What is your pet peeve?

#1
I love FF but have after reading so many I get downright twitchy when I see some things being used.
Here are a few examples of my pet peeves:


The Naturally Trope as follows.
When an author uses the following phrase: 
"A person is walking and slapping himself for his idiocy, this is naturally MC Tropes-alot-San." 
I have started to get a headache and my eye twitches violently every time I see the word naturally. I would prefer it to be more natural such as 
"A person is walking and slapping himself for his idiocy. Freshly renamed Original-San breathes a sigh of relief for having avoided the naturally trope."


Coughing up blood after seeing something unbelievable. 
Using the phrase is amusing the first time in a book but quickly becomes implausible unless your Xianxia or Wuxia world has an incurable version of Tuberculosis or lung cancer.


Using "normal" or "average" to describe your MC. Especially in the description of the FF.
"MC Tropes-alot is naturally just an average boy who has an incurable form of lung cancer!" vs "MC Refreshing-San is a teenage middle-class student. He lives a reasonably ordinary life and cannot know how his life will soon change." 
Your average/normal, and other peoples average/normal will likely have many differences. Everyone's perceptions of normal and average are based on their own socio-economic status and what they see in everyday life.


Using the same generic nomenclature after being summoned to another world.
Ok. This wouldn't bother me as much if everyone and their grandma didn't do this. I mean, how believable is it that you get summoned to another world and OMG I'm suddenly speaking another language and OMG how coincidental we use the same types of names and actions as China/Japan. 
You're using a different language from a different culture from a different world for crying out loud. If you're going to use this at least give us a reason such as "OH china/japan must've been influenced by this world somehow." Most just have us kowtowing and calling everyone junior/senior for no reason other than it's convenient for the author.
Using Japan/China nomenclature without the summoned/reincarnation theme is fine in my opinion since you can assume the culture blossomed that way.
OH and what are the odds that this Xianxia/Wuxia world that is so unbelievably large and has many continents and planes of existence but they all share the exact same culture/language?!?!?! I would love reasons for this other than "just because it's easier for the author."
For example "MC Tropes-alot, recently summoned with his entire class from Tropes-Highschool, kotows to the Chinese traditional-dressed man who says 'Senior Generic-san greets junior Tropes-alot-san.'"


The naming system one, while annoying would take a lot more effort to fix than the others. I think that the first three would be a simple fix and would make these stories much better for little effort.


That being said, 


What is your FF pet peeve?

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#4
my biggest pet peeve is high amount of chapters. mother of sweet god and everything holy, no story i repeat no story can remain anywhere near good if it stretches itself out, as an avid reader of chinese xianxia/wuxia this is something that i have stumbled upon again and again. to in al fairness the main purpose of those stories is to stretch themselves out in the first place as the authors get paid ''monthly tickets'' or something so its basically their livelihood. but in any case. i appericiate a series that knows when to end

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#6
1. Characters that are massively OP for no real reason.
2. "The Mysterious Badass" trope.
3. "The Chosen One" trope.
4. In regards to FF, characters written incredibly out-of-character with absolutely no logical explanation for it.
5. Also in regards to FF, the dreaded "Adults as high schoolers" set up. This CAN be done well, but most of the time it's just an excuse to have a character date the author's OC.
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#8
'NoahBarnett6' pid='828198' dateline='1506855559' Wrote: Caps on a sentence because the character is shouting.  Just use an exclamation point.  Usually, I back away from a story the first time I see that.  Also the overuse of commas.  I came across a decent story recently that was ruined by the author's addiction to that particular punctuation.

This kind of reminds me of when I was reading I am the monarch. If I hear someone say


“Ah!”

Generic Person 3 let out a low exclamation.

I enjoyed it at first until I saw this every fucking chapter

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#9
'NoahBarnett6' pid='828198' dateline='1506855559' Wrote: Caps on a sentence because the character is shouting.  Just use an exclamation point.  Usually, I back away from a story the first time I see that.  Also the overuse of commas.  I came across a decent story recently that was ruined by the author's addiction to that particular punctuation.

