rurouni kenshin fanfiction pet peeves

[samuraichikX]

what are yours? sometimes i find myself just shaking my head in shame after reading some really bad fanfics, some i can get over pretty fast but some i just cant get through them at all

mine:
1.totally messing with the character's personalities
ex. one had kenshin being posessed by the battousai's spirit and he and battousai were totally different spirits, it wasnt his past was just another guy, and i read one where kaoru is a girl from the future riding a horse around being totally OOC
2. being too OOC; totally kills the point of fanfiction, i like ooc slightly but when you go over the line it just annoys me to not end
3. alternate pairing that really doesnt work

post yours ^^  

[SilentNinjaFox]

1. Messing with the original story line.
2. Characters completely OOC.
3. Making a new character that pairs up with Kenshin instead of Kaoru.
These are more general for all fanfiction but...
4. The story being in a script format and lacking narration.
5. The whole "person from the modern world ends up in the (insert series name here) world," especially when that person falls in line with number 3.
6. Poor writing in general. >.<  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

1. Poor spelling and punctuation make the grammarian in me weep.
2. Blatantly messing up the characters' personalities detracts from the story. I think playing up their foibles a bit is OK (ie, Sano acting like a pig at the dinner table), but actually changing them 100% (Kenshin turning into an abusive a*****e and beating Kaoru) is crossing the line.
3. AU stories are OK, but it should be said in advance that they're AU. It's not nice to trick the readers.
4. All vampire fics drain my face of blood.
5. All high school fics make me want to curl up in a fetal position or take some very strong drugs.
6. Mary Sues and Gary Stus just suck.  

[SilentNinjaFox]

Yami no Hitokiri

1. Poor spelling and punctuation make the grammarian in me weep.
2. Blatantly messing up the characters' personalities detracts from the story. I think playing up their foibles a bit is OK (ie, Sano acting like a pig at the dinner table), but actually changing them 100% (Kenshin turning into an abusive a*****e and beating Kaoru) is crossing the line.
3. AU stories are OK, but it should be said in advance that they're AU. It's not nice to trick the readers.
4. All vampire fics drain my face of blood.
5. All high school fics make me want to curl up in a fetal position or take some very strong drugs.
6. Mary Sues and Gary Stus just suck.

eek OMgoodness! How could someone try to make Kenshin out to be abusive! That's ridiculas! scream That is so messed up and out of character... omgoodness... uhg! That is so not cool.. He would never do that... I'm pretty sure that when the writer came up with that idea, part of Watsuki's soul died.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

I agree. There was one I read where Kamiya Kasshin Ryu supposedly started out as a satsujinken and these people who wanted revenge on her father started messing with her and vandalizing the dojo. Kenshin is driven to rage by it and starts taking it out on Kaoru, verbally abusing her. He doesn't hit her or anything but is very nasty to her in the story. I can't remember the title right now.  

[zeldabcc]

I hate it when the story line is completely changed, but minor things don't bother me too much. I also don't like some pairings.  

[SilentNinjaFox]

Yami no Hitokiri

I agree. There was one I read where Kamiya Kasshin Ryu supposedly started out as a satsujinken and these people who wanted revenge on her father started messing with her and vandalizing the dojo. Kenshin is driven to rage by it and starts taking it out on Kaoru, verbally abusing her. He doesn't hit her or anything but is very nasty to her in the story. I can't remember the title right now.

that is completely and totally un-Kenshin like! Kenshin would defend her and get rid of the slanderers! >.<  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

Yes, he would.

I also hate Kaoru Sue fics where she's either this innocent, helpless damsel-in-distress or where she's a hitokiri who rivals Battousai. Both are stupid extremes and distort Kaoru's character.

Similarly, I hate these angsty fics that turn Kenshin into a 29-year-old emo kid who cuts himself in the bath house. Yes, Kenshin regrets what he did during the war, but he's an adult and can deal with his past without being self-destructive.  

[SilentNinjaFox]

Yami no Hitokiri

Yes, he would.

I also hate Kaoru Sue fics where she's either this innocent, helpless damsel-in-distress or where she's a hitokiri who rivals Battousai. Both are stupid extremes and distort Kaoru's character.

Similarly, I hate these angsty fics that turn Kenshin into a 29-year-old emo kid who cuts himself in the bath house. Yes, Kenshin regrets what he did during the war, but he's an adult and can deal with his past without being self-destructive.

