Fan Fiction: Is it a problem?

[Alssadar]

Fan-fiction is a way for a fan to express their enjoyment of a universe through their own creative means. Thus, it is good for people who like writing. It allows expansion of characters in either positive, or negative lights.
But...there is always lore inconsistencies and complete disregard for the norms that result in Rule 34 and gender modifications and horrible grammar mistakes HERESY! *BLAM!* That is mostly intolerable from my perspective, as the stuff I eventually will get to writing will try to stick as close to the lore as possible.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I like fan fiction... when it's written well. Crappy self-inserts on the other hand...

 

[Chairman Miaow]

You act as though cupcakes is creepy but you read romance fanfics about SI on human and elite on human? Ok.

 

[Ace2401]

Fanfics? Ever since I got into MLP: FiM, I went from totally ignoring fanfic to reading, and then eventually writing them. Heck, right now I've got two fics in progress (which I really should be working on, lol. I need to get better at not keeping people waiting forever), and last week I submitted one to a fanfiction contest and I think it's doing pretty well. I certainly enjoyed writing the story. And yeah, I think I'm a pretty great writer, and plenty of other people tell me so as well.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You know, I'd say I enjoyed Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy more than a lot of "great works". It actually is legitimately very good (Abnett really is very good at making you care about his characters).

Abnett is great, Eisenhorn is on my list to read after I've finished the current Heresy books.

One of the greatest values of these books is that their link to Games Workshop will make people who would not normally read books, read these. The Heresy books, for example, can teach a lot about good intentions and how people in times of stress can make decisions that have far reaching consequences.

Gaunt's Ghost's can show the horrors of war and the loss involved for the people it touches, both physical and psychological.

The Ciaphas Cain series is pretty good at showing the difference between perception and reality of individuals.

Look at that, this has suddenly become another 40k thread >.>

Edit: In other licensed works, that pretty much represent professional fan fiction.. Blizzard's stuff can be pretty good. I Mensgk and Spectres, as well as the Christie Golden books surrounding Thrall and the Cataclysm are amazing works that use their fantastic settings to make observations about human nature.

Did Someone say 40K? Time for a bump of our epic Dawn of War novelization!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7293543/1/Nothing_But_a_List_of_Names_to_Mark_His_Ascension
Not mine, but my partner's. My part covers COMMANDER BALDEALE!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7386457/1/Battle_Lines
And our third member is covering Dark Crusade.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7436689/1

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

As long as it's decently written, I think fanfiction is great. I've read only a couple, though. Oh, and my friends and I have a SMT: Devil Survivor fanfic on hold at the moment. Too much schoolwork and stuff at the moment.

 

[Queen Michael]

Dirst of all, "fan fiction" shouldn't be capitalized. There's no reason. Secondly, I don't mind fan fiction as long as the writers try to keep the characters in-character.

 

[Popadoo]

It's not really a problem. If you don't like it, don't read it. There's no need to have no one read it if some people don't.
I'll never see Pinkie the same again (God damn it, Cupcakes...), but I still think Fan-Fiction is a great way to show your love for something while being artsy and expressive.

 

[Da Orky Man]

I've read some really, really good ones, of a quality better than many published books. But most are such a pile of utter crap that I can't begin to describe them. I think a lot of it just comes down to people putting their daydreams on paper, which leads to Mary Sues, forced 'awesomeness' and general failure. What I relly can't stand, though, is crossover fics. I just don't get them, or how anyone could take them remotely seriously. They smack far to strongly of 'hey, wouldn't it be AWESOME if x met y' - and throw away any pretence of not just being someone's daydream masquerading as a story.

To be fair, most crossover fics are written to be absurdc. Most are written for laughs, which suit the result quite well. Ever wondered what happens if Kratos met Wrex? Ther's a fic for that.

The phrase "first world problem" springs to mind.

For me, I'm not going to read fanfiction when I could be reading Vonnegut, Murakami or Dickens. I know it makes me sound pretentious, but we learn most from reading great works and I think there are better things that I could be doing with my time than reading about Left4Dead zombies getting in love triangles with the survivors.

Fun fact - The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 14th century, is said to be the world's first example of self-insert fiction.

 

[The]

It gets annoying at times, but if people want to put their own twist on something then they can go right ahead.

 

[standokan]

I don´t like fanfic, and I wouldn´t ever read it. Mainly because the majority of them consist of weird romantic fantasies or are just horribly written.

