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#21 Onionhead Attacks

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 02:51 AM

I agree on a lot of the dislikes that you guys have already mentioned, but there was one thing I sorta noticed when I clicked on the author's profile. A lot of the "not as well written" stories happen to be from writers raging between the ages of 10-13. I'm not saying that they're bad writers or anything, but it's just writers at that age(in my opinion) are more likely to do most of our fanfiction hates.

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#22 Guest_ashleyriot_*

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 03:12 AM

Good point DJ. But last I remember, back when I was in grade school, they did teach you how to write an essay or report. At least by age 12. But that's just me. And you're right, it doesn't make them bad writers. Just more prone to basic writing errors. It's not as if any of us haven't commited our own fanfic writing woes. It just takes a bit of pratice and patience for the most part. I for one, spot my own mistakes on a regular basis. So I KNOW others see them.

#23 Nate River

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 04:12 AM

I have a very extensive list of complaints, so here it goes. I've been keeping this bottled up for a while so I'm taking full advantage of my opprotunity.

Click For Spoiler


1) Author Notes in the body of the story:

Agree with Vespar and wingsover completely. Author notes that appear in the body of the story are extremely irritating and are almost always (if not always) unnecessary. The most common is author commentary (i.e. saying "Sasuke's an ass isn't he?" and "Shikamaru's so smart, isn't he" type of stuff). This is unnecessary and adds nothing to the story. If you believe commentary to be necessary or simply want to add it, do it at beginning or end of the chapter, not in the body of the story.

The other common version is the plugging the plot hole comment. It occurs when the author becomes aware of a plot hole the size of an asteroid, but instead of going back and filling the whole, they offer an off-the-cuff author note at the end of the sentence telling you to make some kind of assumption. Do not do this. Please. It makes you look incredibly lazy and the explanation is almost always inadequate. If you see such a plot whole, go back and fix it. Don't just offer a throw away explanation.

There might be occasions where it should be done, but, honestly, I cannot think of any. Almost nothing is more annoying that really getting into a story only to be thrown back out by author commentary or an inappropriate correction of a plot hole.

2) Character Bashing:

I abhor character bashing regardless of my personal feelings about the character. The most rampant abuses of this I have seen occur in the Love Hina and Ranma sections; specifically, with Narubashing and Akanebashing. I don't care for either character (I'm KeitaroTsuruko and RanmaNabiki myself), but you can treat a character negatively without degenerating into outright bashing. For those who bash Naru, what if another author ripped a part Keitaro, Mutsumi, or Motoko? And for those who don't like Sasuke (I actually do like him), what do you think of stories that engage in rampant Sakura or Naruto bashing? Are they not frustrating? My point is that character is ultimately unnecessary and makes you look like an amateur. You can treat them in an unfavorable light without turning the story into author commentary on the character.

3) Typecasting:

This is a variation on my second complaint, as character bashing usually results in a typecasting of the hated character. For example, Naru is a b*tch throughout the whole story and shows no other aspects of her character. What happens in many cases is that an author overemphasizes a single character trait and ignores everything else about the character. I'm sure we have all seen the Sakura bashing story where she is just a superkitten and nothing else, despite the manga developing her personality. This kind of thing drives me crazy. You take complex and interesting characters and rob them of virtually every personality trait, so that they are nothing, but a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out.

In some animes, certain characters are poorly developed themselves. In these cases, this is your chance to show your stuff and see what you can do with it. Develop them into a full and complete character, don't simply typecast them the way the anime has.

4) Spelling and Grammar

I once heard and author and some reviewers say that its just a fanfic, who cares about spelling and grammar. If you find yourself doing this, ask yourself why are writing. This kind of complaint gives the reader the impression that you do not care about your story or them. And if you don't care about it, why should they?

This is not the only problem. First, readers will not take you or your story seriously if your spelling and grammar are bad. Second, if they are bad, then will have trouble understanding what your are saying. You may have wonderful characters and ideas, but if your grammar and spelling are so bad that no one can understand what you are saying, then how is anyone going to know?

