640 replies to this topic

[ciardha]

This is more a minor annoyance, and it's in a fair number of decent Naruto fanfics unfortunately- the people of Konoha physically tormenting a young Naruto, destroying his home, etc... This does not happen in the manga nor even in the anime. By the third's decree they weren't even allowed to speak of Naruto having the kyuubi inside him. It's annoying to see so many good writers mess up on that. Remember he didn't know why no one liked him, it wasn't until Mizuki's cruel revelation that he knew why. The third, if he didn't allow adults to verbally attack Naruto, certainly would have had anyone who physically harmed Naruto severely punished. Write instead what actually happened to Naruto- he was shunned. The closest Naruto likely saw to overt attack was an adult snatching their child away from playing with him and the parent scolding the child with a "don't play with him, he's bad". This is plenty of emotional pain for a little child to endure without turning Naruto into Gaara- who did endure that kind of childhood.

[pocoloco]

I hate ridiculously long explanations of a given characters' clothing.
I utterly abhor these, even more so than mary sues, or gary stues.

For instance, if the story does something like Sakura was wearing . . . . . But then Ino was wearing . . . .
and go on for paragraphs.
Unless, the situation calls for it, like in an AU of some sort.

A couple, short sentences are nice enough.

[ciardha]

I hate ridiculously long explanations of a given characters' clothing.
I utterly abhor these, even more so than mary sues, or gary stues.

For instance, if the story does something like Sakura was wearing . . . . . But then Ino was wearing . . . .
and go on for paragraphs.
Unless, the situation calls for it, like in an AU of some sort.

A couple, short sentences are nice enough.

I'd also say weddings scenes call for that. Maybe it's a gal thing, but I think you kind of expect to read that in a wedding chapter. It's the only time I know I'll do it, while most the time I barely even mention clothing unless it's something a character thinks it really weird, or if it got torn up so bad in a fight that it's basically a useless rag. Heh, lack of clothing is something I'm usually more likely to mention.

[Nate River]

To an extent with ciarda. The violent villagers isn't realistic because I think most villagers respected/feared the Third not to do that. After all, I think the punishment was death for violating the degree. A very serious punishment. So by assaulting him, the villagers would be taking a HUGE risk.

Second, most of the time it seems to be used to further dramatize Naruto's past or justifyhis hatred of the village (if the author is using that angel). Really, it isn't needed in either case.

However, I don't say completely because I can see situations in which it might work. I just prefer that the author not forget the consequences, meaning that your average villager isn't going to do it. The type of person wouldn't care if they were executed or would consider the risk worth it. The exception rather than the norm. The other question I think that needs to be answered with it is what does it provide that isn't already there. For what reason does his past need to be made worse or why is it necessary to further demonize the villagers. I can think of a few, I just think it needs to be explained if it's to be used.

I also agree on the clothing descirptions. Description itself can be difficult because you want enough to paint a clear picture but you don't want to go overboard otherwise you'll lose the reader. Excessive description of clothes tends to tell the reader far more than they want or care to know about it.

I know one of the signs of a Mary-Sue OC is an excessive description of the clothing. I believe it's seen as an attempt to demonstrate how pretty and beautiful she is.

Still, ciadha is right. It's okay in situations where clothing is important detail. A wedding is one example.

[Dash]

the clothing thing doesn't bother me as much, provided it's only once or twice.

Authors flip-flopping with their story plotlines and/or character portrayals in the middle of their writing. I can't stand reading through several chapters of the story only for the author to come by and said they changed their mind about this character's personality or relationships or motivation....particularly at ff.net, where it seems like too many fics wind up being led by the people leaving reviews rather than the writer.

(btw, what happened to the Miakis avatar, Shriner? nothing against Toph...)

[Certifiably Insane for NaruSaku]

Clothing doesn't bother me unless it's unrealistic. I can not tell you how many times I've read the "naruto gets his own genin" fic and the author has them dressed in baseball jerseys and tennis shoes (and in one story, ACK!, he gave him five genin). That, along with english names, is my cue to leave because the author obviously doesn't know anything and it's going to be a lousy fic (and I have gone back to read it later out of curiosity and I've always been right).

