The Fanfiction Rant Thread

[spiritmage234]

There is a lot of stuff that is annoying in the world today. Much of that is related to politics and social issues, but, we have an individual board to discuss/rant about related topics. (a.k.a. the Critical Thinking Board)

This is a ranting thread all in its own:
Fanfiction.

There is so much stuff that is BEYOND annoying in this category that I think it deserves its own separate rant thread. After seeing several LJ communities dedicated to ranting about what authors call "badfics", I decided to make a little community on DH. And I hope that this thread will earn it's own cult followers.

Being the self-proclaimed Ranting Queen of the DH Forum, I believe it is my duty to establish some rules:
1) Avoid naming specific titles and authors.
2) You can rant but you CANNOT flame said specifics, and to a lesser extent, fandom pairings and ships.
3) Have fun by blowing off steam via ranting.
4) If you feel that you will feel some degree of offense despite these tactics to avoid quarrels with conflicting viewpoints on diffferent fandoms, shrug it off and be mature. Please don't confuse ranting/critiquing with flamming.

Now let's begin with the ranting!

So I don't know if any of you have noticed (which you probably have), but have you noticed that a lot of fanfics that are deemed - in all honesty - "badfics" are recieving 600+ reviews, about 563 of them being good reviews? Yeah, I know that everybody has different tastes in stuff such as music and books: something that you may like is bad in another person's eyes, and everybody has the right to write what he or she wants. But I'm insanely sick and tired when fanfics plagued with bad grammar, spelling, diction are looked past by these "fangirl" reviewers.

This is dangerous. When reviewers give good reviews for fanfics that are clearly horrible when concerning an undeveloped plot w/characters, spelling, grammar, and the worst examples of Mary/Gary-Sues/Stus known to humankind, authors - especially newbs - are gonna think that their flawed style of writing is acceptable and will continue this shabby display of writing ten fics later, only with a cocky ego. Now that the authors are so far up their own @$$es, they view any review that shows some level of criticism as "flames", and usually, the same fangirl reviewer(s) from their first story return to defend the fangirl writer (About 67% of reviews (with 600+) are in rebuttle to a single critique).

Now I detest flamming (It certainly wouldn't be very pleasant to recieve a review saying that "I sucked" just because I wrote a fanfic), and I believe that people are entitled to write what they want without recieving flames. However, I DO have the right to point out the 60 or so flaws of a fanfic that the 400 other reviews failed to bring up. And I have. And I will snark on a person who rebuttles with some smart@$$ed remark on how he or she "doesn't have time to spellcheck and is only in the 7th grade."

Grr. Before I say more, I'd like to see what other people have to say. So begin.

[Horyo]

Our society is geared towards praise, as to avoid destructive criticism or to come off mean. I know this, because when someone gave me a darned good review, I took it the wrong way. Thus spawns only a greater quantity of sub-par work. Plus, in our day and age, it's more about getting it out there quick, and pleasing thee moment, rather than understanding the deeper aspects and qualities of a work that make it a true 'work.'

[username]

I usually hate the embracing of mediocrity more than the mediocrity itself.

[spiritmage234]

Very true. I use to hate reading fanfics that are updated twice or thrice every year (though I know a lot of fanfic writers are housewives. Seriously.). But I see that aside from the schedule, the author(s) really develop their story. They may take a long@$$ time update, but, they get 1000+ reviews that are well deserved on my part. So, you see a lot of people who clearly wrote a chapter out of the blue in one hour. Not that they may be swarming with grammatical errors, but the plot of the entire chapter seems to just run around in circles, not really going anywhere. It's basically written like a filler episode in anime: they write it just to please and quell the fans. You then get some authors who will post ten chapters in one week. They either aren't putting any effort into developing the story, or, they really don't have a life. And the chapters, aren't really that great.

On my part, I have updated stories three times in one week. But the reason it takes me that short of a timespan to update is not because I write stuff out of the blue. Prior to actually beginning to write the story, I make a thorough outline. I constantly update and alter the outlines until I see that it is to my liking. THEN I actually beginning writing it. When I begin to write an outline, I get through about two or three chapters, and I write it straight through. After those first three updates, it takes me about 1-4 months to update afterwards. My most reviewed story was last updated in February... And I'm still trying to write the last segment of the current chapter!

I have a lot of stories in progress, a lot of them being one shots. But I'd rather add a little bit every other day and think it all the way through rather than jumbling a bunch of clauses together all at once.

