Reading through ~20 chapters of boring to get to the actual story is not a point in its favour. Aside from that, it's not the story that's the problem. The story is interesting. It's how it's written that puts me off and the chances of that changing once we get away from canon is slim to nil.

 

That is definitely the exact wording I would use to describe it, if I had thought of it.

 

Bah! I find the look into the author's take on military life to be interesting. They discuss tactics, thought processes, You get to watch Kakashi shape them into Real Fucking Ninja. The combat is interesting and fluid, the snippets at the bottom about the characters and their capabilities and the intelligence reports is immersive. The author is creating a World different from canon, and I have no problem reading it happen.

I find this especially amusing, considering Roarian, whom we all know and think is fucking awesome, also has a very dry, very technical writing style. But I don't see anyone completely disregarding his stories for it.

tl;dr: I think you're all acting a little overspoiled when it comes to pacing, and I have no issues with the writing style.

 

Roarian has a dry style of writing, but he also writes characters with personality. This story has all the hallmarks of a good one, except for the fact that it reads like a textbook. I went through 15 chapters of not giving a damn about the characters simply because there was no life to them.

Most chapters followed the same pattern too: a scene where Team 7 did a mission, then exposition on where they went wrong and how they could do better. That's perfectly sensible in story, but it doesn't make for entertaining reading.

As for being overspoiled; you've been here since 2011. Did you not notice the high standards we have? The goal of this forum isn't to accept any and all stories, it's to collect the best of the fandoms we focus on.

 

The story isn't bad, but I agree that it isn't quite library worthy either. TheWiseTomato said it best when he said that it is reminiscent of a condescending professor lecturing you.

It has this smug tone, while it explains you how much better this is from canon and how he so cleverly fixed everything wrong with canon and I find this to be quite arrogant, seeing that it falls into similar pits while it tries to "fix" things.

There are other stories that changed canon to be more realistic but none of them had a summary that basically says "okay, gonna list everything that is wrong with canon and make it better" and that is a really offputting attitude.

That said, I didn't mind reading the lectures on the whole ninja shtick because there is no bashing, it is fair to every character and some stuff is a bit original and still interesting. Hoping it will decisively differ from canon at some point and I liked a few of the little changes here and there.

That said, the character interactions when they are not lecturing feel unnatural, as if the author is not that experienced when writing dialogue and character interaction, although that does get better.

3.5-5 so far, with the potential to get better but as of now, not library worthy. There is definitely better Naruto stuff out there, both here on DLP and outside.

It really should lose the feeling of a professor who disdains every opinion of his subject that is not his own.

 

Yes, I have noticed. I've gave negative reviews and named more than a few pieces of fiction not worthy of the Library, myself. I have also noticed that in recent years it has gotten more demanding. Stuff that would previously have made it into DLP is now rejected. There is a difference between having high standards and having nigh unrealistic standards.

My post was made because DLP now has a fair amount of VERY good authors who hang about and spoil us with fantastic fiction, as a result, we are being less and less accepting of things that are not near to that standard of Really. Damn. Good.

Honestly, I don't see the condescending professor vibe. Maybe that's just me, maybe I'm more in touch with the story because I'm Ex-Military and this story does a good job of emulating that, but my point isn't based entirely on this story.

 

The reason is simple. The fandom is pretty old now. Without brand new fresh ideas, the only thing we can focus on is how the writing make a piece superior to all the other fics in the fandom. Especially in Naruto, it's near impossible to find a brand new fresh idea. For example, a couple years ago, a Naruto using seals would be super fun to read, even with a mediocre writing style. A fic of similar quality today would be far too boring to read.

Thus, judging quality stories today does not simply mean comparing it to quality stories of the past.

 

It's why I posted the story here for now.
This thread is perfect for those kinds of stories that some people will enjoy, but others won't. The stories that contain a couple of pet peeves too much for many people.

The Library has become less discriminating of stories with different genres and unusual main characters as long as they are good. But it has also become much harsher in criticizing writing style and character development (or lack thereof).
I think we already had the topic a couple of times that many of the older stories in the library wouldn't pass muster today and belong more in an "Almost Recommended" thread.

 

Very true. Same reason why for smaller fandoms, there are fics in the Library that probably wouldn't pass if they were Naruto/HP. In those fandoms, finding something that is merely readable is hard enough.

 

Well, Genin to Hokage just diverged from canon. Seems like a pretty big one, too.

 

Really because it actually felt more like a canon retread...

 

It really feels like a really lame pallet-swap and one I don't particularly care for since it paves the way for more screentime for a character I don't really like, will stick with it for one more chapter and see where this goes. If it takes the path that i fear it will, will drop it.

 

It's mildly interesting. Feels more like a way to power up Sakura.

 

Some older, abandoned fics that you won't find on FF.net:

Bleach

Postcards from the Edge by Case13/Fosfor
'Postcards' from Ichigo's life after Winter War onwards.

Naruto

Nine Lives by Case13/Fosfor
Naruto fakes his death and lives several lives throughout the continent with unique shadow clones.

Divinity by Halycon7
Naruto has been stuck in a one day loop for a damn long time. But now time has returned to normal and he has a chance to changed the past.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Case13/Fosfor
A Naruto who lived in alternate life as a mercenary leader is thrown into the body of canon Naruto pre-graduation.

Shadow of the Sun by Case13/Fosfor
Naruto/Shadow Skill crossover. A vent fic where Naruto is yanked back into the Elemental Countries prior to the Sound/Sand Invasion.

The Price of Honor by Halycon7
Naruto has been raised as a samurai and becomes involved in the war engulfing the continent.

P.S. Dodgy summaries are my own creation since they don't come with official ones.

 

knight, you legend. Excellent stuff.

 

Damn, I shouldn't have read Divinity. An abandoned story that ends on a cliffhanger. I'm going to be spending the rest of the day wondering how this would have ended up.

 

I've been wanting to do something The Price Of Honor-ish for years now. Thanks, Knight, I was looking for that story. But couldn't remember the title.

 

Wabi Sabi by Gabriel Blessing
The tender love between a boy and a girl, and all it implies: stolen kisses, gentle touches, broken bones, ball gags, fights to the death, the end of the world, cannibalism... Wait, what? A love story that goes where it really shouldn't have gone, and yet still ends up happy.
Crossover - Air Gear & Sankarea/さんかれあ - Rated: M - English - Romance/Drama - Chapters: 1 - Words: 55,460 - Reviews: 92 - Published: 2-25-13 - Itsuki "Ikki" M. & Rea S. - Complete

Just found this story today and found it to be a very enjoyable read. While it is listed under romance/drama, it also has a healthy portion of humor to it with a slight touch of horror. To be honest, I would be tempted to put this up for review, but I have no idea how well the author portrayed the Sankarea part of the crossover compared to canon. Until today I had never even heard of Sankarea, so all I had to go by as I read the story was a brief skimming of the wiki.

This fic is a perfect example that GB can write a decent story compared to the mess that is In Flight. I would rank it up there with his other nicely written story Debt of a Sword. I'd give it a 4/5.

 

I like GB's shorter stories a lot more than his longer ones. It's been mentioned before that he has a problem with too many fucking words and dragging pointless things out for as long as possible. Give the guy a chapter restriction, however, and those problems go out the window.

 

This is a Justice League fic consisting 95% of Bruce/Diana stuff. If you're into that pairing, this is a good fic to kill some time. Decently written, but nothing special.