Things in fanfics that you just don't like

Edit: For example: Space Marine. What do you think of first when I say this?

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Personally, I think of marine animals. In spacesuits.

But some things I hate about fanfiction are the grammar and spelling. If you're going to commit an idea to a document and then to the Internet, at least be pretty darn sure other people can read it without getting a giant headache. I don't really have a problem with this in published works, because they get their things edited by publishers.

Another thing that is really annoying are characters who are like rubber bands. No matter how DARN hard you stretch them, they come bouncing right back like nothing ever happened. But, more specifically, characters who die uselessly and multiplicatively during the course of something. A big revival at the end is ok, but just don't push it. I usually judge a fanfic (or regular books, by that matter) by how many times the main character or a supporting character (but not bad guys) die. Once is fine, twice is ok, thrice is pushing it, and four or more times? It's like saying "I'm just throwing random crap in here because I can!!1"

No. Just no.

Another thing I find I hate about some fanfics, but more commonly in actual books, are improperly paced or poorly written endings. Rick Riordan, while I love his books normally, cannot do a proper finale book for the life of him. I'm not just talking about the Percy Jackson series. He messed it up in the Kane Chronicles, too. His final book in a series becomes nothing more than a mad dash towards a goal, with details either tossed aside for last or thrown out the window entirely. Erin Hunter messed it up too, but in a different way; they (Erin is the pen name of four people) just did clichè. After clichè. After clichè. After clichè. And ended up with an unsatisfactory ending that makes you want to watch the book go up in smoke. <Or maybe that's just me.>

But that doesn't mean I think all endings are bad. Take Katherine Lasky's Guardians of Ga'Hoole's series ending. Perfect. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Shining examples of what an ending should be. Riley Sky on fanfic.net also does a very good job at wrapping up her endings.

And there's my two (or more like ten)cents on the matter.

I dunno about the death things, that's a sweeping generalization.
In Homestuck, for example, death and the many ways to circumvent it become a plot point.

A. Romance, too cliche and over done.

B. Anime related or sounding stories. I'm not a fan of weaboo's who bring it to the paperback.

and C.,

Furries, disgusting trend and it makes me puke.

Yes, but killing a character too many times is useless and annoying.

And it can also depend on how good a job the author/writer/illustrator can pull it off. If it's dead obvious they killed off character X just to make the others revive him, then it's pointless immediately. If the author/writer/illustrator put character X in there just to kill him off and revive him, you need to seriously rethink watching/reading/playing whatever it is that character X dies in.

I just don't like fics starting with a trainer waking up and realizing they are late. Bonus minus points if there is a single mom there as well.

Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers said:

I just don't like fics starting with a trainer waking up and realizing they are late. Bonus minus points if there is a single mom there as well.

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Agreed there. That's a really common way a trainer fic starts, and also coincidentally the most common way an unfinished one starts too. =p

Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers said:

I just don't like fics starting with a trainer waking up and realizing they are late. Bonus minus points if there is a single mom there as well.

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To me, that's just not a believable scenario to begin with (especially after Ash spoiled it in the first episode of the anime). Any household with a responsible parent is going to run on some sort of fixed schedule. For instance, as a kid, my father had me up at 5:30AM every school day and made sure that I was heading out the door to the bus stop by 7:20AM. I would imagine the same principle would apply in the Pokemon universe, wherein a parent would make sure his/her child makes it to their meeting with the local Pokemon Professor on-time. Furthermore, if the trainer character is a teenager or an adult, they should have a better sense of time management.

Lmao most teenagers I know don't have any sense of time management ;D But yeah, it's mostly annoying since it's copying Ash.

Yeah, but it's a starting point for most people to get into writing fanfics. They don't feel like coming up with an original idea, so they copy the show. Well...

bobandbill said:

That's a really common way a trainer fic starts, and also coincidentally the most common way an unfinished one starts too. =p

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I don't like it when a chapter or story clearly doesn't have much thought into it. When there are glaring holes in the story that could have been easily fixed with a quick skim over. I also find that most people quit after they post a sloppy chapter and they realize how much work it will be to fix everything.

