Discussion Plot Development that make you drop a novel

Except at that point, many times you have to wonder; "why doesn't the MC just free them?" Some novels don't give any explanation for it, and they just go on as master and slave like it's perfectly normal. Others come up with some nonsense, like the slaves begging not to be freed for one stupid reason or another (seriously, how many people would think, "I want to remain property for the rest of my life"?). The only ones I've found reasonable are the ones where the MC tries to free the slave(s), but can't because of the way the enslavement device works or some such. Otherwise there's no other explanation than the MC wanting a slave, at which point the luxurious treatment really does become suspect.

On the main point of the thread...

There are plenty of reasons I have dropped novels before, but a recent one that sticks in my mind is when it became clear to me that the author just wanted the protagonist to get in the pants of as many characters as possible (not R-18 btw, the juicy bits are glossed over) and didn't particularly care about character consistency to make it happen. The exact event was when the MC went from not wanting incest to definitely wanting incest in the course of a single chapter (and not a particularly long one at that) with the other half of the equation feeling the same way on both counts. It did not make emotional sense, and it didn't even make logical sense (though that's how the author tried to approach it) so I was done right there.

Edit:

I'd just like to point out that the whole "Wikipedia is not reputable" is an oft-passed around bit of information that is not actually true. Studies of it have shown that it has about the same number of errors as published encyclopedias of good reputation (Here's a news article discussing a 2005 study on it). The only reason it can't be considered a "reliable source" is because anyone can edit it at any time. So if, for example, you were writing a research paper and wanted to cite Wikipedia, but it didn't say what you wanted it to say, you could change it to fit with your narrative. It would probably be corrected soon enough, but for that moment it said exactly what you wanted it to.

In short, if you're looking for information, then Wikipedia is actually a great source. Just don't cite it for any scholarly documents.

*Insert "The more you know" gif here*

 

KR mc just suddenly changing his entire novel principles and does what he swore not to. As a hint I'll just say it's a game type KR

 

Tournaments. I don't have anything against having one, two, maybe three, but when whole novel is build fully around tournaments it just starts to annoy me.

To give example- "starting village/clan/sect" tournament, proceeds to bigger city/sect another tournament, then another change to even bigger city/sec and tournaments again etc. etc. after that coutry level, continent level, whole world level, group of worlds, one universe, group of universes tournament.

At some point it is just enough for me, especially if MC is forever underdog in fights and half of the chapters length is taken by crowd shouting how surprising it is that MC managed to beat sidecharacter B. Said character used whole chapter to be introduced, we even get to know that he is from some superduper local clan and have heaven defying cultivation methods and techniques. After that MC have next fight against sidecharacter C that takes another chapter to introduce, he is obviously even more powerfull than B and crowd again is shouting how it is impossible to defeat him...

Best part of this all is how all those introduced characters just dissapear into oblivion after tournament is finished to never appear again.

I also don't like idiotic villains- there are often clans/sects that existed since thousands of years ago but when you see how they are acting all you think is "Dude, how come they survived that long if all their elders and disciples just go around provoking random people left and right? Some hidden masters would eradicate their whole clan in 3 years time, so how they managed to be local power for more than 10 000 years?!?!"

 

You make no sense. And the Kul, specifically, were freed according to your excerpt, and thus you make even less sense

 

Read your excerpt, the author admitted elite slavery in Ottoman Empire was technically slavery but so unique that it should have another word to describe it,
Meanwhile he didn't explain further what criteria he used as to why it is unique nor why it needs another word to describe it,

And nowhere in wikipedia that kul were said to be freed; they were raised as if free, not unlike adoption, but their status were still slaves,
Read the subsequent sentences in the same paragraph, they're still referred to as slaves

 

I was just stating in a post a moment ago:

Plot develops into a romantic one.
A novel with no romance suddenly becomes all about romance. Like yo, we didn't pick this up for all those romantic misunderstandings! Get back to whats important!
I hate novels that have no romance tag and yet somehow make a focus on something romantic.

Novel reads like a harem novel without an actual harem
MC is always surrounded by mostly women and women are drawn to him, none of them are truly romantic with him but they are always ordering him around like they usually do in most other harems. This is mostly in Japanese novels [as chinese novels (imo) are pretty sexist and tend to keep the traditional "I am a man i take care of the woman " or "I am a man woman do as I say!" kind of mindset] and it pisses me off that the main character just cowers when it comes to these girls, not to mention the girls are always "stronger" than him but yet he has no qualms trying to fight anyone or anything else that is "stronger" its so dumb.

These Romance and Harem novels are two novels I would never read of my own volition. When these plots develop it makes me feel tricked and i feel all sorts of resentment towards the author and just end up dropping it.

 

Randomly throwing another 1 into the harem for no purpose whatsoever.

 

When there's always fucking drama and any person other than the FMC's love interest, friend or a family memeber she holds in high regard, will always be a petty motherfucker. This shit is prevalent in FMC CN novels.

