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[quiet_tiger]

I think I've posed this question before, but I was recently bombarded with examples again--

What really throws you out of a fic?

I was invested in a long fic so I didn't actually back button, though I contemplated it, when the sentence described the main character's eyes as being blue, when they are clearly brown in the movie. Brown and blue are usually difficult to confuse!

The story had a lot of other issues, but basic fact problems really are annoying.

Comments

[quiet--tiger.livejournal.com]

Small things usually don't bother me either; in the story I was thinking about while posting it was the wrong detail on top of the other annoying OOC moments and general not-good-ness overall that killed it. It was one of those stories where I was engaged enough to keep going with it to see what happened, but had it been shorter I'd've backed out.

What seasons are the SV fics you're referring to from? I think that sort of characterization is okay for season 1 or 2 (granted it's been a while since I've seen them) but yeah, later on he becomes pretty horrible to his friends.

And yep, AUs are great, when you're expecting them!

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

"... it was the wrong detail on top of the other annoying OOC moments and general not-good-ness overall that killed it...."

Yes, I'm with you there. It's like adding insult to injury.

"... I think that sort of characterization is okay for season 1 or 2...."

I agree. If the story is set in that timeframe, or develops from it, that's okay with me. But then I want the writer to make this clear, somehow. For example, by saying that they're ignoring everything after Season 2, and giving a bit of a rundown on what happened between Season 2 and their own version of the SV universe, to explain why Clark is such a lovely person now.

"... later on he becomes pretty horrible to his friends....."

He does indeed, and I can understand why most, if not all, SV writers want to ignore all this in their stories. But it did happen. It's canon, and if writers don't want to deal with it directly, in my opinion, we should at least explain the absence of Clark's bad behaviour in our stories. This is just my opinion, of course.

But so much SV fiction just pretends it didn't happen at all, and that throws me right off.

"... AUs are great, when you're expecting them!"

I love them. Especially AUs in which Clark is a lovely person and deserves the adoration of the multitudes. :-)

[quiet--tiger.livejournal.com]

I think with Clark's characterization, because so many stories--obviously--have him hooking up with Lex or otherwise at least wanting Lex, his change in behavior stems from there. A lot of his canon jerkiness is related to Lex, but if they're dating then things haven't developed the same way as in the show.

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

"...A lot of his canon jerkiness is related to Lex, but if they're dating then things haven't developed the same way as in the show."

Oh, exactly, and so this is a kind of AU, and there is an explanation for his better character.

Just in my opinion, Clark was a better person when he was friends with Lex, so, if a story springs from that situation, with him sticking by Lex, despite the other man's undoubted faults, and realizing that he himself has tons of faults, then I can see Clark growing up into a remarkable person. When he turned on Lex, he became more and more of a jerk.

But a number of SV stories do follow canon, with Clark treating Lex the same way, and yet growing up to be that great person, kind and understanding, and the explanation seems to be that Lex deserved the way Clark treated him. At least, that's the impression I get from these stories.