A "Duster" too far

[caz963]

If you read fic of any kind... you know how sometimes, you read something and think, "Oops. We/They would never say that"?

And how, sometimes, you think, "oh well, it's just a simple mistake." and don't let it spoil your enjoyment of the story?

But then you see the same mistake made by someone else. And this time, it jars a bit. But you again think "oh, well," and keep reading.

Then you see it in another fic.

And it jars even more.

And another.

And another... and another... and another... and...



http://community.livejournal.com/doctor_donna/1180746.html

ETA - one of the mods asked me to f-lock the post for some reason, so here's the gist.

I am fed up with seeing Ten's coat referred to (in the small amount of fic I DO read) as "a duster".

Because THIS -



is a DUSTER. A little yellow cloth that we use to polish stuff.

What Ten is wearing in this picture -



- is an overcoat or just a "coat".

(I know it's tough - but try to look at the coat in that picture, okay? Just for a second before your attention wanders elsewhere...)

A fairly long discussion has ensued with the majority of commenters agreeing with me :-)

I have never made any secret of the fact that I am a fic snob. ^{TM zinke}.

BUT I WOULD NEVER SPRAY MR. SHEEN ON THAT COAT AND ATTACK MY MANTLEPIECE WITH IT!!

*ahem*

And yes. I do have work to do. Why do you ask?!

Comments

[caz963]

Hi!

Yeah, I did delete the original because too many people seemed to be taking it the wrong way. Yes, it's something that pisses me off, and yes, in the grand scheme of fic "wrongness" it's a minor thing - but that was sort of the point. I wasn't going to go off the deep end about the crappy spelling, grammar and characterisation that exists in fic in general and in some D/D fics in particular, it was a personal bugbear that is nonetheless important when you consider that the coat - and Ten's outfit in general - is pretty iconic.
But I got fed up with the "oh well, fic's just a bit of fun", and "I'd hate to intimidate new authors like this" - because a) it's a bit of fun, yes, but part of that fun (to me, anyway) is getting it RIGHT and b) if a "new author" is going to get upset and put off by someone pointing out the difference between a cleaning cloth and an item of clothing, they need to grow a pair.
My original point was - yes, that coat might well be able to be called a "duster", we don't use that term in the UK. Like we don't use "sidewalk" or "elevator" or many other things.
I could have gone on about the frequency with which both Donna and the Doctor seem to bake "muffins" in fic - because we don't bake them with such regularity over here! Seriously, don't get me started on the muffins!!

*ahem*

Yes, I did friend you here - I have your fic journal friended at LJ anyway, and tbh, I'm not over here all that much. It's just that with the LJ wankery over the cross-posting I popped over here to tidy-up and re-import my LJ and remembered to add a few people. Besides, you seem like the sort of person who will take my rants in the right spirt :-)

[biodamped]

Yeah, i know exactly what you mean. There's a couple of things that irk me the same way - pet names that Donna has for the Doctor, for instance. I'm not British born but i have a largely British family, and Donna using Yorkshire slang is just.. so wrong. So wrong, which you will probably understand, but not a lot of other people seem to get. I totally agree that one of the most satisfying things about fic is that it exists to do what the episode didn't. If those characters aren't believable, it might as well be original, not fan, fiction.

Haha, muffins. The only person i know that b akes muffins with that disturbing frequency is me, and that's because cooking (read: baking specifically) is one of my coping mechanisms for academic work. Through semester, i am lucky to get away with only doing one batch of muffins a week.

Ahh, i see. I haven't logged into my fic journal in forever - since i joined up here, i think. Lj wankery is the primary reason i moved, not just because of Doctor/Donna. Site wankery in general was a bigger thing. I will, however, look forward to your ranting. I tend to do a fair bit myself ;) When i remember to update at all, that is. I've been promising a post-move entry for weeks now and all i can seem to do is blag on about Dollhouse pretty. Oops. :D