It's okay if you're not quick to update. I'd rather wait ten months for a chapter that will blow my mind away rather than waiting ten hours and being disappointed.

@kaneda: Oh G-d. DeviantArt is on a totally different level. We mind as well rant about DA on here too.

It's basically the same thing. Chibi-chan rants about this a lot. You give criticism on something, or a mature opinion on say, an explicit furry, and you get 1000 comments attacking you. And in the furry case, you know all of the members leaping to this "aspiring artist's" side are perverts plain and simple.

SPOILER: Click to show

You can't hide your obvious arousal at a cat girl who has perky breasts, a thin waist, wide hips, and nipples as pointy as Mt. Kilamanjaro with a "This is absolutely gorgeous. Your spectacular work never fails to astound me."

.

Like I say around this forum a lot, a lot of reviews and comments are biased. Any person who as a contradicting viewpoint will get their @$$ flamed and toasted.

And DA people are really defensive. So if something I see is just horrible in my eyes, I don't even comment. I should though.

[Horyo]

Another thing I'm thinking of is that many of us (well, mostly me) are still somewhere under mediocre when it comes to our art. And our drawings/stories aren't WOW fantastica! Then our authority on someone else's work becomes more limited. So if I tell that person to draw a more round circle when my circle (although better) still has mistakes, it seems as if I'm arrogant and egotistical.

[LiveInThaskyE]

^Yeah,it kinda comes off like you can't get take your own advice, that you can tell other people what to do but then your product isn't as good as it could be.

[spiritmage234]

Horyo: I sometimes have that problem. Like with people whose writing is swarming with grammatical and spelling errors and you tell them to proofread, but at the same time you sometimes accidently use "their" instead of "there" and what not (though your story might not be literally "swarming" with errors in grammar).

I just believe in concrit: just point out what's wrong with someone's work and tell them how to improve it.

Just saying, "get better" isn't legit and is pretty vague. Unless your indirectly telling that person that they suck at what they do.

[username]

"Let's see you do better" or "why don't you try and make a webcomic/fanfiction/art/whatever" is probably the single worst excuse for not listening to criticism. And so many people think it's a legitimate argument, when it isn't at all.

[spiritmage234]

^I suppose so.

But onto another random FF rant topic, crossovers.

I personally can't stand them, and I admit that I don't want to read any unless the two fics roughly took place in the same setting (So far, I've only read one: A Kaze Hikaru/Rurouni Kenshin crossfic, which actually makes sense if you have read both titles).

Probably one big reason why I detest crossfics so much is because every single fic I see, it's [Inuyasha][Insert anime title here].

Why is it always Inuyasha? I know you can write whatever the hell you want, but are you guys really lacking that much of an imagination? I mean, in my personal opinion (and probably many more as well), Inuyasha is not that great of series that we must see legions of Inuyasha/FMA, Inuyasha/Bleach, Inuyasha/Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha/What the hell ever crossfics!!!

Maybe if I read one, my opinion MIGHT change, but...

Why no Rurouni Kenshin and Peacemaker crossfics? They were both set in the same era during the Bakumatsu, or at the very least, a Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai Champloo crossfic (both set in the Edo period, but at least 80 or so years apart)?

I mean, Inuyasha and Rurouni Kenshin were both set in two COMPLETELY different eras with two COMPLETELY different spectrums of reality (one dealt with folklore stuff, the other was just, wierd action violence).

And Inuyasha ain't even Shonen Jump!

Being a Shonen Jump Stars fan, I am much more willing to read a Bleach/Rurouni Kenshin crossfic - or better yet, Gintama/Rurouni Kenshin crossfic - because I would like to read a fanfic version of a Jump Stars battle royale!

(To reiterate, I don't hate Inuyasha. But I don't love it either.)

[Solvabibble]

One of my biggest pet peeves is when the author writes in the summary, "This really sucks it's terrible don't read!" Then why would you even post it? Sheesh.

[CountessRachel]

Lol, I have a list...

Songfics...I hate songfics--even if the fic is good. All songfics do is unnecessarily frustrate me whenever I have to periodically scroll through lyrics that I either already know and don't care about or don't know nor care about just to get back to the storyline.