On the other hand, I'm sure this post has some of those errors. So, yes, I’m aware of my hypocrisy. I don’t mean that every story must be error free. What I mean is that you should pay enough attention so that it looks like you are trying and do care about spelling and grammar. If nothing else, impression that your care and are trying to make as good as your can.

There are also the cases where the author admits to being unsure about the spelling or word choice. Something like this:

Ransengan[Is that right?]

Please, don't do this. This is an admission that you are unsure of the spelling. If that is the case, go look up the word, ask a friend, or ask someone on a board like this. There has to be someone or something that can answer your question. In other words, do some research. The in-story question method makes you look lazy. What this statement says to me is that you know you might be wrong, but you are too lazy to find out for yourself. Second, this is an in-story author note that shouldn't be there and is subject to my earlier complaints. Third, this not only applies to spelling errors, but to cases where you are unsure of your word choice.

5) OC's/MS's/Self-inserts.

I think I covered this pretty well in my other post. I will simply reference my earlier discussion in the WTF is a Mary-Sue thread.

6) Voting Fics:

I don't know what other people think of this, but I hate these fics. These are the kinds of decisions that you, the author, should make. Otherwise, you are simply pandering to popular opinion. Its worse whenever the other finalizes the vote five or six chapters in the fic because there are cases when the fan choice turns out to be inconsistent with previous development, which puts you in a position where you have to develop a new character and chunk all previous development. Think of it this way...what if Kishimoto had a “choose the pairing” vote right now where the winner gets to be with Naruto. What if Hinata won, heck, what if it were Ino, Tenten, or Tayuya? All of who have only a small amount of development, period, let alone romantic development with Naruto.

The other thing is that I was once witness to a stupendous abuse of the voting process. There is a fic out there with 450+ plus reviews because someone spammed during the voting. I think he had 200 straight reviews that were unsigned.

7) Fan-boy/Fan-Girl Japanese.

Again, I am in fully agreement with Vespar and Unknown Entity on this. I can understand its use in cases where the characters have English Dub names or where the English equivalent is not as effective as conveying the meaning, such as if Naruto were to drop the -chan in Sakura-chan. In that example, most fans know the difference so it works out okay.

However, most of the time it does not add anything. For example, changing "No" to "Iie" and "Yes" to "Hai" or translating "Are you alright" into its Japanese equivalent. Making such an alteration does nothing for your story. If you go beyond this, you risk losing those readers who do not understand it. This happened to me in my earlier days of fanfiction; at least until I was able to translate fan-boy/fan-girl Japanese. What's worse is that, based on my conversations with various authors, people frequently get it wrong (especially with suffixes). Thus, you have not only failed to add anything and lost readers who do not undersand it, but you have also made yourself look bad in front of those who do.

My own personal rule is to avoid except in one of the situations I listed above. Personally, I don't mind it as far as jutsu go simply because I find things like “Art of the....” an odd sounding and somewhat cumbersome phrase. Besides, for more common jutsu's like Kage-Bushin, most of the fans know what this is. Nevertheless, my advice it to keep this at a minimum.

8) Review Whores:

I don't really like this term, but it does exist on fanfiction.net net and is generally used to describe those authors that state, "I will not write the next chapter until I get X reviews." You shouldn't be begging for reviews for several reasons. First, this is unfair to your loyal readers who have followed your fic. You are punishing them because you are not getting enough reviews.

Second, you usually end up with multiple reviews from two or three people. Its one thing to have 10 reviews from 10 people and another to have 10 from the same person for each chapter. You simply encourage the same people to leave reviews over and over. In addition, they usually end up being brief and often empty reviews that tell you nothing, such as "good story, please continue." I can understand the value of these reviews in that they are an indication that people are reading and do like it, but such a review is empty. If I have a fanfic, I want to know what is working and what is not. You like it, why? Is it that you like my pairing, but hate the plot? Do you think I'm bashing a character you hate? The same is true for negative reviews. As a review, saying “it sucks” doesn't tell you much.

Finally, such a request makes you look desperate and reflects negatively on the fic even before a reader gets a chance to get into the story. Such a statement says to me that either the readers or author doesn't think much of the fic and so the author is forced to entice people to read it. This is not a message you want to send.

