CV12Hornet Cleans Out His Fanfiction Favorites List (Beware of Shit Taste)
- Thread starter CV12Hornet
- Start date
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
If anything it was probably worse than ME3's ending.
The ending was an explicit attempt to Torch the Franchise due to a dispute with the publisher over ownership rights, iirc.
Mass Effect 3, meanwhile, was... not the best ending, but I enjoyed it at least. Certainly, if you do think it was bad, at least accept that it just fell flat. Negima was a deliberate act of self-sabotage by a talented author that was, iirc, designed to piss readers off.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
AND IT FUCKING SUCCEEDED!
*Ahem*
Okay, I promised myself I'd hold off on that rant.
*Ahem*
Okay, I promised myself I'd hold off on that rant.
- Location
- Borneo
Seriously!? Pissing off your publishers fine. But your fans who actually enjoy what you do?
Ugh. Guess I know whose works to avoid know, ass...
zamin
The Watcher in the Dark
To be fair, I had a feeling that Akamatsu had been feeling frustrated with his publishers since the very start of Negima.
From what I can tell, he wanted to do a shonen fantasy battle manga, but his publisher demanded a slice of life harem rom com cause Love Hina was so popular. In the end he decided to give the publisher exactly what he asked for by turning it up to eleven and making the MC a little kid surrounded by a whole class full of girls.
And Akamatsu ended up hijacking the script anyway by setting up the whole Magic World plot once the series got popular enough that he didn't need to listen to his publisher.
lin4t
The Sheep that Yawns at Reality
- Location
- Australia
Well...for those frustrated by the Negima ending, chapters 137-140 of UQ Holder basically fill in the gap that you'll been raging against. It even shows the battle that was referenced in the last chapter of Negima and how Nagi managed to survive *cough*deus ex machina plot*cough*.
But what frustrates me is that
But what frustrates me is that
Eva ended up with fucking Nagi! Of all the pairings, that's one that I was fine with leaving dead. Ugh...as a Negi/Eva shipper this did not go well for me. Especially on how Nagi survived with his heart ripped out...and apparently still having a beating heart moments later. WTF?!
Not to mention we still don't know what the fuck happened to Negi's mum. Not even an explanation. Even the old excuse of 'died in childbirth' would've been better than what we got. As a character, she was basically completely discarded.
And there's still the issue of how we don't know how Negi got possessed to begin with. Was Asuna late for something? Was Nagi's willpower too low to stop MoB from holding Negi and possessing him? Did Negi accidentally crush his father's heart too early?
Not to mention we still don't know what the fuck happened to Negi's mum. Not even an explanation. Even the old excuse of 'died in childbirth' would've been better than what we got. As a character, she was basically completely discarded.
And there's still the issue of how we don't know how Negi got possessed to begin with. Was Asuna late for something? Was Nagi's willpower too low to stop MoB from holding Negi and possessing him? Did Negi accidentally crush his father's heart too early?
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Well, we don't actually know:
How things went down in the UQ-verse at all. By all indications, the time travel chicanery that allowed Asuna to be there to help in the Good End didn't happen in this timeline and we don't know why.
Finishing the Fight
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Oh, this is such a painfully Spacebattles fanfic. I'll elaborate more in the review section.
Review:
Woo... finally finished...
As I said in the Impressions section, this is a painfully Spacebattles fic. Sci-fi/fantasy crossover? Check. The classic "we've seen more awesome/worse than you" oneupsmanship? Check. Loving descriptions of weapons technology and their effects on whatever they hit? Check, check, check. It's a similar formula to A Thin Veneer, just with better writing technique.
Naturally, this formula has... issues. It doesn't reach Spacebattles CompetenceTM levels, but both UNSC and Sangheili forces involved show off never-before-seen weapons more inline with modern doctrine: underbarrel grenade launchers, white phosphorus, UAVs, mortars, flashbangs for the UNSC, and modified, more ergonomic versions of standard Covenant weapons. The MLRS is more excusable, given Halo Wars' Wolverine. The automatic shotgun, though, is just pure Rule of Cool. All of these new weapons get detailed technical descriptions, and all weapons involved get very loving, detailed descriptions of what they do to their targets. It's not pretty. In fact, the gore levels get kind of ridiculous.
It's also one long series of curbstomps by the Halo forces and their allies. It's logical, but one-sided battles can get old, fast. Thankfully, it never gets too bad1, especially as the Drow and demons adapt their tactics and do increasingly better as the story goes on, though at horrendous cost in blood.
