Asgerd posted:

Keromaru5 posted:

Part of me really wants to pick apart, in detail, exactly what's wrong with every part of this. I feel like I'd benefit from it, at least. It's like the ultimate guide on how not to write. The "Why not?" explaining Chapter Zero alone has me bewildered.

Does Major Tom plan on ever going back and revising at some point?

CoolZidane posted:

A wise man once said "All things must pass", which means that all things which occur must inevitably pass. Eventually, this thing will pass as all things must. Because after all, all things must pass.

Asgerd posted:

You need a few more "supposedly"s in there. For every thing passes in time, even supposedly this one, maybe, I think.

made of bees posted:

I forget, was Major Tom also the fascist who really, really wanted to bomb Iran, and talked about how he much he wanted to beat up trans people?

Metal Loaf posted:

"Every war ends in time, even supposedly this one."

Edit: Hahaha, the trope page even claims that Endless Conflict is "notable" for its "deconstruction of the space marine genre".

Fuego Fish posted:

I could tear into this with critique, but "show don't tell, you incompetent shitstain" would cover most of the problems.

Keromaru5 posted:

For something to be "notable," doesn't someone have to, you know, write it?

quote:

Is currently writing Endless Conflict, the trope page to which was just re-written from the So Bad, It's Horrible amatuerish mess it was into something a lot more professional and tropey looking.

made of bees posted:

You know, I think a piece of fiction written in the form of an encyclopedia article about something that doesn't exist might turn out to be kinda fun. Sorta like The Areas of My Expertise. Just, not if it's written by tropers.

Jerry Manderbilt posted:

All I remember was that he was a washout who really loving hated China, unironically suggested that Russia would build a train to Alaska and use it to invade America, and that he wanted to gently caress Cirno from Touhou or something

made of bees posted:

I forget, was Major Tom also the fascist who really, really wanted to bomb Iran, and talked about how he much he wanted to beat up trans people?

Flesnolk posted:

I think that was Barkey? It's a little hard to tell tropers apart sometimes.

quote:

I also remember someone repeatedly turned Major Tom's page into a Space Oddity edit. The page is now locked so only he can edit it.

Leofish posted:

I think it was Ambiguatron who said it in the last thread, that tropers don't actually want to write, they want to make comic books and anime shows, but they can't do any of those things, so they "write" because they think it's the easiest part. All they think you need is a word processor, or even a pen and a piece of paper to write (JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter on a napkin, as the story goes!) but they forget that you actually have to work hard at writing and read lots and actually loving write instead of just "world building" all the drat time.

Sham bam bamina! posted:

Am I the only one here who actually wants Major Tom to finish his magnum opus? I want Endless Conflict to be a complete, fully-formed work among such titans as Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate and Maradonia and the Seven Bridges. Maybe the guy'll even vanity-publish it so I can have a copy of my own on my bookshelf.

quote:

Shinji and Warhammer 40k chat

Namtab posted:

It's a fanfic tropers like, but it's not a troperfic

Fan Fic: Shinji and Warhammer 40K posted:

Conversational Troping - Characters use terms like Artistic License - Biology, Badass Normal, Authority (Not Necessarily) Equaling Asskicking, or Impossibly Cool Clothes in what are admitted shout-outs to TV Tropes.

DaveWoo posted:

My favorite Troper would have to be Jabrosky. I love how everything he writes is specifically tailored to his fetish.

Fan Fic: Doctor Huh posted:

Describe Doctor Huh?! here.

Well, to put it shortly, Doctor Huh?! is the craziest, gently caress-upiest fanfiction this side of Doctor Who.

The basic plot: Katharina "Rina" Bayley is a perfectly normal 16-year-old with two perfectly normal (if a bit geeky/strange) friends, Jane Doe (whom Rina has known for six years) and John Smith (Rina's crush who's been in the group since highschool started). Well, they're perfectly normal until John and Jane both find certain fobwatches from a certain television show and open them...

Suddenly, Rina finds herself in a world where anything's possible and her two best friends are aliens who hate each other and poo poo is about to get real.

Also, there are Daleks.

