Things that turn you off in fan-fiction

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Though it's still annoying seeing Sasuke appear later in the story when both Gosenkugi has already appeared and Ranma got the phoenix pill at the beach. Or Herb shows up after Ranma got the pill on the mountain.

Just to comment, it is possible for Gosunkugi to be mentioned first in the story and then have Sasuke mentioned later while still being set solely in the anime continuity. Gosunkugi did show up in the sixth season after all, and he didn't leave afterwards, so just because the two are in the same story does not mean it's a continuity mix. That said, you do have a valid point and mixing the two continuities is a little off-putting to me in Ranma fanfiction, though I don't outright object to using late manga stories (Musk Dynasty arc, for example) with an anime "prelude", as those stories were not animated because the anime was cancelled before Takahashi wrote them.

[zidanezx]

One that turns me off is crossover fics where one character turns out to have been Ranma in disguise.

[Spokavriel]

Its even worse when said disguise character has nothing in common with Ranma other than (depending on water temp) gender.

[Shanami]

I'm going to guess that I'm one of the least stringent people in terms of caring about the details so long as a story entertains me. I've read fics of most types that I've liked, but a few things that I seriously have issues with are as follows:

My biggest beef: People who cannot use the spelling and grammar checker. I don't mind some errors. Hell, I realize I make my share of them and the checker can't find everything. But please please please make sure the story is close enough to correct so as to be coherent.

Specifically for the HP-verse: Any fic where either Harry or fem!Harry decides that it'd be a good idea to date Draco Malfoy or Snape. There can be no interpretation as far as I see it where their fighting = sexual tension. I don't care what yaoi fans say. If you have to do a HP yaoi story, please, pick a character that isn't a complete git for the pairing. Pretty much anyone else (though people over the age of 60 with an 11 year old is just creepy) would be acceptable, but yeah.

In general, multi-crosses are a big problem because they try and do far too much. I actually don't mind a few, but most multi-crosses try to introduce a new series or so every chapter. That gets very tedious, especially when the entire purpose is to give someone (usually Ranma) a harem of 50 or so from as many series as the author has ever heard of. If multi-crosses took their time and resolved things, I could see the appeal, but since they almost never do I wind up losing interest when I can't track things anymore.

I'm also not a huge fan of dark things, I read to be happy, I'd rather read happy things. I've read a few dark fics that were extremely good, I've read a few depressing fics that were great, but yeah... light and fluffy and funny. Bring it on.

And finally, no torture please. Dark fics are harsh enough to read, disturbing descriptions of torture and rape makes me a sad me.

A very minor issue I have with fanfiction in general is the idea that most authors seem to have that the pairing is set in stone the moment they get a character into a relationship. Maybe I'm reading the wrong things, but really, people date around. It happens. True soul mate sort of stuff might happen and I don't mind reading it, but I wish that more than 5-10% of the fics took a more realistic stance on love. Unless it involves Negi Springfield, everyone loves him.

Now, I suppose that's a big list of things I don't like. That said, I don't mind things that are grossly offensive to canon as long as they are well written, have a decent plot and are entertaining. While I prefer non-ridiculous pairings (and pairing sizes) as long as there seems to be a precedent for it, I don't mind harems even when they seem stupid. Hell, I don't mind if the author Sue's the characters' speech a bit (I'd rather read nice grammar in speech even if it isn't realistic than the alternative). I also like some very bashing heavy fics so long as it is clear that the author is playing around, especially in humor. I happen to like the extremely violent fanon Akane if it leads to funny situations. There is certainly some precedent for calling her violent in canon, so why not emphasize it for a gag. Besides, if I wanted pure canon, I'd not go further than manga.

[Sunshine Temple]

A very minor issue I have with fanfiction in general is the idea that most authors seem to have that the pairing is set in stone the moment they get a character into a relationship. Maybe I'm reading the wrong things, but really, people date around. It happens. True soul mate sort of stuff might happen and I don't mind reading it, but I wish that more than 5-10% of the fics took a more realistic stance on love. Unless it involves Negi Springfield, everyone loves him.

I completely agree. It's rather irkful to see so many fics where the characters find their soul-mate with the very first person they date.

Sometimes it happens, mostly it doesn't. From a story perspective having more dating around increases the number of characters and the wordspace devoted to finding and breaking relationships. Which in some cases can be too large of a subplot for the story.

[Spokavriel]

Something I just got reintroduced to and had forgotten some people do. Making a paragraph with a sentence an then labeling/announcing the next paragraph's speaker. With the label being disconnected from the phrase from the speaker it states.