I don't know, I guess it's just an accuracy thing with me. I also get mad when they have the characters randomly celebrate Thanksgiving, which is an AMERICAN holiday obviously, and should NOT be ceebrated by the Naruto characters because they are definitely not American. Heck, I'm iffy on international holidays like Christmas (they do celebrate it in Japan last I checked, but it's mostly commercial) since we've actually gotten no confirmation that Christianity exists in the Naruto universe (on a side note, this also happens a lot in FMA fiction even though the author has CONFIRMED Christmas does not exist). If the people are so desperate to write Naruto and cast in a holiday scene, why can't they just make up a holiday to celebrate something like a peace treaty or the Hokage's birthday or something different? Then again, I'm not a big holiday writer...

[ciardha]

I don't know, I guess it's just an accuracy thing with me. I also get mad when they have the characters randomly celebrate Thanksgiving, which is an AMERICAN holiday obviously, and should NOT be ceebrated by the Naruto characters because they are definitely not American. Heck, I'm iffy on international holidays like Christmas (they do celebrate it in Japan last I checked, but it's mostly commercial) since we've actually gotten no confirmation that Christianity exists in the Naruto universe (on a side note, this also happens a lot in FMA fiction even though the author has CONFIRMED Christmas does not exist). If the people are so desperate to write Naruto and cast in a holiday scene, why can't they just make up a holiday to celebrate something like a peace treaty or the Hokage's birthday or something different? Then again, I'm not a big holiday writer...

Rather than Christmas, ie the name, which is tied to a particular religion that is not of Japanese or Asian origin, and since this is a made up world that is mostly based on Japanese constructs with a dash of Chinese and Hindu elements (chakra- although quite a different take on it than you'd find in Hindu or even Buddhist sutras) seasonal holidays (ie centered around solitices and equinoxes) would be better. You find those in cultures around the world. Probably the best thing would be to adapt Japanese holidays, minus Shinto and Buddhist contexts and names as well. (the religion of Konoha and Suna seems to be vague type of Shinto/Buddhism in it's belief system.) One type of holiday I haven't seen Kishimoto put in that is typical in most cultures, including Japan, is one to remember the dead. (funeral pratices echo Japan's, but there's no holiday like Obon in the world of Naruto that we've seen. ) For a winter holiday look up the Japanese practices for both the Winter Solstice- extremely signifigant to Shinto, and New Years, also connected to Shinto practices. I think everyone is pretty familar with summer festivals as they are often in anime, usually just a community matsuri, but sometimes tied to Tanabata.

[MagusKyros]

Naruto with cheap bloodline limits. It's ridiculous how many people give him something that makes the Sharingan and Byakagun look like a childs plaything.

Naruto should have NO bloodline limit, otherwise that would give him an automatic advantage against 'normal' people, and he's suppose to be the 2nd genius of hard work type of character. He already has the Kyuubi anyway.

Speaking of bloodlines, there shouldn't be any Uzumaki clans either, otherwise the people of Konoha would know about Naruto's heritage. Same thing with the Yondaime's name being Uzumaki. I don't think the villagers are THAT stupid.

As for the clothing, I hate it when they put Naruto in an all black clothing, or anything that resembles 'dark and cool.' Keep some orange in him, and if you want to make it all black, at least justify it.

One final thing I hate is how Naruto pairs up with Female Kyuubi despite 'her' being the source of his miseries, and he suddenly hates Sakura despite crushing after her for so long. Dichotomy of Kazama Naruto is like that. It's a harem fic to, but all I see him do with Sakura is bash her for no reason.

Suddenly smart Naruto fics are a no-no for me as well.

[No WhereMan]

Gonna have to agree with the angery villager theme. I was reading two fics today that had that same theme and i was thinking what Konoha is this? No one ever attacked anyone outright except Itachi against his whole clan besides that, where did these hateful villagers come from and when are they going to leave!

[pocoloco]

I hadn't even thought of wedding scenes! (whoops)
(and the saddest thing is, I'm a girl too. . . we're supposed to be obsessed about those things, ne?)

What else do I not like?

I'm not really fond of rough transistions, (like when the author finishes the paragraph, spaces it out, gives a specific time, and continues) I think it's kind of abrupt. Line breaks are okay, though.

Unless, again, it's an AU where the characters are agents like in Splinter Cell, and time is everything. (but honestly, how often do you see those?)

[Coupe]

One Thing thats annoying me at the moment is sudden character changes for no reason. I recently discovered a really bad fic in which Naruto suddenly buys a sword and new clothes and learns brand new jutsus out of nowhere. He then proceeds to defeat Zabuza and Haku, Orichimaru and Ataskui in the first chapter.

[tangerine_fever]

I've gotta agree with the clothing thing. Especially when it's totally AU and OOC. One time I read this fic, where Naruto was wearing (and described in GREAT detail) a white toga thing, red flip-flops, had waist long hair and had grown to like...7"8 or something.
Excuse me, but gross.

