ASPD is a lot like saying "the cold is the same thing as the flu". Sure, a lot of the symptoms are the same, but one can be far worse (have more symptoms) and have a much larger impact on a person's life and their mental state. And once again (This is, by the way, the third time I've pointed this out) there is no medical/psychological definition for sociopathy. If you want to learn anything about psychopathy/ASPD interplay, look up Robert Hare (link for you lazy sacks).

ASPD affects about 25% of the population to some degree, psychopathy is MAYBE 1%. To be honest it just sounds like your teacher was completely clueless (And really shouldn't have been teaching about something as complicated at psychopathy/ASPD) if he couldn't tell the difference between the two.

 

Okay, this is gonna be a long post.
Firstly, a few minor things : OP trunks, bashing, Nice!Draco/Voldemort/Snape/lucius, any pairing with Draco/Snape/lucius/Voldemort, Severitus, Harry/Hermione, overly helpful goblins (this one really pisses me off), and a few others I've probably forgotten...

But now, onto my main peeves, which I don't think anyone else has said yet.
Firstly, when super!Harry- with virtually no training - beats Dumbledore in a duel. (generally in manipulative!Dumbledore fics)
Ok, Harry is a super powerful, OP, demigod, warlock, mage now (and probably an heir to at least 3 houses.)
This doesn't mean he can defeat someone with way more expirance than him.
Dumbledore has had over a hundred years more learning, training, and general knowledge than Harry. He might have less raw power, but he's honed the power he does have to perfection.
He would have far more spells, know how to use those spells in a duelling environment, and just generally have a better knowledge of how people act and react in an actual fight. Harry has had barely any actual expirance fighting in these stories, whereas Dumbledore certainly does.

Next, a relativly minor peeve: incorrect use of a Skele-Gro. Skele-Gro is used for regrowing bones- not just fixing broken ones. in so many stories I see Harry having to take it for a broken arm, when it should only really take a healing spell of some sort.

Thirdly, stupid Dumbledore. I'll admit, I actually like a manipulative!Dumbledore in certain fics- but only sometimes, and only if its done well.
What really pisses me off is when the story is constantly telling us how smart and cunning he is, and then making him a total idiot.
For example, Dumbledore leaving Amelia Bones in charge of the Auror office.
A Dumbledore who is willing to do anything to achieve his nefarious plot would not leave someone like Amelia in charge; she's far too strong willed and independent.
Also, when he gives Harry detentions, is constantly annoying him, and just generally being a total idiot.
I really wanna read a fic with a smart, manipulative, cunning Dumbledore that actually understands people.


There's a few other things, but I cant be bothered going over them

 

I'm pretty sure you mean Skele-gro, not Polyjuice.

 

"I wwas hoping you could provide a XXXX," said Harry.

"Of course the Goblin Nation can provide XXXX," replied the goblin before adding with a smirk. "For a price, of course."

"Of course," Harry replied with smirk.

Yea, the goblins not doing anything for free sounds right, but unfortunately they nearly always use almost these exact three lines every time Harry wants something off the goblins - down to the smirk. It annoys the shit out of me.

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Also, Reptile3607, would you please learn to use capital letters and basic grammar?

 

Actually made me laugh out loud.

I'll have to check out some of those authors and see if I can get past the hang-up. It just sounds weird to me right now, but that's probably because I'm only really read 3rd past.

 

Wow... My brain actually hates me...

Also, sorry, that post was written in a hurry- I'll fix it now.

 

Word "Ward". It has been bothering me for some time now, but now when I see it I just can't help it and facepalm and mentally count to ten to calm myself. There are multiple reasons why I hate this fanon idea, but these two are major:

1) Wards are fanon, and are becoming cliché.

2) The word "Ward" has not been properly defined. I noticed that it is used to describe many spells, but its function varies from story to story. Sometimes it seems that authors themselves don't know what they are saying. When someone in a story says "Protego", it's automatically ward. Muggle repelling charm? Also ward. Silencing charm is sometimes ward too. I could continue on and on.

I think it would be better if authors stuck with proper canon terms. I am not against novelty, but I think that Wards do more harm than good. To call everything ward is not even simplification, it's just lazy thing to do. Looking spells up using Google is simple enough, and new spells should be classificated into already existing terms.

 

Pretty sure people started using wards to describe the magic used to protect static positions like buildings and such. I'm not sure you should call them cliché because some idiot has started to use the term for every type of magical protection including the shield charm.

Personally, I like the non-canon concept of wards because it means that protecting a building magically is more complex that standing there and cast a few charms at your house. With the ever so fanon popular 'rune warding' you need to design them, design the layout, do a whole heap of maths, carve them into runestones and then place them in a protected position. I guess it's my inner engineer that likes all that planing and complexity rather than kind of lame wand-waving protections. It also means the runes are magical rather than the (boring) canon 'you learn ancient runes to read old stuff' use.

