Elsa Bibat had the first part... its a name dropping thing. More people will read your story if its in a section of fanfiction they are already read. However I feel this high school no powers land is a subgenera of the 'Name-drooping-is-cool' stories.
I remember one where the guy renamed Slade from Technoman as Ranma, reworking both their personalities mostly, and dropped him in a Vandread fusion. All aspects that made Ranma Ranma were removed except that he had mad MA skills. No curse, no neko-ken, no confidence/abandonment issues, constantly smooth with the ladies. Rename him 'Bob' and its an original character. Non-Ranma 'Ranma' was the only reason it was in the more frequented Ranma section was it would get more hits and reviews. I thing it was called Tekka-dread.
You have to remember that many writers write about the aspects of the story that click them personally. Some people concentrate on battles and leave the character interaction in the dust. Others write to make two or more people an item, the rest of the fic is often badly prepared icing. The high school genre with no powers is for those that like the character interactions and think the powers and environment detract from them at some level (barring name dropping and the writer being deluded about what did and didnt happen in the show). People write about the sections of the story that click with them. They may like the other bits, but aren't that good working with them.
For instance I've seen Disrupter often credited with good scenarios and settings... but having flat character interaction. That and glossing things to get to the good parts. If he co-wrote with a person just for the dialog he could get an over all better story. The thing is that most writers dont work in a cabal of writers that can fill in their personal gaps of skill. Many of the high school writers are probably new at writing... so they are concentrating on one area. (Not knocking Disrupter, just any example I know of.)
I'd also like to note that those that like to write yaoi (female, early to mid teens) are also the age that loves boy bands. The common justification that isn't a fetish I've seen is that those two looks 'sssssooooooo cccuuuuuttteee!!!' Standing next to each other. Rational thinking isn't part of the equation. These grow up to the High School genre.
On a side note I remember that in Slayers 'Next' or 'Try' there is an eye catch that features Gourry and Zelgadis in what look like high school uniforms, gazing deeply into each other's eyes... at which point the screen cracks down the middle and one half puts up and the other down. Basically proof to me that 1) the Japanese had writers doing that kind of thing first and 2) The Slayers people went ick.
I remember one where the guy renamed Slade from Technoman as Ranma, reworking both their personalities mostly, and dropped him in a Vandread fusion. All aspects that made Ranma Ranma were removed except that he had mad MA skills. No curse, no neko-ken, no confidence/abandonment issues, constantly smooth with the ladies. Rename him 'Bob' and its an original character. Non-Ranma 'Ranma' was the only reason it was in the more frequented Ranma section was it would get more hits and reviews. I thing it was called Tekka-dread.
You have to remember that many writers write about the aspects of the story that click them personally. Some people concentrate on battles and leave the character interaction in the dust. Others write to make two or more people an item, the rest of the fic is often badly prepared icing. The high school genre with no powers is for those that like the character interactions and think the powers and environment detract from them at some level (barring name dropping and the writer being deluded about what did and didnt happen in the show). People write about the sections of the story that click with them. They may like the other bits, but aren't that good working with them.
For instance I've seen Disrupter often credited with good scenarios and settings... but having flat character interaction. That and glossing things to get to the good parts. If he co-wrote with a person just for the dialog he could get an over all better story. The thing is that most writers dont work in a cabal of writers that can fill in their personal gaps of skill. Many of the high school writers are probably new at writing... so they are concentrating on one area. (Not knocking Disrupter, just any example I know of.)
I'd also like to note that those that like to write yaoi (female, early to mid teens) are also the age that loves boy bands. The common justification that isn't a fetish I've seen is that those two looks 'sssssooooooo cccuuuuuttteee!!!' Standing next to each other. Rational thinking isn't part of the equation. These grow up to the High School genre.
On a side note I remember that in Slayers 'Next' or 'Try' there is an eye catch that features Gourry and Zelgadis in what look like high school uniforms, gazing deeply into each other's eyes... at which point the screen cracks down the middle and one half puts up and the other down. Basically proof to me that 1) the Japanese had writers doing that kind of thing first and 2) The Slayers people went ick.