The Obligatory Fanfiction Topic

Anthy · Post by **Anthy** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 11:42 pm

Discuss.

I personally feel that fanfiction is a double-sided sword. Some fanfiction helps me see a series or a character in a different perspective, and gets my thought juices going. Other fanfiction just plain sucks.

Also, fanfiction pet peeves.
-pointless angst fics with unnaturally angsty characters. Whine whine whine, angst angst angst, some song lyrics, there you go.
-Fiction in which characters are put into American high school social groups, i.e.: making Eriol a punk rocker and Tomoyo a cheerleader or something.
-Lovefics that end in one character saying "Aishiteru" as a love confession. It was only original the first 500 times.

Saying that, there still is a lot of good, original fanfiction out there. If only I could figure out where I bookmarked it... ^^

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 12:04 am

I write crossover fanfics, I think they are fun to read and write and provide more things to do with characters. Some crossover fics can really suck.

My pet peeves:
-The senshi have betrayed Usagi... again
-Mamoru breaking up with Usagi to be with Rei
-stealing plots
-Selt insert fics that have bishonen falling in love with the author
-Fics with origional characters that actually turn out to be the fics above in disguise
-Blaten OOC!!! ARRGG!!!
-Bashing a particular series/character with no reasoning behind it
-Reviewers demanding that their favorite couples be in a fic and then bashing the fic because the author refuesed to do so.

Granted someone could use some of those pet peeves and make a good story, but I have yet to see one...

Dinozore · Post by **Dinozore** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 12:55 am

KoiNoVash wrote: -Selt insert fics that have bishonen falling in love with the author

Replace "bishonen" with "bishoujo" and that's pretty close to what I usually do...

I hate fics that make yaoi/yuri couples out of characters that aren't gay. For some reason, that one bothers me a great deal. That and making hentai fics of series that weren't hentai...

I have written some fanfics, of course. Dinozore is a fanfic character, one of my oldest actually. Some of my fics are pretty good, and a few just suck.

Stephen Victor · Post by **Stephen Victor** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 5:58 am

Personally, I don't read much fanfiction and I don't write much of it either. I'd like to get around to reading it more often, though, so I could form a better opinion on them.

Dinozore wrote: I hate fics that make yaoi/yuri couples out of characters that aren't gay. For some reason, that one bothers me a great deal. That and making hentai fics of series that weren't hentai...

It doesn't bother me at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with not following canon all the time and aside from that, sometimes a character's sexual orientation is open to interpretation. For example, many people think that Utena and Anthy are straight and no more than friends whereas there are a few others that believe they're bisexual/lesbian and in love with each other (I'm one of the latter.) Another example would be Makoto Kino -- some believe she's bisexual because of her crush on Haruka, whereas others will say she's straight and use other ways to explain the Haruka crush.

Rainbow · Post by **Rainbow** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:03 am

I actually do write purposely OOC fanfics (like my Sailor Moon Trilogy at Starlight Pops, I changed the Starlights' personalities and looks somewhat). It's something I've been doing ever since I was 3 or 4 and decided to make my Jiminy Cricket be a troublemaker (I put him with these two bug-like girl characters called Ugly and Happy Bug). Then I later did the same stuff to the Animaniacs characters, completely twisting them into someone else. It's just the way I write, even though I CAN write in-character stuff if I want to. I like to approach fanfiction with a "what if?" perspective, and much of that for me is "what if this character had this different trait?" In the fics where I know some or all of the characters are going to have some changes done to them, I put up a warning at the beginning of the fic so that people know they're reading something with character changes in it. And yes, I have heard the argument "Why don't you just make up your own characters?" I have, and some of them are in the Trilogy. I just like to mix them in with the changed ones. It's what I like to write, and my fics are made for me and anyone who wants to read that kind of thing. If people don't like it, they don't have to read it. There's some books and movies I wouldn't watch or read, but they might be great fun for others.

As for it being an insult to the creator, I've personally had people screw up my own fic characters in writing requested, and it's not that bad to me (I think of it as their alternate universe fanfiction). I let people mess them up on an RPG I had, it's all about creativity!