 

• Amnesia that gets added in just cause Authors want to drag on or maybe writer’s block
• MC acting out of their character for no reason other than furthering the story

 

These plot developments definitely make me drop a novel:
(1) NTR/Gratuitous rape
Happens very often in apocalyptic Chinese novels like "Epoch of Twilight", "Mansion in another world". There's no excuse for it, authors must have thought they were selling erotica and that these events would titillate readers. Maybe just the sickos.
Not even sure how those novels avoided Chinese censorship laws.

(2) Pedophilia
Defined as when there are sexual relations with anything <18 yrs old, or when the age gap (mental or physical) is ridiculous (e.g. a 40 yr old getting it on with an 18 yr old). And don't even try to make excuses for your fetish with age of consent laws, etc. That's just BS.
Many examples, but the somewhat popular novels that come to mind include "Tales of Demons & Gods", "Mushoku Tensei".

(3) An insane amount of plot holes
Prime example is "Main Character hide's his strength". It makes it frustrating to read since it's constantly in the back of your mind.

(4) Hypocrisy
Prime example is "Reverend Insanity". I don't get why readers would enjoy reading MCs who are hypocrites.
That's like cheering for Ozymandias in "Watchmen". In case you don't remember, he's the self-proclaimed genius douchebag who killed the Comedian, setup Dr. Manhattan, framed Rorschach. He claimed everything he did was in for world peace, that he was the only one capable of leading humanity through it's nuclear crisis, and everyone who thinks otherwise is just delusional/naive.


Not quite a plot development issue, but I also have a pet peeve with Bad Story Structure.
Prime example is "The Novel's Extra". Makes it hard to follow and unreadable.

 

Lot of reasons have been covered by people on this thread. But let me add on more -

MC having some super-duper method/item/cultivation skill or even a proclaimed genius. And he wants to hide and keeps his mouth shut when others are "mocking" him.

But then he goes on to competition stage/secret area and instantly becomes number 1 - either by defeating the competition top dog/gaining the inheritance.

The only question I end up having is - Why? What was the need other than have a clan/sect elder/big brother to antagonize?

Couple of times it is fine but if it keeps happening multiple times, I drop the novel.

 

Good point. It's basically setting up an absurd scenario just so MC can "face-smack" in retaliation. The oddest part is that the initial mocking often occurs right in front of the MCs.
Somehow most authors think that there's a cathartic release when MC gets their revenge, and readers would enjoy it. One of the worst novels that does this is "Against the Gods". Unfortunately this plot development happens in majority of novels in some form. It's also often seen in asian movies.

It's also likely because asian culture emphasizes a lot on "face" / "reputation", hence the need for disputes to be resolved in an overly public way.

In reality, most people insidiously mock you behind your back (discussing with other people outside of your hearing), do it with reasonable assumptions (e.g. a colleague shoots down your idea by pointing out 10 concrete reasons why you would fail), and usually anonymously (internet). They are sometimes called trolls

 

Just found one more to add:

(5) MC's character inconsistency
When the MC is supposed to act/behave in a certain manner based on how he's been so far, but acts the total opposite. That just reflects bad writing by the author.
A recent example I came across was "Kingdom's Bloodline". You have a transmigrated mentally older MC (at least mid 30s), memories of past life as a top academic (likely PhD in philosophy/sociology/economics), is a complete badass and emotionally stable/cunning while witnessing carnage/being abducted/tortured/abused. But when confronted with other non-life threatening situations he becomes an emotional wreck and a whiny little b*tch. Just PAINFUL to read. And I'm not the only commenter pointing it out.
An older example I remember is "Reverend Insanity", where you had an MC who was a hypocrite, thinks he's smarter than everyone else, but illogical in his actions.

 

I think I'm getting a bit too salty typing this, sorry :///

• Hypocrisy. No, you're not cool for face-slapping, looking down or getting revenge on people when you do the exact same things you're blaming them for doing. Can you give yourself a slap?
• Dragging on when it should've ended thousands of chapters ago. It could've been a great story with a beautiful ending but was forcibly dragged on, with a drop in quality at later chapters and a loss of direction on top of that. Even worse if author turns to repetition to create more 'plot'.
• "He's smart, IQ over 5000", etc. Saying a character is something they're not. Just because it's reiterated, doesn't make it true. Actions speak louder than words. What's so smart about this dumbass that keeps doing the stupidest shit =A=??
• Other characters are repeatedly downplayed just to make MC seem stronger/cooler/smarter, etc.
• Love interests A, B, C .... Z falls for MC, whom I don't see anything appealing about, not even if I try to see from their POV. Totally okay with harems and reverse harems, but only if the MC has something that actually attracts people.
• One-dimensional or inconsistent characters.
• Love interest is selfish and has absolutely no respect for MC but MC is probably gonna end up with him/her. Sorry, really hard to find romance sweet when the love interest only cares about himself/herself, even if he/her says otherwise.
• Too much angst that doesn't serve any purpose, doesn't help progress the plot and only makes everyone go in circles.

