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  1. #1
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    What is your biggest pet peeve(s) in stories/story lines?

    I get it, everyone has their own opinion on what makes a good story line. I've spent a little over the past year devoting a large portion of my time reading through many, many stories. At this point, I've read through over 100 different stories (although I didn't necessarily finish them all due to various reasons) but having done so, I've come across some plot ideas that just bug the hell out of me to no end and really kills any sort of respect I have towards the story most of the time.

    Now this is just my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. If you're a writer and I accidentally fire shots at you, I don't mean anything personal nor offence. It's an opinion, not a fact, so don't take it to heart.

    Now the first one that comes to my mind are stories where the lead role is held by a male character, and every female character they come across falls in love with them. The male character is handsome, strong, smart, perfect! The females take every chance they can get to point this fact out and it makes them seem like brain-dead drones who are shallow to the point where they're blinded by the outward surface of this perfect "hunk" of a man. Is the male character in truth a selfish, self-absorbed snob? Who cares. Did they just commit some un-moral action? That's okay, they look fantastic so it's okay! Are they feeling depressed for some reason? Let's have a million females try and make him feel better.

    This not only kills off the story, but it also metaphorically puts all of the characters involved in the situation into a blender, and shreds them into nothing but mush. The main character doesn't even have to be a Mary Sue/Stewe for this to even occur. There's a lot of other reasons why this kind of stuff bugs the crap out of me, but for the sake of not going too far off track, and lowering my chance of using a variety of words not allowed on this forum. Now when I say this happens when the main character is a male, this doesn't mean it doesn't happen with female leads too, it's just often on a much lower scale of severity.

    Someone close to the main character is murdered by a pack of houndour(doom)s/mightyenas. Now this one is a limited to Pokemon fan-fiction unlike the previous, but goodness gracious me, this seems like the go-to Pokemon to be used as an inciting incident for a lot of stories. I mean, when was the last time you heard of the protagonist's family being beaten to death by a group of Lucarios, or vacuum'ed to death by a flock of Tropius? It's always these two pokemon that seem to be portrayed as the bad guys, and it makes sense (Houndoom is based off of Cerberus, the hellhound from Greek mythology) to do so, but it's gotten to the point where it's cliché now. Being torn apart and killed by a Houndoom or Mightyena might be the leading cause of death in the Pokemon world.

    There's probably more that I can think of, but those are just two that I can think of off the top of my head where as soon as I see it happen, I just can't help but laugh at times. I'll leave it at that so I don't make this post any longer.

    So the question is, what bothers you the most in the plot of stories?

  2. #2
    Aggronholic Grassy_Aggron's Avatar
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    I'm so glad the first part doesn't apply to me. My main lead is male, sure, and he so clearly is head over heels for a woman, buuuut she's honestly so dense his advances fly straight over her head and to the moon. I understand how annoying that is. I really like it when they play it up for a joke, though, because that's what it does to most stories - make it an absolute freakin' joke. If done right it's a hilarious romp or, perhaps, is a key point of development for the main lead (I.E. they hate everyone falling for them, use it to manipulate, etc.) but more often than not it is done wrong and just crashes everything to a halt.

    And the second issue... yeah. That happens a lot. I'd like to see a story where someone gets beaten to death by a Togekiss. Feel the love! >:D I digress, however, people need to remember that Dark =/= Evil. Sure, I think in Japan it literally is Evil Type... but I like to think they are misunderstood. Go for uniqueness!

    My biggest pet peeve is when people have a character be the long lost sibling of a canonical character. I'll cite any character from any video game. People don't try hard at all to write in a character for this. They just show up, no backstory, and they have applause. This isn't too bad for characters that are either minor, but for main characters it's a huge problem. This is especially apparent when that character is never stated to have any siblings or is 100% confirmed to not have any.

    An example? I read a story that was a Sonic story. Shadow is confirmed to have no siblings, having been created on a secret base in space. Not only did he suddenly have several siblings, they were all developed on another secret base in space. Oh, and they were all ungodly powerful and switched sides on a dime for no reason.
    Spoiler:
    Said story also had a lot of rape/sex in it... X_x
    This is why I don't read fanfiction.net.

