Ehhhh... hm, well I don't like it when Ginny goes all out emo. Also when everyone seems to hate Ginny for no particular reason. (i.e.- family, trio, friends.) When Draco suddenly talk's to Ginny for no reason at all, or they get paired up in potions. It's been done a thousand times, get something new please! Okay... also fic's where Ginny's a s***.

~LuvNikki~

OT: Thought it was kind of funny how a lot of people pointed out that they didn't like Ginny as the Late Bloomer or as the one who dates a lot of guys to get at Harry. Too late for that since JKR made it canon.

Back on topic...

Nice!Draco: Ugh. That's not the Draco I see, much less hear when I read a fanfic. He's a stuck-up prat. I can see Ginny softening him a little, but not that much.

Buddy-Buddy!Draco: Let's get something straight...he is not best friends with Ron. Despite the fact that he is with his sister, they are not friends nor will they ever be. Tolerate each other and maybe some light banter, yes, but spending more time with Draco than Harry? Never in a million years.

And this is just a writing thing, but poor characterization and grammar. I hate erratic behavior unless it is for a reason. These two things make me click the "Back" button, pronto.

i found another thing...dunno if its been said though

i find it repulsive, sickening, nauseating, terrible, horrifiyingly, annoying when Ginny runs around after Harry but everytime that she looks at him she blushes and runs away, and even the prospect of her having to talk to him scares her sh**less. its just unbelievable. and i scream and shout at the computer yet 5 minutes later i'll find another one!

gggggrrrrrrrrr

NiceandSuddenlyRedeemed!Draco.

Okay, he saves Harry's life... he's not going to start acting all buddy-buddy with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Ginny Sue.

'Nuff said.

Miss Mady

1) ManWhoreDraco – I think his mother raised him better than that in all honesty…I can see him as a bit of a womanizer, like a flirty kind of guy, but not someone that sleeps around. How would one go about that in Hogwarts anyways? It seems to me the teachers would catch on to the idea that they have a bunch of hormonally charged teenaged co-inhabiting a building for then months of the year. There is magic people, I think there would be some kind of wards up so that people can’t *sneak off* to *empty classrooms* and have hot monkey sex. Snogging is okay, but I think anything more than that is seriously pushing it. How many broom cupboards are in the hallways of Hogwarts? I think Draco is a prat, but also raised to be a gentleman. Yeah he bullies, but if he actually courted/dated a woman I think there would be a level of respect there.

2) *suddenly* stunning Ginny. - Canon states that she had been becoming progressively more attractive as the years went by and by book six we know she has had at least 2 boyfriends and that there are a lot of boys in the school that think she is “pretty”…there is therefore no need to make her into some caterpillar-butterfly story. Yes, girls will go away for a summer and come back with breasts sometimes, but more often than not, they grow them year round and you don’t notice under their uniforms and robes until some possibly occasion where she is wearing something that would display them better. That does not give anyone the excuse however to have Ginny dress up like a s-l-u-t for some reason to make a focal point that he has boobies. Guess what boys and girls? When girls become big they get these things called “breasts”…it happens for god sake, don’t make a big deal out of it.

3) Ginny that acts un-Gryffindor like, or Draco that acts un-Slytherin like. - People, they were sorted into their houses for a REASON. Yes, I’m sure Draco can so something courageous, and I’m sure Ginny is capable of being a little sly, we see the terrific-trio do some pretty questionable things throughout the books themselves, but writers seem to need to be reminded that Draco will be a Slytherin no matter what and Ginny will be a Gryffindor no matter what, so their characteristics need to *predominantly* reflect that.

4) Overly pretty Ginny/Draco- Okay, see, canon suggests they are both good looking. Play with that, but people please, save me the longwinded descriptions about how beautiful Ginny is. I know some of you must be living vicariously through her and are thus tempted to make her everything you are not, but highlight and delete all that crap just before posting to save us poor readers from your pathetic delusions, alright? I’ll admit I have a soft spot for a hot Draco, and since the HP books are told from Harry’s perspective I don’t think there would be much canon in there about just *how* good looking Draco is, so I think a lot of that in fanfics is based off the Movies, how much one likes Tom Felton, and how much one likes his character in general. Make Draco hot, but don’t make him a gosh-darn pimp of Hogwarts (note hate #1) it is not realistic.

5) Fanfictions based off of no canon and seem to just be an excuse to write/read s-m-u-t – darn it people, be creative perverts for crying out loud so as to at least have ONE redeeming quality!

Okay, that's my rant on the matter. Nothing too new or profound was said.