 

I just dont like it, if our (modern) system of values is used to be the only optimal system.
Lets say we have an ancient level civilisation (e.g. at the level of ancient rome), why should a character use and enforce values of today, while the antique ones are the most fitting ones for that world? Why should an MC - e.g. in an isekai novel - use rediculous japanese values, while he's in another world, where a totally different culture exists? That destroys the whole worldbuilding part, the author did and also destroys in the same way my fun to read a novel. Dont take me wrong, if its a modern novel, its ok to have a moders moral system, as it fits to the world. Just dont use it in the wrong cutural epoch.

 

That's an interesting point.

If it's an isekai, then the transmigrated MC carries the weight of our culture, whether he intends to or not.

Agreed that just because an OtherWorld is culturally different, doesn't mean we should always impose our ideals on them. For instance it may be fitting to maintain an absolute monarchy or similar power structure, because it's a lawless era and concepts like democracy, human rights, etc CANNOT BE EASILY ENFORCED.
However, if the OtherWorld is culturally backwards, AND transmigrated MC has the ability to implement and enforce higher ideals, I don't see why MC should turn a blind eye. The MC is not an ignorant person from the OtherWorld. Our current society went through so much sh*t (anarchy, revolutions, world wars, etc) just to get to this point of advancement. It would be reprehensible if the MC chose to ignore it, or worse, encourage it (buying into the slave culture like in many Jap novels).

Of course you need to be careful what kind of ideals are implemented. America's form of democracy may not necessarily be the ideal form of governance either. But issues like basic human rights (equality, obligations, etc) should be respected, regardless of culture. I cannot think of any instance why it should be tolerated in any era/world, if the MC knows better.

Often times, these moral systems/values also goes hand-in-hand with kingdom building. There's greater incentive and productivity involved. For example, to choose to maintain nepotism or class structure (nobles vs plebeians) is to ignore meritocracy and the productivity of the masses.
A novel that directly addressed this obvious issue was "Release that Witch", although I think they went a little too far with implementing aspects of democracy. It ignored the length of time it normally takes to effect change in people's mindsets. "Dungeon Defense" was a much more realistic approach where one of the side characters took dozens of years to progressively implement their system.

 

The author introduces some idiotic xianxia development in his medioeval story after chapter 500.

Author wants to make a cool and dark antihero potagonist in the prologue but the characters keeps doing contradicting actions to his supposed avenger persona.

 

I am not sure if it's been mentioned, but I have across this many time.
The author using a misunderstanding or miscommunication to drive the story forward. It just annoy me so badly how poor of an idea this is. And they keep this problem up because MC is too busy with something else.

 

To be honest, that sounds like some kind of imperialism. What is better, will be shown by what people can live best with. I don't think, even our western democracies are truly the best form of rulership. They are just popular, because people lived in worse forms, that did'nt follow Macciavellis ideas ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince ), what a "ruler" should do.
I think there is no form of culture, that is really backward - that word in itself glourifies a form of culture, that think itself to better then another one - an imperialistic idea. Every culture or rulership has its own advantages or disadventages. Don't disregard them. As for higher ideas: Well, some people think that killing other people is an higher idea or value. You see, that this is pure nonsense.

 

Agreed that we need to be careful about what's defined as "culturally backwards". Perhaps I didn't use the right phrase, my bad, I couldn't think of another term. Luddites? Technologically primitive? Culturally less advanced? Either way, agreed that western democracies may not be the best form of government for a foreign civilization (I mentioned that in the prev post).

Imperialism is the extension of national power through acquisition/dominance (politically, economically, militarily). The spreading of ideas (whether you're a firebrand preacher, holding public discourse like Aristotle, or an OP emperor changing a state religion) should NOT necessarily qualify as imperialism. Some methods may overlap, but the purpose and intent is entirely different. You mentioned that "killing other people as a higher idea" is "pure nonsense". Other cultures think that the horrific FGM (female genital mutilation) that existed over a millennia is an acceptable tradition. These are "backwards" cultural practices, for lack of a better term. So you would rightfully prohibit these acts if you could, enforcing your own ideas on a different civilization, and no one would call that being imperialist.

I think you're trying to reference the whole Star Trek idea of the "Prime Directive", which basically prohibits interference with the internal development of other less advanced cultures/civilizations. The idea at the time (Vietnam War era) was to respect the autonomy of civilizations, that cultures are better left to their own devices and live/die by their own choices (probably a critic of US foreign policy).
However, we also know that members of the Star Trek crew (Captain Kirk) regularly violates that rule, and that the audience was left to understand that the Prime Directive is NOT inviolable.
Respecting the autonomy of a civilization doesn't mean you ignore them completely, or that you should play "God". If you had a vaccine for a civilization facing extinction, you SHOULD provide it. If you had overwhelming firepower, you SHOULDN'T put a gun to the king's head to force him to abdicate and adopt democracy. Ultimately there are some basic forms of ethics (human rights, etc) that we all agree on to make those decisions.