    Now, obviously there are issues with the Mary Sue factor here, but that's a topic for another time. It just irks me so much when people break continuity to the point of adding in lost siblings and such. It's just so out of place and shoehorned in... I've rarely seen it done right. When it is, it works extremely well, but most of the time it just falls flat on its face and is cringeworthy.

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  3. #3
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    Here are mine, besides the obvious Mary/Gary Sue/Stu stuff. No offense to anyone who does these. To each his/her own.

    IN GENERAL

    Really long, boring, drawn out conversations. Especially ones that really have nothing to do with the story and don't even impact character development that much. While some degree of not-so-exciting filler is a necessary evil, such as traveling, sleeping, and the like, you don't need a dragging conversation at any time.

    The damsel in distress. I'm really tired of this cliche. It's been used so many times and it's extremely rare to see any deviation from the usual successful guy saving the girl. You never see it where the guy fails to do so or the girl was actually a trap the entire time and it blows up in the guy's face. For real.

    POKEMON RELATED

    I REALLY dislike trainer fics. Sorry, but no matter how you cut it, they're old, they're stale, they've been done so many times it makes Chuck Norris cry, and they're the epitome of unoriginality in terms of Pokémon fan fiction. I don't really care how many different things your characters do along the way or if there's something "different" about the Pokémon they're using, you're still just copying and pasting the same overused pattern and plot the games have already used to death and I pretty much already know what happens from beginning to end that it doesn't make worth reading. Reading is fun to discover new things and possibilities, and trainer fics just aren't open to that.

    Plots focused entirely around legendary Pokémon and legendary Pokémon being thought of as gods. Again, the movies have already done this quite often. I also find using Arceus's name in vain in place of God is a really cheesy thing to do. Stuff like "Arceus damn it" and "oh my Arceus" just make me sigh and roll eyes. Legendary Pokémon aren't gods, they're just as mortal as any other Pokémon, even if some of them command powerful elements. Also, they can be captured and trained by humans, so does that make humans even higher than gods? No.

    People using "under-appreciated" Pokémon just for the sake of using them. If you want to use Dunsparce, Garbodor, or whatever Pokémon that you think doesn't get enough spotlight, that's fine, but make really good use of them and give them a point and a purpose. If you can't really do that, please, I don't mind seeing yet another Pikachu or another Eeveelution as long as they're used well. The other thing is if a Pokémon is "under-appreciated," usually there's a good reason for that. Most people don't like them. So if you want to be a under-appreciated Pokemon's defense attorney, you've got to really put in a good case for the jury as to why this Pokemon should get more attention.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grassy_Aggron View Post
    Oh, and they were all ungodly powerful and switched sides on a dime for no reason.
    That's another good one. Insert evil character who is super mega powerful, and have them turn good in no more than 5 chapters for the most one-dimensioned reason ever.

    Evil character: "I am evil because I have no friends!"
    Protagonist: "We'll be your friends :) <3"
    Evil character: "Okay, I am now good."

    On a less relevant note, stories like that are actually not allowed on FF.net. You even agree to the terms of service saying that your stories don't include detailed sexual content since it's considered M+, and the ratings on FF are capped at M. Fun fact.

    I'll admit to being somewhat guilty to some pet peeves mentioned such as placing the legendaries as "gods" and while I am only a prologue and chapter into my story, I can see drawn out dialogue and filler being an issue for me. I am a very wordy person, and right now one of the things I'm trying to learn to do is not to repeat myself, and be concise with what I want the characters to say. I've been fixing this as I proof-read, but being someone who wants a good portion of the interest in the story coming from dialogue, this will probably be one of my biggest faults. It's good that I'm reading this now (It's part of the reason why I posted this thread anyway, to figure out what bothers people) though so I can be more conscious about it.

