What are your most hated fanfic tropes

[dulcineaswife]

What if the song is being literally played in the story? As in, the characters are listening to it?

Click to shrink...

I can see the intention but it's still stilted to me

 

[GPickled]

MHA fics where the they make is so that attacking the zero pointer makes it so that you lose all your point for some bullshit reason because the author needs to find ways to introduce stakes because Izuku is actually competent in their fic. It just feels like such lazy writing.

 

[CILinkz]

MHA fics where the they make is so that attacking the zero pointer makes it so that you lose all your point for some bullshit reason because the author needs to find ways to introduce stakes because Izuku is actually competent in their fic. It just feels like such lazy writing.

Click to shrink...

I find more annoying if the mc is blatantly OP and butchered through the robots ezpz - but still somehow not be first in points.

 

[Salemm]

If I had to pick one?

The whole "forgotten/betrayed Insert main character here" trend, that had these quite mentally strong characters be "super duper innocent and kind" then they'd see their friends talking shit or their girlfriend getting backshots from their best friend or something.

Then they'd immediately do a mental 180 and become a Super Stoic and Totally Badass Edglord™, throwing away all their friends and loved ones without a second thought (50/50 on whether they give them all a beat down or punch someone in the balls on their way out).

The newly debuted Edgelord then goes on a wacky adventure where he picks up and gathers his new harem of all of the authors favorite waifus and he is magically super soft of these specific girls despite him basically castrating every other person that dares even look at him wrong.

If the story gets this far, there will be a scene where the old main girl will beg for forgiveness and say some stuff about how she was "wrong and that she wants him back" our MC will promptly execute a bitchslap and refuse to ever look at her again probably saying something profound like "you will never see these eyes that loved you ever again" she will promptly become obsessed with him and her hijinks will become a running gag.

There's probably more but this is what I can remember of this off of the top of my head.

 

[Stanley_Jeb]

Super Stoic and Totally Badass Edglord™

Click to shrink...

Stoicism requires the ability to self-regulate your responses to what's happening to and around you. The very premise already fails this. This could be a good thing, I'm one of the few people who actually likes the whole "Issei was traumatized by Raynare" fanfic plot angle, but for some reason the writers appear to actively disregard any emotional response that doesn't lead to more testosterone. Methinks they're confusing "stoic" for "one-dimensional".

 

[humon]

Sounds like a teenage revenge fantasy to me. I can just imagine the MC standing there as his ex comes begging, and then suddenly he's wearing girly pyjamas and he starts singing: WE! Are NEVER! EVER! EVERRRR! Getting baaack together

But from her perspective, he sounds like Oscar the crackhead from Dave Chappelle's sesame street sketch.

~You don't un-der-stand~
~That I make love to my hand~
~I don't need you honey!
~I'm gon beat my dick like it owwwwes me money!

 

[Lightbringer]

More about harem fics.
Collecting girls like pokémons.
Come on. I am planning to write one where SI gets an harem, 4 girls.

Then what he does when other girls come in?
Plays matchmaker for his bros with them.

 

[Avernus]

More about harem fics.
Collecting girls like pokémons.

Click to shrink...

"I thought the guy was cute, but he wanted to stick me into a little ball and I'm not into that."

Come on. I am planning to write one where SI gets an harem, 4 girls.

Then what he does when other girls come in?
Plays matchmaker for his bros with them.

Click to shrink...

3-4 is the size of most polygynous marriages historically, as I recall. The "harem with huge numbers of women" that most people tend to think of were I understand either essentially status symbols or breeding programs to produce the maximum number of heirs, with little in the way of an actual relationship between husband and wives. So if the character is looking for an actual relationship, it makes sense to stop around there and just provide introductions.

And from a narrative point of view the more people there are in a relationship, the harder it's going to be to give them proper characterization time. 4 women is easy enough for that - 1 man, 4 women is about the size range of a typical "hero's party" in fiction after all - but in a fic where the mc just keeps "collecting" more and more, most of them will end up with the characterization of "that girl he slept with 30 chapters ago and hasn't been seen since".

 

[Amazon Climber]

And from a narrative point of view the more people there are in a relationship, the harder it's going to be to give them proper characterization time. 4 women is easy enough for that - 1 man, 4 women is about the size range of a typical "hero's party" in fiction after all - but in a fic where the mc just keeps "collecting" more and more, most of them will end up with the characterization of "that girl he slept with 30 chapters ago and hasn't been seen since".

Click to shrink...