On the subject of clichés, I have a pet peeve regarding DLP calling things clichéd because some idiots have reduced a plot concept to the level of a braindead simpleton. Yes, there are some concepts that are simply unworkable, used by every two-bit fanfic writer or are just dumb like asskissing/nice goblins and flanderisation of characters just so you can bash them, but so many plot devices on DLP are called clichéd because they are commonly used wrongly or poorly.

Quite a few DLPers start shouting 'cliché' as soon as someone uses Manipulative!Dumbledore for example. Yes, it's commonly misused with idiots writing a dumb yet at the same time Manipulative!Dumbledore, or Dumbledore being outwitted by an 11yo Harry, or Dumbledore being manipulative for 'the evils' or for the 'Potter fortune', but that does not mean that that Manipulative!Dumbledore is clichéd. It just means that the HP fandom is filled with fucking idiots (surprise, surprise!) who can't write for shit.

Same goes for using rape as a plot tool. Yes, many morons out there have a character raped just to play the pity card and then have the character act perfectly normal afterwards. Sometimes though there is an actual plot reason for it and the author portrays the repercussions of the act well.

So please, find out if the so called 'clichéd' plot device is actually being used retardedly before you go shouting your head off at someone posting X and Y story.

 

The biggest problem with "warding" being a separate discipline from Charms and Transfiguration is that it means that Hogwarts' education is no longer a comprehensive grounding in all the major areas of magic. Even if you make Ancient Runes class amount to a warding class, that's still a huge problem... if Ancient Runes had that much utility, it'd be a compulsory class.

 

From google:

It means exactly that. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't know about you, but I've seen it in every other story or so.

 

I always imagined it as a speciality discipline whose groundwork in Arithmancy and Runes. It's like engineering; you don't learn it in school but you learn the groundwork (maths, physics) in high school.

It's not something that most people would ever use just like most people won't ever do engineering so it's not taught in the equivalent of high school.

Regardless, everything here is made up and has no basis in canon.

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Eh, can't argue with the definition. I still think many of you throw away good stories though. Your loss, I guess.

 

Was trying to find some Skyrim fics to read today and damn did I get annoyed.

For some reason authors have to make the MC a member of at least 2 guilds, on top of being the god damn Dragonborn. I can understand, and easily accept, the DB being in The Companions if a warrior, or the Mage's Guild if a mage, but both of the above? On top of being busy saving the world? My suspension of disbelief becomes severely strained.

That said, the above becomes actually palatable when faced with the Thieves Guild, which apparently every author is completely enamored by. I know they had the best plot out of the guilds and all, but why would someone who can breath fire, knock over houses and shout down dragons from the sky perform some petty pickpocketing at the behest of a random guy, and then join an entire guild to do more of that? Or hell, why does the character have to be a Dragonborn to join the guild to start with?

I guess I just wish there were decent (non-novelization of the events) fics that actually took one of those paths and wrote it out with deviation, instead of cramming as many guilds on top of being the Dragonborn.


tl;dr - authors not separating the gameplay elements from story telling

 

...wat.

As someone who has never played Skyrim, what I'm gettin is that people are writing out the game in novel form and throwing in a completely OP main character?

This probably would have fit in better over on the other fandoms board, but yes, overpowered main characters are annoying and dumb (outside of crack/comedy fics).

 

Lately, I've come to love stories with OP protagonists - the obvious hang up being they have to be good.

Underdog stories have been done to death. As have stories where the protagonist has to wrestle with their power physically/ literally corrupting them.

I dunno. It just turns out that powerful and badass protagonists tend to spawn better villains.

Any similarities with Dresden in what I've said is purely coincidental...


Honest!

 

But if the villains have a commensurate amount of power, then the protagonist isn't actually OP.

 

It's that thinking that is my actual peeve.

The thought that villains are ranked solely in terms of some arbitrary value - i.e. power level.

To me, better means smarter.

 

This is petty, but I dislike it when stories have Neville be Harry's best friend (or god forbid some sort of blood brother or whatever). I don't know why I dislike Neville, but I'd much rather have him not be in the story or be an extremely small part of it than have him play the sidekick role.

 

You're obviously deluded, and don't know the greatness of Lord Longbottom

 

I think it's a bit of an ugly duckling thing. Authors feel bad that he's fairly incompetent so want to show that he's more than that.

Which completely kills his character, you now have an OC called Neville Longbottom.

 

Have/of and wandering/wondering
Example: I would of gone wondering down the halls of Hogwarts but I'm not a wizard.
For some reason these two grammatical errors rankle me more than most. I think it has something to do with the fact that it's the native speakers that screw up. Especially the first one. It can't be that hard to know the difference between those two, right? I know some people prefer to slur their speech as much as possible but it's just so weird as someone who has English as a second language that you would make this mistake.