[ SECRET POST #6012 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6012 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 08 secrets from Secret Submission Post #859.
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]

03. https://i.imgur.com/ZBkk6xH.png

[scissorsevered]

I miss self-insert fics in general. Not that I read many of them, but I do enjoy writing them and sometimes I feel "cringe" for writing something everyone else kind of frowns upon.

Not that self-insert hate is anything new, I just wish certain fandoms of mine were more tolerant of it.

[(Anonymous)]

+100, I read a few when I stumble by them, but I mainly miss them because I also enjoy writing self-insert.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't miss them, but I get it. I definitely went through that phase where every fic I wrote was a thinly veiled self insert fic. Sometimes not even veiled, just blatant out there self insert. I have a weird mix of embarrassment and fondness thinking back on those stories.

[(Anonymous)]

Can someone explain to me what the appeal of self-insert stuff in general is supposed to be? Because I really, truly can't understand.

[(Anonymous)]

It's pretty basic concept - "I'm special and part of the team of important people now"

It works better for the writer than the reader imo but if you click with the reader's self insert it's basically like you wrote it yourself!

[(Anonymous)]

But what's the appeal in that? That's the part I don't get.

I don't want to be part of the team, I want to read ABOUT the team.

[(Anonymous)]

Some people are different from you.

[(Anonymous)]

That's why I'm asking what the appeal is, so I can try to understand.

Maybe I just have too much of a divide between fantasy and reality to be able to get what makes it interesting to some people.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Shows tend to have a pretty limited range of what's going to make it onscreen, and more so with what kind of personality gets into the regular cast that screenwriters are having to come up with lines for. So, like ... if that's not you, sometimes watching the show can feel like wanting to say things or do things that literally never happen, and see how your favorite characters would respond.

Of course, as a writer, you can also control the plot in your story to an extent that tends to make self-inserts not that interesting for anyone who isn't getting to control which way the story goes. Too many people want the *effect* of something that they don't actually know how to do, so you have characters who are normally serious and reserved laughing uproariously and admiring the self-insert for being charismatic and witty, for instance, when the actual lines the writer managed to give their fantasy self were not that good. Just to pick on a very common example.

Nah, but I say this with all the affection in the world, because facing a blank page and trying to tell stories is hard. Doing it in such a way that other people follow along and feel like what you're making up really could have happened is harder. And failing and trying again over and over is literally how anyone gets good at it. But initially, all the stuff you can't do is frustrating as fuck. So in that light, self-inserts have an immediate payoff that's accessible to every fan who can give themselves permission to write them - it's like being able to face the characters directly, as yourself, and tell them whatever's in your heart. In your own words, but in a setting where they will understand you. And it's accessible regardless of skill level. People come to enjoy a whole bunch of other things if they stick with writing, but that particular thing is hugely motivating.

[(Anonymous)]

You don't understand people wanting to be part of a team?

[(Anonymous)]

I mean in the sense that for me, fiction is fiction and I don't want to be involved in it. I love reading stories about the characters and writing my own stories for them and sometimes even coming up with brand new original characters to play with in an existing universe, but I don't want ME to be any part of that.

Like, I can understand thinking "this group could really use a character who is more down to earth" and then writing in a new character that fits that bill, but that character wouldn't be me, they would be their own distinct character that I came up with specifically for that purpose, if that makes any sense?

[(Anonymous)]

Okay but we're not talking about you, you know? Do you not know how to empathize or understand someone else's experience? That may sound snarky but it's an honest open question. People have given you some good answers, yet you seem really stuck on "understanding" equaling "I want to do this" and that's not what it is.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Maybe they write with the assumption that the writer's opinions will be revealed through the plot and other aspects of storytelling.

Some very introverted people would balk at the idea of a fictional version of themselves. It would feel as if they had just published a personal diary page of theirs, for the whole world to stare at.

[(Anonymous)]

Above anon and honestly, maybe that's why I just can't understand it at all.

I don't write with the idea that my own personal opinions have any bearing on the story in the slightest. The story and the characters are completely separate entities from me, I write with whatever makes sense for them in mind regardless of how I personally feel about it. So the idea of putting a character in that's supposed to be a representation of me is like breaking the concept of fiction?

[(Anonymous)]

Its fun.

[(Anonymous)]

Me neither

[(Anonymous)]

Harem anon here!

Nearly all of the fics (with some OTP exceptions) I enjoy are self insert or OFC (which to me, tends to be a self insert or the same way I would read a self insert is the same way I view an important OFC).

Speaking for myself, I enjoy them because
1. When I started in fandom, those were the first fics and communities I interacted with and I had so much fun!
2. Alot of the fandoms I enjoyed did not have characters who looked like me, had a similar background or culture. Not that I couldn't relate to other characters or love other characters, I just wanted to see someone I could place myself onto having those adventures, getting with my favorite MC (who I was far too young for). There's really something to be said about feeling seen.
3. I like an interactive element -- I don't think I'm on a Snape wives level at all, it's more of... I'm viewing and feeling the story from a different angle, I can slip into my imagination and run with the story. That self insert is my avatar, that OFC is my avatar. Much like in a video game, you play X character. You can do what you like but only to a certain degree. You still gotta catch and battle pokemon. You still gotta go through the different levels and defeat the boss at the end. I'm the kind of person who tends to react to the choices a character makes, so I'll ask What would I have done in that situation? And then carry on. I don't know, anon, I like to entertain myself, and self inserts are just...a fun comfort!
4. It gives me a chance to live a fantasy. I'm not gonna ride dragons or have an entire apartment building worth of hot MCs vie for my attention, so I have fun with this! Because irl, I'm more reserved, or I'm more X.

These are just a few reasons. But it's fun. It's a fantasy. And it feels tailored to you. And I like that level of personalization. Some characters I want to see with others, some I only want to imagine with me, or a version of me (OFC). Those are my two cents, anyway. It's not everyone's thing, but that's why fandom is great. There's a niche for almost everybody!