[deathworks]

Well I don't have pet-peevs, I have major psychotic hatreds towards some of these.

Number one.....Time-travel fiction.
Ya,know the ones Naruto is dieing and kyuubi makes an offer to send him back in time and make thinks right again......Just stupid if ya ask me..

Number two........Movie scripted fanfiction.
Sure it will be cool in a cosplay play at and anime con setting but not in a fanfic. Stuff like that pisses me off and my eyes agree.

Number Three.....harem fiction.
Now many people will be surprised on this one. (ramanman2)
I just don't like reading em.

Number Four......short chapters...
I hate no I loathe - 1,000 word chapters.
Theres a fic i remember seeing that only had 50...50 WORDS!!
Just plain lazy, lazy,lazy!!

Number five.......SONG FICTION!!
I just HATE song fics theses people have no idea how much I want to hurt them and the song writer.
A person that has a new favourite song and they MUST write a fic that go along the same setting and its always rotten crap at that emo music,or brake up songs...Makes me want to choke someone. people thats why people invented amv's GO MAKE ONE instead !

Number six and perhaps my most hated one...
author notes as a single chapter..
I not gona even comment on this little "pet-peeve"For I might get baned for my rants.

Well thats my list ...for now..

[Vespar]

Well I don't have pet-peevs, I have major psychotic hatreds towards some of these.

Number one.....Time-travel fiction.
Ya,know the ones Naruto is dieing and kyuubi makes an offer to send him back in time and make thinks right again......Just stupid if ya ask me..

Number two........Movie scripted fanfiction.
Sure it will be cool in a cosplay play at and anime con setting but not in a fanfic. Stuff like that pisses me off and my eyes agree.

Number Three.....harem fiction.
Now many people will be surprised on this one. (ramanman2)
I just don't like reading em.

Number Four......short chapters...
I hate no I loathe - 1,000 word chapters.
Theres a fic i remember seeing that only had 50...50 WORDS!!
Just plain lazy, lazy,lazy!!

Number five.......SONG FICTION!!
I just HATE song fics theses people have no idea how much I want to hurt them and the song writer.
A person that has a new favourite song and they MUST write a fic that go along the same setting and its always rotten crap at that emo music,or brake up songs...Makes me want to choke someone. people thats why people invented amv's GO MAKE ONE instead !

Number six and perhaps my most hated one...
author notes as a single chapter..
I not gona even comment on this little "pet-peeve"For I might get baned for my rants.

Well thats my list ...for now..

Time-travel is one of my favourite types -as long as it's written well and I'm more than impressed at where the author takes it. For example, Kraken's Ghost's Deus Ex Machina is my personal favourite thanks to its crazy (literally) intro. The main plot-point still makes me scratch my head, but the writing-style more than makes up for it.
Then there's Red Crow's Second Chances what the crap? he's starting over? just when he was about to finish!?. His was a good long read. Now it's just a good read at two chapters.

Harem... well... Like Time-travel, as long as it's done well, it's interesting. A particular one done by Hawk comes to mind -which I will deliberately not link because it would be entirely inappropriate of me to do so. I've said too much as it is.

And author's notes as a chapter, I can understand if it's over and the author wants to wrap it up with notes directing readers to key points in the story for easy-to-miss set-ups, links to their inspirations, casual talk, etc. Inbetween chapters... Not so much.

As for your 'psychotic hatred' towards the rest... They're my pet-peeves too!

[MagusKyros]

Well I don't have pet-peevs, I have major psychotic hatreds towards some of these.

Number one.....Time-travel fiction.
Ya,know the ones Naruto is dieing and kyuubi makes an offer to send him back in time and make thinks right again......Just stupid if ya ask me..

Only because it's clichê and most, if not all, aren't done right or believable or whatever.

The ones I have seen that are done good are, like Vespar said, Kraken's Ghost Deus Ex Machina, and then theres Divergence by Nawaki. It's a very good fic, and I'm pretty sure you'd like it. It's done way differently than any other time-travel like fic.

Number Three.....harem fiction.
Now many people will be surprised on this one. (ramanman2)
I just don't like reading em.

I'm not a big fan of big Harems. Two to three girls at most in a relationship is enough. Though, I prefer one, I don't mind reading a story with Naruto paired up with three girls; anymore would be just overkill.

[Nate River]

Well I don't have pet-peevs, I have major psychotic hatreds towards some of these.

