^

Exactly what it says on the tin, what are things that piss you off in stories that try to be military themed?

Personally I hate it when characters have custom weapons that aren't even issued in the military, let alone even existent. That shit just screams power fantasy, especially if it's something that came from some COD game, like a custom made AUG with a suppressor for some dude who is just infantry or something like that.

4609265 Nation specific weapons. I hate it when you get soldiers from America using everyone elses weapons. I once saw a fic where an American used an F88 instead of an M4. And Wrong terminology: Mistaking a clip for a magazine and such.

4609265
Completely backwards or nonexistent logic or morality.

Zero real character development.

Constantly screwing up code names, procedure, weapons and tech, etc.

It turns into a modern CoD-esque, watered down gunzerker as if you're playing a bland version of Wolfenstein.

4609265 Giving them stupid nicknamed or call signs.

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All of this, as well as when they just say: "MultiCam" when asked about what kind of armor they've got. I wanna know if it's a basic tac vest or a plate carrier like Legion-I, dammit! Besides, I prefer a US Woodland BDU with CB equipment.

Something that I personally understand is a futuristic fic that has Americans using the AK-12, which is completely viable, as we can still use STANAG with it as long as we change the weapon barrel to the right calibre. Not to say that I don't like the M4 they made me carry around instead of Alesana, but as we all know, there are conventions in place preventing us from using a declared enemy's firearms. Not very many other FFBs know this, so they give soldiers, Marines, and even SEALs the incorrect equipment.

4609265 4609274 4609356 4609516 4609520 4609564

I agree on all of the above. Ironically, I'm currently working on a military story right now, and I must say that these opinions are great yet the basic things we ask from our (military-)writers. Keep up this subject!

4609274 The only time I would do that is for an upcoming fic I'm planning out. Dude is a Russian immigrant to the US that served in the Army and is now a DEA FAST operator. He uses a M249 SAW Para and a MP412 REX revolver. His team will be working alongside USMC and Army Infantry, Rangers, Delta, British SAS and other OGA teams. His team will either use MI-8 helicopters escorted by either US Army Apaches or USMC Super Cobras or by Ground Mobility Vehicles

4610092 Sounds good.

4610244 Thanx bud

4610293 no worrries. hey I haven't heard from you in a while, how are things going?

4609564 Not to mention that it's hard to breathe in a plate carrier after a good run, no matter your physical endurance.

Acronyms and spec dumps for what a guy is carrying. Just use basic terms that anyone can recognize like rifle, pistol, flak, and so on. Nobody cares about the CoD sperglord bullshit.

4610299 Pretty good. Working and college are keeping me occupied

4611461 No wonder you haven't updated in so long.

4611534 I do have a new story out. But yeah, classes. I'm majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Homeland Security

4611547 Nice, well keep up the good work.

4611570 Thanx. I'm planning to duel major in CJ for Law Enforcement and Forensics for homicide and minor in Terrorism

4609265
This isn't that common any more, thanks to Author's notes, but one thing that used to really piss me off about older FIMFic entries was how the author would just fill up the story with "go like, I don't know, google this shit, because I can't describe it, lol." I'm not kidding, I saw something like that in stories before, with almost that exact wording. Luckily, thanks to the Author's notes, this is no longer necessary.

Everybody has to be a high-speed, low-drag type, one each.

4609516
Shit I hear that, most nicknames are supposed to be either ironic or derogatory in small unit settings, usually over an embarrassing incident or some quirk people try to use. In no way have I ever heard a Marine call another some code name that sounds cool and badass.

Man, the nicknames I got were embarrassing as shit.

4609516
You'd be surprised by some of the callsigns that have been given to some of the squadrons...

4609564
Oh yeah, let's go point rifles at fake looking animals that have absolutely no way of showing harm otherwise. Oh it talked, guess I have to be wary around it in case it's a jihadi plot!

Oh, and don't forget, the ponies will always respond to a slightly-larger-than-an-average-pony human by calling it a monster, attempting to boot it the fuck out of ponyville, and receive a stern lecture (usually at gunpoint no less) about the perceptions of human/pony relations.

