Fics You Avoid In Your Favorite Fandoms

[NightScribe]

Within your favorite fandom(s) are there certain fics you avoid reading? Of course, there's always the squicks (mpreg, rape, incest) or pairings that either make you cringe or leave you asking huh? I don't get it, did I miss the memo on this? Or maybe there are just plots that don't float your boat, not necessarily squicks, just not very interesting. I'll explain by revealing my little idiosynchrasies.

I've got several Harry Potter fics, Snape/OFCs, but I won't read any others. Partly because of not wanting to get influenced by someone else's work, and...um, maybe paranoia at finding something influenced by my work (I avoid browsing that sub-category like it's the plague). In fact, I rarely read any Snape fics, I just write them. I never got the SS/HG thing, so I avoid those as well. I've found that I tend to avoid reading fics for characters I like so much that I want to write about them. I haven't read a Lucius fic either for that very reason (dear Lucius, the deviant delight of my WIP). And although I don't write slash, I've got no problem reading it. Weird, huh?

Does anybody else have any strange reading habits, or am I just out on the fringe here?

[Guest Agaib]

I mostly read and write in the original section. I'll read anything except for the extremely gross things (scat or vermo) and M/M. Not because I don't like it, but there is way TOO FUCKING MUCH.

[Guest lightgoddess]

Nope, you aren't on the fringe at all. Personally, I abhorr Harry/Draco fics. I. Just. Hate. That. Pairing. Well, unless it is written by one of my all time favorite authors, Sansa. I rarely read SS/HG just because I prefer slash. I also tend to shy away from OC fics unless I know the author's works. As far as squicks, I do not read water sports or scat. *shudders* Otherwise, I'm game for incest, twincest, bdsm, cross-dressing, mpreg...I'll read basically anything. I also love reading anything heavy on the angst and Let's-Torture-Harry-Fics.

Now who's the freak, NightScribe??

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

I, personally, will avoid anything with MPreg unless written as a parody or by an author I know won't make me want to drill a hole into my brain with it. I also won't read scat, waterworks, crime scene (at least, not beyond basic fucking or vampire stuff), or blood play (ow...).

Though, really, I personally will avoid stories with certain titles (i.e. "<character A> & <character B>," or "Gay!">, summaries like "He lost the love of his life, what will it take to get him back?" or written by anyone with a pen name that contain the following things: Hentai, yaoi, or Xx<name>xX, <character name>. It's been my experience that anything like that usually means the writter is shitty and/or underaged.

[Guest Agaib]

I'll admit I fall into one of your catagories, My pen name is the name of a character. But I like to think of Myself as a less than shitty writer. Maybe not good, but average.

[Nanaea]

I write and read mainly HP. Besides avoiding my squicks I tend to shy away from reading SS/HG just because that's what I am writing and, like NightScribe, I don't want to be influenced by somebody else's work. I find I don't read as much when I'm busy writing anyway. I do loveLOVElove to read Harry/Draco but I doubt I'll ever write them.

[NightScribe]

I'm with a few others here in the scat/water sports is not for me. One of the first stories I read here (maybe the very first) was going along fine, until there was a mention of water sports. Right there I stopped and said "you just lost me." I think a very violent, sadistic rape, just written to shock, sicken, and appall would put me off, too.

[Guest Big Samurai]

I avoid poor English skills and yaoi. (It's just not my bag; sorry, lay-deez.) Other than that, curiosity will usually compel me to at least have a click.

[Guest ShinigamiShimai]

I avoid the same as the others Scat/watersports make me sudder. Also I try to avoid rape stories. I tried to read one the other day and it had a girl being raped by her father and the discription turned me off. Nevermind hearing a little girl saying "I love you daddy." after being raped doesn't sit well with me.

I also try to stick with lesbian stories becuase I can relate to them the best but rarely read things with sex in them because I find it laughable at most. I'll try a story but if it seems to be writen by a boy who knows nothing about the female body I run the other way. I find discribing female body parts as flowers or fruit rather bothersome too. Yeah, I know I'm a picky person when it comes to stories.

jaa ne

Kat

[Guest Jackie_Boi]

I'm not really picky, but, MPREG and anything that deals with human body waste being sprayed and/or smeared on another person, I stay clear away from. I read mostly RPS fics, so there's tons of pairings. There aren't any i stay clear of, only the M/F pairings turn me off (I stick to slash), but there are some pairings that are just plain boring. I do like the occasional "WTF" pairings that truely shock me. There was one fic that was a Eminem/Gambit pairing. It was a strange pairing, but the story was written so well that you totally forget that Gambit is a comic book character or that Eminem is a rapper.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Also, I shall add PWPs to that list. If there's no plot, I'm not reading it.

