The trenches of Vietnam

[redrikki]

In 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?

Comments

[gettinggreyer]

I hate it when characters in historical setting fics use modern colloquialisms and slang. It's just so jarring and instantly removes me from the work. I'm willing to have some leniency here, of course, because sometimes the way people used to talk just comes across as too jarring to the modern audience and you need to adapt it a little. But a character from the 1600s who is an English noble shouldn't talk exactly like the kids I went to school with or a tumblr post.

[musesfool]

The one that sticks in my mind most as a huge WTF?? was someone having Remus Lupin using a LAPTOP in 1979. Like, that's not even something you need to research! Just ask someone over 40!

I've gotten used to people getting New York City wrong (SO WRONG) but it still irritates me. It's not hard to get a Google Street View of a place!

I also dislike it immensely when people try to write about a sport and clearly know nothing of the sport itself. (Having a pitcher bat in an American League game springs to mind.) I remember posting about it and being reminded that often, people don't know what they don't know, so they make erroneous assumptions that they don't need to research. *hands* I'm sure I've done it with other subjects, so I can't complain too much, but it does always make me wince.

[beer_good_foamy]

Google translating foreign languages the writer knows nothing about and inserting it into a fic, thinking it's perfect. I mean, I may have done it myself for Latin spells once or twice, but it helps to have characters who would do that. But when writers insert entire passages or sentences or even just the odd word in a foreign language, and it's both obviously wrong and completely unnecessary...

[ljwrites]

Did Not Do the Research, fanfic edition. Also the Thames called and would like its city back (or not, who knows).