to me it feels unrealistic to have a girl who's useless in the kitchen and a guy who wonders what color underwear would look good next to your skin. The opposite can be said in both instances. Whatever happened to having a well-rounded character who wasn't completely over-the-top?

[Sylvianna]

I don't want to read a stereotypical man (i.e. a male who knows absolutely nothing about fashion or women) but it makes no sense that he's having an inner dialogue about Bella's lingerie being a cross between baby and powder blue with a sapphire trimming....I'll be willing to bet that most men are thinking half-naked woman willing to have sex with me!

I don't either. I wouldn't have a problem with Edward noticing / talking clothes like if he was possessed by Alice if there is a good reason, i.e. it is stated somewhere that's one of his hobbies or things he enjoys (I said good reason not some complicated reason). I like Edward crying when it's well done the same way I like Bella crying if it's well done- which is difficult to find sometimes-, because to me that's not a girl thing. I also like, like alexajaye, an independent man and hate when the author starts repeating the same point all the time about how men would be lost without us women. I find that incredibly female chauvinistic.

But when you read certain EPOV's... I don't really know how to describe it. I see certain things that I can only picture a woman saying (even some swearwords and exclamations I've never seen a man saying!), worrying about things in a way that usually only women overthink, thinking about women in ways that are more like how women think about men, etc. I find it gets to a point I feel there are two people living in Edward's mind: the one he is supposed to be and the female author who is writing him. And when that happens I wish I knew how to perform exorcisms because it's really annoying reading a character's POV when you feel it's all fake.

[jujubakiller]

What's with the "Do you trust me?" AN? Really? I don't get it. I don't know most of the authors, I don't know what some particular author may consider a good story either. So, what's the point? If the last part of your story is a cliffie-hanger, fine, I get it, but don't ask me to trust you, that doesn't make any sense.

[Ylva]

Looks like an off-hand reference to Disney's Aladdin.

[alexajaye]

Something that gets me even more than that is the varying degrees of ANs. I've read stories where they go on and on and on and on . . .

I know when I write my own ANs, I try to give the reader important information about the story, but I've seen a lot of authors thank everybody and their mother. They've rec'd just about every story they've ever read and given props to any and every reviewer who ever wrote them a review.

I'm not saying you shouldn't thank everyone who helped you. And of course if you love your reviewers, you should tell them. But that's what PMs are for. And I always thank my reviewers individually and all together at the bottom of my chapters. As far as rec'ing stories, I'd rather do that on my profile. It's always up, and I don't ever plan on deleting my profile as long as people are reading my stories.

But I've also seen people who don't do ANs at all, and half the time, you don't ever hear from them unless they tell you what they're going to be doing in the near future.

It's just so frustrating to figure out what to do when you see all this happening. I try to do what feels right for the story.