"Many years ago, I trained under an evil perverted master who forced upon me unspeakable acts to accomplish. The only person I had to turn to was my best friend in the world, and fellow student at the time, one Genma Saotome. Saotome and I trained for a long time under the old master, before we managed to escape his terrible clutches. We went our separate ways, and soon got married. About a year before Kasumi was born, we promised that should one of us have a son, and the other a daughter, then the two would marry and thus unite the clans. This was a solemn promise of great importance, sworn upon our honor. Now, Saotome is bringing his son, Ranma, here today, to hopefully become engaged to one of you. If one of you were to marry Ranma, then the Tendo and Saotome line would be secure…" The girls sat in silence for the entire amount of time that Soun spoke, and after he was done, they remained silent for several more moments, before Akane sprang to her feet.

"No way! There is no way that any of us are going to marry some perverted boy!" Kasumi spoke next.

"Father, isn't a bit late to tell us this? If he is coming today, you probably should have told us at least a few days in advance…" Soun laughed nervously.

"Yes well…" Nabiki sighed.

"Look, is he at least cute? I doubt he's rich, but if he's cute then it wouldn't be so bad…" Kasumi looked at Nabiki and chastised her.

"Nabiki! What have I told you about that? A person's financial status or physical looks don't matter! It's the kindness of their soul that counts!" Nabiki looked a little ashamed.

"Yeah, yeah, um, I'm sorry…" Kasumi smiled at her.

"That's alright…" Akane growled in anger.

"There is no way I'm going to let some boy, just waltz in here and marry one of us! He probably isn't even that good at the art!" Soun coughed.

"Actually, from what I here, he is quite good. He did cross into China recently, and Saotome always was the better of the two of us…" Akane growled again and sat down with a huff. Kasumi despaired. It was amazing how someone who hated boys so much could act like one so well. She wished there was something she could do, but there wasn't much; still it was her duty to guide Nabiki and Akane… She snapped out of her daze when she heard Soun speak again.

"They should be here any moment…" The sound of people entering the gate of the Tendo property was heard and Kasumi hastily got to her feet, and went to greet their guests. What she saw was a panda and red-haired girl regarding her with some embarrassment.

"Oh my…"

[Shanami]

That's fair Sunshine, I suppose I didn't think of the additional time it takes to deal with dating and romance multiple times. I would probably lose interest in some stories where the focus isn't on the relationships. However, especially if the character is under the age of 15, all the true love crap that gets spouted really bothers me. This is particularly painful and evident in Harry Potter fanfiction, but I suppose that genre tends to contain some of the most painful writing of any series simply due to the breadth of people who like, and therefore write about, the series. I've seen some bad examples of it in other series' though.

It's one thing to only deal with one romance because otherwise it would bog down the story, but having 12 year olds start dating and truly falling in love (usually with a marriage or betrothal by 15) is really really pushing it.


And Spokavriel, I didn't think of that, but yes! That style of writing is painful to interpret. I don't even particularly mind if people speak in the same paragraph (at least for short exclamations) but separating dialogue from the speaker is painful. I think that follows under basic coherency considerations though along with spelling and grammar.

[Spokavriel]

The only time that kind of tag fits for me is when someone is speaking and gets cut off but it would be personal to both.


"That would be" cut off by rude dude.

"I don't care if it would be nice I don't want to hear about it!" He said in a huff.

But that section I gave in that earlier example has all the descriptions stuck on the prior paragraph. Its painfully jarring. And that is being kind about it.

[Shanami]

The important difference though is that in your second example, in addition to implying who the next statement comes from, it is reinforced by the "He said in a huff."

I don't even mind if every single line of dialogue doesn't have a speaker identified as long as it logically follows who is speaking. That's a lot less disjointed than identifying the speaker in weird places.

[TerraEpon]

I was recently reading Sailor Goddess and, beyond the encyclopedia of fanon it (and the previous fix in he series) seemed to spout out, one thing that really stood out as bad was the fact it seemed to infodump....after imfodump....after infodump. Canon stuff, stuff in the previsou couple chapters, STUFF IN THE PREVIOUS SCENE....and over and over. That is not how you write a story.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Now that I'm reminded, I can't stand that, either! I also don't like reading the same scenes from different perspectives, since only bits and pieces of information are usually new while much of the same information is being given once again.

Man, I hate that kind of redundancy, because I feel like I'm reading the same story over again as I'm reading it the first time!