And Agaib, don't worry, I know you're not a squealy little fan-brat with shit for brains. ^__^

[Iggy_lovechild]

Well, right now I write for the SO:3 fandom and I actually generally avoid reading the fanfiction for that fandom unless it's by an author I trust. Part of the reason why I started writing for the fandom (other than falling deep and hard for the AlbelxFayt pairing) was because there were so few good fics out there. A lot of screaming fanbrats who don't understand the concept of character development or how to write any semblance of a believable m/m romance.

Above all, I avoid a lot of the crack pairings. AlbelxSophia? Don't make me laugh. I'd like to think of myself as open-minded, but when it comes to SO:3 I have my preferred pairings and don't like deviating from them. Even one of my favourite SO:3 authors couldn't get me to like CliffxFayt.

[Guest Agaib]

I don't mind PWPs, especially if I'm just looking for some plain smut. The big problem with them is that they're often horribly written. PWP isn't an excuse for grammar, spelling, and other mistakes.

[Guest Pink Lace]

I avoid all yaoi/slash/whatever you call it unless it's humorous. I don't like AlbelxFayt, sorry. I dunno, they do have moments but I don't think either of them are gay even though Albel wears a skirt.

Others, I hate Yuffentine (Yuffie x Vincent Valentine, Final Fantasy VII), don't like Cloti (Cloud x Tifa) and avoid Tifa X Vincent. I also avoid all HP fics.

[Guest Big Samurai]

Iggy brought up a good one. The irony of the Star Ocean 2 section is that it is mostly Star Ocean 3, which makes me a little sad, since SO2 is one of my all-time favorite RPGs ... and SO3 is the opposite. Thus, I avoid SO3 in general.

[Guest Pink Lace]

Iggy brought up a good one. The irony of the Star Ocean 2 section is that it is mostly Star Ocean 3, which makes me a little sad, since SO2 is one of my all-time favorite RPGs ... and SO3 is the opposite. Thus, I avoid SO3 in general.

Hey, I noticed that! Recently I posted a SO2 story lol and had to look twice since all the stories in it seem to be SO3.

[EveKnight75]

I can read anything because I can stomach anything. Scat, watersports, cannibalism, necrophilia, rape, mutilation of bodies, mutilation of the English language, girls having sex with snakes and horses, boys buggering their dogs, a 12-year-old having sex with a 60-year-old...

I'm sorry. Am I rambling? Like I was saying, I can handle anything, but that doesn't mean that I like everything. I'm not fond of wading through bad English, but it does help me find people who are looking for a beta and need one badly. I work in small fandoms, so my offers are usually appreciated.

I'm not fond of scat, golden showers, human urinals, or rimming, but the mention of it in a fic isn't going to deter me. I'd rather not read if they're primary themes, but a few acts in a fic isn't a problem. I can actually find necrophilia sentimental when it's someone humping the corpse of their recently deceased lover/spouse.

I know. I'm sick and twisted. At least I'm not a true fan of necrophilia (no offense to those who are). My kink is consensual incest between two people close in age, and even then they have to be in their mid-teens at their youngest.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

My kink is consensual incest between two people close in age, and even then they have to be in their mid-teens at their youngest.

Heh, I personally love the rape fics (depending on severity. Snuff is not my thing) and when it comes to the whole "40 year old with a minor" thing, it depends on how younge the minor is and the psychology of the situation. I like the pairing Urahara(a bajillion years old, looks to be in his mid-30's)/Ichigo(15) in the Bleach fandom because a lot of writers like to play with the right/wrong dynamics of that relationship and I like reading it.

HOWEVER, anyone under 12 I won't read unless it's a rape situation and not a PWP (I get nothing from that.) There needs to be a believable plot or forget it.

[Guest Zimarah]

I tend to avoid the F/F stories. Not that they bother me particularly, it's just not my thing. Unfortunatly for me, this eliminates most of the Sailor Moon fiction I so love. Come on people, there are boys in that fandom. *points to sig* See? I really hope that I'm not the only person posting in the PGSM subcategory forever, but I'm off on a tangent now.

