What are your personal "red flags" before reading any fanfic?

That actually makes sense.

As some personal experience, I wrote a fanfic a while ago that was pretty much The Stations of the Canon - it was just part of a story from the perspective of a minor character. Currently, I'm writing a fanfic where I'm trying to work around an original concept. The one with the original concept has had a LOT more reviews per chapter, and that's probably because they don't know where it's going to go.

...yeah, I'm new to this, I know. This probably sounds really obvious to you guys.

edited 20th May '15 12:51:16 AM by LOLypop1224

The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!

I've noticed that any fic which involves the reader is an instant red flag for me, especially if it is in a pairing, to the point I've never even clicked on one. Not so much because I don't like it as because I'm really not interested by these kind of stories.

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.

Ugh. I was browsing though recently updated Avengers fics on AO 3. Some of the summaries with X/reader made me want to throw my phone at the wall.

Case in point.

edited 20th May '15 3:03:44 AM by 32ndfreeze

"But if that happened, Melia might actually be happy. We can't have that." - Handsome Rob

Oh my. This almost looks like a Parody Sue story.

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.

Unless it's playing the premise for comedy, those types of stories almost never work out.

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I doubt it.

Slightly related to reader fics is where the POV is in 2nd person. It's too weird for me to read. But what's weirder for me is 1st person POV; it feels like I'm intruding to the character or something. And this holds true even when the source material is in first person. u_u

edited 20th May '15 6:33:58 AM by ramenradian

(my tumblr) (my fics) (anime i watch)

In the description it says "A story of" followed by any single one or combination of: tragedy, romance, adventure, horror, love, family, revenge, power, affection, angst.

It's a poor craftsmanship issue. Rather than offer a detailed description, the author just says the story is about a particular issue to the exclusion of others. Well, I take you at your word, author, when you describe a story that is about your issues rather than having a decent plot or characterization or anything else.

Certain broad topics are exempt. "A story of family" is the one that immediately comes to mind.

edited 20th May '15 7:23:21 AM by Night

Nous restons ici.

That's one of those cases where if the description isn't terrible, you should be able to tell that it's about that stuff without being told.

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I can't read first or second person fics. Original fiction, sure, but with fanfiction it just throws me right out. I think at least with original fiction, you don't question the actions as much. But when it's a character you know, OOC actions (even if it only OOC based on your personal headcanons) seem much sharper. Which puts me with everyone that runs away from the X/Reader fics.

Also, just for me personally, downer fics with no upside (I don't count hydra trash/smut/torture fics in this - just agnst). If there is some sweetness in the middle there or comedy with a sudden swerve, fine. But just sadness for the sake of sadness and nothing else makes me cringe because I like to enjoy my entertainment. Give me a happy beginning, end or middle in there! But again, that's just a personal red flag.

edited 20th May '15 1:56:48 PM by Notoyax17

"Yo, those kids are straight up liars, man. All I told them to do was run product. And by product, I mean chewing gum."

@Night

I dunno. I kind of want to write a fic where the summary is "A story of life, about an idiot, signifying nothing."

himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari

So you're writing it about a generic shonen protagonist?

Nous restons ici.

Pretty much, yeah.

himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari

Fanfiction involving the reader is ... weird. The writer doesn't know me. The writer will probably put me in situations I'm uncomfortable in. (As many fanfic writers do with their characters, but at least those characters aren't me)

Another read flag would be Alpha-Omega dynamics. It's totally weird. Like, you have gender roles, but they are justified with biology! And being submissive is all it needs to be able to bear children. No uterus needed. (I've not yet figured out whether there are female alphas and whether they can impregnate male omegas) I'm not sure whether it originated as witty parody on gender roles, or whether people actually take it seriously ... or both. Weird stuff.

Someone here mentioned how the trolls in "Frozen" are portrayed negatively. Thing is ... they ARE. They bully Anna into a relationship - a wedding, almost! That's now what nice people do. Actually, that one is a green flag for me: People recognizing bad behaviour as what it is, and writing a fanfic accordingly.