A strange fic created by none other than Suki Self-Destruct (who would be Jane) and her trusty friend, Riley the Churro (who would be Rina). Admittedly self-inserty but the pitch was (from Suki to Riley): "What if I was actually the Master, David (John) was actually the Doctor, we found this out and you were stuck in the middle of it all?" This idea came about because Riley & David (which isn't his real name. He just looks like David Tennant) started dating, and everyone makes jokes about David being the Doctor or David Tennant in disguise so Suki started referring to Riley as "the Doctor's companion~!". This is why you should be glad that you aren't Suki's friend.

The first 'book' is titled, well, Doctor Huh?! (written by Suki), with a planned sequel that may or may not be titled Dr. Master (written by the all-knowing Churro).

This Fan Fic exploits the following Tropes for all they're worth...

* Draco in Leather Pants: All though Suki is an admitted Master fangirl, she aims to make "her Master" flawed and hosed-up and generally creepy.
* Les Yay: One-sided from the Master (or Jane). Rina does not want.
* Life Embellished: Ooh, boy.
* Self Insert Fic: But not as bad as it sounds... seriously!!
* Shout Out: Rina says in chapter 2, "Someone set up us the bomb!"
* Someone Set Up Us The Bomb: The Master, to be exact.
* Write Who You Know: Rina is Suki's friend Churro, John is her other friend David, and Jane is Suki herself.

Lottery of Babylon posted:

e: I dunno, sounds pretty awesome to me.

DStecks posted:

For a second I parsed that as "juggalo story" and I nearly shat my pants with terror.

The trope page posted:

Mabaka! Magic is for Idiots! is a Web Serial Novel written by veteran Fan Fiction writer, Half Demon Cali, and is her first and major original work. It was first published on September 15th, 2009 on deviantART, and then on Fiction Press two months later, on November 8th. As of chapter 8-2, updates are only posted on Fiction Press. (The Magic for Idiots was the beta title.)

Akemi Segawa is a first year student at Okashii High School, who lives at an old shrine with her father. Her best friend Rie is an occult enthusiast, her Aunt Meiko is a 40-year-old preteen...

quote:

and her boyfriend Daisuke is about the only normal character in the entire series so far. If it weren't for them, however, her life would be extremely and utterly dull, since she only thing she really does in her spare time is her chores. So basically, a typical female human Tsundere protagonist.

quote:

Then a wizard from another dimension crash lands in her yard and everything goes to hell.

Rokuro is a Type 1 magic student from the second dimensional plane, Mahokkai. Contrary to what Akemi read about wizards being wise and in touch with nature, Rokuro is awkward, lazy, can't think things through to save his life, and can't perform the smallest of spells without something nearby exploding on him. If you're wondering how the hell he ended up in the human world, then read on.

quote:

Between space and time, there's a dimensional transport system called the Hakobuttori. It's commonly used by beings who don't have the ability to traverse between worlds at their will. Rokuro accidentally got himself caught in it, and since he doesn't have enough magic to get himself back home, he's now stuck living with Akemi and her father, Shigeru. For a year. While they try to keep him a secret.

Joy!

quote:

As the chapters progress on, a fairly large and colorful cast is assembled, and each with their own unique quirks to add to the fun. Character development really starts once all the introductions are done, and the amounts of Ship Tease between Akemi and Rokuro are taken to insane amounts for two people who are supposed to have platonic relationship.

There are currently forty chapters published online (1-1 to 16-1). Start here, if you wish. Just be warned that Cali is in the midst of rewriting her earlier chapters and that there will be slight inconsistencies. And word puns. Lots and lots of word puns. With cultural notes at the bottom of each chapter to explain.

A chapter guide is in production here.

Tropes include posted:

There's loving tons of tropes so I'm just gonna cherrypick all the stupid ones, I'll also comment on each in bold cause it's quicker than opening and closing quote tags

Accidental Pervert: Rokuro caught sight of a near-naked Akemi, covered only by her underwear and a towel, when he hid in the girl’s locker room. To his credit, though, he didn't know what a locker room was up until then. Magic world really didn't have locker rooms?