Uh oh! I'll keep that in mind, the comma thing anyway, I don't use caps for entire sentences. It irks me as well.
Some sentences though, while relatively short, demand to have four or five because of grammar. Nothing can be done about those. They demand it. I must listen to the grammar gods.

Pet peeve would be the whole "I'm not that impressive/smart/attractive but I seem to have five people all in love with me and I managed to solve world hunger. Anyone could have done that though. Oh! And I fought a dragon. No biggie."
Like good lord, the average person can be objective to some extent.

The oblivious ones also get to me, "I don't understand why this person is in love with me!" like, idk, you healed their dying grandmother, gave them good life advice, and managed to save their life and family fortune on two occasions, also, you're attractive and very friendly. Like get it through your skull!

And the ever-so-prevalent "I want to be normal but let me go conquer a dungeon that been unbeatable since it showed up solo! Oh! And help a country unify it's people and make a large enterprise that dominates the market. Hmmm, what else? I guess I could always invent a giant flying ship to take me to and fro at my beck-and-call. That won't stand out at all." Like f you, you ding bat. You don't even know what you want at this point.
Seriously tho, have you ever seen an emotional duck? 

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#10
Update:

Self-Inserts. Obvious ones.

Unless you are intentionally writing a story about yourself, please do not make yourself a character in the story.
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#12
'sinkingship' pid='828257' dateline='1507104266' Wrote:
'HR-Kain' pid='828254' dateline='1507100501' Wrote: Update:

Self-Inserts. Obvious ones.

Unless you are intentionally writing a story about yourself, please do not make yourself a character in the story.

If Steven King can do it, so can I!

No but really self inserts are awful lol

Lol All hail the Stephen King self-inserts! xP

But in all seriousness, there's a difference between incorporating details about yourself into certain characters and just flat throwing yourself straight into the story. Quite a few writers have been known to write a little bit of themselves into their characters (MC's little sister is shy, kind of like the author. MC has glasses, like the author. Villain is misanthropic, like the author, etc). Small details like that are fine to incorporate into your characters. It serves as inspiration. 

Then you have people that are blatantly like, "Hi! My name is Becky Rose and this is my story. It's about a girl named Becky Flower (see???last name is completely different!!) who is super awkward, but has lots of friends and is really smart and is really pretty. She gets with her one true love, Handsome Hunk McAbs, and lives happily ever after once she saves the world."

Kills my soul errytime.
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#13
'HR-Kain' pid='828258' dateline='1507105584' Wrote: Lol All hail the Stephen King self-inserts! xP

But in all seriousness, there's a difference between incorporating details about yourself into certain characters and just flat throwing yourself straight into the story. Quite a few writers have been known to write a little bit of themselves into their characters (MC's little sister is shy, kind of like the author. MC has glasses, like the author. Villain is misanthropic, like the author, etc). Small details like that are fine to incorporate into your characters. It serves as inspiration. 

Then you have people that are blatantly like, "Hi! My name is Becky Rose and this is my story. It's about a girl named Becky Flower (see???last name is completely different!!) who is super awkward, but has lots of friends and is really smart and is really pretty. She gets with her one true love, Handsome Hunk McAbs, and lives happily ever after once she saves the world."

Kills my soul errytime.

*cough* quotev *cough cough* wattpad *cough*

Sorry, must be something in my throat
Seriously tho, have you ever seen an emotional duck? 

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#14
'AnoeticDuckling' pid='828260' dateline='1507110638' Wrote:
'HR-Kain' pid='828258' dateline='1507105584' Wrote: Lol All hail the Stephen King self-inserts! xP

But in all seriousness, there's a difference between incorporating details about yourself into certain characters and just flat throwing yourself straight into the story. Quite a few writers have been known to write a little bit of themselves into their characters (MC's little sister is shy, kind of like the author. MC has glasses, like the author. Villain is misanthropic, like the author, etc). Small details like that are fine to incorporate into your characters. It serves as inspiration. 

Then you have people that are blatantly like, "Hi! My name is Becky Rose and this is my story. It's about a girl named Becky Flower (see???last name is completely different!!) who is super awkward, but has lots of friends and is really smart and is really pretty. She gets with her one true love, Handsome Hunk McAbs, and lives happily ever after once she saves the world."

Kills my soul errytime.

