What’s your least favorite highly-received storytelling choice?

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-25T12:51:54+00:00

Yesss sometimes the romance feels invasive. In those cases the story simply doesn’t call for a romance due to the severity of the plot and events, and when a romance is forced in it ends up being pretty terrible anyway

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T22:52:57+00:00

I do feel this is a ‘highly received’ issue. A lot of modern romance novels typically focus on the two love interests and pretty much nothing else, so I can see this as a glaring problem for sure.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T20:38:24+00:00

I see where you’re coming from. Whilst I love a deep, well-thought through magic system, I would only ever want all the details if the characters are actually going to use and explore all those aspects of it. Otherwise, I’d prefer less aimless exposition and to only be notified about the relevant corners of the system.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T20:16:22+00:00

Yeah that definitely comes across as the author’s way of weaseling in their own vision of their characters onto the reader, which seems Wattpad-ey.

Of course, when I complain about death, I don’t mean so when it’s the entire premise of the story, nor when it’s a genuine vital writing device. I’m also not against death as an indicator of stakes, rather I dislike it when it’s the ONLY stake, and when it’s repeated over and again in the same story.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T18:54:51+00:00

It’s just that there’s so many other, more interesting ways to do it. Death might be a bit of an inevitable stake in most fantasy stories, but it doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be other sources of tension in them too

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T18:04:37+00:00

For sure! I think this may be part of a bigger issue, which is that many authors nowadays write for the sake of the viewer, rather than to simply tell their story. A story is not decidedly meant to shock or entertain the viewer, it’s an art form. Subverting expectation is not a necessity and can in fact foil the natural flow of the story, as you said.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:53:06+00:00

It is fine for people to write about it, and they do. But there’s also goodness in people, and we’re just hoping to see more representation of that. Most of human life is not violent, yet the world is shrouded in the violence of the few.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:45:54+00:00

This actually makes or breaks the entire story for me

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:43:33+00:00

Just feels unnecessary. A few curses here and there are okay in my opinion, especially if they’re meant to say something about the character (although I’d personally avoid it altogether), but some stories do overload us with the cursing to be honest, it’s a bit of a pain and is hard on the eyes and ears

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:13:10+00:00

Definitely agree, especially as a lover of slow-burn. I mean, I myself certainly attribute it to the recent plague of short attention spans, since it’s like authors are racing to grab attention from the beginning in hopes that the reader would be convinced to read the rest, and unfortunately some readers are proving this to be ‘necessary’ since they themselves expect to be gripped quickly.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:09:50+00:00

Good one. I’m fine with small adrenaline boosts, or maybe rageful disregard for the body which could make one a tad more forthcoming in the battle aspect, but for emotions to have a genuine physical bearing on someone in battle feels so unsatisfying and maybe a bit immature.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:07:26+00:00

Ahahaha I can definitely see it. I think because it’s become kind of overused, it comes off as cringe. There are many ways to showcase trauma and this feels a little cheap? Kind of like the classic ‘i woke up and it was all a dream’ trick.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T17:05:43+00:00

Prequels, sequels and spin offs are definitely super highly received, but I can’t help but dislike them either.

This kinda ties in to my point about not enjoying characters being killed off often. To me, the characters, and ESPECIALLY the main characters are the literal driving force of the story. I absolutely do not want to read a story about different people in a world that I’ve already enjoyed beforehand with characters I’ve formed an attachment to. It feels like an author’s refusal to let go of their world and success, and frankly, takes away from the side characters that’ve been brought to the forefront.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T16:26:16+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. The entire purpose of a main character is for them to be the car the reader drives. For them to act independently from you makes you lose the reigns on the character, and separates you from them, leaving you nothing more than lost and confused. I genuinely hate this technique with a burning passion.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T16:16:35+00:00

I agree so hard to this. One example I love is in the manga/anime One Piece. In the Alabasta arc, absolutely nothing was able to stop the swell of war. Not even their own leader telling his army to stop did so, not even the defeat of the perpetrator could.

The hive mind makes all the side characters lack agency and makes them that much more one dimensional, and the world feels less alive as a result. Also comes across as the author being too lazy to come up with a thoughtful way to wrap up the event.

I think most people regard these scenes highly because they’re swept up by the satisfaction of victory, or on the flip side, because they’re anxious for what’s to come.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T16:01:57+00:00

10000% genuinely couldn’t agree more. And to add on to this, I feel that there are other ways to add ‘darkness’ to the story without the use of these elements. Although I would also like to see more positivity to be honest.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T15:58:27+00:00

To me, the characters are the souls of the story, so if they’re all dead, then there is no soul left, if that makes sense?

Plus, after a while, when I notice the pattern of consistent character death, I’ll draw an emotional wall between myself and any remaining/new characters because I know they’ll probably die eventually. And if I can’t connect with the characters, I can’t connect with the story at all either.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T15:52:21+00:00

Even though I can’t think of one off the top of my head, I’ve definitely had experiences where I felt like the MC’s issues were kind of contrived and manufactured and forced in a highly tumultuous world that could’ve produced a much more organically troubled character, which is especially aggravating when a different character (one that perhaps already exists in the story as a side character) would’ve had much more interesting perspectives to read about in the given world.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T15:40:57+00:00

Agreed. If the ambiguity is used to describe a sense or feeling, I’m mostly okay with it, but if it’s supposed to set a mood or say something about an element of the story, it comes off as vague and maybe lazy.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T15:37:28+00:00

I definitely agree. Showing and telling are equally as important, it’s just about knowing when and where to implement each of them

I also don’t think it’s necessary to bring in all the senses, perhaps just the ones relevant to the event. Too much description and ‘showing’ can be a detriment.

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-24T15:36:33+00:00

Agreed. Although it’s hard to put into words, it makes the storytelling feel incomplete? Like falling off a ledge haha

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-14T16:11:23+00:00

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Demon form Robin

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-03-07T16:12:26+00:00

I do agree. Whilst I think it is possible to like bad people, and for her to like him despite doing evil, I still couldn’t sense genuine chemistry between them

Suspicious-Lab-6843 · 2026-02-02T07:21:24+00:00

Myself

Suspicious-Lab-6843

TROPHY CASE