Plot devices in stories that causes one to frown?

[Echimera]

Characters acting against the information they have or on information they have no way of having, ideally agaisnt their stated and clearly shown goals.
I can live with having an offscrean phonecall if that's all that's needed, but it'd be nice to at least mention that. But if the party has the only map of the dangerous currents linked to live sensor data to find the path through the dangerous area, please don't Deus Ex Machina the cavalry in at the last moment.
Technology, magic or whatever suddenly working completely different from how it was set up before is just as bad (and even a soft magic system can have boundaries in how far it can be stretched before it becomes absurd).


A bit of a meta-example, but excusing bad storytelling, inconsistencies and plot holes because the story has a strong message to tell.
These things are not mutually excluisive.
While actually caring about the quality of the writing (and acting in case of movies, ...) may not help reinforce a message, I'd argue it at least removes unnecessary distractions from that message and also helps keeping any discussion on the message rather than the technical questions.



I don't think I've ever consciously encountered the scenario described in the OP, or at least not as out of context as described here. Maybe it's just the kind of story I read.
Even then, sometimes things happen without much setup, be it because discovering that is part of the story or because the setup is not that relevant.
What I can agree is that sometimes, authors do a really bad job communicating that time passes between scenes, which may well play into that.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I hate love triangles that don't end with polyamory.

 

[WingsOfPhantasy]

'Fake Underdog' characters that try to be 'Lowkey' for the most forced of reasons.
Look;
If it's played ironically or for a parody/comedic effect where this super-strong guy is trying to look average and weak, it's okay.
If you're introverted, shy, and don't want the pressure with revealing yourself, it's okay.
If you're on the run from something or someone dangerous to your livelihood, it's okay.
If being revealed means that you're turbo fucked because the big bad is gonna eat your ass, it's okay.
But if you do it for no reason just to prolong the eventual 'OMG HE IS ACTUALLY SO OP', it's just going to be super annoying.
Especially in plot scenarios where showing yourself and doing something could help, or make situations flow smoother for the characters.

 

[melchi]

Characters acting against the information they have or on information they have no way of having, ideally agaisnt their stated and clearly shown goals.
I can live with having an offscrean phonecall if that's all that's needed, but it'd be nice to at least mention that. But if the party has the only map of the dangerous currents linked to live sensor data to find the path through the dangerous area, please don't Deus Ex Machina the cavalry in at the last moment.
Technology, magic or whatever suddenly working completely different from how it was set up before is just as bad (and even a soft magic system can have boundaries in how far it can be stretched before it becomes absurd).


A bit of a meta-example, but excusing bad storytelling, inconsistencies and plot holes because the story has a strong message to tell.
These things are not mutually excluisive.
While actually caring about the quality of the writing (and acting in case of movies, ...) may not help reinforce a message, I'd argue it at least removes unnecessary distractions from that message and also helps keeping any discussion on the message rather than the technical questions.



I don't think I've ever consciously encountered the scenario described in the OP, or at least not as out of context as described here. Maybe it's just the kind of story I read.
Even then, sometimes things happen without much setup, be it because discovering that is part of the story or because the setup is not that relevant.
What I can agree is that sometimes, authors do a really bad job communicating that time passes between scenes, which may well play into that.

If someone bad is about to happen it is nice if there is some foreshadowing. A good example is asscendance of a bookworm. At the end of the temple arc stuff really goes down. But many times Ferdinand is reminding Myne not to be alone with the high priest. I tell my self to write like that. If nothing was mentioned about the high priest for the entire arc I probally would have been "Wait what? Who was this guy again?"

 

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan hates when the main character got kicked out of the hero party for being a useless tamer. Then he found strong animal girls and formed a strong party. But he's still not strong, he only has strong girls. And the girls are treated as his strength as they fight in his place.

Fuck that manga is so infuriating. And his smirk and wink on the cover was so annoying Ai-chan felt like hitting that face with a telephone pole. Fuck Ai-chan hates that manga so much.