9) Crossovers:

I really used to like crossovers, but now I usually avoid them because they almost always involve overused clichés. When combining two universes, especially two that appear to be completely incompatible with each other (crossovers with Gundam come to mind), the dimensional portal is almost always used. Some monster has the ability to create dimensional warps or Sailor Pluto transports them through dimensions. This theme has been beat to death and is almost always a cheap way to get the characters in the same place so they can fall in love. I prefer ones that try to write the universes together since it is more difficult and less susceptible to cheap plot devices.

The other complaint I have is excessive crossovers. People will try to combine too many universes and too many characters into one story and, thus, end up with a complicated mess that they cannot sort through.

In such cases, you risk underdeveloping...well...everything. If you want to see a successful mass crossover, see Bleedman's PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi. That was one massive crossover, but they were able to co-exist pretty well. I was impressed.

10) Unexplained Out of Character Characters:

To some extent this unavoidable since you are not Kishimoto and will not interpret the characters the same way he does. In addition, fanfiction is a good chance to explore all sorts of new possibilities and the way they effect the characters. I don't mind even massive OCCness so long as it can be adequately explained. But I have seen lots of the Sympathetic Sasuke and Knowledgeable Naruto's without an real explanation, or, at least a real poor or cliché. Thus, if you are going to alter a character, especially a significant one, please explain to the reader why this difference exists.

11) Repetitive Themes

Given the large numbers of fics out there (well over 10,000 on ff.net alone) I expect some repeated ideas, especially in areas Kishimoto has left open or has not gotten to yet (the Kyuubi talk for example). But there are certain themes that arise over and over again and that are so irritating that the deserve special mention.

Honestly, when I get into an anime, it’s the whole package. The characters, the setting, everything. As a result, I have a general dislike of any fic that takes them out of their original setting, such as modern-day fics. This is not to say that all of them are bad, I simply don’t like reading them as much as I do ones that remain in the series’s original setting.

High School fics:

The most annoying fanfiction theme of all time. Period. I have no idea who came up with the original idea, but I wish they hadn’t. I think its consistent use has to do with the fact it’s relatively easy to write and that there appear to a subset of anime fans that really like these. Eh, so be it. I suppose.

My problem with these fics is that they are horribly cliché and lack originality. Everyone virtually the same, only differing in the anime and dialogue. If you’ve read one you’ve generally read them all.

Almost everyone I have read is a copy of the after school show Saved by the Bell. It’s about the life of (insert character name) and their challenges in high school. In addition is easy to pic the roles of the characters. The author’s favorite is invariably the new kid who is initially picked on and eventually makes friends with everyone (except the person’s least favorite character who is always the bully). In the new person will get together with author’s crush and then….it will kind of die. These fics frequently lack plot and just don’t go anywhere. They are also frequent recipients of the everyone must be paired disease, another bane of the fanfic readers existence.

In my years of reading fanfiction, I have read one highschool fic I liked. This particular one was not a pure highschool and possessed a rather unique twist which made it an interest read.


Revenge Fics:

I do not mean fics where a character is motivated by revenge, but one where a character is treated poorly in the series so the author alters their character. This alteration usually turns them into a badass. Dark Keitaro fics do this with some regularity. In these, Keitaro shows up at Hinata Sou with the backbone of all backbones and with mad martial arts skills. When Naru (and sometimes Motoko, depends on whether the author is a Motoko fan) attempts to punch him for peeping, Keitaro kicks her rear and puts her in her place.

I call these things revenge fics because the whole thing reads as if the author is getting revenge on Keitaro’s behalf for all the abusive treatment he receives in the series. Yes, they do abuse him. But if you create an AU like this, he has no longer has been abused and the justification for his actions is gone. He is simply an ass at that point. Ironically, he’s what they believe to be Naru to be. The sympathy is gone and now I feel sorry for Naru. The other problem in this style of fic is that it frequently engages in rampant character bashing. In Love Hina its Narubashing. In Naruto, its Sakura or Sasuke bashing (or both).

