What Do People Look For In A Lemon?

[Herr Mullen]

What is it that makes a lemon popular? What makes a lemon likable?

I'm going with spelling, grammar, characterisation and fun.

[UnknownH]

Yeah plus with a lemon it has to have enough porn content for the type of story it is.

[Gabumonfurry]

A story-line that will pull you in and slap you o.o...
Grammar/spelling is a big plus, drama sometimes... ok alot of times :D, sex would be good i mean that's one of the only reason people read lemons right? And atleast one digimon... because it IS digimon

[senjuro]

It's a very personal thing, I think. Presentation is a big factor. Some people write it as a story, others as a screenplay or script. The writing style is also important. Some authors get too caught up in their own cleverness and linguistic superiority to breathe any life into their story, and they end up sounding like an end-user agreement.

They have to be about characters that the reader likes. If someone doesn't like the characters to begin with, it's going to be difficult for them to enjoy the story.

Also, the sex scene in it is a big factor. The quality of how that's written pretty much detremines the success of the story.

No matter how good the concept a story might be, if it's a nightmare to read, people aren't going to enjoy it at all.

I don't think any one thing determines how successful a story is. It all works together.

[senjuro]

Oh, another thing that a good lemon needs:

Good characterisation. Characters should stay within their established parameters. For example: if you're using Mimi, you shouldn't have her say anything remotely intelligent or insightful. She might say one thing that actually has some deep meaning to it, but other than that she's pretty vapid.

Another example: if you're writing about Joe, the LAST thing you should write would be anything characterising him as being courageous, brash, confrontational, or egotistical.

When you write a bit of dialogue, go through it and say, "Okay, would Tai really say it that way? Would he even TRY to say that?"

A good lemon should read like it'd fit right into the canon story and not be out of place at all (except for the whole sex thing...y'know, there wasn't a whole lot of that in the show)

[Wisemon]

After spelling and grammar, definitely characterization, that's the most important factor. The characters have to be the same as in the series. If possible, watch the series, and borrow their catchphrases.

[Nate Hunter]

Oh, another thing that a good lemon needs:

Good characterisation. Characters should stay within their established parameters. For example: if you're using Mimi, you shouldn't have her say anything remotely intelligent or insightful. She might say one thing that actually has some deep meaning to it, but other than that she's pretty vapid.

Oh, I hate people who take the dub as "God's honest truth" about what the characters are or were like. In the Original, MImi was a bit spoiled, but she was neither a ditz nor vapid.

Another example: if you're writing about Joe, the LAST thing you should write would be anything characterising him as being courageous, brash, confrontational, or egotistical.

Courage comes in many forms, and Joe has shown that he IS courageous, but he is also too intelligent to be reckless about his courage.

When you write a bit of dialogue, go through it and say, "Okay, would Tai really say it that way? Would he even TRY to say that?"

A good lemon should read like it'd fit right into the canon story and not be out of place at all (except for the whole sex thing...y'know, there wasn't a whole lot of that in the show)

To this last part, I give you my respect. My oath as a fan-author goes roughly like this:

[1] I am the author of this story, but that does not give me permission to ignore the series. Any established characters who behave in a fashion other than an accepted and official manner must be given an appropriate reasoning, or else that behaviour will be removed.

[2] Though I create this story, the world is not mine. I am only playing in the sandbox another person owns, and so I may not disregard the sand provided, nor may I throw it out of the box. I may re-shape it where necessary, but it must still resemble the state in which that world exists.

[3] I will not use fan-fiction as an excuse to avoid creating new characters for an original story. If the story can work just as well with the characters being replaced, it isn't worth writing nor is it worth publishing.

[4] I will not use fan-fiction as a forum to express my opinions on Character X or Episode X or Plot Point X. Though these may come through in spite of my efforts, I will abide by the lesson that if I can say nothing nice about X, then I will say nothing at all about X -- and will leave X as far from the story as possible. This applies to both positive and negative opinions, however.

and if I were writing a list of rules, Rule Number One, in large Bold lettering, would be:

When you write fanfiction, respect the series for what it gave you, both the good and the bad. Show this respect by not changing personalities, replacing characters, or letting your personal feelings become invested in the work.

[senjuro]

Oh, I hate people who take the dub as "God's honest truth" about what the characters are or were like. In the Original, MImi was a bit spoiled, but she was neither a ditz nor vapid.

Since we're sharing what we hate, I hate people who get all high and mighty because they're all hardcore about being purists (ie. insisting on using Japanese names for characters, and the like). FUCK purists. If it wasn't for the dub which made the show popular in places other than Japan, I highly doubt many others would even be aware of its existence.

What's most entertaining about this point is a post you put up the last time you were active: September 11 of 2005. (truncated for relevance)

[quote]Never ever bring the sub v. dub debate before me, because I like BOTH. Each has its own strong points, and I don't like to be forced to choose...quote]

I'll say no more. You made yourself look like a tool right there. If all you're going to do here is bash things that people say for trivial reasons like you did to me and Gunter, perhaps you should consider whether or not you have anything valuable to say at all. Or go to another forum where it's considered fashionable to shoot your mouth off. Take your pick.

[UnknownH]

All I know is, davis isn't actually that dumb. But I still don't like ryo in the dub but for all I know he's the same in the origional.