Message Board Topic For 9/3

[Comsie]

There are both advantages and disadvantages to writing a fanfic, even if it's a really GOOD fanfic. Stories about celebrities and movie/tv characters can be tricky to pull off, but if you do it right, it can be amazing! To this day, I still think that what Jaxsper Finn did with his Hanson trilogy is one of the best fanfics I've ever read.

 

But what are your thoughts about these stories? Do they interest you? Do you read them often? Do you want to see your celebrity crushes sprawled out in someone elses fantasy? Which ones would you LIKE to see in a fanfic?

 

Like I said, there are advantages and disadvantages to writing one, and it takes time, effort, and most times a little research, to get a great celeb series going. But if you know of any good ones, let us know!

[Irony]

I only like them if they're REALLY good and REALLY thought out.

If you're reading one and you suddenly think "Hey, such and such wouldn't say/do that", it'd kinda put you off.

So I agree, a lot of research would be needed.

I loved Eddie and Me by the way. I've only seen Eddie Furlong in Terminator (he was a little bit before my time to be my 'hot teen crush' but I can still see the attraction). You'd atleast obviously planned it.

My thoughts.

x

[JamesSavik]

I'm lukewarm on Fanfics.

 

I would rather deal with my own original material than geek out on the various quirks of the Star Wars, Star Trek and X-men universes.

 

Each one of the fan-fic genres that I mentioned has its own orthodoxy: history, characters, politics and so on. It is a major chore to write anything that will fit into that world without contradicting something and making recurrent characters consistent.

 

The people most likely to read fan-fiction, the real fanatics, know their stuff and are likely to spot even the smallest deviation from the published body of work.

 

e.g. In a Star Wars Fan-fic I read a cool story where a rebel sympathizer steals a TIE-advanced interceptor and hands it over to the rebels. Problem was the TIE Advanced didn't exist yet in that time-line. The discussion thread had 150 angry entries from geeks over a time-line mistake in an otherwise fairly well written story.

 

If you feel motivated to do a fan-fic, remember your auidance. They are Trekkies for whom 6 series and 18 movies aren't enough. They are the X-men fans for whom 3 movies and a few thousand comic books aren't enough. What they want is tough to deliver and you have to know the material as well as the uber-geeks among them.

[RJ Santos]

I think fan-fic limits a good author.

 

I haven't tried reading any of them. And I know there are most certainly a lot of good fan-fics out there.

 

When it comes to celebrities, it might be fun to read about how some people want so and so to happen. Makes you all go *sigh, I wish.* It's a really good way to express an infatuation towards a celebrity. Maybe someday there'll be a contest about which celeb had been written the most fan-fic. I wonder who would win.

 

When it comes to fan-fics of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, and the like, I don't read them at all. I know it sounds offensive, but I think it's not original, regardless of how the plot was better than the original author's himself. Like I said, it limits a good author. It's like reheating an already cooked food. I like to read authors who cook their own dish. I think if fan-fic authors ever come up with their own characters and stuffs, they'd find it more accomplishing.

 

Don't stop writing though or reheating because of my opinion. I'm not the only reader.

[rec]

I hate to always plug a single story, but the best FanFic / Slash story ever is Alone/Together. It is not together anywhere, and it's really two stories in a single novel--a love story and a coming-of-age-and-maturity story. Beautifully written. Here's where to find the story:

 

Alone Together

[Graeme]

I don't have a problem reading a story set in the same universe as something else (eg. Star Wars, Star Trek), but I have a dislike for people using characters from another author except in very restricted situations (eg. a scene or two -- not as central characters). Similarly for real people. I've read some good historical fiction that involves real people, but they were minor characters, not the central characters.

 

Essentially, I generally don't read fan-fics and have little desire to do so.

[pietro]

I am quite happy to read fan-fics based on other literary works. I would not read a fan-fic based on celebrity, except by accident, I really, really hate the whole cult of celebrity thing.

 

I suppose a lot depends on what you read the original for; character, plot or environment. I would probably be most displeased if the story spoilt my personal perception of a favourite character and would likely stop reading in that event. On the other hand some fan-fics can add further dimensions to a an original world or storyline. There is a fascinating Lord of The Rings alternative that I think amply displays this. I won't give any details, but here is the link if anyone wants to check it out. The whole site is a wealth of thought food for Tolkien adherents.

 

Lord of the Rings Alternate

 

I would certainly never try to write one.

 

P

[Comsie]

Hehehe, first, thanks SO much for the comment about "Eddie And Me"! ::Giggles:: Dude, you have NO idea how frustrating it was to type that story out three or four times in a row! I lost the entire story a COUPLE of times, and had to start completely from scratch! I guarantee you, the first draft was much much better! Besides, Eddie Furlong, up through "Brainscan"? Sighhhh.....

 

Ok, that aside.....fanfics. You know, I do occassionally appreciate a story where the characters, looks, voices, and personalities are already defined in my mind. I, personally think Daniel Radcliffe is cute, and it makes for a really strong mental image when someone puts him in an erotic story. The biggest PROBLEM with fanfics, however, is very clear. What if you're NOT a fan of the person the fic is about? What if you don't want to see them in an erotic story, or 'any' kind of story for that matter? What if you don't know who they are? What if you like the person or character, and the author gets their facts and personality all wrong? I think that's a huge part of the reason that I don't read them anymore.

 

There was a time when all the celebrity fanfics were about guys that I WANTED to see in a fanfic. Taylor Hanson? Sure! Aaron Carter? Hell yeah! JTT? You bet? Brad Renfro? I'm there! But nowadays....::Shrugs::. It's not the same. I'd love to see a Max Theriot, Shia Labeouf, Alex Pettyfer, Nicholas Hoult, story pop up somewhere. But a lot of young Hollywood seems to be missing in those stories these days. And I realized that without the attraction, those stories just don't do it for me at all. Were did everybody's celebrity attention go to? It's gone, hehehe! (With the exception of the extremely 'cultish' devotion to all things "High School Musical")

 

Also, I definitely agree with the points made about fans of certain series being obsessive and picky! It would be beyond challenging to create something new in a series that has such a huge cult following. I would still love to do a "Star Wars" fanfic, as I have a lot of ideas on how to make a really good one (IMO), but I also made sure to run ideas by online friends who are 'Star Wars' experts...to make sure that my ideas would actually work. Many of the ideas that I had would have to go, because they're not in line with the way things go in that universe, and folks are gonna pick up on that right away. But, perhaps one day. It's an idea that I think would really be awesome if I could pull it off. But I'm a 'movie buff', not a book/sci-fi convention/graphic novel/online gamer/trading card/sfx creator. I've got LOADS to learn first!

 

Thanks for the feedback folks!

[Whatsifsowhatsit2]

Heey!

 

I hope this topic isn't like, considered 'closed' after Comsie's post or something? I hope not, cause I wanted to add in a bit of my opinion too

 

Let me start by saying I've written a couple of fanfics myself, but they're not about real life celebrities or even people... I wrote two fanfics based on anime series (Ouran High School Host Club and a crossover between that series and Fruits Basket) and one based on a pc game (Majesty: A Fantasy Kingdom Sim)

 

Anyhow, I really do like fanfictions, but it's true that the public is a bit more limited... I guess that's why www.fanfiction.net or another site focused purely on fanfictions is so nice - there's always at least a few people around that like the fanfic you wrote (although I think there isn't really a possibility to post celebrity based fanfiction on there... must have something to do with the err... copyright... stuff?)

 

Vincent