The best fic that I’ve read that uses the Dark/Angry Keitaro concept is Keitaro, the Hater of Women. If you want to know how to do angry Keitaro fic, that is a very good example.


12) Romance

I’m a romantic at heart and love romance fics. However, there are a couple of things about them that bug me from time to time.

Development: Zero-to-Sixty Romance

For me, the best part of a romance fic is the part leading up to their relationship. Authors often blow by this, which usually leaves me disappointed. In some cases it works. Pairing like NaruSaku, SasuSaku can get away with it more often because you can use the development already existing in the manga. Others simply focus on a single step in the development and this works pretty well too.

I really dislike it when the author attempts a full development and that development takes place in the span of a chapter. This happens alot with crack pairings and makes the fic a tough sell. For example, Naruto and Hanabi. There is virtually no interaction and no basis for any relationship (let alone a romantic one), which means to really sell this you will have to take it step by step; from acquaintance, to friends, to boyfriend/girlfriend. But some authors are in such a hurry to see them together that they ignore most of this and lose a good story in the process.

Chick-Flic Romance:

Second only to high school fics in annoyance level. By this, I mean those fics that amount to nothing more than a carbon copy of some well-know chic-flics. I’ve seen more than twenty stories that take various anime characters and shove them into the setting of She’s all that. Not only have you used a cliché theme, but you have added a cheesy plot device to boot.

#24 Guest_ashleyriot_*

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 04:36 AM

Wow you hate crossovers huh. I understand your reason all too well. And to think I was going to begin writing a batman/Metal gear solid crossover.

#25 Nate River

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 04:49 AM

I was reluctant to post this because I didn't want to discourage or insult people. Ashley, yeah I don't care for them, and usaully avoid them, but I do read them from time to time.

Don't let me discourage you. Its partly a personal preference and to that degree its one of those things that is unavoiable. Your right to think I probably will not read it, but that has far more to do with the fact that I know absolutely nothing about metal gear and thus, would have a tough time following it.

I just suggest you avoid the two things I mentioned. Its a limited crossover so that's good. Just don't merge them by dimensional portal if you can because everybody does it.

You were right in your previous post that its an experiment. I think this can be a good thread in that it makes people aware of the biggest problems in fanfiction. Though I admit I was more venting than anything else.

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 05:15 AM

I see, The thing is I chose metal gear/batman because they wouldn't require any of that dimensional crap. The moment I read that, I'm done with reading lol. And plus they both have that reality aspect going for themselves even though they are both fantasy.

#27 wingsover

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 06:07 AM

The thing is, when I was starting out in fanfiction, I began in the Ranma fandom, which I think is still one of the best. It's too well-established and too off the mainstream to be overrun by tweeny fangirls and some truly amazing works of fiction have been written in that fandom. And some of those amazing works were crossovers. Has anyone read works from The Bet challenge? Those were sweet.

Then I moved away from the Ranma fandom (I intend to dive back in at some point) and noticed that a lot of crossovers in other fandoms - GWing, for one - don't really make for good reading. A good crossover can be, I think, incredibly interesting, with the dynamics of two worlds and possible interactions between two separate casts, with people who are alike and people who should be natural enemies - like, for example, Zelgadis and Heero Yuy from Slayers and Gundam Wing being incredibly alike, and so having a quiet discussion about, say, swords versus guns; or Ino and Asuka from Evangelion having to deal with each other - but it is hard to do well. It is one of those things that have incredible potential - and thus also has incredible potential to SUCK.

Points: the overpowering of one cast to the detriment of the other; no good explanation as to why the two worlds are meeting; an inadequate grasp of one series (or even both, incredibly); and like Shriner said, an overflow so that too many series are referenced and it's impossible to keep track of everything.

Also, some series just don't lend themselves that well to crossovers. It's especially hard, I think, to crossover incredibly developed universes where most situations that could possibly happen already have, or where a long list of penultimates have been reached; I mean, like they're the strongest warriors, the best scientists, the fulfilment of deep ancient prophecies. In that case, what can another cast possibly lend to the series that hasn't already been explored?