Overall, it avoids the biggest sin of all: shitting on one side. Yes, the Halo forces are superior in combat, but that's a logical consequence of the crossover, and the Faerun characters are generally shown as competent and dealing with a massive Outside Context Problem.
That said...
I am fully aware that I have a severe weakness to this sort of story, and that many people would be put off by it. But dammit, let me have my shit taste here!
Verdict: Shit taste or not, I found myself drawn in to this fic in a manner not dissimilar to the Dilgar War. Also, there's only an epilogue waiting to be released on FFN, if I recall. It stays.
- Major YMMV warning here; I have a rather high tolerance for this sort of thing. More on that later.
Agree, this is the first rule of writing a decent crossover:
There are way too many stories that became unreadable due to that.
Even worse if it's written by an edgelord.
There are way too many stories that became unreadable due to that.
Even worse if it's written by an edgelord.
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Hmmm.... Wasn't that fic the one where Miranda Keyes and Johnson live through the final minutes of the game? And end up joining the Chief and the Arbiter on the Dawn when it gets kicked into a portal. Or something?
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
Your memory does not disserve you.
Yep. My opinion is much the came as @CV12Hornet on this fic, tbh.
From what I remember of the fic, which admittedly isn't very much, painfully Spacebattles is actually a pretty fair description, both for good and ill. I haven't checked out this one in... a very, very long time, but I sorta remember a sequence towards the beginnings with Covenant soldiers fighting against trolls in a swamp.
I remember kinda liking Finishing the Fight at the time, but thinking of it, I'm not sure I would re-read it again and end up liking it as much. John's real revealed appearance ends up being Generic White Man instead of the ambiguous masked human that could potentially be anybody (though that's a sin that the main franchise also committed, so not sure whether I can blame the author of this fic); there end up being numerous discussions as to why it's okay to massacre and nuke races Because They Are Evil where I find the arguments kinda iffy, with characters being very quick to resort to brutal ruthlessness (though it's still better handled there than many other stories in the same genre of fanfic); and it's stupendously, ridiculously long.
It has some very good moments and impressive scenes, however. The Sangheili and Grunts dropping into Faerun, fighting as a team, the Grunt leader telling the story of the Covenant, and the Sangheili and Grunts preparing to go to war by singing their war songs still sends chills down my spine today.
Personally still unsure whether it's a candidate for staying on my own version of The List, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
"Painfully Spacebattles" is a perfect description, though, for better or worse.
It has some very good moments and impressive scenes, however. The Sangheili and Grunts dropping into Faerun, fighting as a team, the Grunt leader telling the story of the Covenant, and the Sangheili and Grunts preparing to go to war by singing their war songs still sends chills down my spine today.
Personally still unsure whether it's a candidate for staying on my own version of The List, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
"Painfully Spacebattles" is a perfect description, though, for better or worse.
Last edited:
March 3 - April 10, 2008
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
It's time to talk Bleach.
By now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the downfall of Bleach. Of the sharp decline in quality followed by a precipitous decline in popularity. By the time its shambling corpse was ended, I think most people breathed sighs of relief.
And Bleach's... trajectory, for lack of a better word, has had an interesting effect on Bleach fanfiction. Between 2008 and 2013, there was a lot of Bleach fanfiction. The usual fluff and shipping stuff, but also a lot of long-form divergence and AU and time travel fics. It was a sweet spot where people were dissatisfied with the story but still invested enough to sink a lot of time and thought into producing something "better".
Now, naturally, there have been more fics since, but after 2013 Bleach fanfiction has been in the position of a lot of older fandoms, where there's a steady trickle of new material being produced but nothing like the boom period.
The following fic does not match any of this.
Ah, Skippy's list. Inspiring an entire generation of hack comedians. Speaking from experience, this type of comedy inevitably devolves into incestuous levels of in-joking and wanton character destruction.
Review:
And this one's no different. I'd be able to ignore all of that if it was still funny, but sadly, it's not funny anymore. And there really isn't much else to this fic, so...
Verdict: Yeah, it's gone.
And boy oh boy does it press a whole bunch of my buttons! Good buttons, not rage buttons, by the way. Six distinct factions all being various levels of Outside Context for each other? Oh, boy, shut up and take my money! I love the culture clash and soul-searching and pointed questions that inevitably result from such a situation, and Fifth Column doesn't disappoint there. That there's plenty of space combat helps, too.
The fic also presents some very pointed critiques of Cylon society, the most damning of which is that they can't escape their human origins and keep falling into the same traps. Suck on that, you genocidal toasters.
