Neil Carlberg wrote:
At 09:50 PM 1/21/97 +0200, you wrote:
A shudder? O_o Hmm. I'm really curious to know which fanfic(s) illicited
that physical response.
I don't think it's that hard to guess. Otakufics of course. <shudder>
Hmm. I've been on this list long enough to know that this subject has been
debated several times over and the outcome is always the same: some folks
don't care for the self-insertion fic, claiming the author has been
self-indulgent, while some folks like them alot, claiming that the author
has provided an original tangent that fulfills the reader's desire for a
completed series to live on. Like any enduring debate, there really is no
clear winner.
<snip lotsa text>
Now, there are otakufics I like. (Bubblegum zone eps. 1, 8&9 for example)
But about 90% of otakufics I've read the new charas are too powerful-all-good-
all-knowing for my taste.
Yep, this is true. On the other hand, there are times when the authors are
talented enough to make their characters so blatently all-powerful that you
got to love them for it. Take Gryphon and Megazone's Hopelessly Lost.
Sure, despite their human personnality probelms, they are still capable of
taking Largo out singlehandedly. But since it was so beautifully written
and it made you feel for the characters, people still loved it.
And I also picked up the desire to drive a semi truck through a hovering
armored transport at 300 miles an hour while I am the truck. Gotta respect
that. Here's hopein' that they write up some more of it later.
Otakufics can be good, but it's quite rare.
Well, since the 'fics themselves aren't all that common, I actually enjoy
most of them.
A lot of the old vets put out a good one now and again.
The Martian
Jussi.Nikander@nixu.fi
http://www.hut.fi/~jnikande/
Neil Carlberg
Empyreal of Ryouga
"The world is a dark and lonely place"
"Stop doing that! Dammit, you violent
maniac, put that thing away!"
I've read part of the fic. I agree it was well written, but a lot of the
super-otaku stuff just made my teeth hurt. I mean, Griffon ended up with
a) the coolest car on the planet b) The coolest suit of armor on the
planet c) Priss, if he wanted her d) Nene, if he wanted her e) Linna,
who he did want f) Scads of money g) More brainpower than Einstein,
Newton and Hawking put together. It was just WAAAYY too much!
Even though I am writing a textbook example of an Otakufic in 'Revenge's
End', I'm trying to keep the super-powering to a minimum. Sure, I HAVE
to give most of the authors some kind of powers or abilities, otherwise
the animates would walk all over us. However, I'm also limiting the
powers severely. my core group of characters are all good at something,
but not at everything (i.e. Zen has his 3WA training, Webdragon will
have some interesting stealth goodies, but neither one of them is also a
mech designer/physist/Magician/Jedi/Time Lord/Immortal.) Anyone with
god-level powers will probably get wiped out first. Hopefully I'll be
able to keep it all within reason, but the temptation is still there.
I've found the tendency is to want to give the otaku character all the
powers and abilities needed in the plot (need a computer whiz? BANG! The
otaku is a computer whiz. Need a martial artist? BANG!... You get the
idea.) One way to get around this is not to get rid of the abilities,
but assign them to another character, preferrably three dimensional, and
non-otaku if possible. Keeping the otaku down to one or two 'specials'
will generally contribute to reducing toothaches in your readers.
The Prime Sagittarian,
Alpha 'Been spelling Sagittarian wrong all this time!' Centauri
Heh. I'm writing an... what do they call it... ah, an infliction fic of my
own. Called "Books". Basically, it's an episodic-like series where the
protagonist, an University student named Ian Robinson, is catapulted into books
of every kind. Every 24 hours, a portal appears about twenty metres away from
him in a random direction, giving him the option to stay in the book he's in,
or try another one.
Now, the infliction bit comes in due to a few "powers" I gave him. One; he
can't die. That is, the circumstances required to kill him never quite come
about. He can get pummeled, beaten, tortured, polymorphed, cursed, run over,
etc. but he will always survive any situation, one way or another. Two; he has
a tendency to attract trouble. Three; he has a powerful enemy known as
Chronos, who *does* have all the otakufic powers. Chronos has spent 600 years
trapped in the books, and has spent the time learning the technical and magical
know-how to survive, and ultimately conquer each and every one of them. Oh,
and four; Ian can only speak English. The natives of the book automatically
speak the language they are expected to speak (if on Earth), or the book was
written in (if not on Earth). Thus, language difficulties are common in Manga,
at least until Ian manages to get hold of a Babel Fish.
Later episodes do give Ian a slight upgrade; he managed to get hold of a
pulse-laser pistol and a personal shield generator from the Flashback universe
(I've seen a comic with this story in), but he has trouble finding recharging
points for the ShieldGen, and his pistol can be as dangerous to himself as it
is to others.
Lastly, Ian, although a native of Earth, is not a real otaku. He studied
English Literature at Uni, and was introduced to Manga and Anime by one of his
friends, but he doesn't know enough of the details to take any advantage from
that. He knows enough to recognise the more popular Anime and Manga, but only
if he's given enough clues. For example, the name Priss Asigiri won't turn his
head, but being faced by the Knight Sabers (and having them identified as
such), would.
I agree with what's been said about not giving the "otaku" too many powers.
And Alpha's solution seems pretty sound, though I tend to get the main
characters of the series Ian is trapped in to help. 'Though that usually only
happens at the end of a series episode; usually, the main characters are mostly
trying to figure out who the hell Ian is (at the moment I've got the Knight
Sabers (particularly Nene) interested in Ian's appearing and disappearing
tricks, and the fact that a Genom boomer saved his life just before he left
BGC; and in SM, the Sailor Senshi have reason to believe that Ian knows who
they are, and they suspect him to be a Dark Kingdom spy)
Anyway, that's my two Zorkmids. Thanks for listening,
Terence Fergusson
-- Stranded in an Anime-free College
-- Wondering what will happen when people
figure out that this is just a masked attempt
to plug his own story
-- And wondering what a Ryo-oki doll is,
especially the one Lyra is threatening me
with.
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Murphy's Law : Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
Ian's Amendment : "Unless I'm around. Then everything
just goes wrong for me."
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