If you're going to go with a macroharem, you need to start grouping the girls up polycule-style. Adding a fifth girl is a lot easier when she's the first girl's girlfriend, or when the second, third, and fourth girls are all best friends who pass the MC between them like a blunt when they hang out together.

 

[Avernus]

macroharem

Click to shrink...

"And together, my harem can combine into a single, GIANT harem girl!"

"..."

"I mean, why do you think I have so many? It's not like I have enough time in the day to actually sleep with them all."

 

[Lightbringer]

I just like the idea of MC becoming a shipper and suddenly he is plotting 'cute meetings' between one of his male followers and some of his girl followers and he is all 'Ah hahahahah! All my pairings are coming true' or some shit instead of 'I fucked this this let her disappear for 15362626 chapters.'

 

[Karp]

Working for the government.

I have a seething loathing for anyone who, upon obtaining super powers, glazes the heck out of the government, and joins up with them. You could be a Batman type, and do your own thing, maybe sort of work with 1 guy in the govt, but to become their bitch beholden to all their rules/laws/regulations? Nah. Like seriously, half of a governments purpose is to provide protection. When you're a walking nuke, you can start your own country. Or, at the very least, aspire to become the leader/a leading figure of said government. All these hero types say they want to "save the world" but are too afraid to do anything meaningful about it, and just go through the motions. I'm a go with the flow kind of guy, but I really despise these spineless wimps that infest fiction. They're just as bad as the idiots who kill everyone at the slightest disagreement.

I've been trying to get back into wuxia recently, and half the stories have guys joining the "Night Patrol" slaying monsters. That's just becoming glorified police!

~~~~
Chaos Gacha. It was fun or novel the 2nd or 3rd time, but how is this any different from an MC falling in a cave and getting his lucky encounter? Except the MC is falling into the cave every day, and getting something good or comedic. Personally, I can't stand how much system text these stories abuse you with. 1k words of potential draws every other chapter is a crime against humanity. I hope to God everyone wakes up in a year or two from now, and realizes it's just as lame as WC or outdated slang.

Anyway, there isn't enough hate in this thread, you guys gotta level up~

 

[SeVdex]

I don't really like the trope of "The SI reveals knowledge of the future via saying he knew this world as a [X Fiction Piece] to the natives" or "Author does some mental gymnastics for the people in the story so they can accept the flimsy ass reason the SI instead gave for their knowledge".

Like, I get it. I understand the reasons behind it, because why wouldn't you share critical information that may save lives™ but the sheer amount of stories that had to drop the ball because of it has become annoyingly large. Its execution is rarely done well and those who did are always the exception to the trope.

I remember reading "This Bites!" when it was first posting. I could physically feel my body recoil in visceral second hand embarrassment when the SI apparently revealed the whole story to the straw hats because of a fever. A fever of all things!

The appearance of the trope did lessen through the years but its still present enough that my irritation got slightly reawakaned enough to talk about it.

 

[ForestDweller]

The author just ignoring canon altogether.

 

[Theman]

Working for the government.

I have a seething loathing for anyone who, upon obtaining super powers, glazes the heck out of the government, and joins up with them. You could be a Batman type, and do your own thing, maybe sort of work with 1 guy in the govt, but to become their bitch beholden to all their rules/laws/regulations? Nah. Like seriously, half of a governments purpose is to provide protection. When you're a walking nuke, you can start your own country. Or, at the very least, aspire to become the leader/a leading figure of said government. All these hero types say they want to "save the world" but are too afraid to do anything meaningful about it, and just go through the motions. I'm a go with the flow kind of guy, but I really despise these spineless wimps that infest fiction. They're just as bad as the idiots who kill everyone at the slightest disagreement.

I've been trying to get back into wuxia recently, and half the stories have guys joining the "Night Patrol" slaying monsters. That's just becoming glorified police!

~~~~
Chaos Gacha. It was fun or novel the 2nd or 3rd time, but how is this any different from an MC falling in a cave and getting his lucky encounter? Except the MC is falling into the cave every day, and getting something good or comedic. Personally, I can't stand how much system text these stories abuse you with. 1k words of potential draws every other chapter is a crime against humanity. I hope to God everyone wakes up in a year or two from now, and realizes it's just as lame as WC or outdated slang.

Anyway, there isn't enough hate in this thread, you guys gotta level up~

Click to shrink...

To be fair knowing that just because you can punch very hard doesn't mean you know how to lead a nation into being prosperous. At most you would be a feudal warlord. But you are right that it would be cool to see people who do decide to build their own nations with their own ideals.

