The life of a Ki User

I blame bad fanfiction and insomnia for this.

You know, I didn't think this is necessary. But I found one of the worst fanfics I've read to date, so I think it actually is (And that includes the fanfic I briefly spotted on Fanfiction.net several years ago, "Ranma eats shit and likes it". Yes, it's that bad.). And, even if noone reads this, it's still something I think SHOULD BE SAID. Because I can't really stand reading this stuff anymore. No, this isn't aimed at Beast's Lair. But here I can rant on my Blog, thus... well, this.
Ranma Bushiko's guide to writing decent fanfiction.

First off, let's cover timing.

Big revelations should NOT come a paragraph after a prior one. Period.

Your big reveal, your "huge important information bomb"? Whether it being, say, Orochimaru being able to ressurect your main character's dad, or Shiki being in love with someone else than the main character, you should leave it as the big reveal. No dropping 5 to 10 of these in a single chapter, without at least a lot of information on how the characters feel, the reactions, ect. in there. Period.

There is no reason why someone should have more than a single "big reveal" in more than a half dozen paragraphs, unless you're at the very end of the story, where the protagonist learns all the reasons for whatever they've gone through.

Now that I've covered that, we're going to the next thing. Abuse.

Abuse is not a catch-all. It is not something that you can mystically set up as a catch all to explain all the problems of the main character, or side characters. It is also not something that makes a character "instantly likeable" no matter what you say to the contrary. A character rising ABOVE abuse, like Sakura Matou? Yeah, that's good, but even Nasu didn't do her character enough justice.

Abuse isn't something you can forgive people for, it lingers for years after you get out of the situation, and always taints your memories with sheer raw hatred towards those that abused you.

And putting characters through worse abuse so you can set them up for a "happy ending" where they forgive all their abusers? No. Just no. Abuse doesn't work like that, I can tell you right now.

You don't have a nice, sweet load of forgiveness for people that abused you. You're more likely to want to take a weapon and MAKE THEM A CORPSE.

So all those stories where Naruto gets "exiled by the village" with Tsunade able to do nothing, and then him coming back and saving them all, with them thanking him? No. He's more likely to help the village get destroyed just so he can piss on their graves for being a bunch of asses that got him kicked out and didn't even join him in the first place.

Third off, let's hit up the next cliche. New abilities.

How long did the characters take to gain their abilities, and what did they do to earn them?

Unless you're working in a universe where abilities literally grow on trees, you don't see characters instantly gaining an ability.

Look at Naruto, for example. It took Sasuke weeks before he learned how to use the Katon: Gokyakuu no Jutsu. WEEKS, not minutes, or hours. Naruto, on the other hand, pulled off a technique in an hour of studying, but wound up with the only single Jutsu in the scroll that he could learn how to do easily. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu aka Shadow Clones = mass energy sink, which he could learn to do with a single handseal. He'd been overpowering the normal clones, thus the jutsu, technique, whatever, was perfect for him.

Let's look at Bleach, now. Ichigo took at least several weeks before he could even talk with his blade in a moment where it was do or die for him. It wasn't "instant technique learning", but slow steady progress. Period. Bankai was an exception to this, but a brutal one. Yes, he learned how to attain Bankai, but in the process, his blade being like that MADE MICROFRACTURES IN HIS BONES EVERY TIME HE MOVED. Byakuya, in their fight had him, period. If not for Deus Ex Machina via Hollow, that would've been the series finale with him dead from having a blade through his skull.

Cost and effect, people. Think about this. The faster someone learns a technique, the less they've mastered it. Making characters learn a technique isn't likely to have them use it perfectly, more often as them having their arms blow out of their sockets, unless you have a reason why they shouldn't. I at least TRY to follow this with my writing. But a lot of writers don't.

Let's go a bit deeper, though.

There's other sources of power in stories, too. Let's look at it like this.

What's the diety/major or minor power/fey/insert other being of power here's interests in this. Is this going WITH or AGAINST Canon. Can canon be edited or changed to match your story, or be adjusted enough that your story fits?

If yes, feel free to skip this part, you're doing a good job.

If no, on the other hand, try to do the former. Seriously. Are greek dieties about to come down and shower your hero with blessings? I doubt it. How about the Fey? Are they going to just suddenly appear and make your hero's life wonderful? If so, WHY?

Next up, let's go with long lost family.

If YOU had a long lost family member show up, would you instantly trust them? Most likely not.

So how on earth are there any stories where the family shows up? Much less ones involving a long lost brother or sister, or a twin?

Though they look good on paper, if the parents are officially dead, and your story, or a prequel you've written hasn't covered them being smart enough to survive the situation they died in? LEAVE them there. Seriously. Minato Namikaze is a good example of this. Only single jutsu that ever had a chance of it, was Orochimaru's Impure Ressurection. And that's using the body of a different person, as a human sacrifice, to raise the dead. And it's not entirely clear how perfect a form of ressurection it is, either. Or if it has time limits.

Finally, pairings.

I honestly don't care about pairings too much. I'll read or check out most pairings. But I can say this.

People that are mortal enemies do not magically fall for each other.

People should not be paired together just because of an accidental kiss, with Naruto trying to save Sasuke from being used as a new body for Orochimaru (I'm looking at you, Naruto x Sasuke fans!). Seriously, a single kiss where they're spitting in sheer disgust afterwards? And would YOU want your friends stuck with someone else in their body for the rest of their life? I somehow doubt it.

Having couples of any sort in a story's ok, if it's well written, and there's a whole several dozen chapters involved for the build up. But it needs things like romance.

Not just "Ooh, she's so sexy, and I've never noticed it before!", or "ooh, I'm so turned on by the idea of having sex with this guy, even though I am, too! IT MUST BE LOVE!" and poof, instant relationship. ROMANCE, people. Development! Characters THINKING LOGICALLY. IS it too much to ask for, seriously?

End of rant here, only because I'm tired, and done with the rant.