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 10:27 am

*Mary suuue* ^_^

No, when I write a "Mary Sue" fiction, I don't match said person with a written replica of myself. People shouldn't take those types of fictions seriously either. I, for one, do it for fun or creativity not because I have this deep passion for a character. O___o But I have seen fiction or websites that go on, and on, and on about a character as if they were sitting next to them. Meep, I say.
As many SM fictions I've read, would you beleive I've never onceseen a Mamrou/Rei fiction. But my BIGEST Sailormoon Fanfiction peeve is "Usagi's younger/older sister from the MoonKingdom" oO how many unmentioned reletives does she have? My other big peeve main contibutes to DBZ fictions (it's used in other series as well, but commonly dominated by DBZ) is the "godly characters" . for example - "OMFG, I just like totolly kicked SSJ3 Gokou's ass". :twitch:

As far as the "No Yaoi/Yuri pairings for chracter that aren't origianlly that way", I don't have a problem with it. I know I've said this a hundered times on several different boards, but it's how the writer wants to express themselves. There is also soemthing else I've always said, and I beleive someone here said it also. It's how your precieve the chracter. Two people can watch the same thing. One person will see a guy and think nothing about it. The other person may get the impression that the chracter is gay. It's all how you look at it.
Now personally, I down't go around slashing chracters into pairings in a homosexual nature for the hell of it. Only if I get a strong feeling or strong Idea that they should be together.

Luchia Nanami · Post by **Luchia Nanami** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 2:43 pm

I don't like it. Fanfiction is just for people who can't draw fanart. Arts better because it doesn't have some lame drawn out character screwing up story behind it.

FireYoukai · Post by **FireYoukai** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 2:49 pm

I write fanfictions and occasionaly I will put and oc in it but NEVER have I EVER made a bishonen fall in love with my oc unless its another oc with i have never done anway. I dont like that because its unrealistic

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 2:57 pm

-_-; This proves my point that fan-artists get more respect then fan-writers.

I actually like both sides of the Fandom [Fiction and art]. Getting down to it, I like fictions more because you get more character depth. With a picture you see a 2 dimentional image, with perhaps a bit of emotion. Writing can sometimes take more creativiy and energy to get the story to come to life in the scenrio that the writer has visioned. If written well, a fan-fiction can be a very powerful thing.

In any case, both writing and drawing is a form of creativity and beauty and I really can't say that one is better than the other. I just happen to hold my preferance towards writing.

Vchan · Post by **Vchan** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 3:25 pm

I am very much addicted to fanfiction, my three main fandoms being Sailor Moon, CCS, and Harry Potter (OK, it's not anime... so sue me.) I am also very much addicted to yaoi/yuri/slash. Sailormoon yuri was actually the first type of fanfiction that I ever read, and it was a Hermione/Ginny fic that got me into HP fandom. Fics give me a greater understanding of the characters, and, especially, as Rainbow says, 'what if?'. I love AUs.

I don't write it, though. I have so many ideas, but it takes me so long to work it out. I have about three different epics going, but I'll probably never finish any of them. ^_^;;

Question: Any fics that you absolutely HAVE to plug?

I read this one a few days ago. If you can get past the fact that it's based on the dub, Five Minutes (http://serenity.ottawa-anime.org/ma_5minu.txt) will just wow you. I can totally picture Rei in this situation.

And, if you can take some OOCness, take a few minutes and read Genius. (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1433640)

Also, reccommended is anything on this archivehttp://www.tuxedomask.com/SailorMoonExpanded/index.html and a little story called Blood Moon (http://twistedcandy.org/ltnw/becca-oneechan/).

Anthy · Post by **Anthy** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 4:00 pm

I'm generally very open to yaoi/yuri non-canon pairings in fanfiction, even though I don't prefer them, as long as the fic doesn't suck. A yaoi/yuri fic that's a joy to read is infinitely better than a canon pairing that's predictable, boring, or makes no sense. Unfortunately, most y/y fics I've seen have stupid reasons as to why the characters are banging or angsting over each other or whatever.

The only Mary-Sues I've written where I put an OC with a hot guy/girl I kept to myself for my own enjoyment. The world doesn't need to be exposed to author-replica fantasies from me. ^^; But that doesn't mean I don't get to enjoy them on my own time. ::purr::

My Sailormoon fanfiction peeves run along the "Let's Break Up Michiru and Haruka and put them with Mamoru and Usagi, respectively!" genre.

AU is good, too, as long as the character's actions in the new universe are believeable. I read a great fic once about Miyu as a con artist.

It makes me sad that art gets more respect than fiction, like Tempest said. Unfortunately, any moron with a keyboard can write fanfiction, which is usually where the negative bias against it comes from. Damn...

