what are the things that makes you cringe in a fanfic?

This post was not meant to bash or offend anyone, I was just expressing my opinion and let other people share their thoughts too. So if you're a super sensitive person then I suggest you to skip this discussion and do whatever that makes you happy.


So I've read a lot of fanfics for the past few years and you can say that I've read pretty much everything that exists in the fan fiction world (coughsbaekbamacoughs).

So the one of the things that makes me cringe is when the author uses unrealistic name for the oc. Like for example this oc's name is Alyssa Jung, she was born and raised in Korea, both of her parents are pure Korean and she never went out of her country before but where the heck did her English name came from? (not picking out on any specific author though) Why did the author decided to use an English name for her Korean oc? I really want to know. And if the oc was half Korean, shouldn't the author mentioned this on their author's note just to clear things up?

What about you guys? Is there any things that turn you off of make you cringe in fan fictions? Let me know in the comments below ^^
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Blu3Wind
7 years ago
@Armyster Perhaps xD
-hyphen-
7 years ago
@Blu3Wind Sounds like every single drama ever. I guess it belongs to the genre.
Blu3Wind
7 years ago
@Armyster I was more thing of the stories where u get marrid on the aecond meeting.. And it's not the arranged marriage au kind of fast and furious xD hahahahah
-hyphen-
7 years ago
@Blu3Wind That's how my relationships work... I love it how people here are like yeah this is not how it works in real life and I'm here like damn you just described my entire social life. I just like being close. Very close. It's the best when it's the second time we meet and he lets me sit on his lap while he hugs me and holds my hand and we watch a movie that's romantic but he chose it. He just liked the movie so much he didn't understand my hint. I wanted him to kiss me but I ended up staring at him and he just watched the goddamn movie.
Blu3Wind
7 years ago
Two things:
- The typical innocent clumsy liked by everyone female OC
- A relationship that goes at a fast and furious speed.. Like.. Where is the feels? How did that happen? That's not how a relationship works ^^"
taeyonggie
7 years ago
All of the things listed below and "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
hollyeu
7 years ago
@Armyster Well, if you find him delicious then go on! haha. What more can I say, right? Everyone has their own perspective :)
-hyphen-
7 years ago
@mykimnini I find my could-have-been boyfriend very delicious, not the "dirty water" but like overall. His all other body parts are also very tasty. Call me weird but that's how I am. Delicacy is real.
omgith
7 years ago
The thing that makes me cringe the most is when, during scenes, the authors write out their . "Annnnhhhg" and "uhhgggnn" and "mmmhhfff". I can't take it seriously, and it always makes me laugh XD
backtosquareone
7 years ago
BUTTERFLY KISSES. BUTTERFLY KISS ISN'T A REAL KISS WITH YOUR LIPS. IT'S WITH YOUR EYELASHES. GOOGLE IT. ASKJDAKLSJDLAJSDLKJASLKDJA
Jamless_seagull 7 years ago
Two main things that really bother me. When people write a full senteces composed of romanized korean words. Another thing that irks me (usually in idol x ocs not that i have anything against them) is how some ocs are really mary sue and the idol like immediately falls for them and their relationship and struggles are overly dramatic and djslalwjeh
Black_Listed
7 years ago
It really turns me away when authors use pictures to describe stuff such as clothing or buildings instead of using just words. Like why? Am I reading a children's book? Or are they too lazy to actually describe it? Lol.
PurpleFreak96
7 years ago
@Skurril OMG yes your last point is so true! I hate when characters seem to get over things so quickly, like the world is not that simple -.-
H_Nami
7 years ago
The only thing that makes me cringe is if I start a fanfic and it's really... typically... fanfic'y lol like the first chapter will be like 'omg oppa i love u we r in the same school , all the boys love me even tho i jus moved to korea. im also a quiet girl whos super strong and y and smart n everything in the world!!' etcetc lol I *get* why people write that stuff, it's a fanfic, you're allowed to fantasise lmao but I just can't read those anymore.
Sehuns_bag_of_Lays
7 years ago
Ah crap- I forgot to mention Harem and over used cliches. Just please don't use over used cliches. They're called over used for a reason.
Sehuns_bag_of_Lays
7 years ago
Holy crap where do I even begin.

For me I absolutely HATE lapslock. (When an author only writes in lowercase.) I don't understand why someone would do that. It ruins the sense of grammar and it honestly can make the writer look...uneducated. It annoys me that the writer can't, /at least/, use the shift key. For a title, I guess it's fine but oh God please do use the shift key while writing.