*cough* quotev *cough cough* wattpad *cough*

Sorry, must be something in my throat


Yeah, there's a bug that's been going around here.

*cough*98% of all RomComs*cough**cough*FF.net*cough*cough*
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#15
'HR-Kain' pid='828263' dateline='1507111649' Wrote: Yeah, there's a bug that's been going around here.

*cough*98% of all RomComs*cough**cough*FF.net*cough*cough*

Seriously tho, making yourself a character is just wish fulfillment, not writing. It's not a story, it's a day dream that you've shared. Peeps need to realize that nobody but them wants to read it and the only positive support they get is from other wish fulfillers and their friends who feel bad about saying it sucks.  [th_111_.gif]
Seriously tho, have you ever seen an emotional duck? 

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#16
'AnoeticDuckling' pid='828265' dateline='1507112804' Wrote:
'HR-Kain' pid='828263' dateline='1507111649' Wrote: Yeah, there's a bug that's been going around here.

*cough*98% of all RomComs*cough**cough*FF.net*cough*cough*

Seriously tho, making yourself a character is just wish fulfillment, not writing. It's not a story, it's a day dream that you've shared. Peeps need to realize that nobody but them wants to read it and the only positive support they get is from other wish fulfillers and their friends who feel bad about saying it sucks.  [th_111_.gif]

Amen to that! 

And it treads over into Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu territory, as well.
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#17
'HR-Kain' pid='828266' dateline='1507113196' Wrote: Amen to that! 

And it treads over into Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu territory, as well.

Exactly, at least if you're going to shove yourself into a story, make it legit. Make yourself with all your faults, if the character that is you is round enough, the readers won't be able to tell it's you unless you do something stupid like say it is. Any main character not round enough to be the understudy for a planet, is just some form of wish fulfillment (or murder material). Can't say I hate all stories with less than average characters though, sometimes the story itself carries the deflated characters.
Seriously tho, have you ever seen an emotional duck? 

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#18
'AnoeticDuckling' pid='828267' dateline='1507113714' Wrote:
'HR-Kain' pid='828266' dateline='1507113196' Wrote: Amen to that! 

And it treads over into Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu territory, as well.

Exactly, at least if you're going to shove yourself into a story, make it legit. Make yourself with all your faults, if the character that is you is round enough, the readers won't be able to tell it's you unless you do something stupid like say it is. Any main character not round enough to be the understudy for a planet, is just some form of wish fulfillment (or murder material). Can't say I hate all stories with less than average characters though, sometimes the story itself carries the deflated characters.

It can, though that depends on just how deflated the characters are. Like, are they interesting enough to care about, but lack certain key developmental features? Or are they so bland and boring that it's like a talking piece of cardboard?
"The others said that they saw a dog the size of a tree, but they didn't. Dogs are not as big as trees."
-Lisa, 5 years old.

I am extremely bad at advertisement, so I'll just link my story here and let you guys be the judge.

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#19
'HR-Kain' pid='828269' dateline='1507115203' Wrote: It can, though that depends on just how deflated the characters are. Like, are they interesting enough to care about, but lack certain key developmental features? Or are they so bland and boring that it's like a talking piece of cardboard?

Sometimes I feel like I'm a piece of cardboard, but that's mostly just at work when I gotta smile and talk to people and ask the same f-ing questions all day long. But yeah, I see what you're getting at. I was talking about so deflated it's a welcome mat before a character. 

And missing key features is a good thing in the beginning in most cases, allows for character development.

Though my favorite character developments will always be the well rounded characters becoming hollow shells of their former selves. I'm a sucker for well written tragedy.  :shakey:
Seriously tho, have you ever seen an emotional duck? 

RE: What is your pet peeve?

#20
Stories that just devolve into a smutfest, or stories that are just over glorified erotica. Which are all becoming as popular as the traumatising content tag because the mostly male audience just eats the messed up crap by the bucket load. Its just appearing everywhere and it wouldn't be so bad if they were done well but most of the time they aren't.

Also people not understanding the difference between an anti-hero and an outright villain, I've just started avoiding novels with that tag, sick of going in expecting characters like Punisher, Wolverine or John Wick and getting Thanos turned up to 11.
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