At least with one, you will get decent quality, though it is plagiarism. The other is original but could be shit.

 

I think it's worse when they insert a character into the mix who wasn't there originally. But instead of changing the dynamics they just divvy up a bunch of dialogue from the other characters, usually their best one-liners, and give it to the inserted character. All while everything else stays the same. This really gets to me, like, deep in my balls. Mostly due to the laziness.

I can just imagine them typing this shit out and laughing to themselves at how clever and witty they're being.

 

I once read a seven-Fic series where Harry had a twin sister... and very little changed that wasn't either pointless, stupid, or both. And I mean really pointless and stupid: Viktor Krum had a twin brother, whose sole purpose was to go to the Yule Ball with her to make Fred, who likes her, jealous. Otherwise, it was basically Canon with some extra lines thrown in for good measure.

I somehow read the damn thing to the end of 6th Year, and it took the Twin still liking Snape despite Snape literally just killing Dumbledore for me to call it quits. And before anyone judges me, I had a Twins/WBWL Phase.

 

Twins are my pet peeve in general. I have absolutely no idea why HP fanfiction is so full of them.

 

Because if they're not twins then one or both would have to be adopted for Harry and his WBWL sibling to be in the same year at Hogwarts. And they have to be in the same year so Harry can stand on roughly equal footing with the sibling when he keeps making him look bad.

 

I like the concept, but it's rarely pulled off well. WBWL/James and Lily only loving one child is an easy way to tell it's going to be shit.

 

...But why should Harry have a twin to compete with in the first place? what's the point?

It's not like it gives much in characterization. Even in relatively good twin Potters stories like HP and the Boy Who Lived the twin is usually just a one dimensional cardboard cutout - either canon Harry under a different name, or a shallower version of teenage James.

 

This kind of specific peeve and a rather pointless one honestly, since most of the fics it is in are never good to begin with but regardless: I really hate when in an AU/dimension travel fic where apparently the only difference is that "Voldemort didn't attack the Potters" and yet somehow Harry has a sister that's in Ginny's year. I'm pretty sure being born after November 1981 is past the cut off for that.

It's just a little detail but it's things like that that give me the impression the author just doesn't care about the world they're writing.

 

Because sibling rivalry is a trope and most fanfic writers don't think beyond tropes.

 

I'm really tired of what's written as dialogue, but in reality are these very melodramatic proclamations and/or thinly veiled rants from author - commonly found in works of authors like Jeconais and wannabe Jeconais.

Bonus points if it ends up in pusified!Harry whispering something deeply personal and crying, just to shift the POV to other person's thoughts, which are basically another rant about purity of pusified!Harry, for at least four more paragraphs of fluff, angst and melodrama.

This is the sort of authors that have men quaking in their boots when women shout their full names.

 

Mantel = a shelf above a fireplace.

Mantle = the shield surrounding a fireplace, blast furnace, or the earth's core to keep in the heat (or a sleeveless robe).

"Harry placed the photo album containing pictures of his parents on the fireplace mantle. Three hours later, his brand new home was reduced to ashes from the ensuing fire."

"Harry placed the photo album containing pictures of his parents on the fireplace mantel. Three hours later, he and the rest of his family were in bed safe asleep in his new house because he wasn't stupid enough to put anything on the mantle."

 

The term "eventual {insert ship here}" in fic summaries. It irks me almost as much them listing multiple Harry tropes and that the fic contains bashing.

 

Fuck you as well, author.

 

You must not be married.

 

Why? Do you go on one knee, when proposing, saying "Here's my ring and here are my balls, my dear. Will you marry me?"

 

Nah, it's just common sense. You don't anger the partner you sleep in the same bed with. You save yourself a lot, and I really mean a lot, of problems.

 

I doubt using something as dismissive as 'yes dear, whatever you think is right' will soothe her anger.

 

It's not just about your marital partner. It's about choosing your battles. What issues you care about enough to raise as an issue.

 

Depending on how that phrase is used could potentially lead to a case of sore "nuts". If the wife is so inclined.

 

That's not very good relationship when any disagreement beyond "yes dear" leads to anger now, is it?

I mean it's quite telling, that someone talks about "picking battles" when talking about relationships, but in my experience, you don't get to point where disagreement might lead to anything beyond [heated] discussion—you'd probably break the relationship off sooner than that. I mean, many - if bad - authors write the relationships as constant domination battle, where Harry is usually the more submissive partner, and using many (bad) humour tropes as 'sleeping on sofa', girls yelling full names, 'yes dears' as a normal state of relationship.

It might be cultural, though.