The cliché I simply cannot stand is when Draco and Ginny are passionately snogging in the first or second chapter. I highly doubt that Draco would even think of any thoughts like that towards the "Weasel's" little sister. I want their relationship to progress and grow throughout each chapter. Some one-shots are exceptional, but only if they are believable.

I also cannot stand nice Draco too. I agree that he can be tolerant, civil, and show some sympathy every now and then like every descent human being does, but not go overboard with kindness and nobility. I absolutely cannot stand OOC stories.

im sorry but i feel like kicking things when you read a story and its like a page of non stop words...with no breaks in between. come on people, my head hurts after reading the 1st couple of sentences!!

i also dont like it when ginny has temper tantrums at every turn, like draco was talking to pansy and all of a sudden ginny's crying and wondering whether draco loves her or something along the lines of that

I'd have to agree with the 'Does he still love me" one.

I can't stand weak Ginny. Read the books people, she is a strong character, not some little miss running off to cry because Draco laughed at her. *sighs*

I also don't like when Draco is made out to be some man-######, as RaineMalfoy said, Draco has been brought up properly, I doubt he's going to run around trying to get into every witch's pants. of course, some people really dig that, but meh, those stories are usually all sex with no storyline.

(I admit, one of my later stories I am working on has Draco as a ladies man, but there is a reason for it and it is not all sex and no storyline, hehe.)

My least favorite is when Draco becomes completely good, and it turns out he was really like that all along and only acting. Uh, no. I actually prefer evil!Draco/evil!Ginny. Either way, though, he's still going to be Draco. Even if he loses his prejudices (and it is more than likely that they'd stay at least in part), he'd still be something of a jerk. That's just who he is.

Another is when either of them is weak and totally dominated by the other. I see the D/G relationship as one of equals. Their both strong and often would vie for control of the other.

i agree here.
Draco is a bigot...that isn't just something you just "aren’t" anymore.
i write stories where he struggles to remind himself to NOT be a bigot, like, his first reaction would be "ew, Muggle" but then he has to go "wait, no, i'm a free thinking person, not some programmed follower of someone else’s ideals and these people CAN be nice"...i think when i have my Ginny character snap at him for coming across like a bigoted prat he says something along the lines of it being "hard to rewire how one thinks"...

and i agree that there would be very little dominating in the relationship. they are both very strong-willed Characters, though Draco seems easily intimidated, i don't see him being whipped, and Ginny certainly isn't the kind of girl to sit around and wait for a guy or put up with much crap.

So, after much struggling with fics I have decided to revive this with my new list, lol.

Too much lately I have been finding fics where Draco is ordered to make Ginny fall in love with him by Voldemort and/or Lucius. C'MON PEOPLE, WHY WOULD THEY ORDER THIS? *takes breath* Ginny is not special, (and unless they can give a good reason for it- which they never do-) it's just a terribly, horribly, bad story.

I also hate D/G fics where Ginny comes up with a proposal for Draco (for whatever stupid reason it is) and Draco accepts. There are very few fics that can pull this off, and only if Draco has already got established feelings does it work, which only annoys me more since I like to see the relationship develop.

You know, I've found that I'm starting to really dislike fics in which Harry is demonized. I mean, I understand that we dislike the canon even just a tiny bit because we all want Ginny to end up with Draco, rather than settle into a rather lazily and shoddily put together relationship, but when authors write fics and paint Harry as abusive or supremely egotistical or whatever...argh!

Oh I also don't like it when Draco has overly long hair.

Yeah, can't say long hair does it for me either.

I don't like it when Harry is made to be a prat either (unless it is from Draco's point of view, in which case Harry will always be a prat).

Yeah it's always okay for Draco to call Harry a prat or whatever else he fancies.

Ahh I have another one...when Draco and Ron are best friends. Personally, I like the comedic relief that comes with a constantly bickering duo!

I don't understand how Ron and Draco could EVER be best friends. Like seriously. To me that just ain't gonna happen. Unless of course Draco takes some happy pills and Ron somehow is enchanted to find our sexy Slytherin suddenly endearing.

I think bickering always spices things up.

I HATE it when Draco is made out to hate Pansy and Pansy's made out to just be some blubbering fangirl. He likes her, folks. He just has a dark and sexy lust for Ginny more than he does for Pansy.

Ah yeah! I love a strong, sexy Pansy who takes no BS from Draco or anyone else...I love it when they're in the whole we-used-to-date-but-now-we're-best-friends-who-tease-each-other-mercilessly relationship. I also adore a Ron/Pansy pairing.

But yeah to get back on topic...I don't really like it when authors write that Ginny can't really get a date, as though she's some frump. She's clearly a vivacious gal, people!

