Careful, that's how you end up missing the awful date rape jokes in a fic you initially liked.
CV12Hornet Cleans Out His Fanfiction Favorites List (Beware of Shit Taste)
- Thread starter CV12Hornet
- Start date
Suryn
On the wings of a Dragon
He's an aquired taste. I personally like a few of his works, but unless you like 'chan it is not for you
Intro to Ozzallos
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Ozzallos is... an interesting author to examine. He's one of the more well-known names in the current Ranma scene - and also one of the more notorious. The reason for that is because Ozzallos has a very particular kind of story he likes to tell, and is good at executing that kind of story. What this means is that loving or hating his stories usually rests on the initial premise and how much you can tolerate the guy's idiosyncracies.
See, what Ozzallos writes is what's known as "Ranma-chan" fanfiction: namely, taking Ranma 1/2's usual status quo with regards to his curse and the dropping that for a heaping dose of the First Law of Gender Bending1. If you don't like TvTropes, it basically means that the author sets up circumstances to keep Ranma a girl. What those circumstances are vary tremendously.
Now, like any trend, this can be executed well, and executed poorly. And like I said, Ozzallos tends towards the former, IMO.
I should also mention this is fuku fic, which means it hits two cliche Ranma fanfiction plots for the price of one!
Thing is, The Best of Times puts a twist on both cliches by doing something I'm simply astounded more of both types don't do: Ranma gets in both situations by putting himself there in exactly the kind of zany scheme you'd expect from Ranma 1/2. That's the fic's strong suit, honestly. While it's more serious than Ranma canon usually is, it's got an air of wackiness that helps you buy into the whole thing a lot better. It's got some great lines, and Ranma being badass, and a pterodactyl. What's not to like?
Verdict: There's a reason I've reread this so many times.
Tales of the Foxcat starts strong; I really like the first half-dozen or so chapters. It hits a lot of standard crossover plot beats, but I happen to like those beats, and it does a good job setting up strong plot threads that can carry the story forward, at least until later events in Naruto canon can carry things a little more.
But then faults start piling up. Not only do I find Naruto gender-bending himself a rather dumb and unnecessary plot point, the Naruto fanon cliches start to pile up as well, which I find much more annoying. Probably because a. I'm more familiar with Naruto canon than Ranma canon, and b. the SB Naruto fanfic thread has been aggressive in pointing out bad fanon. You pick up things by osmosis. When the Kyuubi called Naruto 'kit', I knew it was time to bail.
Verdict: Dumb plot points, aggressive fanon... no thank you.
Anyway, next up we'll wrap up 2005, and then prepare for 2006. Because the first fic from that year is another whopper.
Team 8.
See, what Ozzallos writes is what's known as "Ranma-chan" fanfiction: namely, taking Ranma 1/2's usual status quo with regards to his curse and the dropping that for a heaping dose of the First Law of Gender Bending1. If you don't like TvTropes, it basically means that the author sets up circumstances to keep Ranma a girl. What those circumstances are vary tremendously.
Now, like any trend, this can be executed well, and executed poorly. And like I said, Ozzallos tends towards the former, IMO.
The Best of Times is not without its issues, mostly in the characterization department2, though the endings are... well, let's just say there are two and neither are entirely satisfying. One's too silly and outlandish, the other too grim.
I should also mention this is fuku fic, which means it hits two cliche Ranma fanfiction plots for the price of one!
Thing is, The Best of Times puts a twist on both cliches by doing something I'm simply astounded more of both types don't do: Ranma gets in both situations by putting himself there in exactly the kind of zany scheme you'd expect from Ranma 1/2. That's the fic's strong suit, honestly. While it's more serious than Ranma canon usually is, it's got an air of wackiness that helps you buy into the whole thing a lot better. It's got some great lines, and Ranma being badass, and a pterodactyl. What's not to like?
Verdict: There's a reason I've reread this so many times.
Hmm... how do I put this...?
Tales of the Foxcat starts strong; I really like the first half-dozen or so chapters. It hits a lot of standard crossover plot beats, but I happen to like those beats, and it does a good job setting up strong plot threads that can carry the story forward, at least until later events in Naruto canon can carry things a little more.
But then faults start piling up. Not only do I find Naruto gender-bending himself a rather dumb and unnecessary plot point, the Naruto fanon cliches start to pile up as well, which I find much more annoying. Probably because a. I'm more familiar with Naruto canon than Ranma canon, and b. the SB Naruto fanfic thread has been aggressive in pointing out bad fanon. You pick up things by osmosis. When the Kyuubi called Naruto 'kit', I knew it was time to bail.
