IMO it's the same as with gay relationships — just as many authors write a slash story because it's fucking "cute", so do many people write ace/aro (and/or disabled MC, etc), because it's "heart-breaking".

 

Isn't the point of being ace/aro that it's not heartbraking? That the protag doesn't care?

In that case, I'm confused on why it even has to be a major plot point if the protag himself doesn't care.

 

I think it might be popular simply because its an interesting change from the norm that adds a point of differentiation for the character. Its a hurdle to be overcome by the character in the course of their development, and it means that the plot has to account for something different.

 

Probably been said before, but goddamn modern AUs are a plague in every fandom and they're never done well.

 

Have you read mine though

Edit: to be fair mine isn’t even the best fic of its title so you might be right

 

There's this modern AU (But not really) fic in Naruto called Ricochet which I consider to be in the top 10 Naruto Fanfics of all time (Though that's not saying much to be honest). It's not really an accurate representation but I can see how they could be done quite well.

Because while we all started Harry Potter because of the magic, I think we all stayed for other reasons (Characters, relationships, etc). What difference does it make if instead of Potions, Snape is just a Chemistry teacher but equally as much of a git? If instead of Hogwarts, it's Eton/Oxford/Harvard and Hermione got in on some kind of Scholarship and that's why people look down on her?

Another pet peeve that I'm rediscovering as I'm going through my old favourites is Uber!Rich Harry haggling the cost of an expandidble trunk for 7 Galleons to 4 Galleons. We just spent literally a whole chapter on how he gets all the wealth from all four Hogwart's founders and has Infinity Galleons but now he's pinching Knuts (Gigitty)?

 

I stayed for the magic. Gonna have to drop a big ol fuck off to modern non!magic AUs

 

I don't mind character-centric fics but if its non-magic there'd be too many differences for me to care about the characters, and one of my favourite things to look for in stuff I want to read is worldbuilding and while I do like fiction books that aren't fantasy at times, hp fanfics that are non-magic are garbage and usually have shitty plots. I've read ricochet before and liked it and I have read a few modern fanfics of other fandoms that is decent to read but 99.99% of the time modern au's suck.

 

A new pet peeve for me, too many plot segments in the same chapter. I dropped a few fics because of this. The author switches between 5 characters who are in similar situations but different places. It feels more like a chapter of snippets instead of a proper chapter.

 

I have a huge dislike for the segments where you get the viewpoint of the side character - only for them to worship the main character in praise. They are so powerful, wise, skillful, cunning, or so on.

Maybe I’m just reading terrible fanfics, but the disease seems to be spreading.

 

Thats a big problem in Worm Fics in particular, where its become a common trope to show discussions in internet forums about the new Hero who appeared, which basically is just the author writing a scene where a bunch of people discuss how powerful he is.

 

It's also a pretty big issue in terrible HP fanfics, especially those set in 4th year, being like wow Harry so smart he launched that Agni-III IR ballistic missile at that dragon.

 

PHO interludes are their own pet peeve.

 

I immensely dislike fics where Harry's first moves asserting himself involve telling Ron and Hermione to fuck off. Like whatever flaws they both have, they've stood by him through good times and bad. I don't give two shits how many galleons and magical artifacts he inherits, casting aside good and loyal friends is a bitch move as a character, and a lazy cope out as an author.

 

That's because the teenage authors of such fics think 'telling it like it is' and throwing fits until you get what you want is the height of maturity.

 

Read a RWBY story that must have been inspired by bad HP fics because the SI main character spend far too much time talking about how Ozpin should be in jail for his practices at his school. It's a school designed to train its students to survive the most dangerous profession on the planet, students who have powerful natural shielding that lets them survive all sorts of horrific injuries, and here the SI us whining about comparatively trivial shit being too dangerous.

 

To be fair that is kinda the fault of the show itself for pretending Ozpin is morally grey, even though he has literally done nothing morally ambiguous at any point. They even pretended that he did something horrible to Raven and Qrow, by giving them a super power without any downside, even though he gave them the chance to say no.

 

Haha I am guilty of that. Unfortunately there's just no way around it. If you have interludes, you're stuck with it - there's no ability to edit the FF.Net chapter numbering.