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#28 PeacefulPhoenix

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 04:37 PM

ARG i cant beleive i found a Love Hina Crossover with Naruto!

truth be told, i'm okay with crossovers (RamnaXSailorMoon offered me a laugh or 2) but if they have absolutly no idea what to do and just put them in situations for no reason is just lplain stupid.

Oh, and if anyone wondered, there are acual fics where Gundam Wing had a crossover with Naruto, and it was all yaoi, Herro with Sasuke, that creeped the crap outta me.

i refuse to show you these links, asthey SUK and arn't worth the time it takes to read em

oh, and this is my main hate

WAY TO SHORT FICS
These crap chapters take abour 5 minutes to write, as i did myself once, and im not proud of it. And the Authors of these fics say this in there author notes as well
QUOTE
These chapters took me 10 minutes to write them, hope ya like them

and this is one i just hated, with all my might
Adventure/Action with Humor
it really doesn't mix, though i've read about 4 or 5 fics that have it perfectly in sync, so it turned out to be an awsome fic, but teh rest of the 500+ fics were horrid, the jokes bad, the action like this "as he kicked sauke, it hit him, and he puked blood, then naruto said "EWWWW"."
see my point?

#29 Urazz

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 08:54 PM

I hate most crossovers myself as they are done poorly. A couple of them are done well cause they integrate things pretty well. And that is what I dislike the most about alot of fanfics. The author doesn't make things flow together and mesh well enough to make a good story.

I have to say some of the best crossover fanfictions tend to come from worlds where they have some similarities that can make them mesh together better. Like martial arts or magic. They also have to be in similar time frames pretty much.

They also can't be too detailed in one of the worlds as that tends to make things harder to go together. A good example of an anime that can tie in with several other animes is Ranma 1/2. It has both martial arts and magic in there so it can tie into other worlds that have stuff like that. It's why there are some good Ranma and Sailor moon crossovers, Ranma and Inuyasha (same author so it has some similarities.), etc.

I don't mind some stories with OCs either if they are done well. Like the OC is a secondary character that serves a purpose and doesn't outshine the main cast in a slow and steady manner.

I'm also a bit of a grammar Nazi. If you can't write a story that I can't understand or is too painful to read then I'm not gonna bother to even read it and give it a bad review.
Urazz: Hey sis what's going on?
Urazz's Sister: I cut myself.
Urazz: Take it like a man even if your a woman.
Urazz's Sister: Ok!
*Urazz's Sister kicks Urazz in the groin.*
Urazz: $%^&*#
Urazz's Sister: I dunno. I'm sure it's much better to take it like a woman. That was evidence to support my theory.
*Urazz whimpers like a baby*

#30 desaix

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 10:10 PM

You know, I think my biggest problem with listing Fanfiction Hates is that... well, every time I think of something I hate about fanfiction (save yaoi, but... well, that's more a personal preference then anything) I can think of a dozen examples where that particular hate was done RIGHT. Then again, I've been reading fanfiction for almost a full decade now (I realized, recently, that the very first fic I ever posted -- a spamfic which no longer exists, I believe -- will have its tenth anniversary in August of this year). The VERY best series I've found fanfiction in isn't anime, but 'Lois and Clark' fanfiction (from the archive at http://www.lcfanfic.com/ ) which is about 90% good quality readable fanfiction. The very worst is... well... hm. Good question. A lot of it is pretty bad.

My point is, if you look at the pet peeves mentioned here, I agree with just about all of them... but, then again, if you look at my own fanfics (Training on the Job, for example) or MANY of my favorite fanfics, you'll find them skirting, if not outright embracing, many of these pet peeves... and doing them quite well, IMHO. Training touches on about 90% of them, alone.

I think the thing that really needs to be emphasized, when you're making these lists, is that just about everything mentioned CAN be done right. These 'fanfiction hates' must be thought of not as rules, but as suggestions, or else you'll exclude just about everything. That goes for both writing and reading -- don't be afraid to create a new character, if you have to. Don't be afraid to make a crossover -- even if it involves a dimensional portal -- if the idea is solid on all other fronts. And so on, and so forth...

