[ SECRET POST #4862 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4862 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #696.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. https://i.imgur.com/8D52JeY.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

This might not be a popular opinion, but I agree. Why would people even ask this? It's one thing if you want to go and write an ending for your favorite unfinished fic just for your own entertainment but why would you contact the author and ask, as if you want it to be official? It's a big ask to want someone's blessing and you put them in an awkward position.

If it were me, I'd just ignore the request. Like fine, go and do it if you want, but it's got nothing to do with me. I'm hardly going to endorse some internet rando writing an ending to my fic.

[(Anonymous)]

When people ask, are they actually asking for it to be official? imo, they're just asking if they can finish it, not looking for any sort of endorsement or 'blessing', like OP said, they don't want their finished if it's going to be shitty. It's rude to just take over someones fic, so I would imagine they're asking for permission out of common decency.

[(Anonymous)]

How is asking and receiving permission from the author not official?

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with it too. Maybe I'm feeling called out because I have several years-ago abandoned WIPs, lol.

[(Anonymous)]

You're entitled to say no, but I don't get the hostility there, honestly.

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, if I wanted to post a continuation of an abandoned fic, I wouldn’t ask the writer. I’d do it, post it, link to the fic it was a continuation of, and then post a comment on the original work, complimenting it and explaining that I’d been so captivated and inspired by the story that I’d written my own continuation.

That way, the author knows it exists, but doesn’t have to feel involved in any way. They have nothing to do with it.

I wouldn't ask permission because 1. I don't need it, and 2. the author may feel that by giving permission they're putting their seal of approval on it, which may be uncomfortable for them since they may dislike what the continuation does with their story and not want to be seen as validating it.

[(Anonymous)]

You do realize that's a huge dick move right?
You do need permission because it's not your fic to finish, you're stealing it, and their right to finish it themselves. They might have the ending editing and read to post the next day, but you didn't even bother to ask if they had any intention come back to it or whatever. Don't pretend that you're doing them a favour, you're not.

[(Anonymous)]

Congratulations, pissy author! Someone wrote fanfiction of your fanfiction. You've finally made it!

(In other words, unless you asked permission from the people who created the characters/world you're writing half-finished fic about, it's pretty damned tone-deaf of you to expect that courtesy from others.)

[(Anonymous)]

I don't get how it's much different than people who write fics that are 'inspired' by other fics... I mean, with fanfic we're all stealing something.

[(Anonymous)]

A lot of authors who have abandoned their fics say so in the summary. Personally, if the author had not announce their fic as either abandoned or nltbf, I would contact them to ask if it was abandoned/nltbf. If they said they were still working on it, I would hold off on posting my own continuation until they'd finished (or until another year or so had gone by and there still wasn't an update). I'd do that as a courtesy, because it's nice. However, I would also defend anyone who didn't do that, because frankly, they don't need to.

Like, you do get that we're writing fanfic, right? Because you're coming off pretty darn hypocritical here, and you don't really have a leg to stand on.

Don't pretend that you're doing them a favour, you're not.

I mean, pretty sure most people would rather know there was a continuation of their work out there than not know. So I guess in the mildest possible terms, telling them is doing them a favor. I wouldn't really frame it that way, though. I'd frame it as a basic courtesy.

Other than that, I can't see how I implied I was doing them a favor?

But since I'd post the fic whether they "gave me permission" or not, it certainly wouldn't be doing them any favors to come on all fake like their answer was actually going to dictate my actions.

[(Anonymous)]

+1
After all, it's fanfic. Or in this case, fanfic of a fanfic. No fanfic writer would inform the canon author if they posted a continuation fic of the original story.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh. That's the sort of thing I would seek permission for, or look for a Blanket Permission Statement.

I mean, you could make the argument that podfic and translations don't need permission either, but it is very much the community norm to get it, to avoid ruffling feathers.

Because some people do feel weird and invaded when that sort of thing happens. (And some people feel flattered. Blanket Permission Statements really are a wonderful invention.)

