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Post by RandomPasserby on Jan 30, 2014 20:55:51 GMT -5
I am definitely not a strict adherent to 'if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all'. There are some things which require calling out and being nice about that just gets you ignored.
As ridiculous as it is, my one rule for reviews is best articulated in a line from (of all movies) Wild Child. Cheesy, teen, boarding school movie from about six years ago. 'No random bitching, structure your point'.
That's not to say I won't swear in a review but I will not swear at the author. I will not say anything particularly insulting towards the author (save criticising their choices in characterisation/theme/writing). I will never, ever tell anybody to stop writing or to kill themselves. My points will be substantiated with quotes, or at least references, to their story.
I might not be saying nice things but I don't just post expletives and run.
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Post by Kitty279 on Jan 31, 2014 1:12:15 GMT -5
Hadn't expected anything else from you  When I don't like the story and know I won't continue, then I don't see the point in reviewing at all. Over time, I've written some critical reviews, explaining what in my eyes was wrong, but only when I felt the story was worth the effort. But then, that's something everyone has to decide for themselves. In any case, just saying the fic is bad, but not explaining why, and throwing swear words in every sentence is no review in my eyes anyway. Oh, and while we are at it, how am I supposed to take a 'reviewer' seriously who complains about the quality of the fic, but can barely put two words down without spelling mistakes? |
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Post by 8lottie8 on Mar 1, 2014 22:04:29 GMT -5
Some (not all) Harry Potter Fans are very crazy with the hate if you know what I mean. They don't see the whole picture like Dumbledore says to Snape "You see what you expect to see." The Character-Haters will see no good in the characters they bash. All of Rowling’s characters have flaws because it is what makes them human, but these flaws should not overshadow most of the characters. All this bashing does my head in. For example, there is a lot of Ron bashing out there, and I hate it because I hate unwarranted character bashing. I will say that a few characters like Molly, Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, the Twins, Draco, and etcetera deserve some criticism, but they should not be bashed. I know Ron has many flaws (like all Harry Potter’s characters do), but he becomes such a great hero. It bothers me because I do not like injustice real or fictional. There is only one character that will get no redemption. He alone should be bashed because he is Voldemort, and he is pure evil. What would be interesting is an everyone bashing story or a Harry-bashing story as some sort of parody |
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Post by Kitty279 on Mar 3, 2014 9:03:14 GMT -5
Ever tried the 'Silly, silly book series' by iheartmwpp? Not so much a story than a list of mistakes mixed with alternative scenes, granted, but everyone gets bashed in one way or another for stupid decisions and actions.
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Post by melodypottersnape on Mar 4, 2014 22:00:33 GMT -5
one of the oddest things has been aggravating me lately in some fanfiction. It seems that any fic that has Harry taking his education more seriously after first year; always has all the adults attributing it to the influence of Hermione. Most of the time in the fic Hermione has nothing to do with it, but everyone gives her the credit. They pretty much wave off all the hardwork Harry has put in it as meaningless. This has recently been annoying the hell out of me.
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Post by Kitty279 on Mar 5, 2014 1:27:23 GMT -5
Understandable. If Harry comes to the decision on his own and does the work himself, then he should get the credit for it.
Do the authors imply that is ok how everyone credits Hermione with Harry's improvement? Because that would be even more annoying.
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Post by melodypottersnape on Mar 21, 2014 2:39:48 GMT -5
I think I just read a few chapters in a fic that mad me throw up a little. I usually like what this author writes but this time it was terrible and I hope it was a parody though I didn't think to check.
First Albus faked his death to mold Harry into the perfect martyr though it seems everyone takes it in stride even Harry. Heck they act like he was just doing the greatest thing for all of them.
If that is not bad enough he activates a marriage bond between Harry and Severus that apparently the Potters and Co. made. How twisted is that. And then it's like a switch goes off and they start acting like the horniest couple you've ever seen. I just couldn't read any further.
I'm just surprised by how fast everything was and the unbelievable reactions. lol
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Post by Kitty279 on Mar 21, 2014 10:11:49 GMT -5
Urgh, that would make me sick, too! The bit with Albus faking his death sounded somewhat familiar, but the rest not - thankfully. Sometimes I really wonder about authors and how they can think up something like that. But I guess for the "Severus is cute" faction that story would be perfect ...
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Post by melodypottersnape on Mar 21, 2014 10:29:11 GMT -5
The sad thing is I could have gotten into the fic if Albus was held accountable and if Harry didn't act like a stooge and if he didn't suddenly feel horny love for Severus. I mean I wanted anger from Harry and a demand for independence especially when it said Molly, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione Bashing. Heck in the few chapters I read I actually felt sorry for the people I was supposed to 'hate'. Harry ignored them and treated them like dirt and I honestly thought 'love potion' when reading his behavior.
Well I'll stop bashing the story. I needed to rant and I didn't want to leave some rude review and hurt their feelings. Hopefully their next fic will be more to my liking. Heck the whole fic might have been her/him poking fun at certain common story lines.