I think the thing I hate the most in fanfiction are boring fics. And sometimes, you need to break the rules to make a fanfic interesting.

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#31 Snake

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 10:19 PM

I love crossovers, personally, which is wierd, because I have read so many god-awful ones in the past that I should have been put off them forever. The point about clichéness is a good point to be sure, but if you really think about it, it is possible to combine two series that are completely different from each other.

I'll admit, the "dimensional portal" is very cliché, but in some cases, there is really no other choice. If the author uses this mode of crossover, the story can still turn out well, if they do it for the right reasons. That is to say, they have to have a developed plotline and therefore a legitimate reason for the character's transportation, not just because they want to pair two characters together. And while the dimensional portal is overused, you have to admit that the combination of two animes in the same world is overused as well.

Either way, I don't think it matters how the two series are combined, as long as it is done well. If the author fleshes every character out as much as possible, and does their best not to overpower the characters of one anime so that they crush the characters of the other without breaking a sweat, then a crossover can be good. This really bugs me, to tell you the truth. Crossovers in which Naruto or someone else goes off and trains with a character from another universe, and then comes back and schools everyone with his new techniques, are not good crossovers. Hell, they aren't even good stories. A good crossover is about knowledge of both universes, the balancing of power in both universes, and the interactions between the characters. I don't think it is at all about how the two universes meet each other.

Of course, it also helps if you pick two universes that everyone is familiar with, or else you'll get a bunch of reviews stating "HUH WHAT CROSSOVER IS THIS????/"

#32 Urazz

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Posted 02 April 2006 - 11:21 PM

I think the only series that could pull off the dimension portal thing in my opinion is Full Metal Alchemist since it essentially allows an alchemist to go to another world (granted in WWII but you can probably work around that.).
Urazz: Hey sis what's going on?
Urazz's Sister: I cut myself.
Urazz: Take it like a man even if your a woman.
Urazz's Sister: Ok!
*Urazz's Sister kicks Urazz in the groin.*
Urazz: $%^&*#
Urazz's Sister: I dunno. I'm sure it's much better to take it like a woman. That was evidence to support my theory.
*Urazz whimpers like a baby*

#33 desaix

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Posted 03 April 2006 - 02:49 AM

Um, the only series? What about Sliders, Quantum Leap, or other series which involve dimensional hopping? Or Slayers, which has visitations from alternate dimensions in Slayers: Try (anime) and Slayers: Aqua Lords (Manga)? Or any number of other series that involve dimension hopping\already have alternate universes as canon?

This goes back to my point earlier. Don't make sweeping generalizations like that. I've seen a few good crossover fanfics involving dimension hopping (a particular Ranma\Chrono Trigger one I read a long time ago -- which seems to have dissappeared off the net now that I try to look it us, so I guess it's not that good of an example *sigh* -- comes to mind), and I am NOT a fan of Full Metal Alchemist (have never really seen it, and probably won't since I what I've read about it leads me to believe it wouldn't be to my taste).

What often happens to cause a 'pet peeve' like that is someone has a good idea, and a lot of really BAD authors try and take that good idea and use it to make people love their fic. That doesn't mean the idea -- in this case, dimensional hopping to bring two series together in a crossover -- is necessarily a bad idea. It just means that a lot of bad authors are using the idea as well, and making it SEEM a bad idea.

Even self-insertion can be good. I've seen a couple pretty good Oh! My Goddess self inserts -- because the series really lends itself to self-inserts (and, coincidentally, to crossovers). I've seen good crossovers. I've seen good bash-fics\revenge fics. I've even seen good fanfics with poor grammar (although those definitely needed repair, but they were repairable). It isn't the technique, or the idea, or even the grammar necessarily, it's the execution. Bad execution will make the best idea crumble even more then bad grammar -- bad grammar can be repaired by having a friend willing to clean it up for you while bad execution... well, you just have to scrap it entirely.

You haven't experienced the full cofusion of modern gender relations until you've heard an angry group of women yelling, "We want tentacles!" at an all-night Hentai-fest.