    The whole legendary pokemon being viewed so highly thing I'd like to think I have a pretty good way of dealing with it without being cliché, but I guess that's up to how I end up handling it in the end. Actually, I kind of handle it in the same way I'm dealing with my over use of popular pokemon (Eeveelutions ._.). I'm trying to use it as a way to play devil's advocate. In my story, the legendaries pretty much screwed the whole world over by not doing their job properly, so instead of fixing it, they pretty much just ditch everyone to hide away in another plane of existence and let the other pokemon deal with it. On one hand, the pokemon who don't know the true reasoning behind the legendaries leaving have the "Yeah! Legendaries! Super strong! We love you!" mentality, while the pokemon who know about this have the "Thanks for leaving us you jerks! I hope your first born is drop kicked off a cliff" mentality.

    It's true though that even if these things are overdone or overused, or handled poorly in general, it opens up a whole new world of plot ideas. What was once used as a serious idea, can be then instead taken and used in a more satirical way that adds to the story instead of taking away from it.

    Regardless, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, and I'm interested to see what bothers other people.

  5. #5
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeromus View Post
    That's another good one. Insert evil character who is super mega powerful, and have them turn good in no more than 5 chapters for the most one-dimensioned reason ever.

    Evil character: "I am evil because I have no friends!"
    Protagonist: "We'll be your friends :) <3"
    Evil character: "Okay, I am now good."
    This is actually even worse than a Mary Sue. At least with a mega powerful villain, you'll have the feeling the protagonist and his friends are being challenged. When the writer does something like this, say goodnight, the story is a goner.

    So why is Game of Thrones so popular (both the book and the HBO series)? Because the villains you HATE just keep coming up on top and the good guys that you love struggle and get slaughtered, so it keeps you reading until the bitter end and you're hoping the tables get turned in a nice and epic way. But the truth is that throughout that series, everyone struggles with some conflict or another and realistically no one has it easy. That's how it should be.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeromus View Post
    I'll admit to being somewhat guilty to some pet peeves mentioned such as placing the legendaries as "gods" and while I am only a prologue and chapter into my story, I can see drawn out dialogue and filler being an issue for me. I am a very wordy person, and right now one of the things I'm trying to learn to do is not to repeat myself, and be concise with what I want the characters to say. I've been fixing this as I proof-read, but being someone who wants a good portion of the interest in the story coming from dialogue, this will probably be one of my biggest faults. It's good that I'm reading this now (It's part of the reason why I posted this thread anyway, to figure out what bothers people) though so I can be more conscious about it.

    The whole legendary pokemon being viewed so highly thing I'd like to think I have a pretty good way of dealing with it without being cliché, but I guess that's up to how I end up handling it in the end. Actually, I kind of handle it in the same way I'm dealing with my over use of popular pokemon (Eeveelutions ._.). I'm trying to use it as a way to play devil's advocate. In my story, the legendaries pretty much screwed the whole world over by not doing their job properly, so instead of fixing it, they pretty much just ditch everyone to hide away in another plane of existence and let the other pokemon deal with it. On one hand, the pokemon who don't know the true reasoning behind the legendaries leaving have the "Yeah! Legendaries! Super strong! We love you!" mentality, while the pokemon who know about this have the "Thanks for leaving us you jerks! I hope your first born is drop kicked off a cliff" mentality.
    If there's one big thing I enjoy doing in my stories, it's killing cliches. I like having tough guys get humbled in humiliating ways, have characters make judgment calls that sounded fantastic but ended up getting them screwed, and making sure nothing comes easy. I also like making the threats and dangers take the forms of things you'd never suspect.

    The other thing with legendaries being considered like gods is that humans have way more power than they do given the technological level. In many of the movies, legendaries are often pulverized and rendered helpless by human technology. It might make more sense for non-legendary Pokémon to regard legendary Pokémon as gods, but to humans, there's no reason why they should regard them that way when capturing them and controlling them is just a Pokéball away, if not all the other technological devices that are used in the Pokémon movies and anime.

    I think one of the biggest fallacies in Pokémon is the utter mess of Pokédex descriptions. Either they're right and the world will probably end before lunch that day, or they're way over exaggerating the truth and giving the critters way too much credit.

