Fan Fiction: Love it or Hate it?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

So I was watching Bridger talking about a new Star Citizen fan fiction piece, which led to a short discussion about how people 'dread' the phrase, while Andang at TPA network indulges in fan fiction as desert. So tell me; what's your thoughts on fan fiction? Love it? Hate it?

[Icaras]

I find it a bit pointless, personally, as it's not official and thus whatever the writer writes...it doesn't "really count". And that's not even counting situations where whatever you do the fanfic for could have an official continuation that expressly contradicts what was written.

Mind you, I don't begrudge those who write or enjoy them, it's just not for me.

[Denkou]

I find it a bit pointless, personally, as it's not official and thus whatever the writer writes...it doesn't "really count". And that's not even counting situations where whatever you do the fanfic for could have an official continuation that expressly contradicts what was written.

Mind you, I don't begrudge those who write or enjoy them, it's just not for me.

I feel the same way.

Also, my gripe with fan fiction is that there's too many out there that are absolutely horrid. Makes it kind of hard to find and appreciate the few that are actually very good.

[Osoroshii]

I wouldn't say I love or hate fanfiction as a whole; for me, it all depends on the story itself.

Is the author contradicting canon just because he/she can? Is the inevitable OC overpowered as shit? Is said OC loved by all the heroes, and simultaneously respected and feared by the bad guys? Does the story make little to no sense? Does the author introduce random characters from other sources for no logical reason (ugh, crossovers)? Do characters who are blatantly good/evil in the source material inexplicably switch sides for no reason other than the author's apparent love/hate for the character? Is this another god-awful reimagining that makes everyone high school students and/or vampires?

All of these will break a story and contribute to fanfiction getting a bad rap because so many authors will do at least one of these sins, usually multiple ones and then some.

I enjoy fanfiction that has a real story that makes sense and respects the (main) canon characters. If it's a story that contradicts canon in any way, I'd like the author to acknowledge that yes, this is an AU, and then explain why he/she went down this particular route. If canon characters are going to be different in personality, I'd like it to be a change the reader can see, not something that just happens; circumstances can change people, sure, but don't just snap your fingers and alter them simply because you can. I like it when they can effectively weave their characters/stories into the fabric of the existing material in a way that makes sense.

I expect OCs to be fairly well-balanced; I'm fine with them being just strong enough to hang with with main characters, but there is a significant difference between "hanging with" and "leading the pack" that many authors miserably fail at ("my character is the strongest ever, yay!").

Ah yes, the dreaded Mary Sue/Gary Stu OCs, the real problem behind most fanfiction attempts... There doesn't seem to be any cure for this and most authors will adamantly refuse to acknowledge they have committed this sin, and in the interest of being fair to them, many of the "litmus" tests you can find online that are supposed to help you judge if a character is too extreme are way, way too harsh (if your OC is anything more than a character in the background with more than one line of dialogue, he/she is a Mary Sue).

Best thing is for them to separate themselves from their work and try to read it objectively, as if someone else had wrote it, and that makes determining the status of the character much easier: if you find yourself saying "this is bullshit," the character needs to be toned down.

Unfortunately, most authors can't separate themselves from their work like that and instead hold on to it too tightly, insisting it's fine.

And they contribute to the idea of all fanfiction being horrible.

Most of it is, of course, but not all.

Call it a search for the needle in the haystack, but I find it more apt to look at it as looking for a jewel in a football field-sized pile of shit.

[icausewipes]

Some can be better than the original.

[Graeham]

There's some shining gems here and there but most of it is just awful, poorly written or quite clearly designed to cater to the author's erotic desires.

[Gothicshark]

Not a fan of:

Fan Fiction for Books, Games, TV, Movies, or Video games
Extended Universe Licensed Books (ie Star Wars, Warcraft, Star Trek, ect)

Do like Licensed Fiction for Table top gaming only. (ie Warhammer, D&D)
Do like Fan Fiction for dead authors who encouraged people to continue the mythos (ie HPL)
Do like retelling of classic stories. (ie Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace = the Odyssey by homer)
Do like continuation by friends and families after the original author dies (ie Brian Herbert)

[mickybrighteyes]

I view fanfiction like I do porn and anime.

Most people just lump them all together and try to use the worst example as a reason why it shouldn't exist.

Some is alright, most of it just... should be locked away in a tomb and sealed shut for eternity. But if that happened future civilizations would think we worshipped the stuff.

[4KhazModan]

Fan fiction is hit or miss for me. Either I like it because:
1. It is well written, which is hard to come by
or
2. It is so bad, it's funny, like "My Immortal"

Unfortunately, most of the fan fiction I've seen has just been bad. People writing gary/mary sues putting their ideal character in their favorite universe where everybody loves them and just have the actual characters acting out of character or things that would never happen.

[Powerogue]

I avoid the vast majority of it unless it's specifically recommended to me. I have one (where my avatar comes from) called Past Sins on my bookshelf, actually.

Then there was that one where they shipped a boulder with a tree. Never going to get that out of my head. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/0...nd-stones.html

And most recently this one, now in comic form. The day starts with admitting a white lie and ends with a royal coup, anarchy and half of Canterlot on fire.
http://mister-saugrenu.deviantart.co...ge-1-475854003

[Arrowstormen]

Fanfiction is no different from any other fiction, other than the fact that it's based on something else and is (usually) free. One of the best books I've ever read was a fanfic that crossed over My Little Pony and Fallout.

[Randoman01]

I think it is interesting. I enjoy reading crossovers and self interest mostly.

[vindicatorx]

I have never read any that is adequate to be honest so mostly anymore I ignore it.

[Dispraise]

I think most of it is terribly written and masturbatory. I'm indifferent toward the rest.

[Sierra85]

most of its garbage, but you can occasionally find some gems amongst all the roughness.