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#34 jaredstar

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Posted 03 April 2006 - 03:53 AM

what i hate

badly done crossovers: When a person does a bad crossover it makes all other crossover writers (like myself for example) look bad.

looking at some of the things said here that make bad crossovers i would like to think that i am avoiding most of the major ones (yeah i am using the portal thing and yes in the last chapter of my story i made sakura a bit more of a witch then she normaly is (i will make it up to her in later chapters leesaku)) but despite those i think i do good work (yeah i know my formating needs work)
yo

#35 Samsu

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Posted 03 April 2006 - 04:25 AM

This is only my second post so I am a little scared but anyway, Hi, more than glad that I found this fan board.

I have to agree with most of the points others have made in this, especially self insertion and authors notes inserted into the actual story, they break the natural flow of the story.
I once came across what was promising to be a good story which had this happen continuously over the two chapters I read, but I had to stop after I reached one that was five lines of text and in bold, and to due to the fact I woke up my flat mate by releasing a three worded outburst at my screen. Authors notes have their place at the beginning an ending of a chapter, no acceptations, well that’s the rule I follow when writing anyway.
I normally wince when I come across an OC, I prefer the author to stay within the realms of the universe set down by the original author, but that said if the character is developed enough I am normally happy.
One thing that is not so much a hate, but that I find a shame, is when the author goes into too much detail when explaining what is happening, or more so what has happened, I get bored. Argh I’ll try and explain.
I like to have certain things only partially explained so that I can have my own thoughts and musings on how the event could have happened, . This is probably because I enjoy stories told from the perspective of no more than two people and thus from reading through their experiences any mystery to that character is a mystery to me as is any revelation to them is a revelation to me also. When you understand what going on and a character doesn’t I find myself thinking,
“Come on, figure it out already.”
OK, now I am rambling, if anyone understands what I am trying to get at and can explain it in an easy to read manner please do.

#36 Rachel

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Posted 04 April 2006 - 03:12 PM

I have a lot of complaints too, I see a LOT of annoying, n00b type fan fiction that really seem unproffesional, like someone just imagining something and typing it up without a real plot or without any idea of what they are doing.

1/ First off, Shriner, I agree with the Japanese thing, when people type "kuso" instead of Damn it, when "kuso" isn't even the right spelling of damn it in Japanese. These people place their fan fiction under the ENGLISH language, so why should they need to put in japanese words? Basically, its to show off, but half the time they spell it wrong and so these so called japanese words are rotating around the fan fiction community that are completely incorrect. Jutsu names are different though, like if you type kage bunshin no jutsu. Thats totally different.

2/ I hate character bashing too. Like when people purposely kill of a character because they hate them. They give them the most brutal death imaginable, and make all the other characters happy that they are dead. I mean, would Naruto really be happy if Sakura or Sasuke died? No. They are his "important" people and he's been fighting for them all through the anime/manga, so what in the world would make him jump for joy if one of them pops their clogs?

3/ I HATE guy x guy or girl x girl pairings. Or even worse, a Team 7 threesome thing. I have even seen such stupid things as Naruto's sexy no jutsu girl and sakura! I mean, yeah I like NaruSaku but do you think Sakura would really do something like that? Things like KakaSaku get on my nerves too...how could they even kiss each other from his mask...plus he's OLD, and Sakura is his student..

4/ Out of Character Behaviour: I hate when people suddenly make Sakura say "Naruto, I love you" and then kiss his face off for no reason, without real explanation. Like Shriner, I like the part leading up to the romance. If, as soon as the story starts, the characters are already all over each other, I usually don't read any further. It's just boring and leaves nothing for the end. I like a huge build up, and then one sweet kiss at the end or something. Not just "kiss kiss kiss narusaku no explanation atall but they are still kiss kiss kissing anyway".



#37 LokiNishizaki

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Posted 06 April 2006 - 08:31 PM

There is only one thing I truly hate: OOCness and everything derived from that.

Think about it, most other things mentioned in this thread are derived or create OOC.

Mary-Sues create OOCness in every other character.

Yaoi is OOC in disguise. Really, there is no possible way to make Jiraiya gay. None. The same goes for all of the established perverts. And really, using the Kyuubi to make Naruto attracted to males is just weak.

