So Bad, It's Horrible is one of the more flame-bait-y parts of the site, so a cleanup thread is needed to ensure that works aren't added simply because someone doesn't like them.
If you want to list a work under this, keep the following in mind:
- The work must have very few fans or defenders (both genuine and ironic). It should fail to appeal to any type of audience.
- Being offensive in its subject matter isn't enough.
- It isn't horrible just because a certain critic disliked it, though their reviews can be used as sources and citations.
- The work should have notably poor reviews (e.g., less than 3/10 on IMDb, or single digit scores on Rotten Tomatoes)
- For a Moral Substitute to qualify, it cannot even appeal to its target demographic.
- Please be polite while writing and as much as possible, avoid falling into Complaining About Shows You Don't Like. Instead, focus on explaining why the work is horrible.
In addition, per No Recent Examples, Please!, a work must be at least one month old before it can be added, to prevent knee-jerk reactions.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Oct 6th 2024 at 3:34:45 AM
I've been wondering: Does Homestuck^2 qualify? I'm not sure if I can personally submit it, since I haven't read the whole thing, but I have never heard anyone say anything positive about it; Homestuck may have a fandom filled with Broken Bases, but said fandom seems to be united in their view that HS 2 is completely terrible, and both Funk McLovin'
and Sarah Z have discussed why it failed in their videos on the subject.
From what I've heard, the common criticisms are:
- Doubling down on the controversial character writing decisions from the Epilogues (which don't qualify, btw, because they were more like Base Breakers).
- Doubling down on the Unfortunate Implications from the Epilogues whilst also trying their hardest to look progressive.
- Adding drama that comes off as forced (the Jade/Rose/Kanaya soap opera being a prime example and the one that most people bring up).
- Yiffany.
- A general atmosphere of contempt for the audience; I've seen a very large portion of the fans who've read it state that the experience makes them feel like they're being insulted for still being invested.
- Various issues with the dialogue not being as cleverly written as in Homestuck proper; as Sarah Z puts it, the "dramatic" dialogue comes off as just the characters coming up with long-winded ways of saying "I'm sad", while the "comedic" dialogue feels like it was lifted from an incorrect quotes blog.
- The art feeling lackluster; for just one example, the now 30+ year old John looks the same age as his 16 year old son.
Again, this is mainly from what I've heard; anyone else who's read it wanna share their thoughts?
That sounds like Contested Sequel, and it's already listed as such on the YMMV page.
Hmm...I'm not sure if that works—Contested Sequel is by definition a sequel where fans are divided on whether or not it's good. This definitely applies to the Epilogues, yes, but in my experience, HS^2 is universally agreed by fans to be bad.
I could be wrong, of course, but as of this writing, I've yet to see anyone say positive things about it.
I've cut Ryan Bane citing this thread. On that note, I'm also unsure about the entry on Christine Weston Chandler being there. Aside from all the discussions about her nowadays being about the trolling going too far, we already have an entry for Sonichu, which gives me vibes that the entry is just there to bash her more.
Edited by SkylaNoivern on Jul 3rd 2021 at 5:00:25 PM
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The Contested Sequel main page says the sequel was received better than the epilogues. Since I know nothing about Homestuck, maybe someone more familiar with the series should pitch in here.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jul 3rd 2021 at 12:14:21 PM
I got a rock for Halloween.As someone who used to love Homestuck and pretty much left the fandom because of how much I hated the epilogues and Homestuck^2, I can still attest that it's probably not SBIH. I follow fans on Twitter who kept up with the comic, and they retweeted many other fans who were keeping up with the comic and drawing fanart of the new characters (yes, even Yiffany, even people who hated where she came from did enjoy her design, like me) and showing interest in the characters even when the story went... weird. And the art, while a downgrade from the original due to budget, is still somewhat competent, not on the level of Billy the Heretic or anything.
Homestuck^2 is more like an average bad fanventure than anything Horrible. It had its fans, but it was just way more divisive than other HS properties due to things like the Promoted Fans and Patreon and weird shipping stuff and plot twists and whether the LGBT rep is good or not. Just because Sarah Z dislikes it doesn't mean it's Horrible.
And the epilogues were very much not well received but again, they still had people interested in them. The new characters were well liked and there was focus on fan-favorite ships and there were some funny moments. All that and more also applies to HS^2 — the difference might be that HS^2 won back the crowd early on for Revisiting the Roots, but people got sick of the "dubious canon" stuff and other dumb plot points as the comic progressed.
Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 3rd 2021 at 2:01:24 PM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Definitely not. Most people either love HS^2 or hate it or don't care to read it at all. Most people fall into the latter two camps, but I still don't think it's quite at the level of SBIH. I'm pretty sure there are still some people subscribed to the HS^2 Patreon.
Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 3rd 2021 at 2:11:21 PM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.Contested Sequel or maybe Broken Base sounds like the best place for it, since Love It or Hate It is IUEO.
I got a rock for Halloween.Probably because PRLC doesn't get used unless it absolutely needs to be. Unless it's remade, it doesn't need to be there.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallA lot of people add things to PRLC as a kneejerk reaction. I think it's cuz they want their cleanup work to be memorialized on that page. But if nobody's itching to remake the page and it's not a particularly dangerous page anyway, then I don't see the point of putting it on PRLC.
Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 4th 2021 at 7:04:39 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Not always. When RoleEndingMisdemeanor.Politics was brought there, I supported the idea because the page was edited so often (more than any other page I followed), I (and some others) felt there was a large risk the page would be recreated.
Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall![]()
I'm referring to cases when there is little to no risk of it being recreated but people wanna add it anyway. For example, someone wanted to add Girl Defined to the PRLC on the basis of the work being controversial on top of nontropable, despite it being a fairly obscure and low-effort page that would probably only draw more attention if put on the PRLC. If it's at the risk of being recreated then obviously you can rec it for PRLC.
People use the Locked Pages thread to request it, and the mods can decide whether it's worth adding or not.
I mean, it kinda was? Because again, PRLC is for highly problematic pages (which Girl Defined was not). It's very rare for a page to end up there, and in a majority of cases the page needs to be remade beforehand. Hence why it's a permanent lock-state; to prevent recreation. If a page doesn't have those problems, adding it to the page is usually considered premature.
Edited by WarJay77 on Jul 4th 2021 at 7:41:08 AM
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallYou're being very pedantic there. She misspoke and then clarified what she meant.
No, tropers cannot add kneejerk reactions. But their suggestions are often kneejerk.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallIt's not really that I misspoke, but that my words were taken as a generalization. Not every suggestion for PRLC is a speculative kneejerk reaction, but several of them are. And I'm pretty sure mods only add stuff to PRLC after they get consensus from other users — it's usually not an executive decision (at least not in recent years). So while users can't literally add to the page, it is users who decide what gets added.
Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 4th 2021 at 8:59:45 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

Out of curiosity, I searched for Ryan Bane on Allmusic.com. The closest I could find was Ryan Bayne, but I couldn't find out much more beyond an album titled Beloved. Maybe his attempts to remove his presence from the web have succeeded.