Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the story

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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Slab Bulkhead » Mon May 01, 2017 8:25 pm

Spica75 wrote:True. Although its rare to see bashing that doesn´t turn you off of a fic. Except for parody...

Honestly, it really comes on the degree of bashing that's incorporated, how the rest of the cast is handled and the tone of that.

As an example, Ron Weasley in "Harry Potter and the Champion's Champion" is so over the top and it's handled in such a lighthearted manner that it's easier for me to stomach than more serious fics where Ron is basically a death eater.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Spica75 » Tue May 02, 2017 7:18 am

Slab Bulkhead wrote:Honestly, it really comes on the degree of bashing that's incorporated, how the rest of the cast is handled and the tone of that.

As an example, Ron Weasley in "Harry Potter and the Champion's Champion" is so over the top and it's handled in such a lighthearted manner that it's easier for me to stomach than more serious fics where Ron is basically a death eater.


I had to check which one that was...

As i said, parody excepted. :mrgreen:


Also, not the best of examples when Ron is a walking talking pile of flaws that could be "commented" on at great length, fervor and inspiration... :twisted:
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Tue May 02, 2017 4:32 pm

Té Rowan wrote:All generalisation is wrong. Period.

False.

Generlization is just placing a bunch of things in a broad category, this is not a good or bad thing. It can be used for bad things, but there's plenty of things that are easily generalized as a wrong or bad.

In this case, character bashing is put in the catagory of "elements of bad fanfiction" which is 100% true.
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Although… I wonder how PH can even watch anime or read manga, what with the character bashing going on in some. Like how Gendo (Ikari) is set up as an utter bash-tard in NGE.


I'm sorry, but you clearly have no idea what "character bashing" even means.

Gendo Ikari is an awful, terrible human being but Neon Genesis Evangelion does not bash his character.

For one thing, character bashing is only something that can be done in fanfic. If an author wants to make a character that's a 2 Dimensional Eeeeviiillll character that everybody hates and exists only to be dunked on by the main character, that's not character bashing. Becuase, well, the character was created for that purpose. Granted, it's still bad writing but it's not character bashing.

Gendo Ikari, for all his awfulness, did everything he did because he desperately loved his wife Yui, and wanted nothing more than to bring her back to him. And he was willing to do anything for that, abuse and alienate his son, use everybody else as pawns, and even risk bringing about the destruction of the world for that goal. That's not character bashing. That's a very human, but awful as a person, character.


A fanfic bashing Gendo would do something like strip out his motives, make him nothing more then a laughing stock for whatever warped Gary Stu the author puts in their NGE fanfic.

Character Bashing is a uniquely fanfic writing issue. Because by it's very nature it's a author's response to a character they don't like in canon. It's a poor response, and bad writing, but it's there.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Tue May 02, 2017 11:55 pm

Character bashing isn't automatically bad. I would put it at ninety-nine percent, but only because of an author's skill, not its nature. Character bashing is an expression of dislike or hate for a character, and it's entirely possible to weave believable circumstances where bad things happen to a certain character, or things develop to the point where said character does something unlikable or reprehensible. It just so happens that most fan-fic authors make their feelings apparent, usually with the subtlety of the Incredible Hulk.

The idea that character bashing only applies to fan-fiction is incorrect. Intrinsically, character bashing involves the feelings a person has toward a character being negative, and being in a position to express that; there's no rule that fan-fiction, as a medium, is a requirement. For understandable reasons, it happens to occur in fan-fiction much more often. In original works and serials, character bashing can occur in a number of ways. One way is an author creating a character, often based on a real person or type of person, and having things happen to them as a form of thought revenge, or achieving some sort of release or relief. For official continuations, there might be a different writer who has their own opinions/feelings about the characters that have been placed into their hands, or the same writer might take the feedback of fans into account and act as a conduit for their feelings.

As for summaries that turn me off, a specific one came to mind since I see it every now and again:

No Chance for Fate wrote:Ranma's fate is written in stone. Right? Right...? Actually not. And in the wake of a guardian finally freeing herself from her chains, fate loses its hold on Ranma.

