Fanfiction Pet Peeves

[RuinExplorer]

I agree with writers committing the same mistakes over and over. What's infuriating is when every story becomes a carbon copy of each other with a few cosmetic changes. Is it that difficult to actually make a more original story? Then because the stories go the exact same way, they make the same mistakes like characterization and world building.

It's a big issue in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fandom as every story seems to be exactly the same.

 

[GastlyGibus]

I hate seeing shiny pokemon in a fic. It's the laziest method to make your character "unique." Bonus fury points if it's something overdone like Umbreon or Charizard.

Shiny pokemon are supposed to be the rarest thing in the world, but with the amount of them popping up in fiction, you'd think they were common enough that breeders would be trying to get rid of them, passing them out to random trainers that walked by.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I hate seeing shiny pokemon in a fic. It's the laziest method to make your character "unique." Bonus fury points if it's something overdone like Umbreon or Charizard.

Shiny pokemon are supposed to be the rarest thing in the world, but with the amount of them popping up in fiction, you'd think they were common enough that breeders would be trying to get rid of them, passing them out to random trainers that walked by.

I'm fairly certain that shiny pokemon being the "rarest thing in the world" isn't canon, at all... Just because it's hard to find them in the games, well, that doesn't really mean anything. In fact, that just leaves a lot of room for fanfic opportunities. Though I do agree that shiny pokemon are often used in fics and not for any decent reason.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I think shinies work if you don't have too much of them. One character in a story is going to get a shiny soon, which would be the only one in the story, and the Pokemon's shininess makes it exceptionally vain and unwilling to listen to orders. I do think that if the story opens with the main character getting a shiny, or worse, a super special uniquely coloured one, than that's a bit pointless and really quite Mary Sue-y.

 

[GastlyGibus]

Though I do agree that shiny pokemon are often used in fics and not for any decent reason.

I think shinies work if you don't have too much of them. One character in a story is going to get a shiny soon, which would be the only one in the story, and the Pokemon's shininess makes it exceptionally vain and unwilling to listen to orders. I do think that if the story opens with the main character getting a shiny, or worse, a super special uniquely coloured one, than that's a bit pointless and really quite Mary Sue-y.

That's what I meant. Apologies for the confusion. It's when shinies are used frivolously without any thought put into it beyond "my character is a mary sue and thus has a super special pokemon."

I don't mind if you have a shiny, just have it impact the story in someway, you know?

 

[RuinExplorer]

I think it's even worse that the shiny Pokemon is usually something that's rare on its on like a eevee and nobody cares! Maybe attempts by the Team Rocket trio to steal it but they go after practically everything. No one else wants to steal it or offer to trade for it.

What's worse is when the shiny was ABUSED beforehand (which is incredibly overdone and only there to hammer in that your character is better). Who in their right mind would abuse a incredibly rare Pokemon?

 

[Lyrebird]

Lucario, auras, shines, abuses childhood where somehow the parents are dead anyway, parents be like you can't follow your dream, so you run away, and evil team and somehow the character is related to the evil team.

 

[RuinExplorer]

And all of these just make the character more special.

Okay I'm backing up for a second. None of these are bad plot they are just used badly. They never seem to effect the plot other then "Wow a shiny!" or "Oh no! My dad is evil so everyone might hate me blah blah". Make it effect the plot, have people attempt to steal the shiny quite a bit, make the character grow because they are torn between the one who raised them or the safety of the world. That would be fascinating to see.

Plus these translate over to Mystery Dungeon fanfiction. What if your partner is related to Dusknoir is some way? Then you can write how they struggle between family and their new found friend.

It is all in the usage of the cliches. Just no one does it well.

 

[Life]

I think that the biggest pet peeve I have is when the protagonist wins their first gym battle/contest/etc. on their first try. Unless there's shown to be a lot of practice and research put in beforehand, the win always seem fairly unbelievable to me.

I get that a lot of times, it's not the most glamorous to lose right off the bat, and then that deals with the question of whether or not the protagonist will have to stay in the town longer, thus delaying the story, but it definitely gets old after a while to not see a character lose in any of their challenges. Even if it's a close-call win, Gym Leaders should (in my opinion, at least) be some of the strongest trainers in the region, so it doesn't make much sense for them to lose a lot of the time.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Even if it's a close-call win, Gym Leaders should (in my opinion, at least) be some of the strongest trainers in the region, so it doesn't make much sense for them to lose a lot of the time.

