Not to mention the number of terrible fic clones that spawned because of it. ;_;
The horror.... The horror!
poor TIM, to forever be haunted by something he admits was a mistake
Year 1
Salt Corner
It's like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, except with a trainwreck of a fic.
A trainwreck is a trainwreck, whether it be a bullet train or a steamer.
Sorry to The Infamous Man in advance but... Fate/Zero Sense is pretty self-explanatory. A crack parody, plain and simple. I laughed at parts of it, but even I couldn't ignore how quickly Saber got shafted because media characters kept one-uping her. TIM got pretty defensive about it thinking the readers were butt-hurt about Saber while at the same time believing it wasn't out there. I think the worst part of this was it started a trend of fics when IRUN did it first AND better. And they do the SAME exact concept. Replace everyone BUT Saber. With the SAME exact reason no less: the grail got bored and wanted to screw with the same class that got him as Avenger killed last war.
*sigh* It's just a mess.
EDIT: But at the very least, I'm neutral towards it.
Last edited by Kishou the Badger; January 19th, 2015 at 02:31 AM.
(Signature credit to TheSpy in his giveaway store thread. He does avatars too)
Fate/Reach Out (Persona 4 crossover)
Precursors of Purity (Ni no Kuni crossover; two-shot)
Another -1 to Fate/Zero Sense, it is a bad influence that has resulted in dozens of terrible spinoffs. Saber is less of a character and more of a measuring stick to show off how sugoi everyone else is to the point where it's basically bashing. It's not funny, and the drama isn't good either. I would literally give it a -1 simply because it has Deadpool though, so just make that the reason.
I'm giving credit where credit is due.
As far as a comedy crack fic with some action toppings on the side, Zero/Sense isn't so bad. As a first effort, I'd even call it good. (I would consider it better than Lancer Gets Serious, for example.) Its primary flaws are absolutely ruining Kotomine by turning him into the worst kind of self-referential meta character that readers despise, and treating Saber like a ragdoll while glorifying Deadpool and Rider much like Nasu glorifies Gilgamesh and Rider. Numerous other minor flaws include spots of character bashing and simplifying/misinterpreting the characterization of several canon characters, making it as a whole much more shallow than its source material. That said, I read through the whole thing and came out of it considering it an okay experience, and wouldn't call the story a waste of time. If you like shonen manga and fight scenes, having several well known characters duke it out will be right up your alley, since the fights are perfectly serviceable, if a bit unimaginative. The Servants introduced are decently characterized, all things considered, and other than Deadpool, none grate on the nerves like many OCs tend to do. I'll even give the author props for not reducing a certain character (one very disliked in canon by the fanbase) to a chew toy like many others do. The plot isn't ruined by the changes, with several rather reasonable developments occurring as a result of a different cast, and certainly nothing that would cause suspension of disbelief. However, none of it can be called very inspired, and it won't impress in that department.
In short, it's a decent fic to read if you turn your brain off and treat it like an action movie. Don't bother with the sequel or any of the spinoffs, though. Best thing I can say is that it's certainly no From Fake Dreams or In Flight or, heaven forbid, Nerve Damage.
I should ask TIM if he wants to have Zero Sense in the index. It's p obvious by now it's not gonna be with the good fics and if he doesn't like being reminded of it then might as well not add it at all.
Or just add a "It's bad and the author hates it" disclaimer, I s'pose.
Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the negative section if hated fics were excluded? It would be warning people that the majority here does not like it and not to read unless they're feeling very thick skinned.
Yeah but the guy is part of the community. If he might feel uncomfortable with that sort of stuff, especially when he's very clear that he himself has issues with it, I think it'd be a good thing to at least consider any wishes he might have on not having it up.
Localizationing stuff
If there is an actual problem over the fic then it would be best to exclude it on grounds that it's causing an issue and the community is the forum's first priority. However, if it's just a case of embarrassment over a old work, then we all have those, and keeping it off for those reasons might set a bad precedent. Thirdfang used to post here as well, and we're not shy about our opinion on FFD.
No, but if TF showed up and said, "Please, look, I don't really want to be associated with that anymore, I'm trying to improve and it's a distraction" then I think it should be in the discussion.
I'm not saying insta-remove it or anything, but if the actual authors have issues and are actively part of the community, you know, it's good to listen?
And keeping stuff hanging around can also set a bad precedent, especially when an author has the wisdom to keep stuff on the DL. This in very direct contrast to certain people who keep bringing up things they do after having been ragged on by the community which always ends up just being a bad idea for all parties that get involved.
Localizationing stuff
Fair point I suppose.
I don't want to see people begging for their fics to get de-referenced from the master list just because they got bad reviews and it hurts their pride or something. The list is for potential readers to get info just as much as it is for authors to get feedback.
The only discussions I've seen about this fic are the ones here and they don't seem like they're causing a ruckus, but if people are starting flamewars or harassment over this kind of thing, then I can see the need for a clean slate.
I mean Zero Sense is just kind of bad, its not insultingly bad like In Flight or FFD, so I think people will remain pretty civil about it.
People can and will surprise you.
Bloble makes a good point that Fate/Zero Sense makes the mistake of glorifying the other Servants at the expense of Saber when it was something the source material already did. (Though I think he's being way too hard on himself to say it's better than Lancer Gets Serious. That's a God damn masterpiece.)
Diarmuid made Saber look like a chump. Gilles was well on his way to overwhelming her before Diarmuid came galloping in to save the day. Alexander talked down to her like a little girl. Lancelot made her want to commit Grail-assisted historical suicide. Gilgamesh was untouchable. Do these things give the story a pass? No, but it's weird to see people criticize the story for that so much when it's already on the books.
The rest of the stuff is pretty spot-on, though: ZANY Servant choices for the dumb Avenger reasons, Deadpool overdose, ruining Kirei, a stab at trying to have both drama and comedy that gets neither. It's pretty piss-poor.
But it's also a first effort, and we can see how TIM has made an effort to improve. So I'm not going to -1 it. Just adding my two cents to the conversation
Ehh, but Gen pulled it off while TIM didn't.
It certainly entertained me when I first read, and encouraged my interest in Type-Moon stuff. I find it better as a Gurren Lagann/Trigun/Evangelion/Naruto/Deadpool/Bleach fic than a Fate/Zero fic.But it's also a first effort, and we can see how TIM has made an effort to improve. So I'm not going to -1 it. Just adding my two cents to the conversation
I don't really see how first effort matters as far as -1ing.
It doesn't matter if it's the first work of an author, something written by a five-years-old, or any other thing; that doesn't make it more recommendable to read.
Ragnarok, come day of wrath
That fallen souls might bear our plea.
To hasten the Divine's return.
O piteous Wanderer.