First: duh, it's fan-fiction; of course his fate isn't written in stone. Then they patronize you by assuming you wouldn't know the answer to their twice-delivered rhetorical question. Then there's the whole thing about a certain character's position being bad, and by fixing that Ranma's "fate" is also addressed.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Wed May 03, 2017 1:32 am

Those sorts of summaries are pretty annoying. Part of the irritating desperate idea that these main characters need a "better life" somehow while completely missing the fact that their struggles, yes even the difficult and bad parts of their lives, shape who they are and make them into the hero they are in the story. it also tends to way more often then not devolve into character bashing for the characters that wronged the protagonist.

In their attempts to make things "better" for the protagonist they self-insert in they make a less interesting story.

It's annoying enough in fandom where the characters kind of crappy life before the story starts is actually a plot and character point (like Harry Potter and Naruto), But it's always really, really annoying in Ranma 1/2 fanfiction because the idea that Ranma has some awful abusive childhood and horrible life of suffering is completely wrong.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby AxelTheBunny » Sun May 07, 2017 7:44 pm

It bugs me more when they directly change the backstory, diverting mid story is one thing, after all there are times when you might need Ranma at a certain level or to have it take place before certain level. A good example:

Rise of the Seven Dragons wrote:Ranma and Usagi met three years ago, and have been travelling together ever since. Now as the siblings arrive in Nerima, each of their stories is about to unfold... along with five others as well.


This specifies the problems I have with alot of fanfics out there. It's not only "make things better for the protagonist" and "fix the problems with the character." Its not only an overdone plot in fanfiction in general, the "Ranma has a sibling who cancels out Genma's negative influence" This story summary just turns me off immediately.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Fri May 12, 2017 9:48 pm

Pata Hikari wrote:Those sorts of summaries are pretty annoying. Part of the irritating desperate idea that these main characters need a "better life" somehow while completely missing the fact that their struggles, yes even the difficult and bad parts of their lives, shape who they are and make them into the hero they are in the story. it also tends to way more often then not devolve into character bashing for the characters that wronged the protagonist.

In their attempts to make things "better" for the protagonist they self-insert in they make a less interesting story.

It's annoying enough in fandom where the characters kind of crappy life before the story starts is actually a plot and character point (like Harry Potter and Naruto), But it's always really, really annoying in Ranma 1/2 fanfiction because the idea that Ranma has some awful abusive childhood and horrible life of suffering is completely wrong.

Yeah, I can understand that. It's one thing to build on something, but people tend to take things too far. Or, despite however much they care for a character, they conceive ideas for the story based on their own feelings and motivations, not the character's. Probably the quickest way to lose me, aside from grammar that makes reading the story an act of deciphering its contents, is when I hear the author coming from somewhere that clearly isn't a self-insert character. I didn't show interest in your story because I wanted a moaning and groaning ghost of yourself pulling the strings and distorting canon events; I simply want to see how the characters react to different circumstances, with an author that at least tries to see things from the character's point of view.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby AxelTheBunny » Fri May 12, 2017 10:21 pm

I've never even understood that, as Ranma has never really seemed altogether unhappy. It's just a ludicrous world in general, and the fact is that the character never seem unhappy about their circumstances with the exception of some general annoyance at some things that may go on for the plot of the week never this sense of general hatred for his or her life many writers give. Same with upbringing wise. Ranma has never shown a general hatred of his upbringing aside from perhaps the occasional annoyance when Genma's decisions come back to haunt him. Now if you are bringing a character from a completely different life, and have them see the circumstances, then it can be understood from that character's perspective. It is one thing if a character changes over the course of a fic, as a result of development. The issue is people approach it from a far more realistic perspective despite the fact that the Ranma 1/2 world is far from realistic. It is a world where nobody bats an eye at a kendoist who can shatter stone with the air pressure from his strikes, believing they'd see things from the same perspective as someone from the real world is ridiculous.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Spica75 » Fri May 12, 2017 11:11 pm

I've never even understood that, as Ranma has never really seemed altogether unhappy.


Unless you´re looking, you probably wont either. He tries to get on with his life, but he´s also not really mentally capable of dealing with it, so he ignores it as best he can. Which of course is one of the reasons his problems keeps going and gets worse repeatedly.

