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

Is this the sort of story I would write, was going to write or had written?

Is this similar enough to a fic I was reading but disappeared?

Awesome guy does awesome thing awesome guy is known for, in a new way. (Back in 2003/4, I remember a fic that had AJ Styles teaming up with Shawn Michaels and getting on the card of Wrestlemania 20, that had Tommy Dreamer defeat Mick Foley and "Sick" Nick Mondo...don't know if it would still be 'awesome' if I read it today but at the time it felt like "Why hasn't this actually happened?")

What if this inferior story played out more like this superior one? (I remember a Women Of Wrestling fic whose premise was "Booking aint easy but any mark could have done better", today it would be what if WOW was Shimmer I guess but at the time there was no Shimmer. More recently, Jim Cornette's rebooking of the WWF invasion storyline "What if Vince McMahon actually tried?" or "What if Vince gave WCW as much respect as he gave brand extension era Smackdown?")

What if this inferior character/cast was this superior one? (What if Zilla was Godzilla? What if the Maximals and Megatron were the Maximals and Megatron?)

Fics where you vote on the outcome. (Digital monsters are invading the analog world! Can Voltron save the galaxy? Polls closing in three days!) The arguments in those are sometimes more entertaining that the fic itself.

edited 26th Jul '14 3:09:59 AM by IndirectActiveTransport

I'm always game for a retelling of Cinderella, assuming I either already know the setting/characters, or they get explained enough that I don't need to know them.

also, kidnappings. and smart/competent villains. who take hostages.

also, gen fics.

I'm a fan of H/C fics that describe realistic consequences of injury or trauma and competent first-aid or other care on the part of the comforting character.

For Want of a Nail fics always catch my interest almost immediately, whether or not they keep it depends on the quality but usually they manage.

That goes double for Peggy Sue fics so long as they don't gloss over too much previously established canon events and take the time to investigate how others would react to the time traveler's actions and how the consequences of said actions ripple out and change the story.

Additionally Fusion fics that weld multiple canons into a single, congruous, universe are a big personal appeal of mine.

What that guy said. (And I've written all of those kinds of stories, too.)

Minor characters getting the spotlight, proper grammar, and interesting reinterpretations of the setting are things that pull me into the story.

Me, I like a good Trollfic especially when the work being trolled is some banal glurge by the barrel full sitcom or some dopey kid's show. Kind of like a text version of a youtube poop. I like when they suddenly go dink in the dirt crazy and a normally boring bland mild mannered character suddenly becomes The Tourettes Guy or just starts acting monstrously insane. That's the kind of fanfics I used to write.

Something that's different/unusual. I like fics that have interesting concepts/premises, things like A Us and stories that are written in a different genre than usual. I recently found that some authors do Choose Your Own Adventure type fics, which I think is great.

I also really like reading fics that focus on characters or pairings I like that may not be very popular with most writers.

Long stories and if they've update recently. Like 60,000 worded stories that are still being updated. Then I check the summary to see if it strikes my fancy.

Several months later, I remembered this thread. :P

As a note, a lot of these are fandom-specific. Homestuck is really the only fandom where I actively seek out fic.

One big green flag—though it's one that's very, very easy to revoke—is Aradia or Damara playing a major role. Unfortunately, it is, like I said, an easily-revoked green flag, as both characters are often terrifyingly mischaracterized. Especially Aradia, good God. But that's another story for another thread. :P

Another one, which is, unfortunately, exceedingly rare, is redrom Sollux/Aradia fluff or humor. So much of the stuff for them is angsty, often bordering (or outright falling into) Wangst territory, so seeing silly, cute fluff of them is a nice surprise.

(And if you could recommend any fics along those lines to me...well, I'd probably love you forever. XD)

My green flags are humor/romance fics, realistic Hurt/comfort as mentioned above, and a focus on True Companions.

Also, crossovers done well. Especially if they're cracky AND done well.

yeah, True Companions are a must have. I love friendship so much. also, kidnapping/hostage situations. I don't know what it is, but I like those—only in fiction, of course!

