The trenches of Vietnam
Apr. 11th, 2019 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redrikkiIn the interests of being a bit more consistent with my posting, I've decided to try to post more than once or twice a week. Unfortunately, there's not really much going on in my life worth posting about. Instead, today I'm going to rant about my biggest fanfic pet peeve: the lack of basic research.
Research is my jam and also my job. When writing fic, I re-watch, re-read, and check all the fandom wikis to make sure I've got the voices and details just right. For stuff set in the real(ish) world, I've researched everything from a particular Marine unit's timeline in Vietnam to the layout of a historic cemetery in Baltimore. Once, I spent a day at a university library reading an ethnography of an obscure cult in Benin for a story I never actually got around to writing. So, yeah, when it comes to pre-writing research, I go hard.
And that's why it bothers me so much when it's clear that other people just haven't bothered. I'm not talking obscure details here or HP fandom Brit-picking. Yesterday, I read a fic where the author was under the impression that London was on the ocean. The Umbrella Academy fandom has seemingly decided en mas that there was trench warfare in Vietnam. I just---why? WHY?! It's not like they have to hit the library to clear up these weird misconceptions when Wikipedia and the internet are right there!
Look, I get it. Not everyone has the time or inclination to do the same crazy levels of deep dives as me. I get that half of my obsession with researching the details is just another way of procrastinating. I get it, but that doesn't stop me from dying a little inside every time there's a bank open on a Sunday morning or someone is knitting with a crochet hook. Or trenches in Vietnam. God, I still can't get over that.
What bugs you the most fanfic-wise? Spot any try egregious research fails you want to taunt me with?
Research is my jam and also my job. When writing fic, I re-watch, re-read, and check all the fandom wikis to make sure I've got the voices and details just right. For stuff set in the real(ish) world, I've researched everything from a particular Marine unit's timeline in Vietnam to the layout of a historic cemetery in Baltimore. Once, I spent a day at a university library reading an ethnography of an obscure cult in Benin for a story I never actually got around to writing. So, yeah, when it comes to pre-writing research, I go hard.
And that's why it bothers me so much when it's clear that other people just haven't bothered. I'm not talking obscure details here or HP fandom Brit-picking. Yesterday, I read a fic where the author was under the impression that London was on the ocean. The Umbrella Academy fandom has seemingly decided en mas that there was trench warfare in Vietnam. I just---why? WHY?! It's not like they have to hit the library to clear up these weird misconceptions when Wikipedia and the internet are right there!
Look, I get it. Not everyone has the time or inclination to do the same crazy levels of deep dives as me. I get that half of my obsession with researching the details is just another way of procrastinating. I get it, but that doesn't stop me from dying a little inside every time there's a bank open on a Sunday morning or someone is knitting with a crochet hook. Or trenches in Vietnam. God, I still can't get over that.
What bugs you the most fanfic-wise? Spot any try egregious research fails you want to taunt me with?