Verdict: Dumb plot points, aggressive fanon... no thank you.
Anyway, next up we'll wrap up 2005, and then prepare for 2006. Because the first fic from that year is another whopper.
Team 8.
- Warning: TvTropes link.
- See Sailor Pluto, which only partially gets a pass for being necessary to set the whole plot up.
lin4t
The Sheep that Yawns at Reality
- Location
- Australia
Oh dear, this will be an interesting analysis at least.
Team 8 is far from the worst 'original-sin' fic but I think it aged considerably worse than many others as well it just seems to fall into too many fanon pitfalls that seemed to be less and less popular over time (for good reason).
2005 Cleanup
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Catch 22 is what's known as a "drabble fic", a collection of short vignettes and scenes with often only tangential relationships to each other. Generally speaking, they tend to be either comedies, acting much like sketch TV, or collections of ideas authors don't have time for and simply want to exorcise. I've done both myself.
Catch 22 is a little different because it's neither. Instead, the drabble structure is used to allow the author to spit headcanon out at the reader - little facts not supported or contradicted by canon.
Then recall that this was written in 2005, over eight years before the end of the manga. Quite a bit of the fic has since been utterly invalidated by subsequent events in the manga. Sometimes this is hilarious, sometimes this is sad, and drabble 19 of the first chapter manages to be both.
But you know what? The stuff that's invalidated is still an interesting look into the past of a fandom, and the stuff that isn't invalidated is good headcanon. It makes sense, and feels like it would contribute something if it actually showed up in a story. And some, with a little more detail and elaboration, could probably stand as stories on their own. Oh, and it's often rather amusing, too, so that nets brownie points with me.
Verdict: Interesting headcanon, plenty of history, and laughs. Plenty to like.
Another entry into the "amusing one-shot" category, this got a few chuckles out of me. Turnabout is fair play, indeed.
There's really not much else to say. Between the title and summary, you can easily guess what the story's about, but it's amusing nonetheless.
Verdict: Harmless chuckles will always be welcome on my list.
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Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
8 years before the start of the manga? Naruto started coming out with chapters in 1999. It stopped in 2014. I'm thinking you meant end.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Derp, thank you.
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
@CV12Hornet hply ahot, Hearts of Ice fonished? I thought she would never get it done.
And i know what you mean about .txt files. I lost a couple of floppies in the moves that had fanfics on them.
And i know what you mean about .txt files. I lost a couple of floppies in the moves that had fanfics on them.
al103
Grumpy Russian Bear (SV edition)
- Location
- Russia, Krasnoyarsk
*look on HP fics* *looks on Naruto fics* *looks on fucking "I didn't played ME but I read enough fics so" ME fics* *facepalms and looks on Warhammer fics*Oh man, Ranma 1/2. The only anime fandom where you never needed to watch a single minute of the original show to write fanfic about it.
...
...
...
Eheh...
PS. Yeah, HP, ME and WH aren't anime... Naruto is. ZnT is. Fucking Evangelion is - and there are fics about Eva based on other fics ONLY. Every popular fandoms falls prey to fanon osmosis and fics based on fics.
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Team 8
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
First, an apology: I would've had this out this weekend if I hadn't gotten distracted by A Thing of Vikings, an excellent How To Train Your Dragon fic over on AO3. If you like medieval history with your dragons, then you're going to love that fic. But we're getting off topic. Without further ado
I could go on. Team 8 didn't create all of these cliches - original sin fics rarely do - but it did popularize them. Look at those stats! Team 8 is the most popular fic on FFN that's not about a boy wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Team 8 is the beast that, in many ways, SB's Naruto Reread Thread is trying to slay.
So is it a bad thing that I still actually like it?
The big thing that salvages all this is that the fic is very explicitly AU even before the premise's point of divergence. This isn't immediately apparent, but later Author's Notes make that point clear. Suddenly, everything's much easier to stomach: something happened in the fic's backstory that resulted in a lot of the cliches above, and S'Tarkan drops hints on that from the very first line of the fic.
