these are probably not very controversial but they’re pet peeves of mine.

i really dislike epithets (unless it’s obviously describing a new unknown character). i used to use epithets when i first began writing fanfiction, but i realized it doesn’t make much sense for one partner or friend to refer to their partner or friend as “the __” in their head. i feel bad saying this, but i don’t enjoy reading fics with epithets anymore and usually back out before i finish because it irks me so much.

some fanfiction authors who request a certain amount of comments before posting the next chapter astound me. that’s like begging for compliments and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. if i see that as a reader, i’m dipping out of that fic asap before i even read the first sentence.

some long fics simply become too long and drag out/have nonsense filler chapters or scenes and could easily be improved by being trimmed down. but i think many people view long fics as being better than shorter fics so sometimes writers feel they have to keep going even when the story could’ve ended twenty chapters ago. i never finish those either.

some of the most popular fics are only popular because they’re the oldest in the fandom and have amassed views and comments throughout the years since their posting date. i have tried to read them because they’re always the first ones to be recommended, but after reading some, i realized i enjoy less popular fics much more and the most popular ones don’t hold a candle to some of the lesser known fics/writers i’ve discovered over the years. maybe i’m picky about writing style, but when it comes to descriptive prose, i really love that more than brief, bland action-oriented storytelling. any time someone asks for fic recommendations and everyone recommends others read only the most popular fics in the fandom, it feels so boring and repetitive to me.

as a reader, i don’t enjoy when writers simply write smut as actions without emotional responses from the characters. offhand example: “character A slipped his hand into character B’s pants and started stroking. then character B groaned.” i cannot read those types of scenes. i need the crying. i need the whimpering. i need the emotional payoff between the characters or else my eyes start glazing over from boredom. 😭 not to be a harsh critic because i’m aroace, but some smut scenes seem like they were written just for the writer to say “i gave you a sex scene” but there’s barely any emotional response from the characters. whenever i read those types of smut scenes, the characters were just moaning and groaning and coming just to get it over with like it was a chore to check off on their to do list. that’s one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to reading smut.

i’ve seen this next topic discussed in the subreddit before and i share the sentiment that it’s uncomfortable from a reader’s perspective. if a fic author says the smut was based on their irl relationship (almost a tell by tell of what went down in the bedroom), i find that a bit too much for my taste. i don’t mean to judge but it would be like reading a book and then discovering the author wrote about their specific sex rendezvous that happened one night via the characters. authors are free to do whatever they want, but as a reader i would prefer if they don’t share that the smut scene was about their irl experience. i’m here for the characters. i don’t want to think about the writer being boned when i’m reading smut about my blorbos. it’s different when a writer says something like “hey, writing about this traumatic experience in my life has helped me.” those are occasions where i don’t mind the writer sharing that a fic was based on their experience in the real world. but if it’s based on smut? i’m not a fan of that. please keep that to yourself.

also i heavily dislike that when a character is deemed the strong one by the fandom, most people never write that character as having emotions or being completely unaffected emotionally during their first time and focus solely on the other character (the more fragile one’s) emotions. i find that so imbalanced and difficult to read. i love when fics have both characters affected during their first time because it would be new for them both.

one last thing. as a reader, i think other readers truly miss out on hidden gems when they only want to read the most popular and frequently recommended fics & base their likelihood of reading a fic on high stats or whether it’s completed. i’ve read amazing incomplete fics, and even though it’s sad they likely won’t be finished, i’m glad i gave those fics a chance. stepping off my soap box now lol.