Particularly for anime-fics: People who throw in random Japanese--though, I don't think this is as common as it used to be back in the 90's and early 2000's. If your fic is entirely in Japanese, then use Japanese--if it's written in English (or whatever language) then be consistent unless the character you are writing is actually using Japanese in a certain situation differing from the English dialogue that the rest of the story's written in. Instead of writing "Baka" or "Yatta!" etc., I'd rather people use the actual English translations. In reality, most (serious) readers don't care about the limited 3 to 12 overused words you and everybody else knows in Japanese.

Also, ridiculously OOC fics. Granted, I understand that writing in character doesn't come naturally to everyone. But what makes a good writer is being able to put yourself in that character's mind set and executing dialogue and exposition that normally fits his/her mannerisms--atleast on a somewhat convinceable level. Nonesense like, "And suddenly, Goku pimp-smacked ChiChi for being a nag" does not a good fanfic make...

Another peeve?

People who write out screams like, "AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" or
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" and the like. It bothers my eyes to read all caps already. Just write "screamed violently," or even "Aagh!" will work fine.

SPOILER: Click to show

And of course, good lemons that are too short...jkjkjk...maybe?

[nymphadora]

Song fics really bother me too. I don't want to read the lyrics and probably haven't heard of the song anyways. Just say that the song inspired you, don't make us read it so the fic looks longer than it actually is.

And OOC.....grrrr.......if it seems OOC I won't read it. Why bother using the character if you're going to mess it up anyways? Turn it into an OC instead of ruining the character. I usually get annoyed when characters from Avatar or Harry Potter are put into modern settings. I don't get it. Sometimes it almost words, but it usually is annoying.

And when people rate their stories wrong on ff.net. There's some stuff there that's rated M when it could be K+ or something. I want to read something rated M not K. There's nothing inappropriate or offensive in your fic!

[spiritmage234]

Reviews.

Now, I'm always looking forward to a lengthy or inspiring review, but I hate it when the only thing they say is, "omg plz update sonn!"

Okay, it's flattering that you want to read on, which I appreciate, but, that's not really a review. That's just a request to tell the author to hurry the hell up.

And I don't get majorly ticked when this happens, but some cases annoy the hell out of me.

For instance, I started reading this fic by an author who just started out earlier this year. It's a really good fic, and she had a steady update schedule - about every two or three weeks, which is cool. Then, for about three or four months, we get no updates. Well, that didn't really bug me either. A lot of the good fics take one hell of a long time to update, but when they do, they just blow you away, you know? So this is no different. So she updated earlier this month, and in the authors' note at the top, she apologized to the readers for such a late update because it turns out her father died shortly after her birthday and she has been spending time with her family.

That's a pretty good explanation for a delay in update, ain't it?

And her fic is not a happy fic to write. It's a dark fic, the really disturbing kind. I wouldn't really want to write a fic full of torture and slaughter when my dad just died after my 22 birthday, would you?

And, just about all of the reviews she got on that update day still said, "omg plz update sonn like the end of this week plzzzzzz i beg joo! "

Hello!
Her dad just died!
Be lucky she actually continued writing this fic out of selflessness. The least you can do is give a thoughtful review instead of writing a review that is practically bugging her!

And a lot of good fics have been cut short and never completed, and aside from a severe case of writers' block, there are many severe, real reasons why some fics are never completed....

So, whenever I write a review (which has depth) I usually end by saying "I look forward to the next chapter" or "I hope you write the next chapter smoothly" and if I feel the urge to request an update after a one year waiting period, I usually write, "I hope that you continue to write this fic. It's really enjoyable to read." Not "PLZ UPDATE SOON".

That, and another reason why I don't write those kind of reviews is because some authors feel the same way I do. I once wrote an indepth review for a story, and the author PMed back, and she basically said "You're review just made my day and inspired me so much. It's nice to get a thoughtful review aside from 'plz update soon'..."

So yeah.

[Solvabibble]

Another thing: I can't stand it when the author doesn't take into consideration the time frame or the setting of the series.

I read an Avatar fic the other day that had this line (or something similar): "She [Katara] felt like she had been shot with a gun."

Um, ok. There are no guns in the A:TLA universe. Sure, the Fire Nation has some technology, but surely not guns.

Another (non-Avatar) fic I read had the characters celebrating the 4th of July... and the story took place in Japan. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Japanese don't celebrate the 4th of July. Why should they? It's an American holiday.

[spiritmage234]

^To comprise to that, I read one fic - takes place in Japan, characters are Japanese - and one of the characters said to one character, "For one: you're F*cking white!"

Um, yeah.