Anime fanfiction and regional language

[prillalar]

Thanks, everyone, for your input on the Very Important Tuque Question. I really like hearing about different regional expressions. Vide the "huck" question. (Hmm, all these questions seem to involve Kaidoh in some way.)

But now I'm wondering if the question is as Very Important as I first thought. If I use tuque instead of knit cap (or Pudelmütze), I'm sure it will be fairly obvious from the context that Kaidoh has some sort of winter hat on his head.

I do try to use language appropriate to the canon and genre when I write fanfic. When I write about shows that take place in the US, I try not to let my Canadianisms slip in. When I write Harry Potter, I try to use more English expressions. (Not sure how well I do, of course.) Et cetera.

But when I'm writing in anime fandoms, what's appropriate? The source material is in a different language, one I understand very little of. I suppose that in tenipuri fandom, at least, the English language fandom is primarily American, and so that's the accepted default for fanfic.

Once I did see Kaidoh (*koff*) doing maths instead of math and I remember how much it charmed me. And regardless of the source, I always use Canadian spelling in my fanfic and nobody has every complained to me about it.

I wouldn't put Daniel Jackson or Draco Malfoy in a tuque but I don't see why Kaidoh shouldn't have one. (Unless no one wears those kinds of hats in Japan.)

So, here are the questions:

* If you are an anglophone American (is there such a thing or is anglophone just a Canadian term?) or Canadian who reads anime fanfic, how would you respond to a fic written in, for example, UK English? Would it impair your enjoyment of the story?

* If you are a non-American anglophone who writes anime fanfic, do you Americanize your language when you write? Why or why not?

* Do your answers to the above differ depending on the particular anime fandom?

* Am I a freak who thinks too much? (And makes too many parenthetical asides?)

Comments

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

The first question: I've seen anime fics that had UK-English spellings, and it threw me out of the story a bit. Part of that is because I'm used to subtitles in American English, but I think mostly it's that I'm assuming anime fics are auto-translated from Japanese to English, and it jars me to see the story "translated" into someone else's English.

I don't think that would change according to fandom, but I'm not sure because I've only seen it once or twice, and the fics were by the same author. And of course, all this is contingent upon my actually *noticing* the Brit- or Canadian-isms.

I think I haven't expressed myself very clearly; I blame that on the late hour and my not having my glasses on so the computer screen's kinda fuzzy.

[prillalar]

It's interesting that the spelling jars you. Are you thrown off at all by different romaji versions of the characters names? For example, I use "Kaidoh" because it's what's used in the subs, so it got burned into my brain. But other people use "Kaidou" or "Kaido". I'm not sure you're into PoT, so then how about "Konrad" vs "Conrad"? (I'm not bothered by the variations on Kaidoh, but I can't abide "Conrad". Maybe I just like the letter K. *g*)

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

Not so much thrown off as irritated, and that's only when the spelling of the name has been standardized by DVD release. I can understand adding or dropping a U (I actually prefer Sesshoumaru and Kouga to Sesshomaru and Koga, which are what the Inuyasha dub is going with, but I'll accept either), or whatever, but - "Tooru"? That even *looks* wrong.

...Actually, that's about the only time I get nitpicky. As long as the name is spelled the same all the way through the story, and it's recognizable as being the character's name, I'm likely to just shrug and go with it. It's not worth it to not read an otherwise shiny fic over something as small as name variations.