[(Anonymous)]

As a writer with my share of WIPs, some of which I fully intend to finish and some of which I know I never will... I MUCH prefer your approach.

Asking permission is weird and would put me in a weird permission. A comment saying 'I loved this so much I couldn't stop thinking about it, here's what I think might have happened'? Fanfic of my fanfic? That's cool. And if I don't like it, all I have to do is... not say anything about it.

I've written fanfic-of-fanfic, just for myself. It wasn't even a WIP, just that someone wrote a great pre-relationship fic for one of my VERY rare rarepairs, and I couldn't stop thinking about what they'd do next once one character discovered the other's interest. I probably won't post it, just because it's more of a thing I go back to over and over again and mentally re-write for comfort, and less a thing that I think has a 'finished' state.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, why would you be irritated? They're just asking.
Like they liked your fic so much that they offered to see it finished, I don't see how that's an annoyance, imo. Say no if you don't want them to finish it, but assuming that they're a hack just seems odd to me, who knows, they might be a better writer than you think. If anyone offers to finish your fic maybe it might be better to work through it with them if you have good intentions to actually finish it. You don't have to obviously, I'm just throwing it out there.

[(Anonymous)]

But nobody's assuming the writer is a hack, merely pointing out that they could be one. Which is true.

[(Anonymous)]

I wouldn't exactly be irritated I guess but it'd make me extremely paranoid that they'd write something similar to what I was planning, and if I ever did want to finish it I'd be accused of plagiarizing them. If someone did it without asking for a fic I had some vague hope to finish sooner or later I'd probably just delete the whole fic.

[(Anonymous)]

I've had people write sequels/continuations of my fanfic before and I found it very flattering.

Also, let's be real, you're never finishing that fic yourself. You've run out of ideas or interest for this fic, which is fine, but I think you're upset because you're trying to convince yourself it's not true.

[(Anonymous)]

OP acknowledged that they're probably not going to finish the fic right in the secret. It's fun playing armchair psychologist, but you should probably brush up on your reading comprehension skills first.

[(Anonymous)]

let's be real, you're never finishing that fic yourself. You've run out of ideas or interest for this fic, which is fine, but I think you're upset because you're trying to convince yourself it's not true.

I'm glad you said this, because it was exactly what I thought, too. OP's issue here sounds like a "their ego" problem. It bothers them that they didn't finish their work, and therefore the thought of someone else finishing it rankles.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, but some authors really do take fucking forever to write. Total honesty: I'm one of them.

I'm still working on a fic I first started in 2007. I update it maaaaybe once a year. It doesn't mean I'm not working on it and I'd be annoyed af if someone assumed I a) had abandoned it or b) wasn't going to finish it.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I hope that you do get to finish it when you feel ready and when it will be to your satisfaction. Finishing a fic or any story seems really challenging.

[(Anonymous)]

I recently had an experience of finding amazing two LOTR books length fic with one of my favorite pairings, with possibly the best writing I ever read in fics ever, through very crappy awful and short "continuation" someone posted.
On one hand I'm glad I found it, even thought the original fic is a WIP it is so good I don't regret anything, it took me a week to read through it and I absolutely enjoyed it.
On the other, returning to that crappy fic was so painful. The writing is not even average, it feels like the person who wrote it just started writing fic, and it honestly explains why they had the gal to ask to write for this amazing fic, they don't even realize how bad their writing is.
All in all, I would prefer to not have other people writing endings for old WIPS. The best option imo is if original writer would close the fic with one more chapter where they summ up how they intended to finish it. It's not the same as finishing ofc but it'd give readers and the writer closure.

[(Anonymous)]

OP don't tell people to fuck off like that. Just calm down and say no in a polite way, please.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think OP is telling people to fuck off in any kind of one on one sense-- just taking that sentiment to FS, which is an appropriate way of blowing off that steam without being rude to the people who do ask, and without making them feel called out by making a blog post, or even mentioning the fandom they're in.