What kind of fanfics do you hate?

Where stuff about fanfiction that doesn't fit into any other category goes. Try to make sure that new topics here actually couldn't actually go somewhere else.

Postby Kura » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:44 am

Ugh...where to start?

Well, heres one thing that bothers me, the terrible plot-devices that are conveniently thrown in to create an original character called Ranma or worse yet, Ranko. God, can't these people think of an original name for anything besides the fanon Kimiko too? But I digress, it's usually a mirror, gem, or spell and usually Mousse uses it against Ranma and "accidentally" someone else, and so in one paragraph, Ranma magically returns with that person completely different, married, with 30 kids and with nothing to back up this dramatic change besides him being able to tear dimensions with his mere acts of flatulence.

Ranma stuck as a girl/pregnant and not being nearly suicidal about it.

On that note, just because he's a girl doesn't mean he's going to suddenly fall for men left and right...There is a certain little condition that Ranma-chan will have, its called homosexuality and *gasp* there we have it, a Lesbian! Truly shocking!

Ranma suddenly meets some OC character (usually the same name as the jerk writing it) that beats him soundly with little to no description; "Super Tornado Blast Wave Ultimate!" or some other generic bile.

Ranma being a sudden intellectual mastermind, shaming Kant, Heiddeiger, Nietszche, Plato and the writers of the Encyclopedia Brittanica with his vast lateral thought processes and wide array of knowledge, oh and did I mention he's fluent in over 100 languages, and he beat up Goku last week?

Akane suddenly being a sweet gentle flower with a 2-dimensional disposition, Nabiki being a tragic heroine etc...

Mega-crossovers...I don't need to describe it...

Harems...One word: Hormones.

A little bit of OOC doesn't bother me if done correctly over time, it's called character development at that point...

I don't feel like typing anymore, or I'll remember more annoying things...
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Postby TerraEpon » Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:17 am

camk4evr wrote:I can't stand:

-bad formatting, crappy spelling (esp. ranma, Nermia, and Furnikan), and really bad grammer.


Heh, for YEARS I actually thought it WAS Nermia. I just somehow read it as that each time. Though worse is the constant "Nodoko" misspelling. Or Katsumi.


camk4evr wrote:-authors who repeat essentially the same dialogue in each chapter, or even multiple times in the same chapter, especially if we're shown what happened in the prologue as well


Not quite the same, but one thing that REALLY annoys me is an exact retelling on canon moments, especially when they are unnessesary. HOW many fics out there have the "FIANCE?!" scene?


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Postby claymade » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:58 pm

TerraEpon wrote:Not quite the same, but one thing that REALLY annoys me is an exact retelling on canon moments, especially when they are unnessesary. HOW many fics out there have the "FIANCE?!" scene?

I must admit, I've seen some clever instances that play off its common usage in fanfic. A truly skilled writer can keep it interesting. Granted, it's really easy for it to be really bad, but I've seen a handful of gems as well.
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Postby Atlan » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:17 am

I must admit, I've seen some clever instances that play off its common usage in fanfic. A truly skilled writer can keep it interesting. Granted, it's really easy for it to be really bad, but I've seen a handful of gems as well.


The same could be said for almost any of this.

I mean, Ranma-as-girl fics suck- but it's almost a rule that you dont hang out here unless you liked at least one of Sunny's fics.
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Postby antimatterenergy » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:55 pm

I hate when the characters do not resemble the characters from the original source at all.

I hate extremely bad spelling and grammar.

I hate plots that make no sense.
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What I hate

Postby pspinler » Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:35 am

Ranma goes mentally female, without struggling with it

Poorly done harem fics (e.g. 98% of the polygynous fics out there): I'm not opposed to the idea of group marriage in a fiction, just to the idea that all participants (particularly the women in a polygynous relationship) will just automatically both accede to the relationship, and be very happy within it, with no problems, hurt, adjustment, pain, etc. Most especially, my problem is that it's always written as fanboy adolescent male fantasy crap. The women characters and their reactions are completely unrealistic, often acceding to a polygynous relationship just because the sex is good (!!!!).

Uber-Ranma fics, mostly because they're all poorly disguised Ranma-Sue's.

Character ripping, particularly if it's been overdone already. Most recently, the psychotic, drooling, Akane gorilla and completely flat dopey duo otherwise known as Genma and Soun. Come on, folks, give your characters at least some depth.

Too many characters / mega crossovers. Limit the main characters to one or two, otherwise it's impossible to follow.

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Postby B'man » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:12 am

Usage of techniques and powers for unrealistic or casual uses. Examples: Ranma using KTA on his whole body, KRD to cut vegetables, or MTb as a lighter; Senshi using a transformation to clean their clothes, etc.

