Fan fiction and You.

[Rendezvous]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this so correct me if this is wrong.

I would like to see what you lovely people at the plenty though of Fan Fiction. Before anyone has a burst of outrage I am NOT talking about Robin Hobb Fanfic but bout it as a whole? Does anyone here read it? Have strong opinions about it?

I would like to hear anything you have to say on the matter.

[joost]

See http://forums.theplenty.net/showthread.php?tid=208

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I suggest we keep discussion to this thread and keep the old thread as archive material.

Ah, fanfiction. With recent blogposts by figures such as Diana Gabaldon and George R. R. Martin, I've been thinking about it too. I apologize in advance for what will probably be a long post.

Nearly ten years ago, I wrote a little fanfiction. One long fic (well, in comparison to my other fics) and a few short ones. They were based on the videogame series Oddworld. I recently read the long fic again and let me tell you, it is unspeakably awful. We're talking about a story written by a fourteen year old Dutch boy whose grasp of English grammar and spelling was... not perfect. It was written on the fly, without a spellchecker and contained bizarre (as in: failed) attempts at humour. Some people at the forum where I posted it at the time claimed to like it, which I do not pretend to understand. After writing a few chapters of the sequel, I gave up and never tried to write fanfic again.

So that's the writing side of the story. Do I ever read fan fiction? Very rarely. I don't really see the point. Most of the fics I have read weren't all that well written, but I glossed over that because I liked the idea at the heart of the fic.

And that, to me, is the point. To paraphrase that infamous rant by an author we all love, fanfic is not good practice. Characters and universe are already established and bad writing often gets excused because people just like to read about character X and Y hooking up.

The most fun, for me, lies in those fics that are so bad that they become hilarious, which tend to get dramatic readings. Who can possibly come up with stuff like My Immortal, soulless shell, Lisa is pregnant, Olimar f*cks a pikmin, etc, etc...? (Tv Tropes has information on all of those, in case you're curious. Or google them, if you dare.)

But to be serous, I think I do understand a little why people do it. I recently watched all of Avatar: The Last Airbender in a single week. (I had only seen some fragments before, so most of it was new to me.) The whole week, basically every minute that wasn't devoted to my studies or eating, I watched Avatar. It was the most epic week of my life, but when it was done, I got into a slump that lasted a few DAYS. (Edit: I accidentally typed years originally.) I had come to love the characters so much and now it was all over. I imagine other people have had similar experiences and fanfiction might be a way to get it out of one's system. Not for me, though. Not anymore, in any case...

['thul]

these beings have not read all that much fanfiction, but they can appreciate it when it is well written, without lots of errors and such, and when it does not violate the characters' ideals... They do however prefer fan-fiction in the form where pre-established characters only have lesser roles, if any roles at all... Essentially characters that merely "borrowed" the world and setting, rather than the (entire) character database... such fanfiction is usually easier for an author to write as well...

[Rendezvous]

I suggest we keep discussion to this thread and keep the old thread as archive material.

Nearly ten years ago, I wrote a little fanfiction. One long fic (well, in comparison to my other fics) and a few short ones. They were based on the videogame series Oddworld.

First off, I REMEMBER THAT GAME! IT WAS AWESOME

However on a more relevant note I agree with everything else you said, most especially the part about people only being interested in seeing characters X and Y hook up.

I have (regrettably) read a few fan fictions, all of with were horrible with the exception of ONE Harry Potter fic, which instead of being driven by romantic interest was driven by Harry and Draco being put in hilarious circumstances and eventually becoming friends. This was well written and didn't rely on the reader having read Harry Potter first which is what particularly impressed me.

This kind of quality is rare though and now I don't touch the stuff.

['thul]

Far too much fan fiction seems to focus upon hooking up, yes...

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I suggest we keep discussion to this thread and keep the old thread as archive material.

Nearly ten years ago, I wrote a little fanfiction. One long fic (well, in comparison to my other fics) and a few short ones. They were based on the videogame series Oddworld.

First off, I REMEMBER THAT GAME! IT WAS AWESOME

Well, I then have to ask you the obligatory question: which games did you play? I myself have only played the old-school 2D games Abe's Oddyssey and Abe's Exoddus. I never made the jump to X-Box, so I've never had the chance to play Munch's Oddyssey or Stranger's Wrath. My fic was written before the release of Munch, but there were already previews, so some elements found their way into my fic - most notably BigBroSligs.

Yeah, there's far too much hooking up. To quote from the infamous rant: "Every fan fiction I’ve read to date, based on my world or any other writer’s world, had focused on changing the writer’s careful work to suit the foible of the fan writer." One of my favorite sites is TV Tropes, a site about the analysis of fiction. Some works have a subpage of fanfic recommendations. The descriptions can get pretty hilarious. To get back to Avatar, consider this story and the review by the recommender (spoilered for your own sanity. Might also be slightly NSFW):

Spoiler

Okay, We're In Trouble by Suzukiblu (explicit slashy smut)

* Recommended by Rebecca Hb.
* Status: Complete
* Pairings: Sokka/Jet, Sokka/Zuko, Sokka/Zuko/Jet
* Synopsis: During season one, Zuko, Jet, and Sokka get captured and thrown in a metal box together by Earth Kingdom soldiers. Zuko's been drugged but the company's medic is new at the job, and Zuko's horny rather than spilling everything to any questions put to him. Sokka, naturally, wants to get out of the box however possible. Jet is, well, Jet.

Review: Not only really hot threesome smut, but Suzuki keeps everyone in-character, which is what this troper considers the most impressive aspect.

I haven't read this fic and I don't want to, but anyone who has seen this show will wonder: "HOW can you keep these three guys in character while letting them have really hot threesome smut?

My brain hurts.

[Rendezvous]

That is hilarious!

And I played Abe's Odyssey, however no others through a lack of funds. That does not come down to a lack of love however.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Sorry to resurrect such an old topic, but I recently had the misfortune to stumble upon a Redwall fanfic... involving the main character (Who is a child - the books are also for children, incidentally) from one of the books getting anally raped by the villain. It's apparently meant to be arousing. I... er... ew?

I don't want to know want kind of person could be behind such a fic.

['thul]

far too common, such in fanfic... (which is why they do not touch the stuff...)

'thul prefer roleplays based on universes ahead of that any day...