So far I haven't really come across anything in a story that really turned me off. Rape doesn't bug me, but it would probably depend on how it was handled. Hell, I've written some, it can't bug me.

I can't see myself enjoying a scat or watersports story, but I've honestly never read one, so I don't really know. Beastiality doesn't do it for me either. I just don't get MPreg.

[Iggy_lovechild]

Iggy brought up a good one. The irony of the Star Ocean 2 section is that it is mostly Star Ocean 3, which makes me a little sad, since SO2 is one of my all-time favorite RPGs ... and SO3 is the opposite. Thus, I avoid SO3 in general.

Hey, I noticed that! Recently I posted a SO2 story lol and had to look twice since all the stories in it seem to be SO3.

A bit off topic, but I've never been good at PM-ing folks outta the blue. I recently took the initiative to request an SO:3 sub-cat. It's up and all the SO:3 stories have been evacuated from the SO:2 sub-cat.

[quamp]

I'm not really into M/M fics, because I'm male and I don't swing that way. I tend to avoid pretentiously angst-ridden fics, because I have enough angst in my life. I also avoid the squicky ones (vore, vermo, etc.)

This is kind of similar to a thread I started a long time ago, what warnings make you pass on a fic?

[Guest Agaib]

Ahh... Angst. I don't really much like angst. Often fics that have it can be so rife with it that they get to the point of whining. Of course, I'm sure there are good authors out there that write decent angst, I'm just not a fan of melodrama.

[NightScribe]

Ahh... Angst. I don't really much like angst. Often fics that have it can be so rife with it that they get to the point of whining. Of course, I'm sure there are good authors out there that write decent angst, I'm just not a fan of melodrama.

I think angst depends on the fandom. I wrote a Phantom of the Opera fic (canon Erik, not musical based) and the Leroux novel is already loaded with it. Let's face it, the title character is a 40+ yr old virgin, a genius but horribly disfigured, and living underground, literally. I think his middle name is 'Angst.' For that fandom, melodrama and a messed up psyche works. But I agree, too much, or written badly, can just come off as whining and annoy the hell out of you.

[StoryJunkie]

I"m so bored lately, I'll read anything. I read a really well done mpreg by FalconBertille, apparently, she's gone on to greener pastures, so the warning doesn't scare me or turn me off. I've never seen a scat, water or blood-play one. Well, I did come across one that said blood-play was involved but the author obviously did not know what blood-play was. That sort of thing wouldn't squick me either. (My brother-in-law would guffaw and say, "got your wings yet?") (and if you don't understand that, don't ask because you may really get grossed out.) (Unless, of course, that sort of thing doesn't gross you out) I read furries, vampire things, tentacle drabbles m/m, f/f, m/f m/f/m, etc etc. incest, pedophelia, rape. That's not to say I enjoy them or I don't enjoy them. I'm curious as to what sort of people are in the world and if what they are telling about is true, truth mixed with lies, or lies. Most times I'm bang on. It might take a while, but the stories that draw me to the truth, or make me wonder: "Could that have been true?" I find out later that yes, indeed, although mostly fictional, this story was based in truth. I guess i'm on a search for truth. Yikes! like Mulder!

Many people put themselves into their work, and I am intensely interested in that person and what makes them tick, and what sort of lives they've led, and what kind of experiences they're drawing upon, and how old they are, and what kinds of things turns them on. More importantly, how they view themselves and the world.

[Guest Altari]

Anything that says 'Yaoi' or 'M/M' in the title. I know it's nice to warn, but unless the series seriously lends itself to the idea (Like Nighthead Genesis, or even FMA to a large degree) it's just stupid. I don't usually read AU or 'So and so is the most popular girl in her town and so-and-so is the quarter back' These are characters who are 40 years old! Or from the 1500s! Or from the future! Make up your own characters and create an original.

As a personal preference, if I read a story where the author chops things up with little squigglies or dashes, I'll stop reading. Example below, not a real quote.

The rain fell on the roof, singing her to sleep as she watched over him. Her last thought, drifting to rest, was if he would be closer to living in the morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~THE NEXT DAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.....

Sorry...that just ruins a story for me. I'm literate, so if you've done your job as a writer, I can tell if it's changed times, scenes, or characters.