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

I think my issue is that I am not into musicals, never have been. They take me out the movie far too much.

So songfics are pretty much the same thing. One fic that I remember use singing well now I think about it was this one Teen Titans fanfic that had an OC Titan with the power to sing to either hurt or heal people if I recall correctly. The writer even went so far to come up with small songs I think.

Sadly that fic died pretty fast but what was their was good.

If they spell a character's name wrong, either in the summary or in the first chapter. I mean, I can understand a few typos, but spelling it wrong multiple times is a big no go. I mean, if they don't even know how the characters name is spelled, then they probably didn't pay all that much attention to the book.

Well, I'm an audiobook listener myself, and while listening to The Stormlight Archive, I was unaware Elhokar's name was spelled that way. I thought it was spelled "Alokar" based on pronunciation (couldn't hear the H or others). Now, I did look up the name spelling to confirm this, but for strictly audiobook listeners, I can sort of understand.

Using "Hermy" as a nickname for Hermione. If you must create an affectionate, cutesy nickname for her, "'Mione" sounds much better. "Hermy" sounds like either an elf who wants to be a dentist, or a disease.

Or an affectionate name for the Greek god Hermes.

"Hermy" makes me think of "Kermy", Miss Piggy's affectionate nickname for Kermit.

Doesn't Grawp call her "Hermy" due to the name being hard-to-pronounce?

Grawp is the only person I'll allow to call her that.

Because it's Grawp.

Hermy sounds like an insult to me out of context.

Stories that open with a character bio and a list of powers in the first chapter or so. Usually done for Original Characters because the story is about them, that's nevertheless a massive barrier for entry. The obvious problem is how lazy it is to communicate information about your character like this, even if stat sheets are a canonical part of the work. It really doesn't help that said characters tend to be blatantly overpowered or poorly constructed.

Seconded. It's one thing to make an OC the main character- heck, that can even be done well!- but I would much rather SEE their backstory unfold than read their D&D Character sheet.

I recently wrote and finished an OC-centric fic for Zootopia. Instead of starting off at the origin story for the character, I just threw the reader into the thick of it during one of the worst weeks of that OC's life. I brought my character to the breaking point and really saw the measure of who they are as a character and in the process, the reader gets to discover their backstory as the story goes along. It is a unique way of introducing an OC protagonist, and it can turn off quite a few readers when they don't understand why the character does what they do in the first few chapters. It's only when they stick with it and read on through their revealing backstory do all the puzzle pieces fall into place. A very difficult task to do for any writer and keep reader interest.

That sounds like a really good strategy! I can definitely understand how it would be hard to get into at first, but it makes the character feel a lot more like they truly belong in the story.

Yeah, for those that stuck it through to the end, they all have said it was one of the best fanfics they've read in the fandom, period. But for those who got lost, confused and just didn't really get a feel for it dropped out midway or early on and provided mainly negative reviews. It's quite easy to tell apart who is who based on their critiques. So definitely a hard balance to pull off when involving OCs as your primary protagonists.

Edit:never mind, this was meant for the Kingdom Hearts fanfic thread. Not sure why I posted it here.

Edited by SapphireBlue on Mar 2nd 2019 at 8:01:01 AM

Here's mine (not in any particular order - I just don't know how to bullet point):

1) Slash fics

2) Lemon fics

3) Gender-flip fics (No. Just... no.)

4) Parody/Crack fics

5) Fics that force a pairing together inorganically and in a way that isn't true to the characters.

6) Fics that have very very bad spelling and grammar errors. Fanfics that don't know how to paragraph and space out their lines are also bad eggs that I won't bother with.

Edited by BrightLight on Mar 5th 2019 at 9:16:14 AM

So... I take it you avoid Ranma crossovers then. It's pretty much a rule of those that someone's going to fall into the Spring of Drowned Girl or Spring of Drowned Man.

Well I just avoid EVERYTHING Ranma.

...yes I hate it why'd you ask?

So for those of you who mention Slash Fic as a red flag, what part of it bothers you? Is it the fact that they're usually not canon pairings, or the fact that it's gay? Is it the way people tend to write them? Does it still bother you if the characters' sexuality wasn't addressed in canon, or if it doesn't contradict any canon pairings, or if the characters really are gay or bi? Not trying to judge you or be accusatory or anything. I'm just curious.

I'm asking because I used to feel the same way, but it had less to do with anyone's sexuality (although looking back, there was probably some unconscious heteronormativity mixed in) and more to do with the baggage that tended to go with them. Stuff like the Yaoi Guys format being shoved onto everything whether it fit or not, which is thankfully not quite as common nowadays. I'm a lot less picky now that some of the baggage is less prominent. There are a lot of parings I'm willing to read about but probably wouldn't write myself, but that goes for pairings in general, slash or not.

Edited by SapphireBlue on Mar 4th 2019 at 12:20:19 PM

Probably because it goes against my friendshipping. I like to see close friendships, and don't like the implication that intimacy is only found in romantic relationships. And that sex is not the ultimate goal in every relationship!

I can't generally identify with anyone in gay ships as I am not gay or bi myself so I tend to avoid it. And no I don't give lesbian relationships a pass on that rule either because its hot like some creepers try to justify. I also really don't like it if any fic, straight or gay, suddenly springs a ship on me out of the blue

I also tend to find that most shipping fics in general, gay or straight or whichever tend to be written badly. There is of course exceptions though as have found some gems in the rough. I have seen a couple poly ship fics that managed to surprise me with how well written they were.

There was also was a couple fanfics that I read that had a gay relationship in it but it was for the most part adorably written although it didn't last long. I initially tolerated it for the concept of that fic alone but the relationship was written well. Way better than a lot of straight ships I see. No stupid misunderstandings or dramaqueen style break-up. It was just a mutual respectful breakup.

My last rule, and this applies to straight fics as well. If the ship is something really dumb. Like pairing two characters whom absolutely hate eachother, or pairing a character with a well known abusive piece of shit. I won't even touch those fics with a long pole. I don't believe in opposites attract and I doubt I ever will and I know abusive people won't change instantly they get into a relationship. Quite the opposite infact....

That's fair. A lot of fics focus on shipping, and it's nice to have variety. Platonic relationships are important too, and oh my God you are so right about sex being treated like it's the only thing that matters. And yeah, there are definitely some pairings where it's like...I see where people are coming from, but I like them better as friends. Not just with slash, either - I like Neku and Shiki better as friends, and the game doesn't push it too hard anyway. (And no, I don't ship Joshua with Neku either. It's too one-sided.)

Agreed about that last bit. I have a hard time reading ships that have no basis in canon, but in that case its like a negative basis. Yeah, I know, Foe Yay, but I'm not one for that either.

Edited by SapphireBlue on Mar 4th 2019 at 7:24:38 AM

Another red flag for me it fics that are very obviously fetishishizing LGBT folks. There is a couple fandoms that I know of that are absolutely god awful at doing this.

Good lord, yes. I don't see that anywhere near as much as I used to, but it definitely happens.