What are your most hated fanfic tropes

[Cariannis]

You are writing a gamer story with charisma, why? How many times have we seen gamer stories with the MC having a high charisma stat, but they are written as the most edge lordy teenager ever? The MC isn't charismatic. Isn't written in any way to show off his charisma. Just remove the charisma stat from the list of stats.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fics that make Buffy dumb or kill Angel in the most half-assed methods. Old man sneaks up on Angel and stabs him in the back was the stupidest one I've ever seen.

 

[Savinkov]

why?

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Because they just copy the template and never heard or seen an actual charismatic person

 

[Marauder_Barriers]

Whats so funny about these Charisma Stats is that these MCs arent actually Charismatic. They act like neurodivergent babies having a tantrum but the stat causes a brainwashing effect.

 

[Avernus]

Whats so funny about these Charisma Stats is that these MCs arent actually Charismatic. They act like neurodivergent babies having a tantrum but the stat causes a brainwashing effect.

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Writing someone as being extremely charismatic suffers from the same problem that writing somebody as extremely intelligent; it's hard to write somebody with more of it than the writer themselves has. And most writers aren't silver-tongued devils any more than they are geniuses.

So trying to write someone as highly charismatic tends to come across as either mind control or the target being really gullible, just as writing genius characters tends to come across as either everyone else being stupid or the MC being psychic.

 

[Stanley_Jeb]

They act like neurodivergent babies having a tantrum but the stat causes a brainwashing effect.

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Does it even need a brainwashing effect? Given the kinda people who are supposedly charismatic, such as people getting voted into power, actors who frankly ought to be shunned by society at best, and whatever the hell people's obsession with serial killers is, "being a neurodivergent baby having a tantrum" evidently seems to be taking people by storm somehow. So in a weird way? That's believable. It shouldn't be, but for some reason society seems to gravitate towards people like that.

 

[Avernus]

Does it even need a brainwashing effect? Given the kinda people who are supposedly charismatic, such as people getting voted into power, actors who frankly ought to be shunned by society at best, and whatever the hell people's obsession with serial killers is, "being a neurodivergent baby having a tantrum" evidently seems to be taking people by storm somehow. So in a weird way? That's believable. It shouldn't be, but for some reason society seems to gravitate towards people like that.

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It's a "reality is unrealistic" thing. It happens in real life, but in a story it would be denounced as absurd.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

The moral/ ethical enemies in the story offer no actual significant argument, even among military or governmental leaders. For once, I'd like to see the opposing sides of whatever issues the fic is approaching properly represented. Be it magical mechanics, religion, ethics, economics, or policy, regardless of their validity.

So many I've read are just the most cartoonishly evil or/and stupid people when, realistically, yes, the Galactic Emperor, haughty Noble, or Religious zealot likely has strong and well-researched convictions even if wrong and would not fold at an admonishment or being accused of racism/zealotry/discrimination, or whatever crime.

 

[V1.0]

If I see a tag on the story that says BAMF!Character (Badass Motherfucker AKA Mary/Gary Sue OP self-Rightous bullshit.]
I am automatically ignoring that fic. I hate that tag. Always a good indicator of bad quality.

 

[ForestDweller]

You are writing a gamer story with charisma, why? How many times have we seen gamer stories with the MC having a high charisma stat, but they are written as the most edge lordy teenager ever? The MC isn't charismatic. Isn't written in any way to show off his charisma. Just remove the charisma stat from the list of stats.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fics that make Buffy dumb or kill Angel in the most half-assed methods. Old man sneaks up on Angel and stabs him in the back was the stupidest one I've ever seen.

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Charisma in litrpg should really be a mind compulsion effect instead of a personality change.

Dungeon Crawler Carl uses Charisma that way. When a cat has high charisma, she gets perceived as incredibly cute. When a woman has high charisma, she gets perceived as incredibly hot (MC got an instant erection when he got bewitched by one).

 

[Tera Forma]

The moral/ ethical enemies in the story offer no actual significant argument, even among military or governmental leaders. For once, I'd like to see the opposing sides of whatever issues the fic is approaching properly represented. Be it magical mechanics, religion, ethics, economics, or policy, regardless of their validity.

So many I've read are just the most cartoonishly evil or/and stupid people when, realistically, yes, the Galactic Emperor, haughty Noble, or Religious zealot likely has strong and well-researched convictions even if wrong and would not fold at an admonishment or being accused of racism/zealotry/discrimination, or whatever crime.

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Morons and evil people don't have strong convictions. They lie about what they have, but saying that people are cartoonishly evil is nothing more than an attempt to whitewash various idiots.

 

[ForestDweller]

It's the opposite. More often than not, the ignorant is convinced that their opinion is always right while the wise is always full of doubt.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

It's the opposite. More often than not, the ignorant is convinced that their opinion is always right while the wise is always full of doubt.

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Don't bother. You'd just be talking past them given they brought up evil and stuffed a ton of words into my mouth when that was never mentioned in my comment. Gradients and nuance don't exist to people like that.