Character bashing uses OOC to pass off its twisted views on reality.

Another thing I hate is poor attempts at limiting powerful characters. I once read a fic where Naruto basically shut down whenever he heard stuff that was contrary to what he believed. What the hell kind of weakness is that? It's like if Superman's kriptonite was air.

I don't really mind bad spelling and passing off one huge ass paragraph as a chapter because it's not like I actually readthose fics, so in my perspective they don't exist. Therefore, they don't count.

I usually like crossovers, if they don't suffer from OOC.

Oh yeah, to those who don't know, OOC means character rape. It's changing some part of the character without preamble. Like suddenly making Naruto gay because you feel like it. Or turning Haku into a girl and him not changing at all... or making Hinata kick ass after spending an hour with Naruto. The examples are limitless.

Oh I almost forgot. The thing I hate the absolute most is male pregnancy. What do they teach kids at school these days? I blame Arnold Schwarzenegger's Junior for ruining an entire generation.
In these demon days, It's so cold inside
So hard for a good soul to survive
You can't even trust the air you breathe
Because mother earth wants us all to leave

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Song: Demon Days.
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#38 Vespar

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Posted 07 April 2006 - 07:37 AM

Here's another pet peeve.

Unjustified Character Death
I say this especially about a main or side characters. I mean, I'm all for 'Hey, Naruto's sacrificing himself for the whole village.' sort of thing, but if I see, 'ZOMG CHOKING ON RAMEN. I'LL NEVER BE AS COOL AS SASUKE. YOU TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM SAKURA.' I'm outta there.


Lmao, LokiNishizaki! If you think 'mpreg's bad and caused by Arnie's 'Junior', can you imagine a few years from now, when Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' takes effect? XD

Oh and Shriner, I find type-casting to work if no one's an exception and it's all done in a comedic sense. ^^

Desaix, though your Training for the Job does skirt fanfic pet-peeves, I sincerely believe that you'd transition it slowly enough and expanded on it so much that it becomes an enjoyable read. ^^
No, I'm not going to stroke your ego further. tongue.gif

#39 LokiNishizaki

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Posted 07 April 2006 - 07:52 AM

Oh god no. I can see it now, Hinata accidently putting a wedding ring on the Fourth's corpse and them having lots of misadventures. Along the way, Neji wishes to marry Naruto for his money and my brain explodes from too much stupidity.

Oh yeah, another pet peeve... I don't like how that sounds, therefore I will replace the word pet with dragon!

Another dragon peeve of mine is when authors create the absolute stupidest or half-assed bloodline limits. You don't think it has gotten that bad?

Two words: Orange Sharingan.

The next step is the pink byakugan, keep an eye out for it!! Pun intended.(I love 'em.)
In these demon days, It's so cold inside
So hard for a good soul to survive
You can't even trust the air you breathe
Because mother earth wants us all to leave

Gorillaz
Song: Demon Days.
Album : Demon Days

#40 wingsover

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Posted 07 April 2006 - 06:41 PM

Desaix: your point about peeves being taken by a writer and made it an absolutely brilliant fic is true. But they're the exceptions, I think, and not the rule...like what you said, they're too often done by bad writers and we are predisposed against them, so... *shrugs*

Loki, your Corpse Bride!Naruto is disturbing and weird. YOU RAWK. Oooh, ooh, and Kyuubi can be the little dead-demon pet. biggrin.gif

Speaking of NejiNaru, another peeve of mine is the arbitrary Let's Make Them Rapist! fics. Massive amounts of OOC in every character involved, from the rapist to the raped, and the offensive claim at the end that it's all good. NO IT'S NOT.

And for some reason Neji seems to be subjected to that a lot lately. Why? Why NEJI of all people? God, Naruto or Sasuke (albeit them in freaked-out power half-mad mode) are more likely than Hyuuga Polite!Gentleman (when-not-killing-cousin) Neji. AND NONE OF THEM AT ALL ARE LIKELY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Sorry, it's been boggling my mind lately. th_cussing.gif


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