Aaaaand then I hit the Back button

amanuensis1 has just written up a list of "Things That Will Make Me Skip Over Your Story." I can't resist.

1. Foremost in my mind at the moment, as I stagger, reeling, from Sushi's fest story (which I'd really like to read, as I'm sure it's excellent): If it's posted in a light color on black. Sorry. I can't be seeing dark phantoms of your words in front of my eyes for the next hour. (There are sure to be some excellent stories on Walking the Plank, too.)

2. Lucius/anybody. Personal quirk.

3. An author's note that apologizes in advance for ignorance and bad writing. I once read a story with an author's note that said, "You may notice problems with tense consistency, character development, plot development, and story continuity." My response to that is: I know an easy way to see to it that I don't notice any such thing.

4. WIP, unless I personally have observed you, the author, finishing previous WIPs within two months.

5. I'm fond of Harry/Snape, so I'll put up with a certain amount of Conversation and/or Soliliquy Justifying Why It's OK For Us To Have Sex, Even Though You're My Student And You Only Reached the Legal Age Of Consent Day Before Yesterday -- At Midnight. But only if there's at least the same word count of actual sex.

6. Oh, and if one of those Reasons Why It's OK is "He's/I'm not a child. He's/I've never been a child," you lose me.