Fanfiction Clichés - What Ones Would You Like to See Done Well? (26)

1 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2011-02-09 13:41 ID:1xbkLUu7

Basically, we have a thread talking about clichés and whether one likes it or not. This thread is about those clichés that you want to see done, but can never seem to find a good fanfic for. I am off to make my list...

2 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2011-02-09 13:43 ID:1xbkLUu7

  • HP - The Girl Who Lived
  • HP - Hermione!Pureblood
  • Bleach - Squad Fourteen
  • General - High School AU
  • HP - American Exchange student
  • HP - Girl Next Door
  • LotR - Girl Falls Into Middle Earth... have found a couple... but ones incomplete and I don't know where the other is.

3 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2011-02-09 13:44 ID:1xbkLUu7

  • HP - The Girl Who Lived
  • HP - Hermione!Pureblood
  • Bleach - Squad Fourteen
  • General - High School AU
  • HP - American Exchange student
  • HP - Girl Next Door
  • LotR - Girl Falls Into Middle Earth... have found a couple... but ones incomplete and I don't know where the other is.

4 Name: TheNightShaodw4 : 2011-03-08 15:19 ID:PTdwowBG

>>2 I agree with all yours Harry Potter and general.

HP: Harry's sibling being mistaken to be the chosen one. I did find a really interesting one once, told from the siblings POV, but I think it was discontinued. Sucks too, it was actually rather good and the OC was likable enough.

5 Name: AkitaFallow : 2011-03-13 21:35 ID:KuXvkoAh

>>4 I found a really, REALLY great version of that. The author actually turned it into an epic-length series. The first is called "Saving Connor" on fanfiction.net. You should read it.

>>2 I found a very humorous version of the girl-falls-into-Middle-Earth... it involved her dying of starvation in the middle of a forest because she was a helpless Mary Sue. XD

6 Name: Anonymous : 2011-03-16 18:48 ID:X4iEGqBq

Frankly, I don't think there are any Pureblood!Hermione fics out there that are good. Well written, maybe, but never good.

7 Name: Anonymous : 2011-03-16 18:49 ID:X4iEGqBq

Frankly, I don't think there are any Pureblood!Hermione fics out there that are good. Well written, maybe, but never good.

8 Name: Anonymous : 2011-03-16 18:50 ID:X4iEGqBq

Frankly, I don't think there are any Pureblood!Hermione fics out there that are good. Well written, maybe, but never good.

9 Name: Karama9 : 2011-03-17 07:43 ID:9h9B2OLI

The only way I usually like that level of cliches is in a parody. :)

One cliche I like to see done well is the 'modern person thrown back in time'. Problem is, in fanfics, that usually becomes 'real world person (aka the author or facsimile thereof) thrown in fandom universe' and it is usually beyond terrible.

What if stories are a bit cliches sometimes, but they can be good when done well, I think. The key is usually to go for something that actually is a change instead of 'what if my OC existed in canon' type thing. I had one once that was 'what if the villains in Sailor Moon weren't doing everything in their power to lose?'. I keep thinking of revisiting it, but basically, things went very badly very fast. Sailor Moon did not survive her first battle and things went downhill from there.

10 Name: TheNightShaodw4 : 2011-03-31 08:02 ID:PTdwowBG

>>5 Thanks for the suggestion, it looks promising.

Another cliche I'd like to see done well is the "Naruto gets cast out of Konoha." There's so much potential, but about 99% of the ones I've read are poorly written pieces of crap where everyone is OOC and Naruto gains god-like powers in under two days. And all the good ones never seem to get finished.

I also want a next generation fic where the kids aren't carbon-copies of their parents.

11 Name: AkitaFallow : 2011-03-31 23:21 ID:dQZlMzh0

>>10 Anytime. :) I have far too many favourites for my own good...

12 Name: moonphase : 2011-04-12 07:26 ID:q8tW7bep

Deathnote:
Light's redemption- That always is very powerful when done well, but many many more are done poorly.

Any fanfic where the characters are suddenly all in a modeern day highschool. I think that has great potential. I would love to see what cliques the characters would orv would not join and how they would cope with modern day issues. But every one I've read so far has been pretty dire.

