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

[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.

[redrikki]

I had no idea pitchers don't bat in the American League. Good to know. Still, I feel your pain when people screw up the topics I hold near and dear to my heart. The laptop thing is just inexcusable though. Not only did they not exist in 1979, a wizard sure as shit wouldn't be using one.

[mindstalk]

> Like, that's not even something you need to research! Just ask someone over 40!

Would, say, a 13 year old, realize that this was something they would need to ask about?

[musesfool]

I would hope a 13yo would realize that the world has changed a lot since 1979 and ask someone to confirm the level of technology available then even if they didn't do any in-depth research.

[redrikki]

It's funny you picked 13 as your age. I work in a museum and the first question most real little kids have to seeing a typewriter is to ask where the monitor is. By the time they hit middle school though, they usually have enough lived experience, not to necessarily know what it is, but to know that technology changes. By 13 they've seen the rise of the smart phone and the tablet. A kindergartner or even a third grader on the other hand? Not so much.

[beer_good_foamy]

I recently had to explain to a 20-year-old colleague what a fax machine was.

I'm pretty sure she thought I was pulling her leg.

[redrikki]

Where as I had to explain to a 70-year-old museum volunteer that I didn't need to print out and fax the webpage to send it to a patron. All I needed to do was e-mail him the link. Technology and peoples' relationships to it are an endless source of hilarity.