Ranma has never shown a general hatred of his upbringing aside from perhaps the occasional annoyance when Genma's decisions come back to haunt him.


Uh... He clobbers his dad on an almost regular schedule on the basis of "damnit why did you have to do...".
Everything from stealing via fiances to catfist, oh there´s plenty of stuff he´s VERY unhappy about.

It is one thing if a character changes over the course of a fic, as a result of development.


Always true indeed.

It is a world where nobody bats an eye at a kendoist who can shatter stone with the air pressure from his strikes, believing they'd see things from the same perspective as someone from the real world is ridiculous.


I have seen plenty enough things in real life that many or maybe even most people considers impossible, so i think that isn´t really a completely valid argument. Also, despite all the extreme stuff, Ranma is SUPPOSED to effectively be the "real world" or VERY close relative.

And while shattering stone with air pressure is not something i can recall from reality, i HAVE seen someone crack wood at ~5m with his voice alone. Kiai-jutsu, sadly not something i could keep practising, because i just hurt my throat, before that i still did manage to reach the minimum required level to use my voice as a ranged weapon, just barely.

I have also trained with techniques for blind fighting, for when you can neither see or hear what´s coming. It works. It´s not perfect but it works. My personal theory is that what you´re practising is how to sense people´s bio-electric fields interacting with your own body. Though at close distance, it is also workable to sense the heat of others with your skin, but that´s extremely vague and imprecise so it´s definitely not what works for outside arms reach.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Mon May 15, 2017 11:22 pm

Spica75 wrote:Unless you´re looking, you probably wont either. He tries to get on with his life, but he´s also not really mentally capable of dealing with it, so he ignores it as best he can.


Ranma had to do absurdly stupid things to force himself to be miserable to try and use the Shi Shi Hokodan. He does not "try and ignore" some miserable life. He genuinely lives what he finds to be an overall nice life. Times when he's not happy with a situation we see him make moves to fix it.
Uh... He clobbers his dad on an almost regular schedule on the basis of "damnit why did you have to do..."..


No he doesn't. Yes, Genma's inane actions will sometimes come home to roost, but it's not a regular thing.

Like, the problems that show up in Ranma's life that the blame can be laid directly on Genma's feet are:

-The Curse
-Ukyo
-Nodoka
-Ryu Kumon (Debatable though, all Genma did was show a technique to Ryu's father, he was the one who got himself killed doing it.)

All the others issues? Either caused by Ranma himself, caused by the people making the problem, or brought to Ranma and the Tendos because as martial artists solving Weird Problems is just part of the job in the Ranmaverse.

Also, clobbering someone in the Ranmaverse is basically an expression of annoyance.

Everything from stealing via fiances to catfist, oh there´s plenty of stuff he´s VERY unhappy about.

None of that stuff he's shown to be "VERY unhappy" about. The only issue Genma causes directly that Ranma truly hates and is shown by how he's constantly trying to fix it when it comes up is seeing Nodoka, which he does eventually resolve.

Ranma is SUPPOSED to effectively be the "real world" or VERY close relative.


....what?

No it isn't. It's a weird, silly, and absurd world. You can order powered armor in the mail. Magical items are sold for cheap in shops, people regularly run into ghosts and other monsters. Not to mention the absurdities in the people like Martial Arts Ice Skating or Martial Arts Cheerleading.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Slab Bulkhead » Tue May 16, 2017 9:39 am

When the description is only describing the last chapter, so you have no idea what the story is supposed to be about.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon May 29, 2017 11:55 am

Pata Hikari wrote:All the others issues? Either caused by Ranma himself...

Well, Genma is unarguably the most responsible for how Ranma turned out, both because and in spite of him, so... :P
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Spica75 » Mon May 29, 2017 2:45 pm

Well, Genma is unarguably the most responsible for how Ranma turned out, both because and in spite of him, so... :P


Yeah, very VERY much so.

Everything is Genma's fault! :P
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Té Rowan » Tue May 30, 2017 12:14 pm

Any summary that goes “Write this for me!”. Obviously not a story, then.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Tue May 30, 2017 8:05 pm

Spica75 wrote:Everything is Genma's fault! :P

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