Naruto-style "everyone but the enemy knows [insert tech here, usually HSH in Ranma] the next killer move and has no qualms about announcing it" (or in extreme cases a number of people doing so).

Usagi's "Serenity Voice". She can't just turn "it" on and off at will... ¬_¬
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Postby Raneko » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:20 am

There's a fic where Ranma gives his heart to Akane. Literally because Akane needs a heart transplant.

:shock:

Well that sucks.
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Postby Kadunta » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:22 am

Fics that pair everyone off with someone or make everyone and their dog something supernatural.

Fics that have more than one core difference to canon (not counting canon-compliant additions)--I'd rather see how different a small nudge can make things, like a butterfly in Africa, than toss everything out.

Pretty much every harem fic I've seen for making characters act like carbon copies, their only difference being their name. And making that system actually work with little jealousy between concubines, mistresses and cowives. Particularly with this scenario I don't buy the claim "amor omnia vincit".

Every girl falling for Ranma, with the same reasoning as above.

I also sign TerraEpon's note on the annoyance of verbatim copies of canon events. I extend it to reusing same (bad) plot devices that have been used in many fics before. I just like originality.

Too much Japanese/Chinese words and phrases for no reason. If I wanted to read Japanese, I'd learn the language and pick up a real book in Japanese.

A depressing fic in which the ending is filled with all things good, usually by some hideous plot devices. Oh lookie, our bruised and battered hero died after going through about the as much as Job--but no worries, the gods returned him to life. And his wife survived, too, and the baby's ready to boogie as well. Oh how sweet.

All too common crossovers. Right now, if I see a Ranma crossover with OMG, SM and TM (or just two of those three), I'm far more likely to leave the fic alone, as the unoriginal crossover doesn't promise a whole lot on the originality side. (Sure, there are exceptions.)

Ranma the Cinderella. Poor Ranma, everyone bullies him and nothing is ever his fault, not even any of the fiancée squad. Not even Shampoo.

Fics with grammar problems and typos even I can spot.

Character bashing that just goes too far for the sake of bashing alone.
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Postby Acey » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:39 am

I have no time for fics containing the following:

1. Victim Ranma (save the highly original To Tell a Hawk From a Handsaw by N. Reynolds)

2. Genius Ranma (again save the above)

3. Less than model citizen Ranma characters that are now murderous and Eeeeevil

4. Punching bag Genma (save a few really good fics where Genma isn't all that involved in the story)

5. An average of one Japanese word or more per sentence.

6. More OCs than original cast members (save DnR)

I have no time for fics that do not contain the following:

1. Paragraphs

2. Evidence that the author has researched the source material

3. The curses (I'm fine with them being cured during the course of the story, but show it, don't tell it)

4. Characters that resemble their original counterparts in more than name only
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Postby ToastedPine » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:39 pm

Kura wrote:God, can't these people think of an original name for anything besides the fanon Kimiko too?


If I'm reading that right, the use of Kimiko is a fanon convention practiced and standardised way back in ffml. I remember knowing the name Kimiko way before I ever read my first fanfiction so I suspect that her name was either said in the Japanese version, or more likely, it was an arbitrary name conjured by viz (either way, it's as close to canon as anyone's ever going to get).

I'm surprised how many people here don't like Ranma-chan fics though.
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Postby Dumbledork » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:45 pm

I'm surprised how many people here don't like Ranma-chan fics though.


Me too. This place is called fukufics and it is about Ranma-chan put in a fic. So these people are either liars or too ashamed to admit that they like that kind of fics ^_^
And that's the bottom line 'cause Dumbledork said so.

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Postby B'man » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:33 pm

I don't find it all that surprising myself. Most of the gripe about Ranma-chan fics (specifically ones where his gender becomes female/androgynous) is when it's done badly. Half the fukufics (guesstimate) around don't have Ranma changing gender identity at all, and quite a few that do (a recent example, though not a fukufic, being Sunny and Trimatter's Strained Harmony) actually do handle it well.
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Postby Staren » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:27 pm

B'man wrote:Half the fukufics (guesstimate) around don't have Ranma changing gender identity at all, and quite a few that do (a recent example, though not a fukufic, being Sunny and Trimatter's Strained Harmony) actually do handle it well.


Or the two original fics that story is based off of. I actually do enjoy quite a few of the Ranma becomes Girl in body and mind fics, but the writer has to understand that this can not be a nice process. You're not writing comedy at this point. Ranma pretty much has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the end or have some other equally extreme reason for the change if the story isn't going to be totally out there..
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Postby B'man » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:26 pm

Strained Harmony is original - you're thinking of Girl Talk, which is based on The Return and Aftermath: A Story of Blended Clichés.
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