IMPORTANT STUFF

Other things I do:

What I'm Working On Now: Chapter 3 of the Shadow King. Setup and first chapters of Nov. 16th sequel.

THINGS THAT WILL MAKE ME CLOSE A FIC.

Simple rules to follow in order to not make OCs annoying as crap...
1. Don't start the fic off with them. If the first scene is their setup, you're doing it wrong. If you are going to introduce an OC make them be introduced through your major canon characters.
2. Don't make their introduction sound anything like a Rebecca Black song. I do not need to see them getting up from bed, getting fresh, or eating breakfast. Doubly so if this is the only way you can think of to describe them. I.E. "She looked in the mirror at her two toned hair, pale skin, and trendily ripped clothes." blah blah blah. No.
3. On that note. Don't overly describe them. Unless it's drastically needed for a plot significant moment. Don't. Just don't. It wrecks pacing, is extremely obvious, and seems very, very, very vain. Not attractive, at all.
4. Don't tell the story from their point of view. They should not really have their own scenes. If they do have scenes it should be with a canon character, and then it should be from that canon character's point of view.
5. OCs do not Save The Day. They may provide a bit of information or back story that might help out the main characters, or maybe pull a switch, or do something small to get something rolling, but they Do. Not. Save. The. Whole. Day.
6. "She's an OC but she's unique!" No she isn't and that isn't a good excuse anyway. OCs are for functions. If you're trying that hard to make an OC it's for your own personal entertainment and not to actually work with a fandom. Make your own world. Use them there.
7. "Look at the woobie! She's all abused and tortured!" It's not cute, it's not endearing. It's cheap. I do think whump has a function in narratives however it's step C in the process of character development, but it's generally best played at the very end of the story so you can see that character overcome it. Generally though, just don't.
8. Just because you can have OCs, doesn't mean you should.OCs are there to communicate points, populate worlds like extras in a movie, or to help major characters from point A to B. If you can accomplish the same thing with canon characters, do it.

OCs are allies and support to the canon characters, that's what they should be. If that is not the frame of mind you are coming at it with, you really should consider writing an original story instead of fanfiction. Bads, on the other hand, follow a separate set of rules. They still do not need to take over the fic's attention, but they can get away with a lot more.

Other Assorted Pet Peeves:
1. Author's Notes in the middle of a fic. Keep your authors notes to the beginning or end of a fic. It's just... augh. Don't.
2. "Mum." ...People. If the characters do not use your dialect, do not force it on them. If they're american, they will not say Mum. At the very least, don't put it in their speech. If I have a character with a different accent or dialect, I do my utmost to use those words. PLEASE don't use mum. It annoys the crap outta me.
3. Song fics. I just don't read them... Songs inspiring a fic is great. But when you shoehorn the lyrics in between every other paragraph it disturbs the flow. You're doing yourself a disservice. No thanks.
4. "Review or I won't update!!" Bite me.
5. Needless Parental Abuse. This one goes especially for the Charmed fandom. Chill the heck out guys. No one was getting beat in those households. It's clumsy, it's wrong, and most of the time people act like it's canon. Not cool.
6. Chat Room and/or Spin the Bottle Fics. Save it for your livejournal people. It's not funny anymore, if it ever was.
7. Put dialogue on different lines. Person A and Person B should not be speaking in the same paragraph. Stop that.

OTHER, OTHER STUFF

My Shows: Avatar: The Last Airbender. Charmed. CSI:NY*. Dexter. Doctor Who. Firefly. Leverage. Robin Hood BBC*. Supernatural. Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. White Collar.
My Movies: Iron Man. X-Men: First Class (As far as I'm concerned, that can overwrite the rest of the other movies)
My Games: Devil May Cry. Assassin's Creed. Batman: Arkham Asylum. Dead Space. Final Fantasy 12. Half Life. Portal. Silent Hill. Psychonauts.
My Books: Night Angel Trilogy. Cal Leandros Series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians*.
My Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist. Detective Conan*. Rurouni Kenshin. Death Note. Anne Freaks. Monster. Bleach.
My Anime: Cowboy Bebop. Ouran: High School Host Club. Samurai Champloo.
Rabid Ships: Chris/Bianca. Danny/Lindsay. Balthier/Fran or Ashe. Ed/Winry. Percy/Annabeth. Kaito/Aoko. Shinichi/Ran. Tony/Pepper.

Best Good(ish) Guys: Balthier. Castiel. Charles Xavier. Damon Salvatore (can I put him on both lists?). Dante. The Doctor (Particularly Ten). Gordon Freeman. Kaito Kuroba. Kylar. Leon Kennedy. Tony Stark.
Best Villains: The Joker. Sousuke Aizen. Silent Hill. Alpha. Victoria (Inner cackle). Magneto. GLaDOS.
Characters Who Need a Slow Boiling Death: Vaan. Vanille. Cast of Naruto (maybe except Kakashi and Shikamaru). Cast of White Knight Chronicles. Cast of the Vampire Diaries books (Oh dear holy crap that was bad...).

.*.Even though the writer(s) are freaking idiots.