I do not mean SPAG issues or things you consider bad writing/storytelling. What is something which is not actually a problem that you just don’t enjoy to the point where you would drop a fic you were enjoying?

I was considering this, because if a premise interested me in the first place, the biggest reasons I could think to ever drop it would be too many grammar issues or characters suddenly feeling OOC (in my opinion).

Outside of those or untagged triggers though… I considered how I might actually stop reading a story that goes by too fast and doesn’t let the reader explore characters’ reactions to things. Even if the characters still act like you would expect them too afterward. I like diving into characters’ feelings and motivations too much.

  • lexr86@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Massive OOC turns for established characters, or sudden tone shifts that don’t make sense in the context of the story. I don’t often mind OOC in the context of the source material but if it’s OOC in relation to the rest of the story, that’s a hard nope from me.
    A sudden disappearance of any & all smut in an M- or E-rated story once a relationship is established. Gah!
    Likewise, when pregnancy/children are portrayed as the pinnacle of a romantic relationship. I’m fine with babies/kids being part of the story but when they’re suddenly pushed as the focus, my tokophobia & childfreedom start showing.
    Apart from those, it’s mostly ongoing obvious SPAG issues.
    And sometimes poor tagging, although this is usually the case when I’m already finding that I don’t like the story. If I’ve already been happily engaged with it, I don’t really care so much about the tags by that point.

    • a_mac_and_con@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      I don’t have/want children myself, but I have no problems with them in a story. I can even enjoy them a lot. I certainly don’t like it when it is portrayed as a necessity for romance. I do like reading about people discussing if they want kids at all, whether or not they decide to have them. Much as I like reading about most relationship discussions where the characters are opening up to each other about what they want in the future.

      • lexr86@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Oh, conversations about what people want from relationships, be they friendship, romantic, family, are great! I think they tend to come up more in non-traditional relationships IRL, whereas the run of the mill “heteronormative romance equalling marriage plus kids” dynamic tends to have very little introspection/interrogation of assumptions (this is totally my opinion). It’s great to see when writers/creators bring those often ignored conversations into more traditional relationships on the page imo because they’re inextricably linked to consent.