When the main character is given an ability like "talking to Pokemon," I don't think that's a bad thing if the execution is done well. I see "done well" as not trying to overstate how "great" the ability is, making it integral to the plot (like a twist near the end) and making the character with said power at least a well-written character to be invested in. Otherwise...

I seldom read fanfics, and I do like to say that some things like botchd graamur, quitting in the middle of the story (it depends on the situation), and generally stories that are too overly dramatic, unless it's done to add humor though it has to be done right.

I actually also don't like too much descriptions. No descriptions or details at all is bad of course, but paragraphs going on and on about setting or looks of things just halts the story too much. There's got to be a flow, keeping interest for the plot and happenings and dialogue up at the same time as enough information about the setting and expressions etc. is given.

I can forgive bad grammar or spelling, I can forgive overused and cliche plots, but if you don't write my favorite characters right I go nuts. The worst one was when they took someone who keeps all of his emotions on the inside and made "a single tear" drip down his cheek every other paragraph. Ugh.

Other pet peeve is when something happens in a show and the fanfic writers constantly use it. Example: Dean Winchester in Supernatural refered to "normal" life as "apple pie life" once or twice, and I see him say it in like 75% of Supernatural fanfics and it drives me crazy.

This is specific to me but the word "smirk" is overused and I hate it. Sometimes it's necessary, yes, but if you have someone constantly smirking to prove he's a cocky badass I immediately assume you're trying too hard.

King Carnivore said:

Other pet peeve is when something happens in a show and the fanfic writers constantly use it. Example: Dean Winchester in Supernatural refered to "normal" life as "apple pie life" once or twice, and I see him say it in like 75% of Supernatural fanfics and it drives me crazy.

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This too. Fandom tends to take such a small thing that a character says or does and runs with it completely. I've seen it happen in another fandom, and I've seen a Tumblr post that summarizes this fandom quirk.

character: says "I like bread" that one time

fandom: character has an obsession with bread. bread is character's true love. draws character as bread. every meta joke in fanfic is about bread. the character's room is wallpapered with bread

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It's annoying to see the character only written about in this one way. Yes, I get it. They said a particular expression once in the show, but that can't be what their entire life revolves around.

Descriptions. While of course the reader should not need that one describes what a Nidoran (eeeeee~) looks like to them, a sane amount of (active please) description should be in order when considering if the description is for the benefit of the in-universe characters. Ditto for Prof. Oak. I mean we all know him, but how many people in-universe know what he looks like?

That's about the right amount of description for canon characters and elements, IMO. Not much more, and never less.

For other something in fanfics that I don't like: having the entire world pause while characters converse. As if nothing else could be happening in the meanwhile - no car moves, the apple doesn't finish falling off the tree, and of course your Pokémon's Hyper Beam won't reach the opponent and blow him off the face of the earth before you finish your 2 minutes long diatribe about how you would never, ever harm a Pokémon for profit.

Re waking up late - not much of an issue, it's the part that follows that annoys me. I mean, I can get behind random kids waking up late nearly every day of their lives, but for that to happen precisely the day that you get to pick a new Pokémon? (and for extra bonus minus, the local Prof just happens to not be even able to consult the local authorities for "number of kids in town" so bam, there you go, you missed the chance to get a Starter).

Another thing that I Just Don't Like: fanfics where Pokémon are just, or mostly, stand-ins for tools. A Mudkip or Oshawott assisting firefighters I can get behind, but water-hose Buizel for you to water the plants at home, or power generator Raichu for you to fight enemies using some sort of tasers?

It's annoying to see the character only written about in this one way. Yes, I get it. They said a particular expression once in the show, but that can't be what their entire life revolves around.

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You know what's worse? When the canon authors do it. Provide a very bad example that people pick upon because it's trendy.

In Anime based fic, I hate how they try to be "Japanese" with honorifics and random JPN phrases ("Sugoi," "Arigato," etc) when we see them speaking English. All because the author thought it'd be cool when really it comes off as silly. It's the same problem with most fansubbed Anime.

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