A real peeve of mine is the weak Gym Leader. I actually don't mind if some Leaders are stronger than others, and I especially like to see major battles play out in different ways. What bugs me is that Leaders seem to be, on average, worse trainers than the average in the same story. This especially goes for those that get stomped flat by the challenger simply taking advantage of a type-weakness. I mean, you'd think that Leaders would have some counter-strategies, given that they're supposed to be mono-type experts

 

[Life]

A real peeve of mine is the weak Gym Leader. I actually don't mind if some Leaders are stronger than others, and I especially like to see major battles play out in different ways. What bugs me is that Leaders seem to be, on average, worse trainers than the average in the same story. This especially goes for those that get stomped flat by the challenger simply taking advantage of a type-weakness. I mean, you'd think that Leaders would have some counter-strategies, given that they're supposed to be mono-type experts

Definitely agree with you. Undoubtedly, each Gym Leader will probably vary from one another whether it be in style, strength, or strategy, but my stance is that what they lack in one area is most likely made up in another, which makes it more believable for a character to have some easy wins and some hard wins. But yeah, as you put it, simply stomping a Gym Leader by something they should really have a counter for is not only unbelievable, but fairly boring to read about as well. :\ Not to mention that it also doesn't make sense in the first place for a run-of-the-mill trainer to beat what's supposed to be an experienced one.

 

[PanicAttack]

The way I view Gym Leaders is that a part of their power is scaled relative to the challenger. Pokémon Origins backs this up (Brock chooses his team to fight Red based on the number of badges Red had at the time - zero), but it's something I'd suspected for some time prior to that, and something I want to see in Pokémon Sun and Moon. So (to use a very basic example) I can absolutely imagine Falkner using a Fearow with Drill Run against Rock and Electric opponents. I can't imagine him doing so against some utter newbie's Pichu. If said newbie was to return later with seven badges and a Raichu, he absolutely would though.

That's not to say that my view on it is completely at odds with Life or Beth, though. Gym Leaders are supposed to be experts and it makes more sense for there to be a scale of skill than for all Gym Leaders to be equal in strength.

 

[CrystaI]

My newest fanfic pet peeve:
Conventional main-series-Pokemon-game-plot-style journey fic with the traditional story of newbie trainer receive first pokemon -> badge quest challenging gyms and travel from town to town -> involved with villainous team -> Pokemon League. Additional point if it follows the episode structure of 1 important with 2~3 fillers in between, Another additional point if plot >>> character, whether the author designed the plot in such way intentionally or unconsciously.

I hold no aversion towards cliche like Lucario being starter, shiny pokemons, abused childhood where parent had pass away already, etc. In any case, all of such cliches were used in my fic. But, I do hold a pet peeve when such cliche were used without much thinking, especially for superficial reasons already mentioned by many posters above me.
When I had Lucario being the first pokemon of my protagonist, I choose it because its aura reading and aka emotional reading ability contributes to a great extend of my story-writing. I planned to featured a shiny pokemon in one chapter, not because I want my character to capture it for the sake of making him look "special", rather because I want one of my character to understand the feelings of pokemon by looking at a pokemon different from many others. I had one of the main character having an abused childhood where his mother had passed away already, but his past affects greatly on his personality and his thinking pattern, also viewpoint towards pokemon and pokemon battle, where his overall characteristics due to his past causes major conflict between the protagonist of my fic.

All in all, cliche is not anything bad. To me personally, it is just a trope being used too much to the point of identifiable, but at the end of the day, tropes are just tools used to advance the plot. The only bad thing is the author unable to utilize such tool efficiently to make an interesting story.

 

[RuinExplorer]

A skill scale for the gym leaders make sense but would be difficult to show in a game. Now drumroll please for one of the biggest pet peeves...

The rival. Now the character's rival is not necessarily a bad thing to have, it's how most people handle them TERRIBLY.

First up is the Gary rival, the arrogant one who always seems a step ahead. Then there is the Villain rival who is terrible in every way, he abuses his pokemon, catches pokemon that do not want to be caught, etc. Another subspecies is the love interest rival, many times a canon character, and this explains itself.

Also obviously your character can't just lose to their rival! They must either win, lose on purpose, or lose with the promise of winning every battle in the future.

A rival is something that has to be balanced with care, not just a plot mover or love interest.

 

[Serverus Snope]

A skill scale for the gym leaders make sense but would be difficult to show in a game. Now drumroll please for one of the biggest pet peeves...

The rival. Now the character's rival is not necessarily a bad thing to have, it's how most people handle them TERRIBLY.

First up is the Gary rival, the arrogant one who always seems a step ahead. Then there is the Villain rival who is terrible in every way, he abuses his pokemon, catches pokemon that do not want to be caught, etc. Another subspecies is the love interest rival, many times a canon character, and this explains itself.

Also obviously your character can't just lose to their rival! They must either win, lose on purpose, or lose with the promise of winning every battle in the future.

A rival is something that has to be balanced with care, not just a plot mover or love interest.

Rivals can come across as pretty obligatory too. You don't always need a cooler, edgier trainer to challenge your protagonist. Sometimes the most compelling adversaries come from within...

