So it's like the Naruto equivalent of all those awful "Independent Harry" fics in the Harry Potter fandom?
Fanfiction I hate.
I haven't heard much about those, but I have heard that Dumbledore, who's more or less the equivalent to a hybrid of the Third Hokage (as the current Big Good) and the Fourth Hokage (as someone who makes decisions that impact the protagonist's life that a large portion of the fanbase disagrees with) gets bashed a lot, particularly in those kinds of fics. It sounds somewhat similar.
Yeah, that's about it. Loads of fics exist solely for the author to dump on Dumbledore and Ron and use Harry as a vehicle for a power fantasy.
Fanfiction I hate.
I actually like it. Call me cynical, but Destiny is a Hazy Thing is supposed to be what would be treated more as a "realistic" setting. Shonen, whether you're willing to admit or not, is just a fantasy i.e. everything that happens in it would far more likely bomb if the setting was far less fantastic and idealistic. The author has gone out of his way to show his readers how and why it would be more plausible for things in canon to happen and exist, while doing it in a logical and more likely way. Naruto, is wish fulfillment, despite it being considered an official manga. Human nature comes into play here. You can't really blame the author when he holds nothing back in showing how utterly repulsive people can be when given the right chance or motivation.
I don't like to talk about it...
No one denies it being a fantasy. But attacking a fantasy for being that is like coming to bitch at a realistic work for being realistic.
I agree with LitleWiggle. Deconstruction fics can be done well, but not when the author engages in blatantly bashing canon in general and certain characters in particular.
As for Kid3t3rnity, perhaps it would be like that if it were treated as a realistic setting, but Naruto is the way it is because of its idealism, which I believe works well with the story and the themes in it, providing a hopeful and inspiring message.
Perhaps Destiny would have worked best as an original work with its own setting that matches its tone, rather than as a Naruto fanfic that constantly preens about how much more realistic it is than canon. Gen Urobuchi didn't write a fanfic of Sailor Moon in which the magical girls routinely get killed fighting the monsters or turn into said monsters themselves; he made Puella Magi Madoka Magica, getting a popular franchise as opposed to a fanfic with something over 1,300-1,500 reviews, favorites and follows.
Would you say the same thing for Echoes?
I don't like to talk about it...
Kid3t3rnity,
I haven't read Echoes, so I wouldn't know.
That's the problem. Read it. It's good. And does a great job of deconstructing Naruto at such a level that you wouldn't even tell that the author is bashing. Stop being biased.
I don't like to talk about it...
Many readers will back it up as being better than DIAHT, sorely on the basis that it still updates. It's sad that the author of Destiny has not updated. Writer's block is a terrible problem that plagues great authors. I mean, Destiny is a Hazy Thing wouldn't even exist if Naruto was far better at storytelling. Both this fic and Echoes is proof that Kishimoto simply had no idea what he was doing (mostly because his first editor bailed on him).
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I hate it as much as the author seems to hate canon
Fan fiction is typically written by those who like the source material, and who think it could be expanded upon with their own special touch. But what happens if this isn't the case? Destiny Is A Hazy Thing is a Naruto fanfic that is a cautionary tale against writing fanfic with nothing but contempt for the source material.
The fic, among other things, is based around the idea that Minato put a seal on Naruto to turn him into the person we know in canon. Once it comes off, Naruto turns from an idealistic if impetuous ninja to one who despises his parents and his village.
In order to even make this concept anywhere close to plausible, several characters had their personalities twisted, with them performing ethically dubious and non-canon actions, while their benevolent actions from canon are "reinterpreted" (for example, the third Hokage cares for Naruto to make him a pawn). Baseless bits of fanon, such as the idea that Naruto's teachers deliberately trained Naruto improperly are added in. As such, the resulting story is mainly composed of the author's twisting the setting and various fan theories, with canon coming in a distant third.
The fact that this is little more than an thinly-veiled attack on canon, and the characters the author dislikes becomes very clear after a while. This is especially true when Naruto gets a vision of what is canon, realizes that the way he would have gone if the seal hadn't been messed with would have most likely gotten him killed (which misses the point that most Shonen series- and many stories in general- have the heroes overcoming long odds to succeed), while making gratuitous Take That references to canon, and a few shots against Minato and Kushina for good measure.
As a result, this stops reading like a real story before long, and the characters no longer seem like real people (or real Eldritch Abomination, for Youko and Daiki). Even Naruto himself comes off as too whiny and bitter against the village to be heroic or sympathetic. As such, it becomes practically impossible to care what happens, leaving little reason to keep reading
Overall, this work, written with nothing but the utmost contempt for canon, does not read well as a work of fan fiction. Perhaps this might have worked in an original setting, but the author's approach to the concept and treatment of canon makes this a terrible Naruto fanfic.