Battle Aura: When Shigeru gets mad, or when he thinks Rokuro is being indecent towards his daughter, his aura flares red and purple. Usually accompanied by his Scary Shiny Glasses. I look forward to seeing how this visual cliche plays out in the written world (my guess, about as naturally as EPIC! Oretachi)

Bilingual Bonus: Shigeru is an English tutor, so there's obviously going to be some of this.
Chapter 9-1, Family Issues: Akemi asks for help with translating a couple of sentences into English. Shigeru does this, and then reads it back to her in Japanese. The text for him speaking Japanese is actually italicized Romaji, and in the cultural notes, these same sentences are in kanji. Read: Beginner's japanese, probably some weeaboo buzzwords thrown in. May have honourifics

Cardboard Prison: Rokuro mentions that he was tied to a tree when he was younger, as punishment. And the rope wasn’t even tight. He just forgot to untie himself. :downssad:

Excited Show Title! The trope for when a title has an exclamation mark. Only slightly more useful than the inevitable "Title In English Words" trope

Facepalm: A marvelous, apparently audible one is given by Maruchi towards the end of 14-1 after this exchange:
Maruchi: "Are you seriously telling me that the reason you can't sleep is because you're having wet dreams about the human girl?"
Rokuro: "Why would I be wet? The futon's dry." gently caress off

Fanservice: The author really likes dishing it out when she's not writing. Flat, derivative anime art.

Honorifics: Akemi uses these with nearly everyone. Unless she’s severely pissed off, or exhausted. On the other hand, she herself doesn't like to be referred to as Akemi-san. Oh hey I was right about the honourifics. (The trope entry also goes on to mention the specific honourifics she uses)

Loads and Loads of Characters: Nineteen main characters in all. And that doesn't even cover all of the ones that are going to appear in season one. Books have seasons?

quote:

In short, a bastard techno-freak with a Hair-Trigger Temper and a colorful vocabulary.

Cali is widely known as a fan of Japanese culture (Anime included) and of sharp weaponry. A friend at school usually supplies her with pocket knives, shuriken, and other things that can fit in a backpack without being noticed - Sometimes, even things that can't fit into a backpack. At eighteen years old, she's more worried about being tried as an adult than anything else.

She is set off by even minor things, and she can be fierce in retaliation; if she's quiet, she's plotting. If she's not, then beware of flying textbooks.

Cali has extreme tomboy-ish qualities that make it hard to tell which gender group she actually belongs to. As noted by a friend, he "didn't know what [she] was until the school field trip where the rooms were segregated".

Also, don't ask her if she wears panties when within talking distance.

Even with her bad qualities, Cali is fiercely loyal to those she considers friends, and will defend them (Vocally or physically) whenever they need it. She shows her love via punching, kicking, picking on, and sometimes verbal assault, but it's just her way of caring since the idea of "love" is fairly foreign to her.

quote:

-Idiots. Holy crap. No. I am surrounded by about 1,600 of these every day in school, I don't need any other nuisances bothering me when I just want to be left the gently caress alone.
-Teenage girls. Most of them, anyway. I'm sorry, but I don't understand why they have to constantly put on make-up, why they obsess over good-looking guys, why they fangirl squeal at every boyband and girl singer (I'm looking at you, Justin Bieber), why they get squicked out at the sight of blood, why they have to be so self-concious about their looks, and why they're generally huge bitches.
-This one girl named Alyssa C. Man, that is the first person I've ever thought about seriously murdering, and have actually tried to do it. It was a failed attempt, but I tried to poison her by putting bleach in her water bottle. Still continuously dream up new and creative ways to murder the bitch.

Namtab posted:

Things half demon cali hates

Namtab posted:

"I don't understand why they have to constantly put on make-up, why they obsess over good-looking guys,"

WeaponGradeSadness posted:

Ignoring the obvious crazy because I'm assuming she's making poo poo up to seem edgy and dangerous, here's a loving mystery for the ages.

The 1000 Ways Ways To Die page posted:

Unfortunate Things Said Outright: The story of the Neanderthal who killed himself from smoke inhalation after creating fire to spite his cave girl who spent her days sitting around, thinking of things to complain about to her husband. While that stereotype is true to a point, the show writers could have shown some restraint and not outright say that.

WickedHate posted:

This loving website.

Namtab posted:

She sounds like