 

[Beth Pavell]

The mystic magic "bond" between a trainer and his pokémon. So profound. So deep. So -

Unearned. This isn't a trope that's going away since the canon loves it. Actually, what annoys me about it is that more often than not, this "bond" just turns up without the protagonist having to actually do anything. Ironically the anime actually does it better than the average fanfic, much as it does zig-zag, what with Ash sometimes explicitly paying attention to his own pokémon's dreams and desires, prioritising that over his own goals, that sort of thing.

Doubly annoying if a veteran trainer tells the protagonist something like "I sense great things in your future, you clearly have a strong bond with your starter", despite having no evidence to base that assessment on

 

[CrystaI]

^ One of the very example of violation of "Show, Don't Tell" rule for successful story-writing.
Though, it is not like the canon is good in this department either, especially in the anime.

And this is also one of my peeve when reading any fictional works, not just fanfic.

 

[Serverus Snope]

As extension to the vague "bond" thing, here's one:

Pokemon either biffles with humans or abused/slaves by principle. Feels like there's no middle ground, really.

Honestly, I'd like to see more variety in relationships between trainers and Pokemon. What about Pokemon who are using their trainers for their own selfish goals? Pokemon so demanding/domineering/manipulative/mind controlriffic that they effectively become the real ones in charge? Trainers and Pokemon who have issues with each other and neither of them are necessarily "the bad guy?" "Heroes" that start to realize they might not be so different from the abusive trainers they've fought before?

There are so many routes that can be taken with the implied contract between a trainer and a Pokemon. But instead, people try to insist that all relationships between trainer and Pokemon are a certain way. (Except for those meanies in Team Insertnamehere. They're all jerks no matter what the story.)

 

[Life]

Agreed. I find that there's an issue with regards to Pokémon-trainer relationships, whether it be that it's practically nonexistent or super flawless. Though, I do think it also depends on how much character and intelligence an author gives their Pokémon. Say, if they're the equivalent of pets, then I can understand the relationship not being that complicated. But if they're portrayed with emotions and personalities, then I do think it needs to be more complex. Then there's also the understandable issue that sometimes authors already have an idea of their plot and having a complicated relationship between a trainer and their team is just not included, which is understandable.

One peeve of mine that I was thinking about earlier today is how the first character a protagonist meets instantly becomes their friend/travel partner. Like unless it's a romcom then frankly I'm going to have a hard time believing the situation. :| Isn't there anybody else that is willing to help out the character but isn't in the mood to travel with them? I find that it limits world-building and leaves out some fun hypothetical situations such as how might a teen traveler interact with a middle-aged adult? Or how might a new trainer feel about taking advice from a sketchy looking character? Or even just teen trainers interacting with other teen trainers. Lots of fun possibilities and opportunities with the "first interaction" mark that are often left unexplored.

 

[Jaye]

One peeve of mine that I was thinking about earlier today is how the first character a protagonist meets instantly becomes their friend/travel partner. Like unless it's a romcom then frankly I'm going to have a hard time believing the situation. :| Isn't there anybody else that is willing to help out the character but isn't in the mood to travel with them? I find that it limits world-building and leaves out some fun hypothetical situations such as how might a teen traveler interact with a middle-aged adult? Or how might a new trainer feel about taking advice from a sketchy looking character? Or even just teen trainers interacting with other teen trainers. Lots of fun possibilities and opportunities with the "first interaction" mark that are often left unexplored.

This is just laziness on the writer's part, I feel. They want to get two characters travelling together as quickly as possible so they don't spare much thought for the fine details. You could argue, though, that the anime itself is guilty of this.


My biggest peeve right now can be summed up in the words: Mature!Smart!Ash

This extends to other fandoms as well (Harry Potter, Naruto, etc.), where there is a desire to "fix" the main character by making them stronger, smarter and supposedly more mature than their canon counterparts, but the end result is almost always terrible. For me now, Mature!Smart!Ash is code for "my OC disguised as Ash".

I understand why writers would want to do this to a character. Stories that actually take the time to develop Ash towards being a more mature person, or a smarter person, or more competent battler can be very interesting and comeplling, just as any other coming-of-age story could be. The problem is that a lot of fics with that tag skip the development phase altogether, having Ash magically be that way because reasons. What's more, an Ash who is smart, mature, etc. simply isn't Ash. Ash is a 10 year old boy, of course he's going to be immature and naive about certain things about the world. Why not let him be that 10 year old for a while?

It's a shame because I could be scrolling down a page on FF.net and find some fics with interesting premises but then see Mature!Smart!Ash tagged on the end, usually followed by AshxHarem :\

And staying on the subject of Ash, the whole story idea of his friends "betraying him" or ditching after he loses in the league, which is just so incredibly implausible. None of Ash's friends associate with him because he's a successful trainer who wins tournaments, so why would him not winning a tournament cause them to not want to associate with him anymore? There would have to a drastic change in character for this to happen.

From a more general writing perspective, my biggest peeve is characters all sounding the same; that is, if the dialogue is written without speech tags, I wouldn't be able to identify who's speaking. It's one of the biggest reasons a story can feel flat.