13 Name: Naomi Hansen : 2011-05-27 17:32 ID:I7XfCi9v

Ah, high school fics. I always seem to be lucky enough to find the decent ones done for Hetalia: Axis Powers, but... Yeah, I can still see why people would be upset if all they find are terrible ones.

But there's a form of cliche that exists in the Wizard101 fandom that's so rampant that basically 90% of the fics I find for it are all like that: An orphan on Earth (and I swear to god, they're ALWAYS orphans) is whisked away to the mystical world of Wizard City and discovers that he/she is a wizard destined to save the world from the game's main villan, Malistaire. Trust me when I say that if you went to the Wizard101 section on FFN, you'd find almost nothing else other than that plot line. And what's much worse is the fact that they're all terribly-written!

So yeah, that's a cliche that I wish I could see a good story from, because that'd be a bigger improvement from everything else in the fandom. D:

14 Name: thecrimson : 2011-07-09 20:44 ID:oXkG6y3q

Speaking of high school fics, has there ever been ones set in college instead?

15 Name: katiejuby : 2011-07-11 11:02 ID:P9tuhgOL

Ah, I'm a sucker for cliches with a twist. I like to have a little surprise in the story. XP [Even if the ending is inevitable, and I know it. Blargh.]

Umn... I think one popular cliche I've found written well is the classic "falls in love with your best friend" thing. I enjoy those most of the time [by the authors I have seen.]

As for thecrimson's question, I've read a few fanfics in a college setting. Courtanie on fanfiction.net wrote one with Butters and Kenny from South Park that I thought was nice. There's also this FANASTIC story set in London written beautifully... It's a shame I can't remember the name. [Sorry if I had gotten your hopes up there.]

PS:: There are a few Sprousecest or just Sprouse fics in general I have read in a college setting.

16 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2011-07-29 19:40 ID:1xbkLUu7

>>13 - Good greif! I am glad that isn't one of the fandoms I write and critique for. And I thought some of the cliches I've come across.

>>14 - Yea, I've actually come across a few of those. I think most of them are written by high schoolers and very young writers who are excited about eventually getting out of the house and college looks like their means of escape.

Let's see... I read a Shugo Chara one where Amu goes to college and is forced to room with her professor Ikuto. (Since deleted.) I've also seen a few for Toshiro/Momo in the Bleach fandom, one of which had Momo end up forced to share a room with Toshiro her very first year. That just doesn't happen in real life, but it is SO romantic isn't it?

>>15 - I think the "falls in love with your best friend" cliche works because it is so simple a plot line to work. While there are many ways to go wrong, there are equally that amount to go right. Others though, they have more ways to go wrong, then the few ways to go right.

17 Name: Elkkun : 2012-01-12 08:05 ID:N9cDbfwL

I'd like to see an 'OC/SI thrown into fanuniverse and NOT fall in love with the main character/ character they like'. (For example, OC [usually a Mary-sue] is thrown into... Let's say The Legend of Zelda Universe [or the Zeldaverse], and they DON'T end up falling in love with Link/Dark Link.)

I don't think I've seen one of them yet.

I'd also like to see another well-written High-school AU, and it's be interesting if somebody used British Secondary School instead (even though our schools seem less interesting, we still have the Chavs which are like cowardly Jocks, are usually druggies and drink copious amounts of alcohol.) I imagine it'd be an interesting take.

18 Name: moonphase : 2012-01-14 05:46 ID:qBow4MKZ

I too would like to see a British secondary school. Whenever it is portrayed on American television, our schools always look like Hogwarts and in fanfiction it seems the same; British schools are portrayed as if we all go to Cambisge uni.

I would like to see an inner city comp on fanfiction.net. That'd really be something.

19 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2012-01-15 00:15 ID:MMT2hg5o

>>17 - The problem with OC/SI's comes from the fact most self inserts are done for wish fulfillment. You are more likely to find one where the OC isn't an SI then is.

The one I liked for Bleach has since been deleted. D:

>>18 - I don't write for any fandom outside of Hogwarts that is British at this point so I can't comment on this.

...

The latest cliche I am bothered with is this one.
... Girl has angsty event occur to her or have occured to her. Male character comes along at the right time and heals said ansgt. The two fall madly in love.