My green flag is basically not having any of my red flags. But especially a bit of humour in the summary or a summary that actually says something, crossovers with fandoms that I'm familiar with and A Us that aren't any of the classy A Us (High School, Coffee Shop, College, someone is blind/deaf/trans etc and recently also Flower Shop). I must admit that I have a weakness for A Us that are very opposite to how the original work is (as in, the lighthearted comedy thing gets an apocalypse, the Fantasy story gets a non-Fantasy AU etc.), and pirate A Us. To be honest, I'm usually much too lazy to check recs and reviews, especially because I also want to "discover" stuff that's not too well-known. Last but not least, if whatever you're writing fan fiction for isn't Fantasy, you usually have me at "apocalypse".

Ha, my fanfic (in my sig) has heavy doses of True Companions AND a kidnapping situation.

edited 8th Sep '14 6:37:45 PM by Sharysa

Any combination of the below, when combined with "not focused on a ship":

• It's about a side character.
• Worldbuilding-driven.
• Plot-driven.
• Character study.
• For-want-of-a-nail AU.
• Emotional power.

yes, I know it does, I read it, despite not watching Glee. And I like it very much. It is a good fic :)

Also hits another of my green flags: contains references to The Last Unicorn. seriously I need more of that story in my life. none of my real life peeps have read or seen it. (also, Beagle lived in my city when he was writing it!!)

edited 18th Sep '14 12:45:10 PM by Ellowen

Holy crap, someone read my stuff! *dances*

yeah, I love it! even knowing nothing of Glee, I'm able to follow who everyone is, which is a huge point in your favor. I came across the fic while doing Tropes Roulette and finding the page, and it looked great—because it has True Companions, Kidnapping, and allusions to the Last Unicorn and what more could I want? I do a little happy dance every time it updates.

You know, I get a LOT of Glee fans who don't know The Last Unicorn, but it's really interesting to find the reverse. Btw, updates for Hunting the Unicorn are coming around next week.

As for keeping things on-topic, I LOVE awesomely hilarious couples. Mix comedy with genuine love and consideration, and you've made my crack. Shipping doesn't have to mean angst or drama.

edited 19th Sep '14 11:45:38 PM by Sharysa

Fusion Fic and Next Gen Fic I'll almost always read provided I don't feel a certain objective is lost. Like If I'm reading a fic set in the Yu-Gi-Oh world I expect Duels Decide Everything over all.

edited 20th Sep '14 7:52:49 AM by VeryMelon

In fandoms with very few fics I'll read anything without red flags. Actually, the original work can be a green flag. I usually never read fics with rape as a backstory, or the like, but I do so in the Maleficent-fandom, because there is an incident that is a very obvious rape metaphor in the original, and it is portrayed in a very sensitive manner. Which leads to fans also being very sensible about the topic ... with some exceptions, alas, but overall one can expect much more maturity from the Maleficent-fandom than from the Harry Potter fandom.

On AO 3, with the options to put such things as "friendship" or "hurt/comfort" and such as tags on the description page, authors can advertise their own sanity by correctly pointing out what their fanfic is about. If a writer is aware that they write sickeningly sweet and plot-lacking fluff, chances are the fluff is of better quality than that written by people who consider themselves very serious and important future bestselling authors.

One thing that I look for is characters that don't get a lot of spotlight in canon, because I like to see what direction the writer will take them in. There's something interesting about characters that have a lot of possibilities due to limited exposure in canon materials.

I like to see fics for shows that aren't that popular, especially if it's some dumb show I grew up watching.

Good writing is always good, obviously.

The summary is good but not overly pretentious or flowery.

Also, I love lighthearted fics. Angst is fine, but I tend to tune out if there's too much. I love fics where friends are just being friends and having fun. Especially if those characters can't catch a break in the actual show.

Some of these are fandom-specific, but most aren't.

Roxas x Xion.

WAFF. I love the stuff. Even if the writing isn't great, it still lifts the spirits!

Good humor. That means not being cheap and not trying too hard.

Long and consistently updated (but not too long).

Short story collections, because you can just grab a story that interests you and go.

Complete.

The summary is short and sweet, tells you exactly what the story is about without giving too much away and has no typos.

XION

Axel, Roxas and Xion.

Fix Fic can be surprisingly good, if it fixes things you actually want fixed.

Anything that appears cute and fun to read.

edited 14th Mar '15 12:21:16 PM by TooManyIdeas

I think my greatest green flag is where in action based fandoms, they make everyone more badass.

A smaller green flag is having a powerful protagonist have weaknesses that he/she never really get over and have to adapt their strategy because of that weakness.