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Post by Kitty279 on Mar 21, 2014 14:13:04 GMT -5
Yeah, under these circumstances it could be an interesting fic, but not the way it turned out. There are sure a lot of people who will love the story, but it wouldn't be my cup of tea, either. I certainly don't mind AU stories, on the contrary, but there are limits to what I can take.
Very nice of you, really. We may not agree with the story, but you are right that hurting the author's feeling wouldn't achieve anything. Feel free to rant all you want here, or if you don't want to do it publicly, you can always PM me and rant all you want.
If the story was supposed to poke fun at these cliches, shouldn't it be labeled parody?
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Post by monkeymail on Mar 26, 2014 7:09:46 GMT -5
So posted a new chapter for MY story and what do you know I've a new pet peeve. People who assume they know what you thinking. Take this lovely guest review for instance:
The preparation here is sloppy and unbelievable nor is the concept well thought out. Why?
1) You assume changes in time affect your future(that's what you base it on) then the change happens right after the time jump of Dolohov. That erases the future Harry's world without them even realizing it. So no Hermione they could "work" with.
That kills your story concept from the start.
2) You assume it's a time loop so what happens is predetermined(does not work for me in this case because Dolohov wants to change everything and he knows too much to destroy the old past)
3) You use the different time stream model but then it only makes sense for Harry and Ron to leave their future if there's no hope for them there. But Hermione Ginny stayed. You can only really use this model if it's your last gamble.
4) You change the past while fooling the "world" that everything is like in canon by faking deaths for instance. But that does not work in your case because Dolohov knows too much and it's not his objective. He wants to create a paradox and he can do it *any* time.
This story has been going for a couple of years now so no, its not 'sloppy' I have been thinking about this concept for ages.
1. I made up my form of time travel but its based off the Dr Who episode Big Bang, so no the future is not magically erased, events are changed and the people it effects remember both ways
2. No I don't see time as a loop I watch too much Dr Who to consider it a loop, as i said only three things are fixed or predetermined
3. Since when do fix it story have to be worst case scenario fixes? It's fan fic for god sake I can write what I want. If you don't like it don't read it it's that simple.
4.Who said anything about faking deaths, in fact i do believe i implied people will still die. I how the hell would you know what Dolohov's objective is. All I've told anyone so far is half a plan recounted by a hysterical pregnant woman.
sorry about the rant but that right there is my biggest pet peeve ever. i do believe this will feature at the start of my next chapter since this person kindly reviewed as a guest. What do you think?
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Post by Kitty279 on Mar 27, 2014 4:10:02 GMT -5
Oh, I saw that review and wondered how you are going to take that ... The story has certainly been going on long enough for you to have thought about it quite a bit, as we both know. (Contrary to that anonymous reviewer!) So, it's your decision how it is going to work. Besides, as you said, it's fanfiction, and each of us can imagine time travel as they want to.
You can certainly answer that review in the AN of the next chapter, but I'd not get too worked up about it - even if that is easier said than done. There are always reviewers who didn't like a story and will find something to complain about in it or, as in this case, assume they know better than the author what said author has planned.
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Post by monkey mail on Mar 27, 2014 5:50:26 GMT -5
I'm over it now I just got worked up over how rude it was.
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Post by RandomPasserby on Mar 31, 2014 22:14:30 GMT -5
People who put spoiler/trigger warnings at the bottom of their fics.
Because telling me I might be spoilt or triggered is so helpful after I've already read the spoilery/triggery content. Clearly, once I have read this belated warning I will suddenly forget the spoilers and stop having an anxiety attack.
This is pretty much unique to AO3, which lets you put notes at the beginning or the end of your fic (or both). I have seen far too many fics where the end notes are the ones with the TW or spoilers in them, rather than the ones at the top which let people know before they read shit what shit they might be reading.
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 1, 2014 15:15:57 GMT -5
*shakes head in disbelief* Now that's more than just stupid. At the bottom, that sort of warning is completely useless.
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Post by monkeymail on Apr 7, 2014 1:23:59 GMT -5
Yeah i've seen a couple of fics where the warning is at the bottom and i know that AO3 gives you the option to put the note at the top so I'm not sure why people don't
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 7, 2014 3:12:03 GMT -5
Either stupidity, thoughtlessness, or they hope people read it before they get the warning?
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Post by stelladelnordxd on Apr 7, 2014 7:45:38 GMT -5
I don't put the warning at the top for people who don't want to be spoiled on AO3 but if there are triggery things in a story, I will say 'See end notes for trigger warnings' in the top notes. People can't have it one way or the other, so I just try to find a balance.
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Post by RandomPasserby on Apr 22, 2014 15:47:10 GMT -5
Once again, people who cannot do research.
No, somebody going to university in mid 1980's England would not have 'school loans' to pay off. Why? Because tuition fees weren't instituted anywhere until 1998 and even then they were only £1000 a year. The only thing holding somebody back from going to university was affording their living costs (and getting in, which was actually much simpler because not many people applied anyway) and if you went to uni and lived at home...guess what, minimal living costs.
