Recently, I did a sweep of the web to see what other Slayers
fanfiction was out there, since there seems to have been a boom
in links to new fanfic on the Anime Web Turnpike.  Pleased to see
my currently favorite anime series getting such popularity,
I cruised.

I don't want to kick a gift horse in the mouth, but I managed to
spot a lot of common problems that kept me from really enjoying
a lot of what I read.  So, here's my soapbox rant, which I hope
doesn't alienate anyone... keep in mind that this is my highly
subjective and opinionated list, so feel free to write me off as
a loudmouthed arzhole if you want.  ^_^;  I won't name names
of what fics I felt had these problems.

Biggest problems :

! AUTHOR INDUCED ROMANCE - The author has paired up Lina with
  someone, and assumes from word one that they're in total love with
  each other.  No explanation given.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Fits like a round peg in a square hole.  Changes
                   characters just because the author prefers this
                   particular match.  If developed over the entire
                   run of a series, with satisfying explanation
                   given, it's acceptable.

! SELF INSERTION - The author becomes a character in the series,
  usually as the hero of the day with interesting powers.  Usually
  involves 'dimensional travel' and awareness of Slayers as an
  anime series.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Lessens the other characters.  Looks like a wild
                   ego trip.  Ranma fanfic community burned badly
                   by really horrible fic in this genre, because it's
                   considered very obnoxious... even when well written,
                   with the author downplayed, the stigma attached is
                   nasty.

! AUTHOR WISH FUFILLMENT - Dead characters (sometimes evil) are brought
  back to life and made into heroes because the author liked them.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Lessens the other characters.  Looks like a wild
                   ego trip.  Can range from truly blatant worship of
                   a character to simply a strange element that the
                   reader may not be as enthusiastic about.

! CONFUSING INTRO - No setup or establishment of where these people
  are or what they're doing is present.  Not explaining who Lina is
  is forgivable; assuming we know an obscure character from two
  episodes of Try or an original character isn't.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Slayers is a complex series, and a lot of it lies
                   in fansubs, which are NOT easy to get a hold of.
                   Anything not in the domestic releases needs some
                   kind of introduction.  Anything.  Even Xelloss.
                   Lack of scene establishment leaves the reader
                   without a paddle in terms of getting oriented to
                   the plot.


More basic problems :

? SHORT - Maybe 3-10k of text is included in each part.  Sometimes
  you can fit a whole 'chapter' on the screen at once.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Looks more like an excuse than a story.  Plot feels
                   truncated, characters are shallow.  You don't need
                   to write War and Peace, but more than a page is a
                   good idea.

? LACK OF ORIGINAL FLAVOR - The fic is a crossover, an elseworlds or
  otherwise not pure Slayers.  Usually Ranma 1/2 is used.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Right now, original flavored fanfic is in the
                   minority, with these genres dominating.  As a result,
                   reading a Slayers fanfic has less chance of being
                   ABOUT Slayers alone, or IN the Slayers universe.
                   Instead, we get a percentage of Slayers, mixed in
                   with something else, as our standard fic formula.

? UNUSUAL TONE - The mood and tone of Slayers is not a large part of
  the fanfic; it's either absurdly silly or deathly serious without
  being both.
    WHY IT'S BAD : More a personal taste thing.  Not too many attempts
                   have been made at mixing the serious and silly the
                   way original episodes of Slayers does.  Darkfics
                   are usually solid, if overdramatic, but Sillyfics
                   can go way over the top and lose the reader if not
                   done carefully.


Minor/Less Common Problems :

. THIN PROSE - It's written in prose format, but contains very little
  narration, description, action, etc... mostly just dialogue.
  Script would work better in those cases.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Script allows you to be lax on the non-quoted prose,
                   and concentrate on your strengths.  It's difficult
                   to establish a 'voice' for the narrator.

. PLAIN HTML - It's written in HTML, but doesn't do much to take
  advantage of that fact.  No tabs to make it feel like printed text;
  sometimes difficult to read due to layout or arbitrary color
  selections.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Taste issue again - I feel that you should write
                   for the medium you choose.  If you're writing straight
                   text, suitable for FFML/RAAC posting as well, that's
                   cool... if you're writing just for the web, it needs
                   to be a readable web page.  And don't forget that
                   you can jazz it up with a few pictures, if you have
                   software/time to do it.

. JUST ZELGADIS - It's about Zel.  And that's all.  Any other
  characters are original, obscure or authors self inserted.
    WHY IT'S BAD : Fine for Zelworship, I suppose... but see the problem
                   with Crossovers above.  There are only so many Zelfics
                   I can read before passing out.


Right now, I'd hazard that Reflect and Chaos are guilty of Thin Prose
from time to time, and Author Wish Fufillment.  I've tried to avoid
the others, though.  Up to you folks to decide if I was successful.

-2f