User blog comment:Mentor Nicko/Assassins Creed: Abstergo Industries/@comment-222.127.152.79-20120104112924

Okay. So where in this steaming pileup loosely termed as fanfiction or fanon do we start...

First, please don't break the fourth wall trying to give us story details. It may be nice to hear "You are a Pokemon Trainer/The Chosen One/ random NPC" but this isn't Pokemon and we are smart enough to figure story details out while something actually happens. If you plan to do a fic that involves us as characters, then make us interact with somebody that will explain the story a bit further while getting something done. For example:

You glance furtively along the corridor, eyeing the rows of machines set neatly in glass cubicles. Vidic's voice thundered from a balcony high above your head, saying: "Welcome, Agents. You have been selected as the cream of the crop, but we have found a way to make you better. You will be trained in the arts of our lifelong enemies, absorbing their secrets in days and applying them in our hunt for the last of our foes." (Yes, I realize that's a bit hammy for Vidic, but if you will excuse the boastful speech, the point becomes pretty clear. Yes, I just told you you were an Abstergo agent in the Italy facility, selected for the DDS program and you're gonna be trained in the ways of the Assassin through the Animus and the DDS in four or five sentences. Say hello to the power of contextual clues.)

Second, proper formatting is key. If you will notice, people stop reading after spotting grammar mistakes. It makes life unpleasant for the rest of us, since we expect easy and free reading instead of 1337sp33k d00dz.

Third, canon is crucial, too. Part of the reason people hate Steph Meyer is that her vampires bear no resemblance to previously established appearances of vampires. (uhh, sparkly?) Same case here. If you are doing a fan piece, we expect you to get the names, the people, the places, even the tiny details like dates right. For example, Altaïr was born in 1165, making him 10 years old by the time of this fanfic. So, yeah. You're in ACWiki, the most comprehensive resource for AC. Simple fact-checking won't be that much of a hassle. There are many Arabic names in the world. Limiting yourself to derivatives of ibn-La'Ahad will hurt your fanfic badly.

So there you go. Try again next time. -AR