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

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