The Battletech side of things isn't examined as much as the nBSG side. All you really need to know for Battletech1 is Game of Thrones IN SPACE! + giant stompy robots. The most conversation about them is in tech, and one of the Final Five Cylon Hybrids giving the usual "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it" lecture. Though that would've been better if that actually went anywhere in-story, as it seemed to be setting up something, but no such luck.
Verdict: In case the "multiple rereads" part wasn't clear, yeah, this is staying.
It's not a good sign that don't remember a damn thing about this story. Is this the one where Sakura was reincarnated as Sasuke's twin sister?
*checks pairing*
Probably not. Oh boy.
Review:
Let's start with the fact that I seriously wanted to drop this fic like a primed grenade after the first chapter. The writing is painful to read; it's flat, undescriptive, passive, and most of all consistently screws up comma and conjunction usage by not using either nearly often enough. But I persevered, and made it to chapter 5 before it became clear that I was skimming - and more to the point, there hadn't been anything novel that would justify me ignoring the technical problems. So far, all I've seen is standard time travel stuff.
Verdict: Yeah, no, I'm not sticking around to see if there's anything more. It's gone.
By now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the downfall of Bleach. Of the sharp decline in quality followed by a precipitous decline in popularity. By the time its shambling corpse was ended, I think most people breathed sighs of relief.
And Bleach's... trajectory, for lack of a better word, has had an interesting effect on Bleach fanfiction. Between 2008 and 2013, there was a lot of Bleach fanfiction. The usual fluff and shipping stuff, but also a lot of long-form divergence and AU and time travel fics. It was a sweet spot where people were dissatisfied with the story but still invested enough to sink a lot of time and thought into producing something "better".
Now, naturally, there have been more fics since, but after 2013 Bleach fanfiction has been in the position of a lot of older fandoms, where there's a steady trickle of new material being produced but nothing like the boom period.
The following fic does not match any of this.
Impressions before Reading:
Ah, Skippy's list. Inspiring an entire generation of hack comedians. Speaking from experience, this type of comedy inevitably devolves into incestuous levels of in-joking and wanton character destruction.
Review:
And this one's no different. I'd be able to ignore all of that if it was still funny, but sadly, it's not funny anymore. And there really isn't much else to this fic, so...
Verdict: Yeah, it's gone.
Like with Shinji and Warhammer 40K, I'm going to forgo the usual format. In this case, though, it's because I've read this fic front to back enough times to know all the plot beats off the top of my head.
And boy oh boy does it press a whole bunch of my buttons! Good buttons, not rage buttons, by the way. Six distinct factions all being various levels of Outside Context for each other? Oh, boy, shut up and take my money! I love the culture clash and soul-searching and pointed questions that inevitably result from such a situation, and Fifth Column doesn't disappoint there. That there's plenty of space combat helps, too.
The fic also presents some very pointed critiques of Cylon society, the most damning of which is that they can't escape their human origins and keep falling into the same traps. Suck on that, you genocidal toasters.
The Battletech side of things isn't examined as much as the nBSG side. All you really need to know for Battletech1 is Game of Thrones IN SPACE! + giant stompy robots. The most conversation about them is in tech, and one of the Final Five Cylon Hybrids giving the usual "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it" lecture. Though that would've been better if that actually went anywhere in-story, as it seemed to be setting up something, but no such luck.
Verdict: In case the "multiple rereads" part wasn't clear, yeah, this is staying.
Impressions before reading:
It's not a good sign that don't remember a damn thing about this story. Is this the one where Sakura was reincarnated as Sasuke's twin sister?
*checks pairing*
Probably not. Oh boy.
Review:
Let's start with the fact that I seriously wanted to drop this fic like a primed grenade after the first chapter. The writing is painful to read; it's flat, undescriptive, passive, and most of all consistently screws up comma and conjunction usage by not using either nearly often enough. But I persevered, and made it to chapter 5 before it became clear that I was skimming - and more to the point, there hadn't been anything novel that would justify me ignoring the technical problems. So far, all I've seen is standard time travel stuff.
Verdict: Yeah, no, I'm not sticking around to see if there's anything more. It's gone.
- More for the future rather than now; it'll be more relevant when the SB fics start coming under the microscope.
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
My biggest Complaint with Battletech which prevents me from writing anything for the fandom is that I am not that much a fan of the whole Dropship/Jumpship Thing. It just didn't make sense for me that a Jumpship just sits there at the Jump Point doing nothing but recharging its Drive. It doesn't dock with anything or move into the system. I don't know why but it just seemed pointless to me. Shrug. Maybe I am to much a Star Wars Fan with ships coming and going from planets at a ridiculous rate.