Number one.....Time-travel fiction.
Ya,know the ones Naruto is dieing and kyuubi makes an offer to send him back in time and make thinks right again......Just stupid if ya ask me..

There right about RedCrow's fic it's good, but I think he wrote his before the concept became popular. As far as I know he may have made it popular. I normally don't read these either, in part because I think many authors really don't think through what that would really mean. Rather they just want to hand him the good life they wish he would have had, and while I can understand that, it doesn't make good story telling.

My other complaint with them would be I generally see lots of Sasuke bashing in these.

Number two........Movie scripted fanfiction.
Sure it will be cool in a cosplay play at and anime con setting but not in a fanfic. Stuff like that pisses me off and my eyes agree.

I agree with you completely. I was glad when ff.net banned the form, because it just doesn't work with story telling. It doesn't allow for effective description (and most authors who use this form tend to omit it entirely) and when it is included the flow is awkward with lines and lines of dialog flowed by paragraphs of description. It just doesn't work well and it also gave birth to the long list of bad AIM fics.

Number Three.....harem fiction.
Now many people will be surprised on this one. (ramanman2)
I just don't like reading em.

Depends on the mood I'm in., but generally I don't like them and I don't think they work well outside or humor fiction. After the author gets beyond two girls, not only is it overkill but you have a ton of relationships in play with none of them getting adequate development.

Number Four......short chapters...
I hate no I loathe - 1,000 word chapters.
Theres a fic i remember seeing that only had 50...50 WORDS!!
Just plain lazy, lazy,lazy!!

Agree, such short chapters only work for things like drabbles, and short one-shots and should almost never be used in multi-chapter fiction. It simply is not enough for anything significant to happen. This is why going out your way to update or constantly pestering authors for updates is a bad idea. It usually leads to things like this.

Number five.......SONG FICTION!!
I just HATE song fics theses people have no idea how much I want to hurt them and the song writer.
A person that has a new favourite song and they MUST write a fic that go along the same setting and its always rotten crap at that emo music,or brake up songs...Makes me want to choke someone. people thats why people invented amv's GO MAKE ONE instead !

I agree, I hate song fics too, especially because they tend to be far more song than fic and thus, there is no real story, just a bnuch of lyrics uninterrupted by a few scenes.

Number six and perhaps my most hated one...
author notes as a single chapter..
I not gona even comment on this little "pet-peeve"For I might get baned for my rants.

Well thats my list ...for now..

This doesn't bother me in cases where a fic has been idle for a very long time or to inform dedicated readers of things like a rewrite, but, yeah, most of the time it's unnecessary.

[Gnosismaster]

My hates would be......

Character deaths especially Naruto, Sakura, and Ino.

Character bashing(except for Sasuke traitor, he deserves it)

I have more but i forgot.

[SpongeBobtheBuilder]

Hah. So many things can go wrong in fanfiction. I hate:
Overly campy romance. Eg; Excessive fluff. Even 12 year olds dont spew that much stuff. A well developed and believable romance is good, without the "omgiloveyous" every other paragraph.
Excessive OC's. A few for plot/character development is ok, but when you go overboard, introducing so many characters that make the story hard to follow, then I click the little x on the tab. Don't even care if they're not self-insertions or mary-sues. BlackWindKaze? Self insertion done right.
Bashing, it's hard to insult a figment of your imagination tastefully. I get it if everybody makes a jibe at one another every so often, but when the motives seem ridiculous it becomes hard to read. Example: Sakura pining for Sasuke after he leaves and never comes back, someone gives her the wake up call and she starts whining and kittening, Naruto picks up Hinata for god knows why.
NarutoxOC. Personal preference really. I just can't imagine him with any girl other than the ones in the anime for some reason, despite however well the OC's wardrobe, hair and figure are explicitly described.
Most AU, and that includes OOC characters. Yaoi. Yes, yaoi. I'm looking at you, rabid fangirls who make up majority of FF.Net. I can understand if the character is hinted at being gay (lee, gai, spandex anyone?) but jumping straight into slash with no reasonable development is wrong. I can think of probably 1 yaoi fic I did not hate because of it- Parallels.
Well, that's enough for me right now. Overall, I just hate bad fanfiction.

[Xar]

Well I don't have pet-peevs, I have major psychotic hatreds towards some of these.

Number one.....Time-travel fiction.
Ya,know the ones Naruto is dieing and kyuubi makes an offer to send him back in time and make thinks right again......Just stupid if ya ask me..