Sailor X · Post by **Sailor X** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 4:07 pm

I don't read any fanfiction, due to the time I searched for a Sailor X fanfic to make sure I don't unintentionally copy an attack name or something and found a Sailor X with Hotaru-length brown hair and her name was Cammy, who died in the "Clone Wars." I was scared just a bit. Cammy? I probably wouldn't have time to read it anyway. I'm too busy with school and trying to do my own fanfic (about Sailor X, rainbow-haired pretty soldier for light and love) , which still has no title. It's got about a page and a half (front and back) of notebook paper at the moment.

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:20 pm

Luchia Nanami wrote:I don't like it. Fanfiction is just for people who can't draw fanart. Arts better because it doesn't have some lame drawn out character screwing up story behind it.

Exuse me? I write fanfiction AND draw fanart. You need to actually look into fanfiction sites and see what is there before you make statements like that and piss more people off. Many authors have sections in their sites that have beautiful fan art that was drawn by THEM AND they have decent fanfiction as well.

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 7:04 pm

KoiNoVash wrote:
Luchia Nanami wrote:I don't like it. Fanfiction is just for people who can't draw fanart. Arts better because it doesn't have some lame drawn out character screwing up story behind it. :roll:
Exuse me? I write fanfiction AND draw fanart. You need to actually look into fanfiction sites and see what is there before you make statements like that and piss more people off.

Not to go off-topic again, but I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that got slightly offended/angry by that remark. I didn't say anything because people tell me I'm too sensitive about things, but, as a fan-writer, I felt horribly disrespected by that comment.

Starscream · Post by **Starscream** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 8:08 pm

Well.

I haven't read much fan-fiction, but for the MOST part, I don't like it. I like things that could take place in continuity (this works so well for a non-serial show like Sailor Moon) and that does not disrupt the characterization already developed for them. I also don't mind "retellings"; if anyone is familiar with the "Ultimate" line from Marvel, you know what I mean (although Ultimate does take things a little too far for me). Basically, it's a slight modification of the initial story, with all outcomes, relationships, and characterizations remaining pretty much intact, but with a different order to the events, for example. That having been said, here are my peeves:

- Hentai: was a fan once, but I was severely turned off by one and have completely turned my back on them.
- Ones where the author inserts him/herself as some all powerful ally/antagonist. Self promotion does not appeal to me.
- Ones where another character(s) (not the author(s)) are created as above. Sadly, I have been guilty of both of these; luckily, though, I never let it leave my comptuer ^^;;
- Changing character personalities/preferences/blah: Just blah.
- Ressurecting characters. Let them rest in peace, please ^^;
- Using a fic to tout your own political agenda: This is, by far, the worst of the worst. No particular examples come to mind, but I'm sure avid readers know what I'm talking about.

That's all. Sorry if I've offended any writers with my comments above, but that's just how I feel :(

Anthy · Post by **Anthy** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 8:41 pm

Let's try to calm down and not get heated, okay? ^^;

It does take talent to do either fanfiction or fanart well. Let's drop this.

FireYoukai · Post by **FireYoukai** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 9:02 pm

Starscream wrote: if anyone is familiar with the "Ultimate" line from Marvel, you know what I mean (although Ultimate does take things a little too far for me).

Actually I love Xmen and I have read Ultimate and I completely agree

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 10:09 pm

Anthy wrote:Let's try to calm down and not get heated, okay? ^^;

It does take talent to do either fanfiction or fanart well. Let's drop this.

Apologies, I wasn't aware that I was presenting myself in a heated manner, rather agreeing with someone who recived the same impression I did from the comment. Consider the subject dropped.

Anthy · Post by **Anthy** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 10:21 pm

Tempest wrote:Apologies, I wasn't aware that I was presenting myself in a heated manner, rather agreeing with someone who recived the same impression I did from the comment. Consider the subject dropped.

I didn't think you were being heated at all. ^^ I'm just a little wary of conflict, because fanfiction is sometimes a very sensitive topic and can get heated quickly. -_-; Two people got into a really vicious debate about fanfiction at a convention last year.
And yes, the original comment seemed a bit rude.

Luchia Nanami · Post by **Luchia Nanami** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 11:33 pm

Actually, my comments were nice.

I simply said fanart was better then fanfiction.

Never said fanart was good to begin with though..

I'm all for expressing your creativity and all but when people ruin images of great characters wether through art or writing, it just sucks.

The worst thing to come of this?

POKéMorphs.

Bastard art and stories ruined the online POKéMON community for the most part, especially the RP part of it.

If it's done well, it's fine. But the truly good stuff is so very hard to find.