I think it's okay if she can't get a date, though more along the lines that she scares people off. She's got quite the character, and not everyone can handle that.

Thread revival (I know I do it a lot )

I chose:



Now don't get me wrong, there are some good fics out there that have this plot-line, but half the time they are shockingly bad and have very little realism to them. It seems in more cases that the author was just looking for an excuse to have Ginny be Draco's sex slave.

Nice!Draco is closely following in my spew list though. I detest a Draco that is too nice.

I hate it when Ginny/Draco randomly happens as a background pairing. *cough*likeitdoesinabunchofhhrpkstories*cough*

I actually get darn excited when that happens. You can never have too much D/G, and if they can pop into a story as a back pairing than I will be happy.

I do it to H/Hr all the time in my D/G fics, so I couldn't really say much anyway. Nobody likes a hypocrite

I have a problem with most fics whose authors were picturing themselves in Ginny's shoes (namely self insertion or fantasy fics). I have a problem with most suefics. I have a problem with near replicas of other well written fics, I have a problem with "sexy over summer" fics. I have a problem with BPD Draco fics, I have a problem with Sex God!Draco fics. I have a problem with unrealistic and frankly stupid plots. I'm not sure about 'argument-then-kiss' fics. I have a problem with baby fics where the baby is the reason they have to 'give it a try' (and the shag in the first place is nonsensical and crudely inserted as a catalyst for the pregnancy). I have a problem with arranged marriage fics; can you get lazier (unless it's well-written)? I have a problem with fics trying to associate themselves with Romeo and Juliet - another overused cliche (or Love Story by Taylor Swift songfics. Drive me insane, baby; I'll flip if I see another one of these). I have a problem with angst fics where the only reason angst exists is so that one can comfort another; get creative. While I'm not against the idea, come on. It's so overused. I still love D/G despite everything I have problems with, which constitutes about 80-90% of all D/G fics I see on FFnet. For the sake of simplicity, I'll just list the rest of the bad cliches I don't like.

- "Let's get back at our cheating partners"
- Sex Slave "If you want this from me, you have to let me shag you, because frankly that's the only thing you can offer me, Weasley."
- Attention Seeker "You're the only one who noticed me! I'm tired of living in the shadow of (insert name here)"
- Sudden, inexplicable attraction "And so one day she caught my eye..."
- Sudden, inexplicable change. This includes: Dark Ginny (if this is explained and justified, then sure), Nice!Draco (This is just going too far) Bashful/Abusive/Clingy Harry/Other Boyfriend (destructive, even) Pansy and Ron bashing and character bashing in general.
- Destiny that causes inexplicable changes: "They're meant to be together!" "She was never meant to be with Harry. (Because I said so)" "Written in the Stars" (Only try it if an author is frankly going to put some thoughts in this concept, or else, no-go)

Give any of these cliches a decent amount of thought and creativity and I think most of them (I'm still reserved about the 'inexplicables') can make realistic and moving stories with good plot and character development, but more often than not the author falls short of my expectations.

RE: baby fics, I have a problem with baby fics in general. I don't know why, but no matter what fandom, no matter what ship, I just don't like to read about babies or kids in general. I don't really like to read about the domestic quirks of married life, either. Or marriage in general. I don't know.

Also, YES. I hate character bashing!

It's funny you say that. A lot of my later fics have involved marriage and/or kids, but I think that is because I myself am at an age where I'm thinking about it and am constantly surrounded by it. Plus, I'm over the 'school' stories. I'm definitely at the post-hogwarts stage, and I think there's only so much you can do with that without slipping into OOC and 'contrived' storylines.

To be honest, I think every fic in some way becomes a cliche. The fact remains that there have been so many D/G fics written that it's impossible not to sound like you're re-using someone else's idea. The trick is to make it your own and stay clear of the cliches within the cliche, if that makes sense. Not that I'm saying I always succeed with that, but I do try.

Still, I'm generally satisfied with everything as long as it is written well. Poor writing really is the bane of my existence when it comes to D/G fics.

Yeah I can make exceptions as long as the writing is excellent, of course.

But I'm a huge fan of looking at Harry's generation post-Hogwarts, when they're young enough to explore everything the future has to offer, working out their careers and their dating lives without being bogged down by too many obligations. Though I think it's all down to my personality - I'm heavily anti-relationships, marriage, kids, etc. I'm the perennial bachelorette.

And yeah, the cliche thing is so difficult to avoid. Heck, I know I fall victim to it more than I'd like. Sometimes I wish I'd been around the fandom back in its early stages. I only started writing fanfic last year, and it feels like no matter what I come up with, I've seen it before, ten times over. This is why I will not be a professional writer, ever.

