A Plea To Fanfic Writers

[MaCaulay]

Well I started a project in my Media Studies class which involved me trying to create a new character for Adventure Time. So I decided to look into some fanfiction to see if there was any cool ideas of how to integrate the character in and as I sifted through the pages of awful fanfics who's descriptions were filled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. I eventually found one that seemed to be alright so I opened it up and began reading only to find that halfway through the book turned super creepy and started throwing incest and rape into the story for no adequately explained reason.

So can I ask something of all the guys and girls who want to write a fanfiction of their favorite TV show, don't be insane! Do not write a story about rape and graphic violence if it does not fit with the shows themes! This is seriously unnecessary! Why would you ruin a show that you love enough to write about? It doesn't make sense!

I guess that there should be a question in this so what was the last fanfic you read that you got really angry with or which ruined your overall feelings towards the shows/movies fanbase?

 

[evilneko]

Welcome to the world of fanfic. Sturgeon's Law is strictly enforced here, so don't forget your wading boots.

You really oughtn't criticize the grammar of others while sprinkling errors of your own throughout your writing.

 

[Stu35]

Rule 34.

Deal with it.

I guess that there should be a question in this so what was the last fanfic you read that you got really angry with or which ruined your overall feelings towards the shows/movies fanbase?

I don't read fanfic.

I'm not a lonely 15 year old emo girl, nor a mid-30s perverted virgin man.

I do, however, love to stereotype and make generalisations. Reading fanfic would probably give me a better insight into the minds of people who write it, and thats the last thing I need when turning people into caricatures.

 

[Melon Hunter]

I guess that there should be a question in this so what was the last fanfic you read that you got really angry with or which ruined your overall feelings towards the shows/movies fanbase?

Well, you have an MLP avatar, so I'm guessing you've heard of that Pinkie Pie fanfic... the one involving a certain baked product. People normally point to that.

That said, amongst the MLP community, I've always been dismayed by just how many fanfic writers are eager to crush the hopes and dreams of the main characters. I lost count of just how many people slapped a Sad tag on their fic, then proceeded to have Rainbow Dash become depressed/lose her ability to fly/attempt suicide/fail to get into the Wonderbolts once and never be allowed back/a combination of any of the above. And that was just one character out of a main cast of six! So, no one fic in particular, but I absolutely hate these 'dreamcrusher' fics - the ones that sacrifice any resolution or real narrative in favour of making the story as depressing as possible.

Also, Project Horizons, one of the side-fics to Fallout: Equestria. However, my complaints about that are kinda difficult to explain in a forum post, and won't make much sense if you haven't read both fics. PM me if you want to know the details.

 

[Thaluikhain]

So can I ask something of all the guys and girls who want to write a fanfiction of their favorite TV show, don't be insane! Do not write a story about rape and graphic violence if it does not fit with the shows themes! This is seriously unnecessary! Why would you ruin a show that you love enough to write about? It doesn't make sense!

Well, why not?

What's wrong with exploring different themes?

Yes, most people who liked the show aren't going to enjoy it, unless its a deliberate parody or something, but then most people aren't going to like it because...um, yeah, fanfic. You know what I mean.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Y'know, there are good fics out there... but you gotta wade through a lot of crappy self-inserts to find them.

(Here's a hint- try TVTropes fanfic recs page, see if you can locate some good ones)

And while I haven't found badfics that have ruined my enjoyment of a series, there have been some that make me wonder: what the fuck is wrong with some people?!?!

 

[The Wykydtron]

Ah fanfics. They have so much potential for good... When people aren't badly self inserting themselves into Batman fics and beating up/saving/being saved by Batman.

And the Rule 34 fics are just hilarious. It's like a game! Let's see how many fucked up pairings we can make! Then we'll fuck it up even more! MUHAHAHAHAHA!

Any badfics are usually closed within 5 to 30 seconds... Though i really hate stealth badfics. Y'know it looks good for about a chapter then the second chapter just falls apart. Time wasting assholes.

And the new themes are what make FFs interesting. Except the Yaoi. Fuck the Yaoi. You've almost ruined so many characters for me overzealous fangirls! DAMN YOU!

Protip: Go read some Amnesia: TDD fanfics for me... No trust me. It's totally non-scarring. Honest!

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

Can I ask one thing of fanfic writers? If you want to write fan fiction of your favourite series. Just dont. Please, for the love of all the gods, just dont.
Thank you.

But on a more serious note. If you absolutely must but want to write a serious piece of fan fiction, do everyone a favour. Involve established characters as little as possible. You don't know the character so will just end up butchering them. If they have to be there have them in as little as possible.
That is why WH40K fan fiction can be so good. Its just the setting so you are free to make up your entire own characters and just put them in the familiar setting.