I'm calling Blue-and-Orange Morality on the Trolls. They're magical creatures that are obsessed with love. If they see love, they want to see it expressed.

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

From what I remember, the trolls' song was not as much about existing love as about Kristoff being a nice guy who needs fixing by a woman, therefore, she should love him. Not different enough from real people in everyday life to qualify as Blue and Orange Morality. Women are told "give him a chance! You can change him!" all the time.

That said, it would be intriguing if they really were a case of Blue and Orange Morality. That would give the movie so much more depht.

Incidentally, to all women who've heard that message and think it's true...

It isn't.

You can't change him, stop trying. Seriously. We will not give up our videogames and our snacks, no matter what you do.

himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari

Actual quote from the song.

What the actual message is:


What they're saying is that Kristoff may be rough around the edges, but he's a really good guy once you get to know him. Also, that a life without some sort of love isn't a full life (familial love being the main idea), and that people can make bad choices under bad circumstances.

The Trolls are basically Kristoff's family, and he has never made any inclination that he had friends, let alone a romantic interest. He comes home with a beautiful girl, and they can tell there's attraction between them. So they try and nurture it, albeit in an overbearing way.

edited 23rd May '15 9:48:00 AM by GeekCodeRed

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

It appears IANCE needs to watch Frozen again.

Nous restons ici.

What I'm getting at is that the notion that a man is entitled to a female love interest if he's baseline decent, is nothing new. It doesn't qualify as Blue-and-Orange Morality, and is rather nasty, and if I were bullied into enacting a wedding ceremony with a man I barely know while I am engaged to someone else, while no one listens to my objections ... I would run for the hills.

The trolls may be many things, but nice ... no, nice they are not.

...

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

Dunno what movie you watched, but it ain't Frozen. Maybe Child Bride? (If anything the implication is that Anna is the one who is entitled, given how much they denigrate Kristoff as a "fixer-upper".)

edited 23rd May '15 3:09:59 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

I posted this is the Naruto Thread, but I'll post it here too.

As much as I dislike fics when Naruto is sent to another world and basically becomes the new main character. There are moments where I feel it can go into the opposite direction. Crossovers where Naruto is sent to a new world and is limited to the level of a normal human or even though its OCC of him hides his abilities. Even when peoples' lives are in danger. I feel reducing Naruto to the level of a normal human (by choice or a power limiter) would defeat the point of the crossover. To me a crossover is when both sides bring what they have to the table. Without his ninja skills or Kyuubi Naruto might as well be an OC lookalike.

For example: horror survival crossovers. Specifically, some of the High School of the Dead X-Overs I've read have Naruto (when they haven't been limited/sealed in some way) choose to keep his abilities hidden… despite being in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse. That is not the time to hide you mad ninja skills!

I don't care how much tension it'd remove. Sometimes I just want to see a straight up fight between Naruto's 1000+ Kage Bushin Army vs. The Undead Hoard or "Them".

edited 23rd May '15 12:57:13 PM by WorldTurtle2

@Night

**** that movie.

**** that movie with a **** screwdriver until it **** sideways!

edited 23rd May '15 8:29:45 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough

himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari

I wasnt crazy about you before but I love you now.

Discord: Waido X 255#1372 If you cant contact me on TV Tropes do it here.

I know this thread is usually for talking about your red flags, but I wanted to ask about some of your collective red flags as well. I don't want to be the sort of person who's always talking about their fanfiction, but I won't hide that my questions do relate to how I'm writing my fanfic.

• How much writing is too much? Like I get that 30,000 word chapters are ridiculous, that's something I dislike myself - but would you read something like a 100k word story if it were split up into around 40 chapters, or enough not to be filibuster-length chapters?

• Regarding relationships and ship fics, would you find it off if the pairing consummated a couple of chapters in, after being established as being a couple since before the story began and after having showed equivalent romantic and sexual attraction to each other? Like not meeting up and plowing in the first three chapters, or going there out of the blue just because "they're a couple", but having the story begin with them as a long-time couple and having that happen a few chapters in after some visible romance and attraction.

I'm sorry if this is annoying and missing the point of the thread, but if you feel like responding I'd appreciate it.