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

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Psyga315 Since: Jan, 2001
#851: Mar 25th 2014 at 9:22:01 PM

It might be the reason why the Notre Dame world was heavily censored in both Japan and in America. The heavy religion in it would cause a massive clash, since Sora probably hasn't heard of Religion (and ironically, two of his friends actually fought against religion in their game) and his first encounter with it being in the form of a Sinister Minister might make things pretty hairy.

edited 25th Mar '14 9:23:09 PM by Psyga315

yourworstnightKitten I was the one who huffed the kittens! Since: Dec, 2010
I was the one who huffed the kittens!
#852: Mar 25th 2014 at 9:49:49 PM

I absolutely cannot stand when things are misspelled. I avoid Mary Sue crack stories for this reason. Also, lack of plot always bugs me and I end up giving up four chapters in. What I hate is that when I read reviews of a fanfiction, some are oneliners that just say "awesome" instead of a detailed review. And there's always one flame in the midst of several detailed, more reasonable reviews. Why?

Who saw the Mary Sue walk by, huh? I'll kill the assymetrical bitch!
HeirophantsFool I use guns instead of magic. Since: Jan, 2013 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
I use guns instead of magic.
#853: Mar 26th 2014 at 1:55:24 AM

[up]Because this is the internet.

Super Robot! SUPER ROBOT! ◥▶◀◤ Also, if some of my posts don't make sense, please take note that I might lack slee
theAdeptrogue iRidescence Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
iRidescence
#854: Mar 26th 2014 at 5:51:31 AM

[up][up]It's even worse if it's deliberate. And that's mostly the reason I avoid Crack stories/parodies in general.

Of all the possible methods to deliver something "funny", most of these authors just have to WrIghT. in $MZ/ch@tSp3ak to deliver their "joke". This not only makes the writing an incomprehensible mess, it also gives a very irritating OOC vibe from every single character that appears in the fic (since characters don't usually converse in Chatspeak).

That reminds me of another redflag AU where the characters simply gather in a chatroom and basically have meaningless conversations with each other. I suppose it can be done well, but most of the time, it's not.

edited 26th Mar '14 5:53:21 AM by theAdeptrogue

SapphireBlue Since: Jan, 2001
#855: Mar 26th 2014 at 9:35:15 AM

[up] I actually wrote some of those chatroom things when I was in middle school. Thankfully, I had the good sense not to post any of them.

But yeah, those don't tend to be very good.

Yourworstnightkitten I was the one who huffed the kittens! Since: Dec, 2010
I was the one who huffed the kittens!
#856: Mar 26th 2014 at 9:41:13 AM

[up] Same here. Except I showed them to my friends. They laughed thier guts out because apparently it was good? It was meant to be a comedy.

Who saw the Mary Sue walk by, huh? I'll kill the assymetrical bitch!
theAdeptrogue iRidescence Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
iRidescence
#857: Mar 26th 2014 at 9:59:40 AM

[up]Well, it actually depend on the canon setting and/or the content of the chat. If we have the characters poking fun at their own character designs, canon events or at the development team, it can usually be a fun read; but if they're just randomly clowning around, and their conversation is irrelevant to the work it is claiming to be a fanfic of (which, based on my experience, is often the case) then it brings us back to those problematic Fanfic issues some of us have mentioned in this very thread: OOC-ness, characters that don't fit the settings (e.g. using characters from mythologies or Historical or High Fantasy), settings-so-AU-it-might-as-well-be-original.

Jinxmenow Ghosts N' Stuff Remix from everywhere you look, everywhere you look Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
Ghosts N' Stuff Remix
#858: Mar 31st 2014 at 11:20:49 AM

Bad opinions. I don't mean "I'm a Republican/Democrat and my views on the state of the world cannot help but reflect that", but things like "I hate n*****s and I don't care who knows it". Objectivists, Scientologists, Westboro Baptists, people who actually believe that gingers don't have souls, etc. Intolerable especially when it's said by the author's self-righteous OCs, put in random character's mouths, or (worst of all) suddenly appearing apropos of nothing, as if a six hundred page essay on why the Aryan race is the superior one appeared in the middle of Frog And Toad Are Friends.

"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy."
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#859: Mar 31st 2014 at 9:17:51 PM

I guess this is more of a general thing that bugs me, but when writers exaggerate things that the character did once or twice that they found funny into being something that the character does incessantly.

The best example of this is nicknames: a character might only refer to someone as a certain nickname once, but if the author liked it then in the fanfic it'll be the only thing they ever refer to that character as ever. Tony Stark gets hit with this all the time in Avengers/Iron Man fics.

edited 31st Mar '14 9:18:17 PM by KnownUnknown

PPPSSC Since: Nov, 2009
#860: Mar 31st 2014 at 10:25:16 PM

Getting character names wrong in any way. Whether it's misspelling the names, calling characters by nicknames that they don't go by in the narration without explaining why, or getting characters mixed up.

The worst I've seen is a combination of the last two, which leads to my favorite character being referred to by the name of his Abusive Father whom I Love to Hate. And I've seen this happen more than once. Is it any wonder this seems to go hand in hand with excessive OOC-ness?

edited 31st Mar '14 10:26:16 PM by PPPSSC

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#861: Apr 1st 2014 at 12:40:33 PM

Or giving the character the wrong name (I am not kidding, I recently read a one-shot which was really confusing until I realized that the writer had given one character the name of another name...worse, someone reviewed and pointed out the mistake...still not fixed (and it's not really an act to change the name in three places)...writer is now on my personal blacklist.