April 11 - April 29, 2008
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Oh, dammit, Past Me, not again! This is gonna be super lewd, isn't it?
Review:
Okay, it wasn't that bad. Steamy, but of an acceptable level of lewdness.
Honestly, if you've read Narf's other fanfics and the summary, then you have a pretty good idea of what happens in this one. Still, it's a subversion of the usual conventions, which is, like, the basis of comedy, and Sakura getting all flustered is hilarious.
Verdict: Narf does it again! It stays.
Impressions before reading:
Well, another Narf one-shot is always welcome, but I can't quite remember the punchline this time.
Oh well. It'll be a surprise!
Review:
Oh, now I remember. Of course, I can't share what it is without spoiling the whole joke, but trust me, it's a funny one.
Verdict: Maybe I should just auto-pass all of Narf's stories.
...
Naaaaaaah.
Impressions before reading:
Oh dear. Asshole Hiashi. I can probably blame Team 8 for this, right?
Review:
Hmm... I'm a bit torn about my "asshole Hiashi" comment. I mean, at first glance his characterization looks like a straight bit Hyuuga-bashing fanon. But then there's a comment in chapter 4 which recontextualizes everything - maybe. Maybe Hiashi is an asshole. Or maybe he's trying to do his best for his daughter and is merely doing a very poor job of it. Either way, the ambiguity is more interesting than the usual fanon, so yay!
Otherwise, this isn't a terribly noteworthy fanfic. Like eating straight bread. But here and there are sprinkled bits of flavor; little jokes and gags that got some chuckles out of me. Oh, and best of all, Hinata isn't wearing purple spandex.
The best part of the fic, though? Tenten slowly walking down the Memetic Badass road. As in, in-universe she's gaining a (mostly) undeserved reputation as a stone-cold weapons badass. Too bad the fic ended after only five chapters; I would've loved to see where that subplot went.
Verdict: Hey, if I want to see more, that's good enough to stay on the list.
Impressions before reading:
Drabble drabble drabble.
Review:
Exactly what it says on the tin: a collection of drabbles set in the Fifth Column universe, which I reviewed yesterday. Now, I don't like all of the drabbles. One talks oBSG rather than nBSG, while another and half of the last are one long Command and Conquer reference.
That's the beauty of drabble fics, though; you can pick and choose what you like in them.
Verdict: So it's staying.
Four fics, four keepers. Nice. And the next post shouldn't break the chain.
Because next up is White Rain.
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
I think this had the highest proportion of stuff I actually recognized for one post, with three out of four.
(Perhaps the best thing about this thread so far was my checking and discovering that I'm not at risk because there's nothing from me on your favorites list.)
(Perhaps the best thing about this thread so far was my checking and discovering that I'm not at risk because there's nothing from me on your favorites list.)
- Location
- Elsewhere
BattleTech JumpShips frequently do dock with Space Stations at the standard Jump Points, either to transfer cargo or to quickly recharge their K-F Drives (a hard connection to a Recharging Station can safely shave off a day or two). As for moving in-system, the earliest JumpShips did exactly that; they lacked the technology needed to carry DropShuttles externally and consequently possessed the powerful transit drives necessary to move about in-system in a timely manner (modern JumpShips can still putter about with their station-keeping drives, but a 1/10th of a G they are very slow). However, with the advent of the K-F Boom and the modern DropShip, it quickly became apparent that it was more economical to pare down the standard JumpShip design to the bare minimum, and leave the business of carrying cargo and hauling it in-system and back to the jump point to the dedicated, designed-for-purpose parasite craft. A JumpShip really has no business mucking about inside the Jump Proximity Limit, where it's Jump Drive -- it's sole reason for being -- is useless; unless it's a WarShip, of course.
I'm actually super interested, I think its easily one of if not flat out the objective best Naruto fic but I've definitly seen some people who just rip it apart.
White Rain
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Well, good news on that front...
I happen to share that opinion. If it's not the best Naruto fic out there1, it's very, very close. And it's not just the opinion of others, either. I genuinely think this is not only the best Naruto fic I've ever read, but possibly the best I've ever read, period.
And what makes it so good? Because it's a complex yet straightforward story that does a lot of things and all of them well. Get ready, you guys, because I'm about to kinda sorta start gushing.