Like in worm fanfics we never see people who are OP just destroy army formations and carve territory and make a new country.

 

[ForestDweller]

To be fair knowing that just because you can punch very hard doesn't mean you know how to lead a nation into being prosperous. At most you would be a feudal warlord. But you are right that it would be cool to see people who do decide to build their own nations with their own ideals.

Like in worm fanfics we never see people who are OP just destroy army formations and carve territory and make a new country.

Click to shrink...

Any powerful person should be treated like Yujiro Hanma. A walking mass weapon of destruction that entire countries make pacts with.

Taking over a country and ruling it is actually hard work that's not for everyone.

 

[Vallander]

snip

Click to shrink...

That's why it's better to troll them on how you know
"Maiq told me, but don't trust him, he's a liar, as is his father, and his father's father"
or in Gloryhound when Alexandria was interrogating him
"I heard it from a pig"

 

[Theman]

Any powerful person should be treated like Yujiro Hanma. A walking mass weapon of destruction that entire countries make pacts with.

Taking over a country and ruling it is actually hard work that's not for everyone.

Click to shrink...

I mean some people might not want to be violent rapists.

 

[Avernus]

Like in worm fanfics we never see people who are OP just destroy army formations and carve territory and make a new country.

Click to shrink...

The Wormfic Ignis et Furor would be the exception that proves the rule. Sol Invicta declares the Solar Dominion and fights off the US military and Protectorate to make it stick.

 

[OrionGold]

My most hated trope is when the pairing of the two main characters keep getting shilled, especially if they get called the "world's most wholesome couple".

 

[AXCX]

This is a prose thing, not really a trope thing, but...

Hair colour/eye colour/height/physical descriptor epithets. Now, if we were talking about original fiction, this would be fine; I do sometimes need the reminder that a character that hasn't appeared in 50 chapters is a brunette, especially if the story has no visuals or wiki to lean on.

However, this is FANFICTION. I am already well-aware that a character who originates from a visual medium is tall and has blue eyes, making this sort of thing entirely superfluous, as it's usually completely irrelevant in context. I don't need something like "The blonde man stood in the doorway, his blue orbs scanning the room." I KNOW THIS GUY HAS BLONDE HAIR AND BLUE EYES. PLEASE USE HIS NAME OR SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING TO DESCRIBE HIM.

 

[Bear_Mint]

My most hated trope is when the pairing of the two main characters keep getting shilled, especially if they get called the "world's most wholesome couple".

Click to shrink...

Sucks when all they have are statements, but none of the visual confirmation.

But then again, I'm also guilty of just tossing out statements and expecting people to believe them during power scaling arguments.

 

[fareakyhoneybee]

Anytime, there's a crossover with our world suddenly our military can take on anyone despite not having the reaction speed to even bullet time. That, I dislike the trope of character loses their powers in our world because real life doesn't have that is a dumb reason.
Moreover that's just dumb explanation because dimensional travel would also be impossible with everything we know currently and also that implies fictional universes exist, but that flies over author heads who don't really plan that far with these stories.

 

[VincentFS]

Less a fanfic trope and more a community thing that's made it almost a trope. I like women like any straight guy does, but that doesn't mean every male protag from a series needs to be genderbended just so you can fuck em.

Be a bro and not a hoe, bro. For example: Don't like Issei? Ok, cool. Slapping a fat pair of tits on him and changing everything about his personality is lame. Might as well make an OC and remove em. It's been done… so fucking much.

Also, there's nothing wrong with a harem, but God damn it! Put some fucking testosterone in this bitch and go bro out ffs. Estrogen plot derails are a major reason for slow fic death. I won't name any names, but I don't need 30 chapters straight of repetitive tit fucking and thirty dates back to back with each harem member. Progress the plot, pussies.

 

[Nitramy]

If I had to pick one?

The whole "forgotten/betrayed Insert main character here" trend, that had these quite mentally strong characters be "super duper innocent and kind" then they'd see their friends talking shit or their girlfriend getting backshots from their best friend or something.

Then they'd immediately do a mental 180 and become a Super Stoic and Totally Badass Edglord™, throwing away all their friends and loved ones without a second thought (50/50 on whether they give them all a beat down or punch someone in the balls on their way out).

The newly debuted Edgelord then goes on a wacky adventure where he picks up and gathers his new harem of all of the authors favorite waifus and he is magically super soft of these specific girls despite him basically castrating every other person that dares even look at him wrong.