Number two........Movie scripted fanfiction.
Sure it will be cool in a cosplay play at and anime con setting but not in a fanfic. Stuff like that pisses me off and my eyes agree.

Number Three.....harem fiction.
Now many people will be surprised on this one. (ramanman2)
I just don't like reading em.

Number Four......short chapters...
I hate no I loathe - 1,000 word chapters.
Theres a fic i remember seeing that only had 50...50 WORDS!!
Just plain lazy, lazy,lazy!!

Number five.......SONG FICTION!!
I just HATE song fics theses people have no idea how much I want to hurt them and the song writer.
A person that has a new favourite song and they MUST write a fic that go along the same setting and its always rotten crap at that emo music,or brake up songs...Makes me want to choke someone. people thats why people invented amv's GO MAKE ONE instead !

Number six and perhaps my most hated one...
author notes as a single chapter..
I not gona even comment on this little "pet-peeve"For I might get baned for my rants.

Well thats my list ...for now..

Agreed, here's my take on your #4, heh.

When you have a fanfiction with 1000 words per chapter, it just seems... stupid. There's not enough time for character development. Think about it. A picture is worth a thousand words right? Well, A picture is just a description. Where's the dialogue? I mean, hopefully you atleast attempt a decent description. Heck. The beginning of my own fanfic, Noise, (shameless self-promotion) which I drabbled in, is pure emotional description/etc. without an ounce of dialogue/author's notes, and is some 1500 words. Nowhere near complete for the first chapter. It's really sad how people say "1000 is enough!". 2000 minimum. There is no maximum!

Now, for my own personal pet-peeves...

- The overruse of japanese in the stories, and the overruse of honorifics. It's annoying. For ninjutsu, I can understand. But, when every single person has a stupid suffix at the end, when in the manga the person just says "Sasuke", it gets anoying. Reading Tsunade-obaa-chan or whatever 50 times in one chapter makes my head hurt.

Next, to be honest, I'm dumbfounded at how to voice these last few. So, instead, I'm going to write a little exerpt.
"Hi, Sakura-chan!"
"Hi, Naruto! Guess what?!"
"What?!"
"I don't like Sasuke-teme anymore!"
"NO WAI!"
"Yah! And you know what?!"
"Wha?"
"I love youz!"
"NO WAIS! I love you too, Sakura-chan!"
"Yeah! Screw that stupid Sasuke!"
::Hinata is just left out through the whole thing. Not even being described or mentioned, even though she has a slight crush on Naruto.::

There were actually three points in there.
#1 - No explaination as to why they chose them over the other. Nothing. NADA! No reason! No description! Nothing! They just jumped onto the band wagon and condensed a should be long story into like 20 pages.
#2 - The way the two go from friends to "I LOVE YOU!" status in the matter of 2 paragraphs pisses me off to no end. The whole reason I like Training for the Job by Desaix is because after Naruto and Sakura hook up, it takes forever for Sakura to admit to things. She's still caught up with Sasuke for awhile. It's realistic. Obviously something fanfiction writers don't believe in today. Don't get me wrong. Naruto isn't exactly real. But, it adds a flair to the story in my opinion when the character has to sort through their feelings rather than come upon this giant revelation of love.
#3 - Before I'm flamed, I'm pro-NaruSaku.. Now for pet-pevee #3. Others are completely forgotten in the mix of relationships. It's understandable, and its only a slight issue. Even I do it myself. But, if you introduce Hinata into your story, I want to hear something about how Hinata reacts to the whole ordeal. She's not an object, she's human. She's bound to at least tell her teammates about it.

Anyway, I could go on for ages about this, but yeah. That's about it. Enjoy my rant of hate!

[MagusKyros]

You have good points Xarai, but for the first one, I don't mind honorifics actually. Actually it's a good thing they do use it. It keeps the "made in Japan" feeling, and it also indicates to me that these guys are familiar with Japanese culture.

That's another problem, a lot of authors completely forget about Japanese cultural influence in the manga. I've played enough JRPG's and have enough knowledge about the culture to know where some things come from.

One of the things that authors, and westerners mostly miss is how the magatamas are used in Japanese entertainment. Anywhere the magatama is, or whoever weilds it, or basically is associated with it, will have strong powers. They will also have powers to either control demons, or be granted demonic powers as well.

This is why Sasuke being able to suppress Kyuubi's chakra isn't so surprising to me, nor is his power either. After all, the Sharingan eye is based off of one of the three sacred objects/jewels of Japan; the Yasakani no Magatama.