There are a lot of high-level things that White Rain sets out to execute, and the basic events of the story aren't really one of them. Like Sasuke. Sasuke's characterization is, astoundingly, very faithful to his canon one, making allowances for the passages of time: he's defined by loss, and the fear of it. Sasuke fears losing many things: Sakura, his girlfriend; the baby Sakura ends up pregnant with; Itachi and Rina, who have suddenly inserted themselves into his life and thrown everything he knows into disarray. But above all, Sasuke is driven by his inability to let go of Uchiha Itachi, and the enormous, all-encompassing hold his brother's memory has on his heart. This naturally brings him into conflict with others, most notably Sakura, and leads to their relationship being thoroughly messy and tempestuous. Exactly as it should be, considering those two.
Naruto, meanwhile, is as much a joy, character-wise. The fic doesn't dive as deep into his psyche as with Sasuke, but we still get a good look at him, and above all Naruto is a good Hokage. He's kind and trusting, and yet hard when he needs to be, willing to put aside friendship in the name of the village. He's still determined to change the shinobi system, still determined to protect his precious people (now spread to encompass the whole village), and by god does he have the will to do so!
Much of the cast consists of OCs, ranging from highly fleshed out and explored to plausible secondary characters. They feel... real. That they're characters and not just plot movers, with the same sort of motivation sets the canon characters do. Which is a good thing, because they are central to the plot and events and the story follows them the most.
A big theme of the fic is power. How it is gained, how it is lost, and how it interacts. Power is always presented as a means to an end. For Naruto, that's protecting the village and changing the shinobi system; for Lucia, it's to wage war against the Higher Houses; and for the Higher Houses, it's to indulge all their own basest desires. And when the fic does discuss power? I'm reminded of this quote from the excellent webcomic The Order of the Stick:
Very few characters involved understand this, and none of them completely. A few of the Grass shinobi, and Naruto and Lucia, to extents, with the latter two helped by the fact that both are willing and able to watch and adjust their own preconceptions. This problem comes to a head later in the story in Grass when the Higher House member involved, Marnix, undermines his own power by his own arrogance and lack of knowledge: he doesn't realize that as much as he has power, lots of it, so too do shinobi. That both he and they are beyond the law, himself above it and the shinobi below, as Lucia lectures at him. And he eventually pushes the shinobi too far, Grass and Leaf alike.
Besides high-level stuff, there are just so many little moments I like. Like Rina proving the genius instead of Itachi. Or Gai not being present2. Naruto continuing to be an engima wrapped up in a mystery for anyone who doesn't know him. Or the fact that with some rejiggering this could probably fit into the post-canon landscape. Which is amazing for a fic written in 2008. Or Itachi being putty when Amaya climbs into his room, like any twelve-year-old boy would be when confronted with an attractive female friend giving him attention. Or, hell, that shinobi finally figured out sports bras3.
But the best praise I can give it, honestly? This is my fourth time reading it, and I've discovered new things on every reread, things that I'd learned about in the interim. My second readthrough, the one that got this on the list, had the signs of domestic abuse slap me in the face. This reread made me realize Rina has some sort of condition related to chronic depression. That's good writing and research.
Verdict: Hell yeah this is staying.
- There are over a quarter million Naruto fanfics just on Fanfiction.net. I'm willing to believe there may be something better.
- This predates Gai's use of the Eighth Gate and subsequent retirement, but we all knew when the eight gates were revealed that Gai was going to open the Eighth Gate at some point in the series.
- I bring that up because the Naruto Reread thread on SB looked at the issue of kunoichi wearing bras, and concluded that they don't, generally. It lasted a couple of pages. God, I love that site.
I think the thing that really elevates White Rain is that for all that it could've been exported into its own setting and still be good the fact that it's a fanfic works for the better. Which is something most ok/adequate fics that use OCs can't say. It has more thematic weight than most original fiction and best of all it doesn't overstay it's welcome which I think is the ultimate sin of a lot of good fanfiction that borders on great. The serial chapter by chapter format works against many fics and causes the pacing to get away with it and White Rain's pace is for the most part clean and kept you really waiting for the next dose.
If you find it let me know I actually thought really really hard after I posted that to find one and the only one that really got close was Case13's Reload - but I wouldn't call it better purely off it being nowhere near finished at a time when a good deal of the plot hooks are in play with none of the resolution.
WHICH REALLY SUCKS BECAUSE MAN THE PLOT HOOKS ARE ALL REALLY COOL
If you find it let me know I actually thought really really hard after I posted that to find one and the only one that really got close was Case13's Reload - but I wouldn't call it better purely off it being nowhere near finished at a time when a good deal of the plot hooks are in play with none of the resolution.
WHICH REALLY SUCKS BECAUSE MAN THE PLOT HOOKS ARE ALL REALLY COOL