Why I Hate Fanfiction

Reader Inserts

Heyo the first paragraph is in reference to the library on Quotev my dudes.

To put it quite bluntly, I read only reader inserts. I'm not a big fan of crossovers and other fanfiction. Like I may read a ship fanfiction if it is of something I absolutely ship, but that is very rare. If I unprivated my library the main majority of what I heart is reader insert, and they are mainly yandere stuff.

Basically I read a shit ton of reader inserts and yandere stories. But Yandere stories is not what this rant is about, oh no, it's about god awful reader inserts.

Just like with other fanfiction you can find a gold bar in this landfill, but you'll have to sift through a shit ton of shit. To make this more organized or some dumb shit, I'll be putting in a list of my points since I have no clue if Q can handle bullet points.

1: The reader is completely unrealistic, bland, or a mary/garysue.

First off, I absolutely hate the term "Mary Sue", or its male equivalent, because it doesn't give any criticism to the character you say that about. If you want to criticize my characters, don't call them a Mary Sue, tell me what is wrong with them so that I can fix any holes in them.

I hate it when the reader is so unlike me, Like I am supposed to put myself into your shoes, and/or be you! Usually this comes with what the reader says, and/or how she/he dresses. For Example, in most Naruto reader inserts, the reader is incredibly rude to everyone, and no one bats a fucking eye. If I was one of the canon characters I would fucking bitch slap her.

I also hate it when the reader is so bland and boring, like I read these to escape reality for some time, not to be fucking reminded on how boring it is.

It is hard to create a reader insert, you have to make a character everyone can empathize with, so that they can relate to them, and not make them only rely on that or be completely boring.

2: The writing style of most/the most popular reader inserts is incredibly boring and hard to follow.

I hate it when reader inserts have (e/c) or (h/c) all over them. Like are you physically unable to write "He looked into my eyes, my hair blew in the wind.". What is so wrong with being descriptive. This goes for any story, but if you take an entire paragraph just to talk about the characters appearance, rewrite it. Space out the details, like if the story begins in the middle of class, mention the character looking at their hand, you can mention their skin tone. Have them brush their hair away from their eyes, you can mention the length and color of their hair. Have them go to the bathroom, you can mention some parts of their face when they are washing their hands. I will say this for as long as I can, show don't tell. If your character is charitable, don't say they are charitable, show them giving money to a homeless person or buying them some food.

In some cases I find it annoying if a reader insert is written in 3rd person perspective. Some people are able to pull it off, and kudos to you, but it breaks immersion depending on how you write it. Like if the narrator is a godly figure that can see everything, then it usually doesn't turn out that well. But like if it follows the main character and tells a little bit about what is going on around him/her, then it can be used as a way of creating suspense, depending on what you are writing.

3: Breaking Canon laws/rules and making Canon Characters OOC

I find this a lot in fandom reader inserts, which is why I am not a big fan of them. I understand that you want to feel powerful and shit while reading/writing a reader insert, but balance is key. Writing fanfiction is like writing a story in a preset universe, and if you start breaking rules already set up, then that breaks the illusion of being in that world.

In many reader insert fics the reader is usually paired with one of the canon characters, this can either be good or bad. It can be good if the author knows the characters and world inside and out, and can write them like in the source material. It can be bad if people have no idea how these people would work. For example I doubt that Light Yagami or L from Death Note would fall head over heels for anyone, let alone you.

Basically, if you are going to write a fandom centric reader insert, do tons of research into the characters or world

If there are other things that I can think of, I'll write another chapter about reader inserts. If any of you all would like to see me rant about a fandom I used to like or am in, or just in general please tell me! Peace out my dudes.