 

[ElijahRyne]

When slavery, or any other form of coerced servitude such as prison labor, is seen as a good thing. Especially when the excuse for it is that their labor is so cheap that ‘we can’t not use them’, or that they sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts. That just feels icky.
Other things, a long drama that could be solved with one sentence, or if the conflicting sides just talked it out.
Nobility being a good thing, and/or it is the natural state of giving people power so there is no need to change it.
Writing a poor or mocking characterization of a marginalized group.
Romance relationships where one character has high authority over the other(s), and uses their power to force their partners into doing something they do not or would not want to.
The biggest, however, is when an underage person is paired romantically with an adult more than 2 years older than them.



…


Oh yeah, there is also the whole ’I saved you, so now you are in love with me.’ thing. It isn’t inherently bad, but typically that is the most the characters relationship develops before the victim falls madly in love with their hero. So, by the end of the story, they don’t know much about one another besides their tragic backstory, a couple of their quirks, and their goals and motivation.This issue is extremely prevalent in all of the bad harem stories.

 

[gaylolis]

i just don't like it when they go typical 'power will always corrupt' as seen in the ending of geneforge, when the MC turns into a monster after inheriting a great strength. why can't they depict one who gain power to be benevolent for once?

the other thing i dislike is when they go 'immortality is pain' like dude, you get infinite time to learn and discover all the things you couldn't if you have finite lifespan. i'd prefer if immortals just make best use of what they have, instead of wanting to die all the time.

i also dislike the ancient civilization ruined by gods cuz they're too advanced or getting destroyed without any further information. how about them becoming strong enough they could fuck up gods for once, huh? i'd also like to see them go into detail about their destruction. every great empire should fall due to a reason right? not because the author want them to.

it might also be my personal gripe, but i just dislike isekai stories that start with the MC dying from trying to save others and getting rewarded for it. i'd prefer it if they get rewarded from living a good life for themselves, than throwing it away. i can't see most people sacrificing themselves and i can't really sympathize with these 'impulsive heroes'. like, if you want to save someone, why won't you at least also consider your safety first?

i had lotta things that i hate in stories, but i'll leave at this for now.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Characters bumping into each other by pure coincidence, you get three allocated uses of it in my opinion. Then you are just a worthless author who cannot figure out how to move a story along. Try watching/reading Rent a Girlfriend and taking a shot every time a character bumps into another character by coincidence in the large city, or worse some where else random in Japan.

 

[DiscoDream]

A few emotional contrivances. Using rape as a way to garner sympathy or show moral supremacy. Using children and the abuse of them as a way to debase opponents.

Yes these things are terrible, but it seems like most authors don't understand that just making their political opponents pedophiles or rapists is not a valid way to rebuke their arguments.

Oh, another. Blatantly political work. Preaching gets under my skin, and author's here do it incessantly.

i just don't like it when they go typical 'power will always corrupt' as seen in the ending of geneforge, when the MC turns into a monster after inheriting a great strength. why can't they depict one who gain power to be benevolent for once?

the other thing i dislike is when they go 'immortality is pain' like dude, you get infinite time to learn and discover all the things you couldn't if you have finite lifespan. i'd prefer if immortals just make best use of what they have, instead of wanting to die all the time.

i also dislike the ancient civilization ruined by gods cuz they're too advanced or getting destroyed without any further information. how about them becoming strong enough they could fuck up gods for once, huh? i'd also like to see them go into detail about their destruction. every great empire should fall due to a reason right? not because the author want them to.

it might also be my personal gripe, but i just dislike isekai stories that start with the MC dying from trying to save others and getting rewarded for it. i'd prefer it if they get rewarded from living a good life for themselves, than throwing it away. i can't see most people sacrificing themselves and i can't really sympathize with these 'impulsive heroes'. like, if you want to save someone, why won't you at least also consider your safety first?

i had lotta things that i hate in stories, but i'll leave at this for now.