Yeah, Kaoru's a really strong character. She gets over looked sometimes because she's not a powerhouse like Kenshin, Saitou, or Sanosuke so it's easy to forget that. Hitokiri Kaoru? No, just no.

xd Emo-kid Kenshin. That's a funny mental image. Kenshin and how he deals with his past is kinda complicated. On one hand, like you said, he wouldn't do something self-destructive like cutting but on the other, it wasn't until he learned the succession technique from Hiko that he valued his one life. It was something like. xd  

[Kisharo Dragonwings]

Ugh. I can't stand most fanfics of RK these days. stare
1. Misspelling of names: 'Kensin' 'Sinosuke' 'Yehiko' Good Lord. rolleyes
2. Exaggerating the character's personalities, like making Kenshin sound like he's depressed 24/7.
3. Pairing good female characters with evil male characters: Kaoru x Shishio. gonk
4. Pairing RK characters with other anime characters.
5. Lack of plot.
6. Putting RK characters in high school and making them act like the stupid teenagers today. burning_eyes
7. Even though Kenji is an a*****e towards his father sometimes, I hate fanfics where they make it seems like he wanted to marry his mom or hated his dad since he was a baby, or planning to kil Kenshin.
8. Making the characters abuse his/her spouse, use drugs, abuse alcohol, etc.
9. If I can think of anymore I'll add.  

[Celestiara]

People who obviously didn't read their fics over even once before posting. Seriously, if these people had, they would surely have realized just what they were about to do. SUPPORT SPELLCHECKERS! THEY EXIST FOR A REASON! JUST BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SHOW UP RED DOESN'T MEAN IT'S THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE GIVEN CONTEXT!
*pants for breath
Sorry; personal rant there...  

[HikyuuTera]

Actually... I'd have to agree with the whole oc issue and (Kenshin being abusive one as well) There are some out there that makes me laugh my butt off because of how poorly written it is and the grammar mistakes they have in it. Then there are the ones who just makes me want to bang my head against the desk/wall a couple of times for how wrong they have their characters' personalities down. As well as the whole (evil Kaoru)
or the whole (emo Kaoru)
I mean yeah we saw that at the end of the Tokyo arc/ beginning of the Kyoto arc... but Kaoru doesn't stay emo-ish for long nor does she go all suicidal for one thing...
Or how Megumi, Tomoe are showed as literally b***hes and will steal/backstab. '=.=x
Then there's how they show Misao as a hyperactive girl on sugar... Which yes she is one sometimes but not all the time '=.=x
This rant I could keep going on...
I also agree with those of you about the whole pairing other people with Kenshin or other people with Kaoru. Sometimes fandom is a very scary place especially if you look into doujinshi (fan manga) and fanfiction.

Actually I've had this one pet peeve that's bigger than the rest of them. Because I keep seeing it and it always makes me want to face palm everytime I see it...
However this pet peeve corresponds with both fanfiction and doujinshi( especially)
Sano paired with Kenshin? >.I don't have anything against yaoi pairings... unless it goes against the logic of canon.

Oh I know I'll probably come across more and still have more that could have me face palming or slamming my head against a desk... Like the miss spelling of their rightful Japanese names/nicknames/ Japanese words/etc.... I'd probably be here awhile lol. '^^x  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

Yaoi is a patently non-canon, so I don't even let that bother me. I actually don't mind Kenshin in those relationships. He just makes such a cute little uke.  

[Yuki_0nna]

Um...what's AU and OOC? sweatdrop

I read a lot of fanfictions...but I don't really know what AU and OOC mean. ^^


Oh, and I'd have to agree with odd pairings...I read a Saitou/Kaoru fanfic once...it was...uh...interesting. eek

I don't mind Kenshin/Tomoe fics, and Kenshin/Kaoru fics. But I don't like it when they put all three in one fic and make one of the two girls out to be a total b****.

Poor grammar and spelling gets to me too.


So...anyone know where I can find a good RK fic, besides fanfiction.net?  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

AU = alternate universe
OOC = out of character

Yeah, the whole Kenshin/Kaoru/Tomoe triangle is over done and totally non-canon. There's no rivalry between Kaoru and Tomoe. Tomoe was the past, Kaoru is the present. That's all.

You can read good RK fiction on Meiji Tales.