I don´t think they are a problem though, as long as they remain harmless and keep certain people busy (I´m talking to you, girl who wrote My Immortal) then I´m fine with it.

 

[Ace2401]

Fun fact - The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 14th century, is said to be the world's first example of self-insert fiction.

Ha, I never thought of it that way, but that's totally true. You could even say Dante made himself a bit of a Gary Stu, what with attracting the attention of Virgil and all.

 

[Blobpie]

i said it before and I'll say it again, fan fiction scares me. I'm sure that there is good fan fiction somewhere in the cesspool of the internet... I just really don't feel like looking.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Most of the ones I read have been recommended, so I at least know what quality to expect from the people who tell me about it. I generally think it's okay, of course there are some good and bad eggs.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

I have no problem with it; unlike fanboys, I don't have to deal with it if I don't want to.
BTW I find the concept of Fallout Equestria hilarious

hilarious and weird crossover yet it handles most of its dark subject matter with more grace than 80% of stuff people pay to read.

OT: I'm actually all right with fanfics, most of it is shit of people massaging their ego's, others are just creepy, but once in a while you stumble into some great pieces of work. It's exactly like looking for anything, sifting through shit to find hidden gems.

 

[repeating integers]

i said it before and I'll say it again, fan fiction scares me. I'm sure that there is good fan fiction somewhere in the cesspool of the internet... I just really don't feel like looking.

No worries - somebody's looked for you. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanFicRecommendations]

OT: I'm currently working on a plan for a 5-way sci-fi crossover fic. I'm going to play it relatively straight, too. I've even thought up a background that merges all the universes involved. Will it work? No idea. Is it worth a try? Sure, why not? I've got a plot roughly worked out in my head, and characters, and I know I write at least passably well. I've got nothing to lose, and if turns out shite (or I never get round to finishing it, which is probably even more likely), hey, it's a fanfic on the internet, who cares? It doesn't hurt anyone, it doesn't make me any illegitimate profit, and it helps me practice my developing writing skills. And the same goes for all fanfics - so in the end, I think fanfiction is not and never will be a problem, and I can't really see how anyone could properly consider it a problem (except an overzealous copyright lawyer).

 

[Nexxis]

I don't mind fan fiction, though I do prefer the ones that center around fan made characters and mainly use cannon characters for cameos or team ups. I also don't mind those that try to make up sequals or prequals for cannon characters as long as it's fair to them and doesn't include some forced in romances, deaths, corruptions, etc that tend to plague the fanfic scene. I don't mind the bad fanfics existing, I just don't read them myself. I think the only exception I'd make are those that drastically change things for the sake of comedy.

 

[Claptrap]

If that's you're kink, Then that's your kink, I'm not going to judge to based on that.

The small bit of fan fiction i read was pretty crap though.

 

[Blobpie]

i said it before and I'll say it again, fan fiction scares me. I'm sure that there is good fan fiction somewhere in the cesspool of the internet... I just really don't feel like looking.

No worries - somebody's looked for you. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanFicRecommendations]

OT: I'm currently working on a plan for a 5-way sci-fi crossover fic. I'm going to play it relatively straight, too. I've even thought up a background that merges all the universes involved. Will it work? No idea. Is it worth a try? Sure, why not? I've got a plot roughly worked out in my head, and characters, and I know I write at least passably well. I've got nothing to lose, and if turns out shite (or I never get round to finishing it, which is probably even more likely), hey, it's a fanfic on the internet, who cares? It doesn't hurt anyone, it doesn't make me any illegitimate profit, and it helps me practice my developing writing skills. And the same goes for all fanfics - so in the end, I think fanfiction is not and never will be a problem, and I can't really see how anyone could properly consider it a problem (except an overzealous copyright lawyer).

I was very hesitant to press that link... My thought process went something along the lines of this:

Me:Hey cool someone was kind enough to leave a link!
Inner Me: Don't do it! It's a trap!
Me:Oh comon it can't be THAT bad
Inner Me: *cough* cupcakes *cough*
Me: I highly doubt all fan fictions are like that...
Inner: But is it worth the risk?
Me:.... I need a psychiatrist (presses link)

 

[Darren716]

The problem I have with fan fics is when one is written to be disturbing and is of competly different tone to its source material and ends up being the most famous fan fic for that particular series *cough* cupcakes *cough*