Also, it avoids a lot of other sins fics of its type often fall into. Naruto gets stronger faster, but it never crosses into Super!Naruto territory2. Hyuuga aside, there's very little character bashing going on right now. The NaruHina pairing (another thing this fic probably popularized) is obvious but also slow-burning without dragging. It takes the opportunity to expand and develop other characters in divergent ways. And there's a sense that the world the fic is in has things happening without the titular Team 8 being involved; Haku's entire existence in the fic is a good example of that.
My point being, while not really inspiring me to any great emotions like, say, A Thin Veneer or The Dilgar War, Team 8 is a functional, fairly satisfying bit of literature whose flaws I can mostly ignore. And yes, it has flaws, an at times excessively formal style being the most prominent. Oh, and the outfit thing. The AU divergences don't justify that, that's just author opinion leaking through.
Verdict: Still, it stays.
Next up, we keep going through the fics of 2006.
Over on Fernandel's thread, I coined the term "original sin fic" to describe fanfics that start long-term trends in their fandom. These can be premises, ships, or bits of headcanon that people borrow and spread across the entire fandom. And Team 8 is the original sin fanfic for Naruto. Pick a bad fanon cliche, and it's probably present. Team shuffle? Check. The Jonin having their pick of genin students? Check. Evil council of evilness that has actual political power? Check. Evil Hyuuga clan? Check. Naruto getting run out of stores or overcharged? Check. Naruto getting a new outfit with his canon orange one being disparaged? Check1.
I could go on. Team 8 didn't create all of these cliches - original sin fics rarely do - but it did popularize them. Look at those stats! Team 8 is the most popular fic on FFN that's not about a boy wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Team 8 is the beast that, in many ways, SB's Naruto Reread Thread is trying to slay.
So is it a bad thing that I still actually like it?
The big thing that salvages all this is that the fic is very explicitly AU even before the premise's point of divergence. This isn't immediately apparent, but later Author's Notes make that point clear. Suddenly, everything's much easier to stomach: something happened in the fic's backstory that resulted in a lot of the cliches above, and S'Tarkan drops hints on that from the very first line of the fic.
Also, it avoids a lot of other sins fics of its type often fall into. Naruto gets stronger faster, but it never crosses into Super!Naruto territory2. Hyuuga aside, there's very little character bashing going on right now. The NaruHina pairing (another thing this fic probably popularized) is obvious but also slow-burning without dragging. It takes the opportunity to expand and develop other characters in divergent ways. And there's a sense that the world the fic is in has things happening without the titular Team 8 being involved; Haku's entire existence in the fic is a good example of that.
My point being, while not really inspiring me to any great emotions like, say, A Thin Veneer or The Dilgar War, Team 8 is a functional, fairly satisfying bit of literature whose flaws I can mostly ignore. And yes, it has flaws, an at times excessively formal style being the most prominent. Oh, and the outfit thing. The AU divergences don't justify that, that's just author opinion leaking through.
Verdict: Still, it stays.
Next up, we keep going through the fics of 2006.
- One that I'm thanking my lucky stars isn't in - probably because Team 8 started before that little reveal - is abusing Shadow Clones for training purposes.
- Incidentally, many of those are kind of hilarious to look at now with where canon has gone.
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I really should update my own thread again.
Also, yeah, Team 8 is... weird to look at now. It's really so very obviously early/mid-oughts in terms of diction, fanon, clichés, etc. It's a bit of a strange beast, really.
I think I must have favourited it myself, and I still can't tell you whether it'll stay or get kicked.
Also, yeah, Team 8 is... weird to look at now. It's really so very obviously early/mid-oughts in terms of diction, fanon, clichés, etc. It's a bit of a strange beast, really.
I think I must have favourited it myself, and I still can't tell you whether it'll stay or get kicked.
Ashynarr
The Immortal Witc)( Empress of Trollkind
- Location
- Alternia
My main disappointment is that I found this so soon, because now i have to wait for updates instead of finishing it all in one go
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
@CV12Hornet @Fernandel Team 8 is on my favorites. *shrug* I liked it before. Dunno if I still like it.
...I'm a little afraid to ask if GG was ever on your favorites lists haha ^_^;;
...I'm a little afraid to ask if GG was ever on your favorites lists haha ^_^;;
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Now, now, Whiskey. That would be spoilers.
January 26-February 3, 2006
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
I suppose I should take this moment to talk about my criteria for keeping a fic on this list, and how that's going to change... soon-ish. My primary criteria up until now has been reread value. This is because all of the fics looked at have been either complete, clearly dead, or in the case of Team 8, dormant enough that I'm not expecting an update anytime soon. As we move along, though, the likelihood of an update is going to start weighing more heavily on my decisions.