I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet, but one thing that kinda annoys me is the lack of diversity in some fics. For example, if you're writing a one shot or a story with little characters, I understand if you cannot bring diversity in s*xuality, race, etc. with the limited amount of characters in the plot. But if you have a long story with a multitude of characters, I kinda expect diversity in the characters. Take a boyxboy fic for example. If every single character was gay, then it'd be a little bit strange, right? There's always going to be that one hetero friend because the majority of the population is straight. Also, it's 2017. If you can't bring diversity with biracial and LGBT+ relationships, or at least respect them, then- just- /why/?

And finally, misuse of grammar and spelling. Google Docs, Word, and Pages underline the words you spell wrong- heck even AFF does that so there is no excuse why you should have misspelled words in you fanfics.
Aegyo_Vampire22
7 years ago
Poor grammar and writing. I studied English for a long time and everytime I see a American author writting things wrong I just cringe.If English isn't your first language ( It's not mine too), do yourself a favor and be cautious to write things as correctly as you learned.

Also clichés like : "I'm ugly but everyone in this school likes me, I'm the Heirs of the biggest company ever and I get asked to be a model all the time, but I'm so average and ulgy". And every Mary Sue ever!

People who don't know the culture of the place they are writting about, so in their fanfics all countries of the world are like USA or their own country. I'm not asking anyone to know everything about Korea or to be fluent in Korean, but just educate yourself a bit before writting about another culture. If you think you don't know enough, just make a storyline that happens on your own country.
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Skurril
7 years ago
Where to start? lmao
The usual "I'm the only girl in this all boys school and every boy likes me". Still need to find this occurrence in real life.
Messy writing; as mentioned switching between tenses. I'm tolerant if it's a non-native (as myself) but there a certain line one shouldn't cross. There are many helpful people out here who'd do beta. Grammar in general.
The typical "I'm great in everything if I just believe in myself." Please, if that would happen I'd be president by now. It's just... unrealistic. No one is good at everything. That would mean he/she is perfect and let's face it, no one of us was born perfect. Which leans straight to the typical high school fic where some boy or girl is the most popular, is known by every person in school and had has grades that sky rock, is coincidentally talented in everything sports related and admired by teachers and students alike. And dates his/her equally popular counterpart or finds interest in the grey mouse. Yeah... one can dream. Sorry, but I just can't put up with these scenarios.
Random phrases in other languages (mostly Korean), except "hyung", "noona", etc. (I use those, too). If it's not important or fits the feeling of the story I get the urge to re-write said person's story. The same goes with names as you've said before.
And the worst: sensitive topics like violence, abuse, harassment, illness. No one stays unaffected when beaten up, abused or is confronted with an illness which isn't curable or if it is, takes energy and pain to go through it. I hate statements like "I got hit but I'm fine. Gonna drink some coffee and forget about it." Sure you do. I take offensive in that. Those characters who've been abused by someone or experienced something bad in their life and are now happy-go-lucky aren't believable to me, except it is a facade to cope with their issues. If that's the case I prefer if it's been signaled here or there.
500sunny500
7 years ago
When I read my old fanfics

HAHAHAHAHA *dies from cringing too much*
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mirrue
7 years ago
-Punctuation and presentation. Come on, everyone knows we should capitalize at the start of the sentence. And please, nobody writes a story with middle allignment, unless for specific purposes. If the chapter looks messy in one look, I'll back away.

-"An average girl". Then, I found out the girl is an effing genius orphan that does tons of jobs to support herself. I've reached a point where I completely skip story with that description. I mean, if the girl is an average girl, she won't be the main character in a story.
lawliette
7 years ago
Couldn't agree more with @lasagnas
glances
7 years ago
A girl moves to korea. Like why every girl moves to korea. XD
[deactivated] 7 years ago
when people mix their flow with past-tense and present-tense
hollyeu
7 years ago
Yeah I couldn't agree more with @lasagnas at the sx part. Like some fics I found with a few cringe-y lines (at least for me) such as "you're so big and delicious". Okay, maybe he's big but where's the delicious part??? Where, where??? The sēmən isn't /that/ delicious yknow like euw euw dirty water euw XDDD
[deactivated] 7 years ago
Fics with poor grammar makes me cringe a lot tbh. No offense but usually those fics are kinda... bad too. There are too many unrealistic conversations. Those on script also makes me cringe too because it's usually along with the poor grammar package too. I'm okay with unnie, oppa, hyung, noona, and dongsaeng on stories but other words mixed along like the author / character can actually speak korean is just... a huge no to me.

There's also this... smu t fiction that also kind of sounds like a child wrote it. You know, those that seems like they have no idea on what se x is yet they still write them? those makes me cringe too, tbh