[Spokavriel]

In Sailor Goddess its not so much rehashing, the same ground, more like a series of expositions that makes it feel like going around from lecture to lecture in school.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Torturefics are a turnoff for me. I suppose Dark is Terribly Significant, but it's also unpleasant. I don't necessarily want flowers and chirping birds, but wall-to-wall dobermans isn't fun either.

[Spokavriel]

Something else that irks me. And its from the same story I used as an example before. When the Hero is clearly shown as exhausting himself at the start of a fight. And then with only a break in the action. Say someone else attacking the enemy or a change in battle field. No rest no catching something to eat the Hero is now fighting at 100% again.

Ranma had pushed past exhaustion maintaining a Ki Shield technique protecting everyone from the Tendo home. And then after that he's trading Mokotakabisha's and still after that the Frozen version of the Hiryu Shoten Ha and still with only having jumped into hell doing amaguriken on lower level demons followed by trekking across Nifflehime while under spiritual and psychological torture from the environment and somehow still without any rest fights off an illusion that is pure unadulterated truth used at its most emotionally painful to the victim. All of this with no rest at alll before having yet another Ki Blast intensive fight against a demon who rested in between the first fight and this fight.

Yet somehow Ranma is fighting at his best. How the heck can the author even accept that themselves to write it?

Edit: Hell the only reason Ranma does more than cause pain for the guy with the second time completely exhausting himself is because the demon takes a break for taunting and pisses him off. No finding more strength or another energy source no hidden inner depths no because there was a break for taunting after Ranma exhausted himself twice in less than an hour still no rest no eating or drinking nothing to replenish himself. We get this.

"NEVER!!!!" Ranma roared as his aura exploded around him and blew Brahm away from him. So intense was the manifestation of the pig-tailed boy's anger and strength, that power began to roll off of him in waves. Brahm barely managed to right himself before Ranma was upon him. With speed that shot past inhuman, and strength to match, the pigtailed one unleashed hundreds upon hundreds of ki-powered punches and strikes that caused the air to become displaced from around them. Roaring in fury from all the punishment his body was taking, Brahm exuded his own aura, made entirely of flame and demonic power. The two auras, one sky blue, the other blood red, clashed in a massive display of power as the two combatants exchanged attacks that created shockwaves from the sheer force generated in their wake. Truly, it seemed that for once, Ranma wasn't holding back. The other members of Nerima could only watch in awe as a display of fighting prowess was demonstrated that they doubted even Happousai or Cologne could hope to match. Of course, the only reason Ranma was even holding his own was because, simply put, he was by far the better fighter in this battle. Brahm, for all his incredible unholy power and strength, barely knew how to throw a punch or kick effectively, while Ranma was a flowing, spinning, whirlwind of martial arts maneuvers that defied description. The living embodiment of the martial arts. Ranma wasn't even bothering to call out attacks any more. Simply intermixing amagurikens with ki blasts, miniature Hiryu Shoten Ha's and even Saotome forbidden attacks. Dozens of wounds were ripped into Brahm's body, but he seemed to barely feel them, instead simply taking the hits and retaliating with his own more powerful attacks powered by magic and his own demonic rage. Then, like a candle flame, Ranma's aura began to flicker, and slowly dwindle in its brightness, as he started to lose strength. The only thing keeping him going this far was his determination and unwillingness to let anything happen to those he cared for. But it simply wasn't enough. Brahm smirked cruelly as he slammed his fist into Ranma's solar plexus, driving the wind from him, and then driving a punishing double-handed hammer blow into the back of Ranma's neck with crushing force. Ranma was slammed into the ground from the sheer power, and as he struggled to get up, Brahm delivered a brutal kick to his ribs, causing him to cry out in pain. Then with an almost gleeful expression on his face, Brahm pointed a finger at Ranma and the youth erupted in flames. Everyone watching gasped at the sight and Kasumi sobbed even louder than the other girls, as they all heard Ranma's terrible screams of agony. Brahm simply laughed and watched with delight as his nemesis slowly burned to death.

Couldn't they have even included a line break somewhere in this bullshit? Ranma should have already been dead from exhaustion by this point!

[Shanami]

That raises a very good point about one other thing that causes me issues, though again, it falls under the general heading of coherency issues. Most of my issues are about readability rather than about content. I've gotten most of my content objections out already.

I cannot stand authors that use the endless paragraph. Or, to go to video-game speak for a moment, wall of text crits brain for death.