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 23, 2014 0:24:54 GMT -5
Most assume simply that what they have now has to have been true for the rest of the world for times out of mind, too *rolls eyes*
One of the things that annoy me and that fall in the same category is Americans writing HP and using Dollars as the currency of Great Britain. America isn't the whole world, and in times of internet, it's not that hard to look it up, guys!
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Post by stelladelnordxd on Apr 23, 2014 9:35:10 GMT -5
All American's do this... even with Canadian currency >.<
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 24, 2014 8:34:09 GMT -5
Some who have been in Europe should know better, but you might be right that most make that mistake.
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Post by 8lottie8 on Apr 24, 2014 16:27:27 GMT -5
Yeah, but as people from dollar-using countries make up most of fan fiction writers...yeah
Also, people saying things like 5th grade - in England, we have nursery, kindergarten, reception, years 1-11 (Harry starts Hogwarts in year 7), then sixth form/yrs 12-13
so,
PS=yr7
CoS=yr8
PoA=9
GoF=10
Ootp=11
HBP=12
DH=13
we don't have elementary, middle and high school either!! It's primary and secondary school!!
*steps off mountain and turns off loudspeaker*
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Post by RandomPasserby on Apr 24, 2014 16:40:51 GMT -5
I know. It's an irritating little niggle when they talk about 'elementary school' or 'fifth grade'.
Although I've never heard of anybody going to Kindergarten. I thought it was just nursery and then reception.
Also the mix up of college/university. In the UK, college is the same as sixth form. Colleges tend to be separate schools for Years 12&13, while 'sixth form' tends to be for schools which are joint secondary/sixth form. University solely refers to undergraduate and graduate studies.
And while it's an even smaller thing. Letter grades in primary school. I don't know about anybody else, but nobody ever used letter grades (ie A, B, C ect) until we started GCSE work. Certainly never in primary school.
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 24, 2014 23:48:27 GMT -5
And here we only have Kindergarten, and then Grundschule, what you call primary / elementary school for 4 years. After that, it splits up in a number of different school types, but we generally talk about 'year'. Oh, and PS would by our standards be year 6, I believe. Age 6 = year 1 7 = 2 8 = 3 9 = 4 10 = 5 11 = 6 Ah, thanks, RandomPassersby, you have answered something I had always been wondering about - what's the difference between College and University We only have university, so I always thought that a bit confusing. Your college sounds more like our Fachoberschulen. As for letter grades, we use numbers, lol. 1 is the best, 6 the worst grade. But they start earlier - depending on state, in second or third year. |
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Post by RandomPasserby on Apr 25, 2014 7:22:53 GMT -5
When I went to school we had numerical grades (1-5, 5 being the best, 1 being the worst) up until Year 9, when we took a second set of SATS (different to the ones US students take to get into university) and then they started talking about letter grades.
Although I have seen primary schools which did use letter grades in the early 80's so I suppose it's just a personal thing. Especially since the National Curriculum wasn't instituted until 1988.
So Harry would have had the last couple of years of his education but he would have just missed out on being the first ever class to take the Year 6 SAT.
Yeah, people in the US refer to university as college which was deeply confusing.
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Post by ginnyrules27 on Apr 25, 2014 9:44:34 GMT -5
RandomPasserby, you know what's really confusing? The fact that here in the US there are colleges and there are universities and some people think that their school is better just because they go to one labeled a university instead of a college.
I do apologize for the fanfiction writers in the US. It even annoys me when they don't do the money correctly. But most people in the US never leave their home state let alone the country so it would be a little excusable except for the fact that we have google!
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Post by stelladelnordxd on Apr 25, 2014 13:06:56 GMT -5
RandomPasserby, you know what's really confusing? The fact that here in the US there are colleges and there are universities and some people think that their school is better just because they go to one labeled a university instead of a college. It's the same here in Canada, though I thought the US had different names for the type of schools but they were the same? Whereas in Canada, College is more 'hands-on' and 'experience' while University is more 'theory' and 'learning'. But I think everyone in both countries think their school is better because it's labelled as a 'University'. |
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Post by Kitty279 on Apr 25, 2014 13:51:58 GMT -5
My impression was for a long time that Colleges are just part of an University. Might have been caused by what I learned about Oxford by way of a few books and later Wikipedia, where the University seems to be made up by a good number of different Colleges. So I thought they were basically Departments, maybe centered around different sciences. So the American way of differentiating between College and University confused me completely.
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Post by RandomPasserby on Apr 25, 2014 14:30:39 GMT -5
Oxford and Cambridge are special cases. The colleges there are halls-of-residence and deal with tutorials. The only thing the uni runs are the lectures, labs, libraries and exams. The colleges also tend to be inter-departmental. Not all colleges offer all courses, because it depends on what teaching staff they have. Some, yeah, you end up with a large concentration of a specific subject but there are some where you have Engineering rooming next to English.
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