Anyway, fics!
Anyway, actual story. Spoiler alert: Sakura succeeds. Unfortunately, unlike the previous dead fics (see: Paragon) I've gone over, this simply doesn't have enough substance to it to stand as a story without the anticipation of more chapter.
Verdict: As such, it goes bye-bye.
Looking back, I can kinda see why I liked this one-shot, but rereading it has led me to an uncomfortable realization: this is a potshot against the shippers. And right on the heels of that was all sorts of fridge logic about the logistics of the events within. I may be more tolerant to shorter fics, but I have my limits, and author soapboxing is one of them.
Verdict: Buh-bye.
Anyway, Invictus does a few things differently from the usual examples of this type of crossover. Well, really it does one thing different: after dumping Naruto and Sasuke in Nerima, it makes a point to also follow events back home in the Naruto-verse, and the effects Naruto disappearing for an extended period of time is having. Add in the duo upsetting Nerima's usual dynamics, and there's the framework for a solid story in here.
But this isn't a solid story, I'm afraid. I went a bit back and forth on this story, but ultimately while the higher concepts are interesting the actual words aren't, and it's paired with some serious technical problems. For starters, there's a bit of a problem with talking heads, and what should have been one of the most interesting fight scenes in the fic turned out to be intensely boring and repetitive. That last is what really pushed it over the edge.
Verdict: As such, it's getting the boot.
Wow, three stories, three boots. Wonder how many times that's going to happen before we're done.
Anyway, next time, we go over another Ozzallos story, and a cute Eva one-shot. At least, I vaguely remember it being cute.
Anyway, fics!
Oh, lord, this thing's so dated. It has a vision for the Naruto endgame, and it's completely invalidated not just by the final arc but by a lot of what preceded it.
Anyway, actual story. Spoiler alert: Sakura succeeds. Unfortunately, unlike the previous dead fics (see: Paragon) I've gone over, this simply doesn't have enough substance to it to stand as a story without the anticipation of more chapter.
Verdict: As such, it goes bye-bye.
Ah, the Chronicles of Narnia. This is one of my childhood loves. I read the books multiple times, watched the BBC film adaptation, and the American movies, and all three have their merits. Still, it surprises me how much good fanfiction there is for the books. In fact, one of my favorite fanfiction series takes place in this verse, and we'll get to it later.
Looking back, I can kinda see why I liked this one-shot, but rereading it has led me to an uncomfortable realization: this is a potshot against the shippers. And right on the heels of that was all sorts of fridge logic about the logistics of the events within. I may be more tolerant to shorter fics, but I have my limits, and author soapboxing is one of them.
Verdict: Buh-bye.
Oh, hey, another Ranma 1/2/Naruto crossover. Think there might have been a bit of a torch passing in anime circles?
Anyway, Invictus does a few things differently from the usual examples of this type of crossover. Well, really it does one thing different: after dumping Naruto and Sasuke in Nerima, it makes a point to also follow events back home in the Naruto-verse, and the effects Naruto disappearing for an extended period of time is having. Add in the duo upsetting Nerima's usual dynamics, and there's the framework for a solid story in here.
But this isn't a solid story, I'm afraid. I went a bit back and forth on this story, but ultimately while the higher concepts are interesting the actual words aren't, and it's paired with some serious technical problems. For starters, there's a bit of a problem with talking heads, and what should have been one of the most interesting fight scenes in the fic turned out to be intensely boring and repetitive. That last is what really pushed it over the edge.
Verdict: As such, it's getting the boot.
Wow, three stories, three boots. Wonder how many times that's going to happen before we're done.
Anyway, next time, we go over another Ozzallos story, and a cute Eva one-shot. At least, I vaguely remember it being cute.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Believe me, that was a very conscious effort on my part. Something convinced me that most Harry Potter fics were shit and to be avoided; I believe it was trawling through people's favorites and being continually disappointed by the Harry Potter fics therein. And as we'll see as we keep going, I didn't avoid it entirely.
To me it seems like it's something about the setting that stinks, and the characters aren't likeable enough to make up for it. Without re-reading everything, I think that there would be just two HP fics I would recommend to anyone, and both take place mostly outside Britain.