RN452 X-ALL! from Kakiland Since: Nov, 2011
X-ALL!
#862: Apr 1st 2014 at 1:01:25 PM

One thing that's quickly becoming a constant red flag, more visible in Pokémon fics, is "getting a legendary early". I mean, look, there is the Victini event in Black and White (detail: Victini is named the "Victory Pokémon") and some authors think it's a good idea to add it to the team, since it can be captured early on, if your game is new. I read two fics in which Victini gets captured early (one of them today, which had a really interesting premise, basically Anthea and Concordia aid in person N in his journey, since they're both underused characters) and in both of them, the dramatic tension of the fics was ruined.

While it's not incorrect to add this specific event, I think writers should think before adding a powerful summon or an overpowered character to the party, you're not doing a speed run, you're writing a story.

edited 1st Apr '14 1:03:09 PM by RN452

My work is here. Current main fic: Tengen Toppa Gurren Solvernia
NaomiHansen Gun Cat Enthusiast from elsewhere Since: Aug, 2011 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Gun Cat Enthusiast
#863: Apr 1st 2014 at 9:43:10 PM

Unless I see a lot of responses to the fic, seeing it written in second person still, to this day, has me running for the hills more often than not. Also, other than when I'm looking for a rare pairing, if I see what I consider to be a very poor summary and/or a very low number of comments/bookmarks (these often depending on the general size and activity of the fandom, not to mention the fic's length), I won't even bother looking into it.

(No Mpreg either. My first experience with it had been intentionally written by the author as a pretty disturbing horror story, so… Yeah.)

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me
Notoyax17 When all you have is a blowtorch... Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: I've got a total eclipse of the heart
When all you have is a blowtorch...
#864: Apr 2nd 2014 at 5:29:18 AM

Along with second person PO Vs, I'm going to have to add first person PO Vs to my list. I was fine with it a couple of years ago and I can still read it just fine in Original Fiction, but for some reason in fanfiction it just GRATES on my nerves. just bugs me I can't get into it at all.

I don't know...maybe I have less in common with the characters I read about now or something?

"Yo, those kids are straight up liars, man. All I told them to do was run product. And by product, I mean chewing gum."
Yourworstnightkitten I was the one who huffed the kittens! Since: Dec, 2010
I was the one who huffed the kittens!
#865: Apr 2nd 2014 at 2:38:28 PM

Indeed, I had forgotten about second person, and for good reason. I dislike being told what I'm doing at the moment. It gives me an irritated, eerie feeling.

Who saw the Mary Sue walk by, huh? I'll kill the assymetrical bitch!
storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#866: Apr 2nd 2014 at 2:39:54 PM

I have yet to see a good, or even tolerable, second person fic.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
SapphireBlue Since: Jan, 2001
#867: Apr 2nd 2014 at 5:03:57 PM

I wrote one once, but it was from the perspective of a generic Mabinogi player character, so it wasn't like I was trying to project the reader onto an existing character. It was a while ago, and I wouldn't say it was my best work.

With that in mind, I don't usually read second-person either, and it doesn't tend to be done well.

edited 2nd Apr '14 5:06:17 PM by SapphireBlue

RN452 X-ALL! from Kakiland Since: Nov, 2011
X-ALL!
#868: Apr 2nd 2014 at 5:51:24 PM

There are some good 2nd person Touhou fics at Touhou-Project, one of my favorites in which I placed a recomendation is No Such Thing as Fairy Tales.

My work is here. Current main fic: Tengen Toppa Gurren Solvernia
majoraoftime (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#869: Apr 2nd 2014 at 6:30:40 PM

I am struggling to think of any respected literary work that is written in second person.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#870: Apr 2nd 2014 at 6:53:50 PM

The best I can think of is Homestuck, and even that is fake second person. It's primarily written in third person, just using second person pronouns.

edited 2nd Apr '14 6:54:11 PM by storyyeller

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
Iaculus Pronounced YAK-you-luss from England Since: May, 2010
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
#871: Apr 3rd 2014 at 4:07:41 AM

If on a winter's night a traveler?

What's precedent ever done for us?
Jinxmenow Ghosts N' Stuff Remix from everywhere you look, everywhere you look Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
Ghosts N' Stuff Remix
#872: Apr 3rd 2014 at 5:46:01 AM

[up][up][up] Bright Lights Big City

"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy."
JapaneseTeeth Existence Weighed Against Nonbeing from Meinong's jungle Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Existence Weighed Against Nonbeing
#873: Apr 3rd 2014 at 7:10:56 AM

2nd person is one of those things that can be done well, theoretically, but is incredibly hard to actually pull off. I've only ever attempted it once, and it was for an intentionally-ridiculous story that I wrote as a Christmas gift for somebody.

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Crinias from The Bleak Academy Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Mu
#874: Apr 3rd 2014 at 10:37:41 AM

2nd person really works best for Choose Your Own Adventure type stories, where you take suggestions from readers and use them in the narrative. I can't think of many other examples of it, though.

NaomiHansen Gun Cat Enthusiast from elsewhere Since: Aug, 2011 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Gun Cat Enthusiast
#875: Apr 4th 2014 at 12:20:22 AM

The only good fics I've ever seen for second person have all been for Pacific Rim and Star Trek, and they're somehow fairly fantastic with it. But otherwise, seeing second person just makes me have flashbacks to my Quizilla days…

Also, for some reason, until recently, seeing present tense unnerved me pretty badly. (Is it just me, or is present tense almost a bit of a norm with certain fandoms' fics? I feel like I've been seeing a lot more of it in the last few years.)

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me

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