Present tense in very, very short work can work. Present tense-especially in long works-drives me up the wall. I find it extremely difficult to focus on, and it also gives the impression of the writer explaining things to the reader in very small words and phrases, even if the sentence structure actually is complex, so I often get the feeling the writer is talking down to me. It also seems to be difficult for it to convey depth and deeper characterization. Granted, this is less of an issue with fanfic, where the reader will already be familiar with most or all of the characters, but in original fiction, it can make it hard to "know" the character.

This is my polite version.

The instinctive version is "I HATE IT I HATE IT WHY DO PEOPLE WRITE LIKE THAT IT'S AN IRRITATING STYLE AND HARD TO READ KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!!!"