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  7. #6
    formerly Speed-X SassySnivy's Avatar
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    I'm really big on reading fics that are reader inserts and/or ones that feature some romantic-fluffy-thing about two characters I ship. I'm a big sap. However, a lot of reader inserts are just...really annoying. I hate when it's SUCH a reader insert that they are like, your (h/c) hair floated in the wind and your (e/c) eyes sparkled and you were wearing a (f/c) top on. Come on! D: A good reader insert doesn't have to worry about filling that info out. Heck, even if it's a nameless character written in the first or second person POV, I'm content. x] It's like...you don't even have to mention those details. At all. The reader's mind will fill in any blanks. x]

    Also I like the confession part of it to be...climatic, semi-realistic, and bonus points if it gives me all those warm fuzzies. >w< If they're just like "OMHG I LOVE YOU!" then I just click out of the story. Sometimes.

    Another thing about fanfics in general is when the author's notes is full of...chatting. Also, the things detailed in this video.
    Mainly I'm just a big fanservice nut and it bugs me when it's too weaboo-like. ._.

    Also I agree with the OP when they said they dislike it when all of the opposite gender characters fall in love with the main character. Goes for both males and females. It's too Mary-Sue-like.

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  8. #7
    Senior Moderator EmeraldSky's Avatar
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    The tragic backstory--I know this one is likely older than dirt, but can't we have some characters with kind and loving families for a change?

    The only thing worse than long-lost sibling of the canon character is the children of the canon characters.

    Exact carbon copies of the classic Kanto Trio--main guy, token girl (that may or may not argue over the stupidest things), and older guy that's a good cook that goes gaga for girls)

    Exact carbon copies of Team Rocket--extra points if they have a Rocket-esque motto

  9. #8
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    I'm another one who gets annoyed with the whole "I'm using underused pokemon so I'm more creative than the authors of those eevee stories" thing. If the species of your pokemon is what makes it 'interesting' then you've got a pretty bland character.

    Another thing: Villainbots. Which is my word for those random pokemon/people who are evil for literally no reason and don't even have the slightest sign of a personality. Predator pokemon who are evil because they're predators are an example of this. Like the houndooms/mightyenas who decide to torture their prey to death because...well, I don't know why. There's literally no reason for a hungry predator to do this. They just want to eat.

    Edit: Now that I'm thinking about it, it kind of makes me annoyed that people are saying things like "I'm guilty of..." or "I sort of like..." (not just here, but in general). I'm not annoyed at the people saying these things, but at the fact that they think they should or have to. So I'm just going to say that I'm a strong believer of "anything can be done well," and I think people should write what they want to without worrying about what others like or dislike. I actually think my biggest writing pet peeve is writing advice that says "Always do..." or "Never do..." anything, and those comments reminded me of it. xD


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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed-X View Post
    Oh my god, that video generalized and slammed almost every awful thing about FF.net. I am no stranger to anime having grown up with all the mainstream stuff as a kid, and even making it through most of the Naruto series, but that part about the shitty weaboo fanfic was so accurate it made me cringe as I began to recall stories that did just that. The random usage of Japanese words, the awkward use of Asian emoticons (^;^), and of course the random author notes in the middle of the story.

    It's stuff like that that makes me doubt the idea of even writing a story, but then I remember even amongst all the garbage that "younger" writers publish, there are some awesome stories that I've come across, and it's those half a dozen really good stories that make up for the 100+ it took to find them.

    I think it's also really good that no matter how bad you are, it's good to have people help iron your way through this if you want to pursue writing (something I will never do) as a serious career one day. And I know there's times when you should stick to your ideals, and do what you want to do, but I think writing is such a broad and impossible to master subject, it's keep everything you hear from people in mind. Hell, it's a good state of mind to keep yourself in if you ever want to create something different from others.

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  13. #10
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    Probably my number 1 pet peeve with stories is that the main focus on the plot becomes lust love. Meaning like the whole point of the plot isn't going from point A to point B, it's getting the two main characters together. Twilight, for example, could not hold my attention because it was all about Jacob vs Edward. It's also why I generally don't like the second books in trilogies either because they're all about romantic tension. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I do like a little romance involved in a story. That's always good for me and I tend to include it in my own, but it's not like the main focus of the story for me. Plot first then romance. Occasionally I'll have like a little romance involved in part of the plot, like as a plot twist, but the whole plot usually isn't centered around them, if that makes sense. I try not to overdose on the romance because even though I enjoy having some, I don't like having a lot.
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