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

My writing professor once said that you have to do a lot of bad writing before you can do any good writing. Most fanfic writers are rookies just starting out so they lack the chops to make it anything good. I got all my bad writing out of the way writing fanfiction as a teenager and though I cringe to read them today, writing crappy little fanfics made me a better writer in the long run.

Good fanfics are few and VERY far between but there are precious that are actually not bad

 

[Saulkar]

I read Cupcakes and developed a whole new, strangely positive attraction towards Pinkie Pie now. So it was for the better... yeah. (._.)

 

[Smooth Operator]

Wow, you expect people who take the time to act out their fantasies on "paper" to keep it real... ya that's gonna happen

People will write what they fantasize about, so expect a lot of romance from the female perspective and lot's of sex from the male side, it is just what they miss, and actually almost every show/game plays on that love/sex innuendo at some point or another so it's easy to see where the ideas come from.

 

[Erana]

Oh, comeon.
Its a kid's show. Its not so unbelievable to think that some of the fanfic writers seriously don't have the skills to write very well at that age.

...And they're also prolly too young to be on the internet on their own, too, but whatevs. No one seems to care about internet safety these days.

Still, about the crazies... I dunno. Are they just thrown into the list or whatever of normal fanfic? I mean, I've never been interested in fanfics. They wouldnt' do that, would they?

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Never gotten angry at a fanfic ever. That would be like getting angry at YouTube commenters for being the worst scum of humanity or getting angry at Conservatives for being... well the worst scum of humanity.

The only thing that puts me off reading fanfiction is bad writing or bad story. I can put up with quite a lot of bad writing but eventually I reach my limit. The thing i really can't stand to read is bad story. Not just talking about rape and murder because that can (with a really talented author) be pulled off well. One of the best Kim Possible fanfictions I ever read featured a Lovecraftian horror from beyond the deepest stars. Would never have happened in the actual series, but I took a chance on the story and the writer pulled it off. Even a simple story can be absolutely shit.

But I never get angry. Besides, I write fanfiction, so it would really hypocritical of me to criticise other people for doing it.

 

[DeltaEdge]

I certainly do not read fanfics, but let them do as they please. Sometimes, people like to insert their favorite characters into "different" contexts than intended for. i.e., hentai and cartoon porn. I certainly don't wish to view my favorite characters being defiled, defiling each other, or doing out-of-character things, but hey, some people like that kind of stuff and it's not really my place, or any one's place, to tell them, "Eww, that's gross! Why is Scooby-Doo "doing it" with Shaggy? You sir, are disgusting and I forbid you to write anymore of this because you are WRONG!". (Oh gawd, the image is in my mind T_T)But yeah, if they like to write about sick crap like that, then let them. If you don't like it, then don't read it. See, it's as simple as that.
EDIT: I see that your profile pic is of a My Little Pony character. I'm sure you know that mlp has a huge amount of art and video where they are inserted into non-mlp situations. I happen to like a lot of these videos. I think that they are quite funny and interesting to watch. Sure, they're out of context, but that doesn't mean that they are unwelcome.

 

[Something Amyss]

See, my advice would be: Don't. Just don't.

Welcome to the world of fanfic. Sturgeon's Law is strictly enforced here, so don't forget your wading boots.

You really oughtn't criticize the grammar of others while sprinkling errors of your own throughout your writing.

On the other hand, he's not writing any piece intended to be read as a literary piece.

He cuold right a doesn't typeoz n knot b hippocrocodile.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

That's why I stick of Original Flavor Fanfic. I try to emulate the feel of the universe I'm writing in so that it has some context.

 

[DeltaEdge]

See, my advice would be: Don't. Just don't.

Welcome to the world of fanfic. Sturgeon's Law is strictly enforced here, so don't forget your wading boots.

You really oughtn't criticize the grammar of others while sprinkling errors of your own throughout your writing.

On the other hand, he's not writing any piece intended to be read as a literary piece.

He cuold right a doesn't typeoz n knot b hippocrocodile.

Dammit, you made me laugh and I coke-a-cola came out of nose! That was too funny though, seriously.
EDIT: I couldn't type that last sentence properly either.

 

[sextus the crazy]

So can I ask something of all the guys and girls who want to write a fanfiction of their favorite TV show, don't be insane! Do not write a story about rape and graphic violence if it does not fit with the shows themes! This is seriously unnecessary! Why would you ruin a show that you love enough to write about? It doesn't make sense!

Just because you personally don't like what is being written about doesn't invalidate the writing. Fanfiction.net is there so that people can write their terrible fan work and get their need to write schlock out of their systems before they start writing things that people need to pay for to read. It's a place to express oneself without feeling the stigma of live interactions.

 

[Woodsey]

No painfully written incest, no read.

 

[95spartans]

The best fanfic's don't take themselves completely seriously. The ones that do will generally have some level of self insertion, crappy writing or general insanity.