 

[V1.0]

evil people don't have strong convictions.

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Uhh. I would like to contest this considering how fanatics exist in both religious, political, and racial terms. Christ. They have some convictions.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Uhh. I would like to contest this considering how fanatics exist in both religious, political, and racial terms. Christ. They have some convictions.

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Yes, I'd assume the Christian mass shooter, Islamic suicide bomber, Buddhist monk that immoliates themselves, and other brands of religious extremists to make religious points have very deep convictions so much that they are willing to kill and die for their causes.

 

[V1.0]

Yes, I'd assume the Christian mass shooter, Islamic suicide bomber, Buddhist monk that immoliates themselves, and other brands of religious extremists to make religious points have very deep convictions so much that they are willing to kill and die for their causes.

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Not to mention the more fanatical Nazis and Communists in history.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Not to mention the more fanatical Nazis and Communists in history.

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Of course.

 

[Abyss Trinity]

Late to this and its probably already been mentioned. Gamer system, Gacha and anything else similar to those. Putting modern views in a Medieval setting in characters who shouldn't have such thoughts. Fanon being treated like its canon in most fanfiction.

 

[V1.0]

Back to fanfic tropes. The Adaptional Transexuality. But nit for the reasons one might think.

Not homophobic but I do feel annoyed that when I try to go find a M/F ship on AO3. I find a fic that has one of the characters turned into a Transexual even though its tagged as M/F. Christ, Ao3 needs a dedicated section for that beyond just using the Mutil category.

 

[ForestDweller]

Back to fanfic tropes. The Adaptional Transexuality. But nit for the reasons one might think.

Not homophobic but I do feel annoyed that when I try to go find a M/F ship on AO3. I find a fic that has one of the characters turned into a Transexual even though its tagged as M/F. Christ, Ao3 needs a dedicated section for that beyond just using the Mutil category.

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Randomly turning characters trans is like the new "randomly turning characters gay".

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Late to this and its probably already been mentioned. Gamer system, Gacha and anything else similar to those. Putting modern views in a Medieval setting in characters who shouldn't have such thoughts. Fanon being treated like its canon in most fanfiction.

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To further this point about modern things in medieval settings, I instantly drop a story if modern terms and lingo is being spoken by a 12th century French peasant.

Edit: Ideally, when writing about a time period/Culture, doing the bare minimum of research goes a long way. Even if it's just learning about the clothes, names of political powers, and terms used around that time.

 

[Avernus]

Yes, I'd assume the Christian mass shooter, Islamic suicide bomber, Buddhist monk that immoliates themselves, and other brands of religious extremists to make religious points have very deep convictions so much that they are willing to kill and die for their causes.

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Yes. Psychopaths lack convictions, but not all evil people are psychopaths.

Speaking of psychopaths, a "fanfic trope I hate" would be the one where a protagonist being "rational" or "intelligent" is equated with them being psychopathic. Whether it's by the author, or commentators who scream at the author about how the protagonist is stupid because they aren't backstabbing and murdering people at every opportunity.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Yes. Psychopaths lack convictions, but not all evil people are psychopaths.

Speaking of psychopaths, a "fanfic trope I hate" would be the one where a protagonist being "rational" or "intelligent" is equated with them being psychopathic. Whether it's by the author, or commentators who scream at the author about how the protagonist is stupid because they aren't backstabbing and murdering people at every opportunity.

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Yes, its incredibly disheartening to see that trend. Take a look at any manwha with a male mc and there's a hundred comments about how the guy should go on a murder spree cause someone looked at him wrong.

Even granting that if that would be a smart decision, a smart person would pick planning for their battles and where to have those battles instead of just willy nilly cutting people down.

 

[Tera Forma]

Uhh. I would like to contest this considering how fanatics exist in both religious, political, and racial terms. Christ. They have some convictions.

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Fanaticism isn't a belief, it's literally a mental illness. Fanaticism is literally what makes people cartoonishly evil.

 

[Tera Forma]

Yes, its incredibly disheartening to see that trend. Take a look at any manwha with a male mc and there's a hundred comments about how the guy should go on a murder spree cause someone looked at him wrong.

Even granting that if that would be a smart decision, a smart person would pick planning for their battles and where to have those battles instead of just willy nilly cutting people down.