Yep yep, the whole 'dying to save a child' thing irks the shit out of me. I've been hit by a car several times in my life as well as playing with my neices near daily, so I can visualize the situation quite vividly. Anytime I see someone push someone else 'out of the way ' of a car, but be right in the way yo be flattened. I don't think, "wow, heroic". It's, "Lol, fucking idiot". It's like they purposefully chose the worst way to get the child out of the way, in the most un-intuitive fashion. It even draws the question of whether or not they putposefully did so, as it lacks any survival instinct. If they had time to push the kid completely out of the way of a card path, they had time to scoop the kid up and run.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Ai-chan hates when the main character got kicked out of the hero party for being a useless tamer. Then he found strong animal girls and formed a strong party. But he's still not strong, he only has strong girls. And the girls are treated as his strength as they fight in his place.

Fuck that manga is so infuriating. And his smirk and wink on the cover was so annoying Ai-chan felt like hitting that face with a telephone pole. Fuck Ai-chan hates that manga so much.

I used to read that too.

But then, I realized, it's becoming like 'Freezing', where MC's usefulness is when he is useless.

 

[Domoviye]

Rape played for cheap drama.
I have no problem with sexual assault happening in story, but it has to be for a good reason and fit the story. Doing it to show how evil the bad guy is, meh. Doing it as part of a larger overall plan and to actually move the story along a certain path, OK.

And if the MC is the rapist, I'm out, unless the MC is supposed to be an evil piece of trash. This goes for men and women.

Also love triangles. More than one person can be interested in a character, but playing it out long term and making it a serious indecision, ugh. Shoot me now.

 

[StrongArm]

I hate time skips. Especially big time skips where entire years go by.

Now i understand that you have to use the occasional small time skip in a story, so you arent writing about the MC making a snack or taking a dump or basic boring details of everyday life. But if you write a seven year time skip where your MC receives awesome training and then suddenly shows up a more mature, ultimate badass then, im gonna be pissed that I didnt get to read about that training.

Also Flashbacks do not make up for stupidly long timeskips

 

[M.G.Driver]

Helpless main female characters, who apparently cant do anything on their own.

 

[Tempokai]

MC having access to some "technique" through the system and instantly learning it, and doing it PERFECTLY. I understand if the MC had some practical knowledge beforehand, but when some beta male MC without any training and knowledge whatsoever does that it irritates me.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Does anyone else have these? I guess this is sorta me venting as a reader too but it is good to know that perspective as an author too and avoid doing something that as a reader would turn myself off to the story.

Lately, my number one annoyance is the insta-gank scenario.

Someone sitting in town -> bound and gagged in less than paragraph.

Wait... what?

No foreshadowing... not change in perspective to that of an kidnapper... no,zero,nadda, just one sentence gank and defeat.

It is frustrating, like playing a video game where the very first fight you die in. What game developer does that?

... that is just poor writing.

 

[FaustVoncleave]

I have quite a few, but since my mind is currently filled with hopes and fears for guardians of the galaxy 3, I hate it when someone gets with the clone or alternate version of their lover and it's treated like a good thing. It's not the same person they spent all those years getting to know and is pretty messed up to all three characters involved when you think about it (the lover, the original, and the replacement). And yeah, people misplace pent up feelings they have about others on the wrong target all the time, but it's not a good thing and is frustrating to watch.

 

[Gibbs505]

Helpless main female characters, who apparently cant do anything on their own.

Except lose her clothes or at least most of them!
At least it's eye candy!

 

[NotaNuffian]

Reading the replies here made me realize I have a high-tolerance in written works.

Try xianxia.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Try xianxia.

I did, but I remember dropping xianxia not because of the characters and the settings themselves, but because I keep on reading and reading and reading and reading and reading...until I noticed I'm not getting anywhere in the story (around chapters 500 to 700).

(That's in WebNovel, btw, where--afaik--the authors are forced to spit out 1k word in chapters everyday or they won't get paid their meager 'salary'.)

Perhaps it's also the reason for my 'high-tolerance' in reading online stuff. I know how hard it is to write something, that pity and understanding for the author takes over me, rather than mental self-preservation.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

I love it when the characters in my stories are fully rational emotionless machines, so when they have FeEliInGS I get turned off