4609356
Correlating, is it me or do writers on fimfiction give a "14 year old edgy guy who plays COD and pretends to know weapons but has never actually fired one" kind of vibe?

4609520
I can forgive futuristic fics for speculation on what weapons the military might have in the future, especially if it's a country other than America.

4610557
Fuck double perimeter flak runs.

4610640
Eh, it's okay to put a little detail in in my opinion.

4611596
Going along in that regard if it's a particularly obscure but relevant piece of equipment, but, like you said, only if it is acknowledged in the authors notes.

4611685
Can't argue with that though, I like it when someone does their homework on equipment and it stays relevant to what their saying.

4615265
No, that's about it; though it doesn't really take experience to describe the actual thing. I don't shoot often, but I can give a description. Just know the safety and fire mode, keep aiming discipline, know it's got a recoil, etc; it's a rather simple act. Though it still doesn't surprise me since most of the guns in CoD have lately felt more like pea shooters.

Eh, it's okay to put a little detail in in my opinion.

Yea, but like profanity it needs to be eloquent...appropriate, kind of. If you have the character pop up and spend the first paragraph or two rattling off the tech, you kind of waste it. Save it and just say what it is, like a rifle or M16, tac vest, whatever it may be; don't spend forever on it. When he has to actually use it, then you go into detail about it, which is important to do correctly so anyone who doesn't know will understand. Just start off and keep it mild.

4615265
1. Indeed.
2. This guy gets what I'm saying!

4615280
I get what you're saying. It all depends on what the stories are offering too. If it's a story with a huge emphasis on the military itself, rather than the character, then I do like a little detail about what's the outfit.

Of course, there's the thing, a lot of what we read as servicemen/women are things we already know to be true, and any deviation from that path is usually met with irritation. So we may know exactly what calibers an M-16 and an AK-47 are, but not a lot of others do.

But yeah, too much detail into that equipment is pretty shitty to sludge through.

4615173 what's the worst you've seen?

4615163 I've hard Lone Wolf and The Blaze....

Come on guys, do a last a little research. Anything within the NATO photonic code or one word call signs are good.

Ex. Nailer, Cannabis, Magic, Anvil, Metal.

The closest that my call signs for my humans child close to being unrealistic are Tex, Carnivore and Tombstone because one is a Green Beret from Texas (makes sense), one is a DEA FAST operative that has to conceal his identity while on missions, and the last one is because he's a CIA SOG member

4615778
Eh, it depends on what you mean by 'worst'. Some of those nicknames are kind of normal. Like Purpose said, nicknames usually come from others through various means, usually a specific event. Though from what I've heard that's not always the case, nor are they all bad. Now if you complain about your nickname, you're assured a bad one.

In terms of callsigns, those aren't exactly bad...or wrong even. Callsigns are hardly just from the Phonetic Alphabet, they're various words as listed. Usually they change from time to time, but they can very well be things like that, as I found when I was researching for one of my stories. For example, the 94th Fighter Squadron has had a few callsigns, and in the story the one they go by is 'Spad', which was the call for the squadron at one point. Nor is there any real protocol for what they are; VFA-14, the oldest squadron in the Navy, seems to more often go by the call 'Camelot'.

4617080 The one given to me when it wasn't "Archer" was "Newton."

Mine is Skeeney-weenie. Nicknames are almost never cool.

I admit, while I try to avoid these things in my story (World War Equestria), I am guilty of a few of them. However, I'm trying my best to keep it realistic as possible: i.e, the ammunition belts for a .30-caliber machine gun are heavy, Thompsons, M1s, M3's, and Springfields are American, while the Krauts have MP40s, Gewher 43s, and MG42s (aka, MG fuck-you-too).

I try to keep tactics similar, and the nice thing about WWII is that you don't have all those damn government-issued ROEs and shit that end up causing things like Operation Red Wing's failure.

In fact, Purpose Porpoise has commented about the fact that I use 'Sarge' for the main character's sergeant's nickname, but I answered back. That said, I'm trying to cut down on it, mate; I try to use it only in thoughts, not actual conversation.