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This isn't even a smart decision. Like, it's easier to discredit your political enemy if they're alive and well. For example, a journalist is digging into your dirty laundry? Then just leave them alone. At the very least, it gives you the logical leeway to think, "So why are you alive if it's in my interests to kill you for what you're looking for?" and ultimately, without murder in a criminal case, you'll get out of prison faster (by the way, this is one example of how to determine whether a villain is an idiot. A smart villain will never kill their opponents, and if they do, it's only to provoke the enemy into attacking, essentially creating a typical self-defense situation).
I also really get annoyed when people in history believe their enemies without reason and side with their enemies, throwing their allies under the bus, even when the enemy is telling the truth. One of the dumbest examples is Jon Snow being a Targaryen and the truth about how some Targaryen supporter tells a lie, or a self-insert tells the truth, and everyone suddenly believes it. It's especially dumb when Northerners start supporting the Targaryens just because Jon Snow is supposedly Lyanna Stark's son, and Howland Reed, having lost his friends, suddenly swears allegiance to Jon. Has it ever occurred to anyone that even Ned Stark despises the Targaryens (he literally named his sister's supposed son differently than his sister wanted him to).
Just because Ned Stark doesn't like killing children doesn't mean he'll love the Targaryens. And likewise, Jon Snow, having learned the truth about his parents, will do everything to make whoever told the truth look like a liar.

 

[V1.0]

Fanaticism isn't a belief, it's literally a mental illness. Fanaticism is literally what makes people cartoonishly evil.

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Ok fuck you. Fanatism can happen to those without mental illness and yhinking only the mentally ill can be fanatics is stupid and reeks of ableism. Frankly its thinking like that makes people think Fanatics are all insane. Sometimes even rational people become fanatics with sound of mind. Letting them do horrible things.

 

[Avernus]

Yes, its incredibly disheartening to see that trend. Take a look at any manwha with a male mc and there's a hundred comments about how the guy should go on a murder spree cause someone looked at him wrong.

Even granting that if that would be a smart decision, a smart person would pick planning for their battles and where to have those battles instead of just willy nilly cutting people down.

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Yes. They don't just want characters to act like psychopaths; they want characters to act like low-functioning psychopaths. The sort of people who end up in prison or dead at a young age because they aren't just ruthless, but stupidly ruthless.

Because openly murdering and backstabbing people right and left is not behavior that ends well in the long term.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

This isn't even a smart decision. Like, it's easier to discredit your political enemy if they're alive and well. For example, a journalist is digging into your dirty laundry? Then just leave them alone. At the very least, it gives you the logical leeway to think, "So why are you alive if it's in my interests to kill you for what you're looking for?" and ultimately, without murder in a criminal case, you'll get out of prison faster (by the way, this is one example of how to determine whether a villain is an idiot. A smart villain will never kill their opponents, and if they do, it's only to provoke the enemy into attacking, essentially creating a typical self-defense situation).
I also really get annoyed when people in history believe their enemies without reason and side with their enemies, throwing their allies under the bus, even when the enemy is telling the truth. One of the dumbest examples is Jon Snow being a Targaryen and the truth about how some Targaryen supporter tells a lie, or a self-insert tells the truth, and everyone suddenly believes it. It's especially dumb when Northerners start supporting the Targaryens just because Jon Snow is supposedly Lyanna Stark's son, and Howland Reed, having lost his friends, suddenly swears allegiance to Jon. Has it ever occurred to anyone that even Ned Stark despises the Targaryens (he literally named his sister's supposed son differently than his sister wanted him to).
Just because Ned Stark doesn't like killing children doesn't mean he'll love the Targaryens. And likewise, Jon Snow, having learned the truth about his parents, will do everything to make whoever told the truth look like a liar.

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Respectfully, I disagree. Sometimes, killing your enemy is very effective, but since you said political enemy, at what point is it justified morally to kill that enemy?

I have a hypothetical.

Say your political opponent is a nazi and nobody but you knows that, nazis are bad, we all know that. They are running for president and will do irreprable damage to whatever country you live in. They are growing in power but to the public's knowledge they have never committed a crime in their life, but you know what their endgame is. They are constantly getting away with challenging you within the law.

Would you have them killed or kill them if you knew you could get away with it?

 

[Avernus]

Respectfully, I disagree. Sometimes, killing your enemy is very effective, but since you said political enemy, at what point is it justified morally to kill that enemy?

I have a hypothetical.

Say your political opponent opponent is a nazi and nobody but you knows that, nazis are bad, we all know that. They are running for president and will do irreprable damage to whatever country you live in. They are growing in power but to the public's knowledge they have never committed a crime in their life, but you know what their endgame is. They are constantly getting away with challenging you within the law.

Would you have them killed or kill them if you knew you could get away with it?

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Reminds me of Stephen King's The Dead Zone, whose protagonist is a precognitive who foresees that a particular politician will cause a global nuclear war, and is eventually pushed into the situation of trying to kill the politician or letting it happen.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Reminds me of Stephen King's The Dead Zone., whose protagonist is a precognitive who foresees that a particular politician will cause a global nuclear war, and is eventually pushed into the situation of trying to kill the politician or letting it happen..

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I have not read that. Could you elaborate? I might have to purchase it for a read.

 

[Avernus]

I have not read that. Could you elaborate? I might have to purchase it for a read.

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Guy suffers brain damage and spends years in a coma, wakes up with clairvoyant and precognitive abilities. I don't really recall much more, it's been literally decades since I read it. I do recall it being pretty good, though. Probably available from a library, King isn't an obscure author.