If the story gets this far, there will be a scene where the old main girl will beg for forgiveness and say some stuff about how she was "wrong and that she wants him back" our MC will promptly execute a bitchslap and refuse to ever look at her again probably saying something profound like "you will never see these eyes that loved you ever again" she will promptly become obsessed with him and her hijinks will become a running gag.

There's probably more but this is what I can remember of this off of the top of my head.

Click to shrink...

Yorokobe shonen, you just described "In an Adult Game as a Former Hero".

 

[Bear_Mint]

Yorokobe shonen, you just described "In an Adult Game as a Former Hero".

Click to shrink...

QQ went through a period of time where everybody wrote fics about this very thing.

The Former Hero fics have entirely died, with the occasional snippet thread that features it.

It is also a description of Ankoman fics.

 

[Nitramy]

QQ went through a period of time where everybody wrote fics about this very thing.

The Former Hero fics have entirely died, with the occasional snippet thread that features it.

It is also a description of Ankoman fics.

Click to shrink...

The funny thing is, my story "Ere the Dread Saint Rises" is an original version of "Former Hero", but I put it in a ton of other "NTRPG" stuff like Torobakoya's CG sets, and a little Goblin Slayer, too.

 

[Karp]

Man, I'm feasting on all this hate like Captain Pollution.

Hate tax: I can't stand friend inserts, or two friends+ transmigrating at the same time. That shit is lame af. Like, personally, I think it would be fun to go on an isekai adventure with some friends, but when put to paper, it's just cringe. These dudes never treat the series they insert into seriously, and just ROFL stomp their way through the series.

While I'm at it, fuck worlds where the MC transmigrates into a game 5, 10, etc years before launch, and then uses players to help him become a God. Like many tropes, it was fun at first, but the billion shitty copy cats are terrible. Watching the MC smugly sit back as the immortal respawning players do all his dirty work gets so tiresome. Like, your entire story gets bogged down by these side characters, and the MC gets no screen time! Fuck those game developer stories too! It's the exact same premise, and is just lazy! MC has no stakes, and just goes "hee hee" and face slaps them with his players!

I meant to only post the meme, but I just can't stop hating. Go on guys, keep hating!

 

[ForestDweller]

If I had to pick one?

The whole "forgotten/betrayed Insert main character here" trend, that had these quite mentally strong characters be "super duper innocent and kind" then they'd see their friends talking shit or their girlfriend getting backshots from their best friend or something.

Then they'd immediately do a mental 180 and become a Super Stoic and Totally Badass Edglord™, throwing away all their friends and loved ones without a second thought (50/50 on whether they give them all a beat down or punch someone in the balls on their way out).

The newly debuted Edgelord then goes on a wacky adventure where he picks up and gathers his new harem of all of the authors favorite waifus and he is magically super soft of these specific girls despite him basically castrating every other person that dares even look at him wrong.

If the story gets this far, there will be a scene where the old main girl will beg for forgiveness and say some stuff about how she was "wrong and that she wants him back" our MC will promptly execute a bitchslap and refuse to ever look at her again probably saying something profound like "you will never see these eyes that loved you ever again" she will promptly become obsessed with him and her hijinks will become a running gag.

There's probably more but this is what I can remember of this off of the top of my head.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, you might as well read Count of Monte Cristo for the good OG version of this story. It even has a manga adaptation with a decently good artwork.

Also, there's nothing wrong with a harem, but God damn it! Put some fucking testosterone in this bitch and go bro out ffs. Estrogen plot derails are a major reason for slow fic death. I won't name any names, but I don't need 30 chapters straight of repetitive tit fucking and thirty dates back to back with each harem member. Progress the plot, pussies.

Click to shrink...

I feel like dating shit should be relegated to side story content unless it's relevant to the plot or to the character growth. I myself write a harem but I don't think I've ever actually write a chapter where it's just the mc having a date with the heroines.

 

[hrepdrep]

I feel like dating shit should be relegated to side story content unless it's relevant to the plot or to the character growth. I myself write a harem but I don't think I've ever actually write a chapter where it's just the mc having a date with the heroines.

Click to shrink...

I think having a chapter mostly devoted to dating can work, but it should hook into the main plot somehow. Like for example, having thugs attack the protagonist and their love interest on their way back from the date, setting up the next arc villain. Or having the leads stumble on a secret passageway that leads to crucial information that advances the story. Just having the romance be entirely skippable fluff is wasted potential.