I had a writer who is working with this cliche try and tell me that I play the "she's a strong female so she wouldn't act this way" card because "I don't like seeing said character sad." This is being told to someone who has written nice reviews on one of three fanfics that have featured said character being sad and someone who has written for the angst genre and darkfic. I don't think I should have to put up with strong females being turned into Bella Swans at all. Which brings me to my next cliche.

... Strong females who become uber depressed and emotional despite the fact it being out of character for them...

20 Name: fan-to-fiction : 2012-01-31 05:35 ID:0x+y+0I6

Clichés in the Gundam Wing universe:

  • Boys getting turned into girls so that people can write safely about sex between them (since they don't like yaoi). A nice scientifical explanation in gender change or maybe not at all and just hiding the real gender should be a must.
  • Duo being the victim of an abusive relationship with Heero that turns him into a whimpering puppy.

Would be great if they let him stay IC >> Because Duo is cocky and arrogant when allowed. And very bouncy and laid back.

Clichés in the Dragonball Z universe:

  • Goten, Trunks, Pan, any of the present timeline characters travelling to the past or future and meeting either planet Vegeta or Future Trunks.

Never works, too chewed out.

  • Male pregnancy among saiyans.

I only saw one time a good explanation for male pregnancy but otherwise, just don't.

THere are many more but well, will post later.

21 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2012-02-10 02:12 ID:MMT2hg5o

>>20 - These kind of seem like cliches you aren't fond of rather then ones you want to see done well... but I could be wrong.

I've got a new one. I'd love to see a love triangle romance where you don't have the character A who is also the main character coming and breaking up the relationship between B and C despite the fact the writer of the fanfic makes it clear that the pairing between B and C works far better and more logical then A and B. I'm not talking about "die for your ship either". I am talking about where "A and B" is the main ship for the fanfic and C is thrown in for the sake of having some competition for A. I can't tell you how many times I've ended up rooting for B and C to get together!

22 Name: Moonphase : 2012-02-14 11:34 ID:7xJpARND

>>21 oh yeah I see that love triangle all the time! And like you, I often want the second pairing to happen. Usually character A has been a comlete idiot, and character C gets the short straw in the whole thing.

The only time I didn't want B with C was in this fic:http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4478535/1/A_Balm_for_Social_Failure but then sometimes I didn't want A with B either! I just kind of felt sorry for B

23 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2012-02-17 18:06 ID:MMT2hg5o

>>22 - I've seen a few of those too. What is really bad is when the reviewers are rooting for A/B and cursing out B/C... it's like... don't you care how A/B looks?

24 Name: Moonphase : 2012-02-18 12:36 ID:SErroBvq

Blinkered, that's what they are. It's where the whole stereotypical fan girl/fan boy thing comes from; the blatant hypocrisy some fans show because they're so desperate for their favourite pairings to always work.

25 Name: Gin : 2012-02-18 20:27 ID:KI73rrs3

Well and truly know what you mean. Though love triangles don't tend to be the plat du jour in my fandom, as almost everyone seems to be enamoured of the same few pairings! Their A/B is by far the most popular ship, and B/C -- or B/anyone-but-A -- is viewed with suspicion and/or hostility. After all, can't we B/C shippers see that A/B are "canon!!1!"?

(Nope. Sorry guys. I maintain that the "canon" is A/D, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise. Broken glasses don't lie.)

26 Name: Yemi Hikari : 2012-02-21 21:47 ID:MMT2hg5o

>>24 & 25 - I'm struggling with this when it comes to Toshiro/Momo fans for the Bleach fandom. I once saw a fan for this pairing say it must be canon because T/M has so much fanart. I still believe that a lot of the Momo bashing came from the fact they liked saying their pairing was canon and/or semi canon to the newbie fanfic writers which caused a major bit of hostility back. And no... this isn't off topic because my A/B I am specifically thinking about when it comes to love triangles is Momo and Toshiro, and it is definitely a Toshiro/anyone-but-Momo-is-wrong pairing for some of these fans. I'm still a little miffed due to finding out that one of the few fanfics for this pairing that I had in my favorites has been deleted... actually, I think quite a few are which should say something.

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