• As I scrolled down pages, flickering my eyes from word to word and clicking from web page after web page, I can only grimace in disgust. Where has my joy of reading fanfiction gone? Has this sudden realization of the existance of cliche`s, Mary-Sue's and OOC's throw my Expectations bar higher?

    Slowly I realized that the more my abilities as a writer matured, the more narrow my vision for stories became. Fanfictions weren't just stories that I read in my spare time. As I read them, I found myself to critisize paragraph after paragraph, combing through the sentences for mistakes.

    I shuddered at canon characters that was twisted in to images that I could not even recognize as being... well, their original selves. I gagged at cliches and romances that were thrown in haphazardly.

    Immediately I found myself typing stories up with the intention of creating a fanfiction that didn't have the main characters end up in bed after the first chapter--or even after the moment they had exchanged names.

    Unfortunately, as I read through my own stories with beaming pride, I had forgotten about...
    Mary-Sue's.
    The horribly dreadful characters that was just about ready to molest said main love interest in the story. My once, prized characters Kuro, Two, and Ito had become what I feared the most on my subconsious level!

    Oh, the shame.

    I looked over their flaws.

    Kuro and Two could not let go of their angst-ridden past.
    Ito was almighty and powerful and could erase the existance of canon characters with a flick of her wrist.

    And that was just the shameless part.

    Seething with embarrasment and rage at my own stupidity, I sent my fingers flying once more at the keyboard. Again! I yelled. I'll try once more.

    Taking in mind all the facts I knew of a series that I had watched since elementary, which had been victimized enough, I worked to create a plot.
    This time, the romance was only the side thing. The main character was in all actuality, a human. A being never used for a fanfiction for this story.

    As the days passed, I dug myself in and out of ditches that had the sign--"Writer's Block"--sticking out of them.
    This character will not be a Mary-Sue! I set that as my goal for this story. Another goal was that the facts and timeline will stay coherent with the original story.

    The Logic region of my mind plastered posters everywhere that said; No OOC's, no cliche`s, and absolutely NO MARY-SUEs.

    Reviews came in at a satisfying rate of three to eight per chapter. My readers were intrigued and sat at the edge of their chair due to the thrilling suspense.

    Now, I found myself still groaning at the sight of my older stories and combing through my most recent story with a magnifying glass.

    This one Fanfiction will NOT be a bust.