Alcohol and Fanfic. . .

[catscradle]

Seldom do these two things seem to mix. I don't refer to drinking while writing, though I'm sure that can occasionally apply - I think some actually improve, so it's a toss up - but no, I refer to those people who write a scene with alcohol without a single clue as to how it operates in the human body once consumed.

We have two types of scenarios that need attention.

1. The belief that 1/1,000,000,000 of an ounce is enough to get anyone slammed if dropped in non-alcoholic drink - the sweeter the better - in secret. Newflash: You don't use a medicinal dropper to add alcohol to a beverage and expect anything to happen. Unless it's LSD, it's just not going work. It's even worse if you're using schnapps as opposed to something like vodka (I've seen it), but at such a low dosage, neither are going to be doing much to anyone. A shot of NyQuil is going to do more for you than that.

2. The belief that consumming an entire bottle of hard liquor wouldn't faze the character doing the drinking one bit because they are that cool.

Unless this character has been an alcoholic for the past five years, they may feel that bottle of 100 proof tequila just a wee bit.

I just read a bit of a hybred of these two scenerios where Relena was tricked into drinking a Long Island ice tea. She never realizes the beverage is alcoholic till it's too late and she's taken advantage of and so on and so forth. Unless Relena is the absolute dumbest person in existence, there's no WAY she's going to be THAT ignorant to the fact she's drinking alcohol. There are five types of alcohol in that drink - now, granted a really good Long Island is suppose to resemble the taste of tea, but I've never had one THAT well mixed that I couldn't tell I was drinking alcohol.

I suppose this comes from young writers not experienced in drinking, which isn't a bad thing per se - not trying to get the kids to drink (might also be against some's religion or philosophy - totally cool with that), just maybe check into it a little more before writing about it. There are plenty sites on the web that give out information on the subject of drinking. Or just watch parents or other family/friends on what they drink and how much. You don't need to be experienced or go out on a drinking binge to write a believable drinking scene. Just a little bit of observation and research can go a long way to make a story a little more believable.

Comments

[babaca.livejournal.com]

Long Island Ice teas have never tasted like tea either. Hell, if someone wanted to get a character wasted on a sweet drink, I recommend Brandy Alexanders. They are like a chocolatey milkshake WITH BOOZE! ^___^

This argument could fall under so many other topics. Like lemons where someone skipped the lesson on mechanics.

[catscradle.livejournal.com]

God, I could go for a Brandy Alexander right now. . . I doubt my boss would appreciate it, but damn that sounds good. *G*

On the subject of lemons. . . I think I give up on those. IT's a good thing you can usually tell by the first few paragraphs of a fic if the lemon contained inside is going to resemble a traffic accident ;)