Jemnite
CVN-69 Fella
- Location
- 清源书院
I don't agree with this idea. Brightly Burning was somewhat uniquely brilliant among Hikaru no Go fanfiction by painting how disturbing Hikaru's obsession with Weiqi was. From the outsider's perspective the impact of this is more heavily felt- Hikaru is strange, valuing every game above everything, and it comes out to really hit you in the forefront when Waya's asking Hikaru to throw a game because Izumi needs that win to stay in the pro qualification exam, but Hikaru refuses. In that moment, he seems warped and twisted by his loss of Sai and his subsequent throwing himself into Weiqi, and I don't think you could get an effect like that if you had a sense of Hikaru's thoughts. As an outsider, you can really understand how profoundly alien his mindset is, even among weiqi insei who should be the closest to how he thinks.
Yeah, anyway I would say Brightly Burning is the strongest fic in the entire Hikaru no Go fanfiction archive and it's honestly a shame the author dropped it.
The only real Ozzallos fic which managed to balance the Ranma-chan fetishization with a healthy plot imo is probably Heir to the Empire. When Ozzallos gets too much time to drop into characterization, the Ranma-chan aspects blast on too hard; but Heir to the Empire moved at pace fast enough that Ranma was dealing with the fukufic status quo but didn't give full force straight in.
Plus Serenity is actually an interesting character from what we can see in flashbacks and so I don't mind her influence on Ranma- though that's just pure personal opinion.
(yes this is indirectly a fic rec go read it i guess agamemnon-chan is cute)
if you want trash taste i liked trimatter's aftermath a lot when i was like a teenagerThis? This is all the shit taste you have? You need to step up your game
Anyway, glad to see you continuing to do this.
it was a lock!ranma/sailor moon/tenchimuyo crossover and it was every bit as cliche as that sounds
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February 12-14, 2006
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Funny you should say that...
Because you're right. Where The Best of Times handles the fukufic thing well by throwing in a heaping dose of Ranma 1/2 zany comedy to get the ball rolling, Heir to the Empire definitely relies more on tight plotting, which is impressive considering it was massively expanded from what Ozzallos originally planned. Personally, this is more even than The Best of Times, but also doesn't hit quite the same heights. Still an excellent read, though.
And while I'll also agree that Queen Serenity is an interesting character, I'm a little less sanguine about the sheer scale and heavy Space Opera trappings of Ozzallos' Silver Millennium. But eh. I don't know Sailor Moon canon enough to get all tied up in knots about it.
Verdict: Good read, stays in.
And as for my next fic...
Hmm. Looks like a bit of fluffy comedy. Alright, I'm always down for that.
*reads*
Oh. Shipping. Ah well. I don't have a stake in that race, but eh, it's harmless and inoffensive.
...
Should I really keep it, then?
Verdict: Bah, I'm overthinking this. I don't have a problem with it, it's not boring, just keep it in.
Anyway, next time, we have... another long Star Wars fic. Well. Let's see if this fares better than the last one.
Misunderstood
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Ah, Revenge of the Sith. Inspiration for a thousand different fix-fics, all aimed at either averting the fall of the Jedi, or at least getting a better outcome. In fact, people are still writing them; I can only conclude the movie was somewhat scarring.
All sorts of mechanisms were used. Some just gave Anakin a burst of good judgement (which I'm increasingly convinced misses the point of the movie), others use a burst of bad judgement to throw everything off, time travel is popular. Surprisingly, outright AUs aren't that common.
In all seriousness, though, I'm not sure how to feel about this fic. I like the idea behind it, and the story itself is... solid, if at it's weakest when it has to rehash movie material. But solid is all it is. It's like eating bread. Filling, but hardly very exciting.
Verdict: Eh, what the hell. Like I said, I like the idea behind this. It stays.
Anyway, tomorrow we talk about what's generally regarded as a Naruto fandom classic: Spying no Jutsu!
All sorts of mechanisms were used. Some just gave Anakin a burst of good judgement (which I'm increasingly convinced misses the point of the movie), others use a burst of bad judgement to throw everything off, time travel is popular. Surprisingly, outright AUs aren't that common.
As you can guess, this is one of them. Everything stems from a. Qui-Gonn not freeing Anakin on Tatooine, and b. Count Dooku being a total incompetent at actually grooming a Sith apprentice.
In all seriousness, though, I'm not sure how to feel about this fic. I like the idea behind it, and the story itself is... solid, if at it's weakest when it has to rehash movie material. But solid is all it is. It's like eating bread. Filling, but hardly very exciting.