Anyway, somewhat related to the character bashing issue...I really dislike fics where Ginny only gives Draco her attention because Harry's died. I don't get why it's not reasonable for Harry and Ginny to break up amicably.

OMG, I KNOW!!!!!!!

Seriously people, why can't Harry and Ginny just break up and still be friendly? I think there is enough history between them for the two of them to get over it if they ever did.

You know another thing I really dislike. Just because it is the Slytherins being brought into the focal point, they have the Gryffindors as more stupid than usual. Don't get me wrong, I have fond irritation for Ron--who I really do think is an idiot, but love him anyway--and Harry is just CAPSLOCK "WHY ME", which can get really old, and Hermione is just, well, Hermione. But why, why do people have to exaggerate them to these terribly OOC horrible characters just because Ginny finds herself liking Draco? Even worse is when they have her suddenly hating everything about them.

Hrm, I'm getting into a rant, so I'll stop here.

Oh my gosh, yes! Like where Ginny gets with Draco, and so then she gets all chummy with the Slytherins...but then they end up turning her against the Gryffindors, who are somehow transformed into these total idiots. That kind of characterization doesn't make any sense!

And aw, concerning Ron...I don't think he's an idiot. And not just because I love him and Rupert. But he beat McGonagall's chess set, which I think is pretty amazing. And throughout the series we continue to see him rout everyone in chess. Maybe I just have a predisposed obsession with chess, but I think that's Rowling's way of sort of showing that while Ron acts like a doofus sometimes, he's really quite capable in many ways. Y'know, how chess involves so much tactics and planning and cunning and stuff that is easily applicable to the real world. Or something. I love using chess in my fanfics, what can I say.

So, yeah. My two cents about Ron. He's emotional - overly so a lot of times - but I don't think he's stupid.

Haha, by idiot I don't mean as in stupid in the head. I just find him very immature. I still like him as a character though, but I do admit he gets on my nerves more than most.

I've also decided that I dislike it when Draco is too nice. I've never seen him as pure evil, but when he's made out to be this really thoughtful and nice guy it just makes me want to puke.

Yeah as I read over my post right after I submitted it I was like "I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean Ron's stupid in the head". But I just wanted to wax poetic about him for a bit.

And oh dear, I definitely second what you just said. I've seen fics where Draco's so sickeningly sweet it makes me want to vomit. I mean, come on! Draco would want to banter! He'd want to insult some people! He wouldn't be strumming a lute and serenading Ginny beneath her balcony. Unless, of course, it's a crack fic or something.

Hahhaa. I have to admit, those crack fics can be pretty funny. I think I'm almost due to write one of those.

Lol, I'll forgive you for waxing poetical about Ron. It's not very often we actually get the chance to go on a righteous rant about a beloved character. No one comes in here to disrupt our peace, so I understand you have to take the crumbs when they're given to you

And yes, I agree (er, with myself again?). I just can't see Draco turning over a whole new leaf. I don't mind him being redeemed, but nothing will stop the bantering, or the attitude. Just picturing him all fluffy and nice and, ugh, *shudders*. No, it just won't work.

On another point, which I may have mentioned before but am too lazy to read back and discover, I hate it when Ginny goes all 'bad girl' and starts hating her family, etc. I just can't see her doing that. To me it's pushing her character just a bit too much into OOC. We all have a bit of leeway to meddle with the characters, but that one certainly is pushing it.

Argh, that is so true. I've seen so many fics where Ginny goes all bad-girl and goth and stuff and it's just...odd. Like, really? Really?

And yeah, when that leads to Ginny hating her family or them mistreating her or whatever. Urgh. It just doesn't make any sense, fanfiction leeway or not.

I also hate when it's not just the Weasleys who are painted in a bad light...but Hermione! I've seen so many fics where Hermione is this high-and-mighty snob who has Harry and Ron twisted around her finger in the worst way possible, and she's all manipulative and girly and...treats Ginny like a little kid. Y'know, she wants Harry and Ron all to herself, and so Ginny ends up being a loser who can't get a date and she's drifted away from her own brother because of Hermione. WHAT. WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM?

I KNOW!!!!!!

*takes deep breath*

But seriously, what is with that? We know Hermione's character very well from the books. I hardly think she's going to be acting that way. I just don't get where these people get these things from.

Oh, and at the goth thing, yes, I've noticed that those fics tend to have her go goth. It's either that or she becomes a total tart.

Or, what's even worse, a total goth tart.

I am so glad I was not eating or drinking anything when I read that.