When people write that story that hinges on it being Dean's first visit to New Orleans I just bite the inside of my cheek and don't quote the line from the relevant episode.

At least I do now. The first time I saw that I PMed "Oh, know what's funny? Dean blah blah blah" and she took it well on the surface but I felt like shit the moment I hit send, and I have no idea why that took so long.

I like being helpful and I hate seeing wrong things, but wow is that sometimes not the point.

Regionalism is something I don't mention unless the writer is totally stinking with it, or they make a request for help. I never do more than a few, because I don't work for strangers, but a "drop the whilsts and bloodys in dialogue" doesn't cost anything.

Which reminds me--I also meant to ask--regionalisms outside dialogue in a story that's strongly set somewhere? To be avoided wholesale? Including spelling? Not important unless it's tight POV? What's the what?

I wouldn't mind "whilst" showing up in regular usage more. It amuses me when it shows up in fics, like an unconscious ID tag on the author.

As long as it's not Dean Winchester or Tony Stark using it, fine. I grew up saying it, after all. But the amount of bad American dialogue--my god, I didn't know that many non-Americans were writing fic. That's good for the diversity of the fandom, bad for the flow of the speech.

Yeah, it seems like most of the fic being generated in fandoms I read (SPN, Teen Wolf, Avengers Cinematic Universe) is by this huge influx of British writers, many of whom seem unable to pick up the difference between characters' speech patterns and their own despite watching the show.

I won't even get into how unlikely it is for Tony Stark to brew up a spot of tea in the afternoon...

It's the references to benches in the kitchen as opposed to counters that always makes me blink. Then again, in Tony Stark's kitchen, the odds of the counters being used as workbenches is high.

Do we know Tony has a kitchen?

(I've never heard a kitchen counter called a bench. Maybe it's regional?)

In Tony Stark's house are many kitchens. At least in fic.

Because where else would the Avengers have their team breakfasts?

Because where else would the Avengers have their team breakfasts?

In the breakfast nook. Where did you grow up?

In a kitchen not big enough for Hawkeye to perch on top of the fridge.