Verdict: Eh, what the hell. Like I said, I like the idea behind this. It stays.
Anyway, tomorrow we talk about what's generally regarded as a Naruto fandom classic: Spying no Jutsu!
March 24 - May 2, 2006
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
By no means is Spying no Jutsu perfect. The first few chapters are marred by a choppy writing style that almost always starts a paragraph with someone's name. Typos, particularly of characters' names, are common. Tense trouble. Bad fanon (Naruto getting gouged in stores, getting chased by ANBU).
But most of that fades into the background by chapter three, and the fic gets stronger and stronger as it continues. The last two chapters are absolutely hilarious, and there are plenty of good zingers sprinkled in elsewhere. Naruto's characterization is a consistent strength, especially when he confuses people by being himself or when he lays out an actually usable platform for when he becomes Hokage. But still, this is a comedy fic at heart, and there's a ton to like in that department. I mean, see this little passage below:
Moving on, since this was published in 2006, I suspect right after Hidan and Kakuzu were introduced, it gets things wrong, the most glaring of which is the identity of the Tsuchikage. But other things actually make some sense in light of later canon, such as much of Itachi's actions.
Verdict: Not a masterpiece like, say, Hearts of Ice, but a very solid comedy.
Kakashi's lateness is a (probably somewhat flanderized) very popular source of comedy in the Naruto fandom. And really, the lateness itself isn't what's usually funny: it's how everyone else reacts to it. Reactions, I've concluded, are the key to comedy fiction involving absurdity.
Verdict: The above has very little to do with the fic, which is mildly amusing and stays on the list.
Next up, we have a big ol' crossover between an early 2000s fandom and a mid-2000s fandom.
The Titans and the Lost Boy
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
I'm probably going to talk more history this time than actual fic. As will be detailed below, there isn't a whole lot of substance to this one. Not that I have too much to say about Teen Titans and its fanfiction scene, but that's mostly due to me missing its heyday in the mid-2000s.
From what I can gather from various ancillary bits of research I've done over the years, the Teen Titans fanfiction scene was a lot heavier on shipping than... well, anything else, with some absolutely vicious shipping wars. As someone not particularly interested in shipping, this hasn't left me much to look into, and most of the Teen Titans fic I've read is of the crossover variety. For whatever reason, crossovers have tended to be less focused on shipping, perhaps because it's being approached by something of an outsider in crossovers.
But yeah. This is a fandom where you really don't want to get lost in the weeds in. It's also pretty quiet these days, with the original show long off the air1.
The problems I have with this fic are easily summed up: I kept stopping mid-sentence as my brain, honed by my own writing and editing work, kept stopping to rewrite entire paragraphs to read better. Lemme tall ya, that's not a fun way to read anything.
Verdict: I'm not particularly interested in going digging for any redeeming qualities. It's out.
Next up, a treat: five fics in a row!
From what I can gather from various ancillary bits of research I've done over the years, the Teen Titans fanfiction scene was a lot heavier on shipping than... well, anything else, with some absolutely vicious shipping wars. As someone not particularly interested in shipping, this hasn't left me much to look into, and most of the Teen Titans fic I've read is of the crossover variety. For whatever reason, crossovers have tended to be less focused on shipping, perhaps because it's being approached by something of an outsider in crossovers.
But yeah. This is a fandom where you really don't want to get lost in the weeds in. It's also pretty quiet these days, with the original show long off the air1.
Man, it's been a while. For this fic, not the overall project. This was one of the first fics I read after setting up my FFN, and despite a few attempts since I've never been able to reread it. As such, I don't remember a whole lot of it besides "by the numbers fusion2 crossover". And I didn't get very far before finding out why my prior rereads never got anywhere.
The problems I have with this fic are easily summed up: I kept stopping mid-sentence as my brain, honed by my own writing and editing work, kept stopping to rewrite entire paragraphs to read better. Lemme tall ya, that's not a fun way to read anything.
Verdict: I'm not particularly interested in going digging for any redeeming qualities. It's out.
Next up, a treat: five fics in a row!
- Teen Titans Go doesn't count.
- A fusion crossover sets the two series in the same reality, and uses various handwaves and background notes to fit them together. This doesn't always work, but with Teen Titans and Ranma 1/2, both of which are fairly separated and insular worldbuilding-wise, they're fairly straightforward to jam together.