[ SECRET POST #3261 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3261 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________


11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.











Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 052 secrets from Secret Submission Post #466.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

It annoys me when every single female character between age 15 to 50 gets a physical description that includes something about her breasts. Even when she's not in a sexual scene, she's just... I don't know, at work or something. You never read scenes that go like:

Joseph Josephesson stood up from his desk and stretched, the fabric of his pants pulling tight against his crotch to reveal the generous bulge of his cock underneath. He'd thought law school was hard, but being on the fast track for partner was worse. He couldn't remember the last time he ate a meal that wasn't out of a styrofoam takeout box.

What things bother you?

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[lady_dragoon]

Typos. Nothing will tear me out of a published work faster than an obvious typo.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[cenobitic_anchorite]

Eh. I have a flexible attitude to this. I mean, I understand the dislike and it's your thing, but sometimes shit happens and things are written by fallible humans. If it's a small typo or even a lost letter on the end of something, no big whoop. (To me, anyway)

If I'm going to have a line in the sand, though, it's going to be the you're/your style glitches, or shit that should have been looked up before someone tried to spell it.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Tbf you do see a ton of descriptions of abs or arms or chest for men as well as description of height to the exact inch which women never get. The body parts are there, they're just different ones depending on gender.

Both annoy me.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

But we're talking specifically about describing secondary sex characteristics in situations that aren't about sex, or a doctor's appointment where you're getting a breast exam, etc. General descriptions of a person's build, I can understand. But you don't see the same level of sexualization for male characters that you do for female characters.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[herpymcderp]

Unless Joseph Josephsson has a 12 inch flaccid penis...

But seriously. I only find those descriptions pertinent when they're in-character or meant to imply that the character constantly staring at tits is like... a date rapist or a run of the mill horndog.

What bothers me is purple prose in published fiction. If you're using two or three adjectives for every single thing you describe, it's time to cut back.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Joseph Josephsson belongs to the same imaginary gene pool that yields women who are slender except for their double D cups, which are perky even without a bra. ;)

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Agree with you on that! Unless the breasts are important for some reason - like the character is specifically dressing in a very sexy way and she's thinking about how her breasts look. Otherwise, it's definitely weird. Especially when it's done with teenage girls.

Honestly, I hate manic pixie dream girls, and women who have no aspirations besides to support the male love interest, and never speak to any other women unless it's about said male love interest. I know, that's pretty generic, but it happens ALL THE TIME.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[dethtoll]

SEX SCENES

SEX SCENES SEX SCENES SEX SCENE

SEX SCENES

They make me SUPER uncomfortable and I find them weird and unnecessary and not at all titillating (or romantic if that's the intent.)

I only feel this way about otherwise non-erotic published work, though. Also movies. Stop boinking and get back to the story, you asstanks!

Also games, too. I'm that jerk who doesn't romance anyone in Mass Effect because HELLO? HOLY SHIT LOVECRAFTIAN DEATH ROBOTS FROM OUTER SPACE

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[lady_dragoon]

That minigame in God of War 3 was fucking hilarious, though.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I know, right?

I mean, I've gotten used to it, and there are cases where it can kind of work. But this is probably the most ridiculous thing about non-juvenile science fiction. When I was a kid, I loved I, Robot, and then I tried reading Asimov's novels...just dripping with sex and other bodily functions. There's an interesting scene in a bathroom, I guess. It was annoying.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[cloud_riven]

"I'm that jerk who doesn't romance anyone in Mass Effect"

Huh. Whenever romance options are presented to me, I've never thought to not take them. I mean, sure there are the weird games that practically punish you for not shacking up with someone (Harvest Moon series and Fire Emblem Awakening come to mind), but now I kind of wish I had taken the asexual or celibate route at least some of the time over what I normally play (ie: the mc going all around the block).

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

I hate sex scenes too, but I love romancing characters in video games, haha. I'm just into it for the romance itself instead of all that ridiculously awkwardly-animated sex.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[a_potato]

I'm that jerk who doesn't romance anyone in Mass Effect because HELLO? HOLY SHIT LOVECRAFTIAN DEATH ROBOTS FROM OUTER SPACE

I feel like romance (or close friendships, or anything else one might develop if one is not romantically inclined) is even more important, and more vital, when Lovecraftian death robots from outer space are on their way. It's pretty easy to give up when the world is ending and the odds of stopping it are slim to none. You need things to live for, even if those things seem frivolous or selfish.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

What you said. I've dropped series because I was tired of getting a sexiness report on every damn woman who appeared in text every time she showed up.

I also really hate 1st person books.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Overuse of lingo the author invented for their worldbuilding. It gets confusing if there's too many different terms, or sometimes it's just annoying if there's one or two words that keep getting used over and over, because the author thinks the word they invented was just that clever. My worst example for that one is the Uglies series with "bubbly-making" (supposed to be future slang for cool, awesome, etc.)

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[philstar22]

I agree with you. It is especially bad when the POV character is female and straight. Women generally don't talk about breasts, either their own or other women's, like that.

Also 1st Person. It just doesn't work for me. Ever.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Obsessive brand name dropping in narratives where it's not important: Katie slipped into her Victoria's Secret pajamas, stretching out on her Chesterfield sofa while she sipped her favorite cup of Starbucks coffee. Dammit, writer, you couldn't come up with any other descriptors? How are you published and I'm not? >:(

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Now I want a book that is non-sexy and deadly serious the whole way through but constantly describes people like you described Joseph Josephesson.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[feotakahari]

Typos galore. I once read a fantasy novel that averaged one typo per page. (I forgot the author's name, but I remember he falsely claimed that he was an Olympic level fencer and that Ben Bova read and loved his work. Bova had never heard of him.)

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[th0rns_n_r0ses]

Bad writing.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[a_potato]

I have to agree with you, and would expand that to include overwrought descriptions of women in general. There are so many books where every single female character is described in lurid physical detail, whereas the male characters are described sparsely and more in terms of traits and attributes.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Awkward cliffhangers that are setups for the sequel.

Books that go nowhere and do nothing because they're part of a series.

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

When a female character describes herself as plain, but all the descriptions about her are positive. Like if she is pale and plain, the description would say she has a "delicate porcelain complexion with apple red dusted cheeks".

Re: Things you hate to see in published fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Informed traits. I hate when authors state a character is "smart" or "kind" or whatever because it's rarely ever shown.

This applies to all writing, but when a character is described as "nice until someone upsets them" like it's something unique to the character. Or when the same is used to erase flaws, like "easily panics but keeps calm during stressful situations", so it's not actually a flaw. I've seen this so many times it's seriously starting to bug me.