fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2448 ]

[ SECRET POST #2448 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2448 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 051 secrets from Secret Submission Post #350.
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

not all fic centered around an OC are horrible spotlight-stealing atrocities.

What about fics that feature the world but focus on something going on somewhere else.

Daily life for someone in one of the 12 districts. Normal life for the average Hogwarts student who isn't the Chosen One? Sometimes it can be fun to explore the world separate from the canon characters.

Personally I sometimes read fanfiction to read about the world. and sometimes writers just want to try something a little different. Maybe Pokemon fan wants to write about an original trainer /coordinator out on their own Pokemon adventure.

I know people should warn for them. But I hate when people say "nobody wants to read about an OC" as a sweeping judgement.

It's not about whether OCs are good or bad. I know a lot of people who like reading stories about OCs and other people who don't. You should simply warn for them so readers know what to expect, that's all anyone said.

I know that's why I said they should be warned for.

But in a conversation about OCs there's ALWAYS that person who comes to say something like "Nobody wants to read some stupid Mary Sue fic" or something to that effect. It always happens.

I mean I get annoyed by the overabundance of shipfic but you don't hear me sneering "Nobody wants to read badly written smut of your dumb ship" because that's fucking rude.

I mean I get annoyed by the overabundance of shipfic but you don't hear me sneering "Nobody wants to read badly written smut of your dumb ship" because that's fucking rude.

exactly.

But it's okay to call OCs shitty. That's what I'm tired of.

Well stop writing shitty OC's then. Simple solution. If you want to write OC's then go write Original Fiction. Yeah no one will read it, or care about it, but that tells you instantly how many people genuinely care about your shitty OC.

Yes certainly, everyone needs to stop writing OCs because you don't like them. Everyone needs to just leave the fanfic community and go write original fic because surely since you hate it that's a sign that everyone hates it.

My word, you're a spoiled fucking brat.

I will agree with warnings because it doesn't take that long and it's just like any other content tag. But demanding people just stop writing it because you don't like it?

Get real.

Oh and you can assume I'm butthurt and make all the snarky comments that I worship my OC like an idol. But I'll just laugh because you're still entitled enough to expect people will STOP WRITING IT RIGHT NOW because you don't want to read it.

Because...um I just looked through the Original Works tag on A03 fics on there get their fair share of kudos and views.

So....yes some people do read about OCs and enjoy them. Some people can care about them

Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they shouldn't be written.

Why are you so butthurt about the mere existence of people who write OCs. I mean I get people who don't like untagged stories with OCs. But it's stupid to demand someone not write something at all because you don't like it.

nayrt

But isn't there a limit for warning readers? Look at your sentence:

"I know a lot of people who like reading stories about ______ and other people who don't."

You could replace "OCs" with anything. I don't like reading stories about bad parenting, alcohol abuse or religion. Should authors warn for those things and every other preference a reader might have?

Or should the reader maybe accept the responsibility to figure out on their own whether or not the story in question is something they like and want to spend time reading? (Because they'll have to do that anyway, regardless of content.)

Some of uf us have very a limited time for things like reading fanfiction. I use tags and warnings to find things I might like. If I start reading a fic and three chapters in it turns out that this is actually a fic about my favorite canon character falling in love with an OC, I don't want to read it and probably won't have any time left to start searching through tags and summaries again, so I have no choice but to leave unsatisfied. Is it really too much to ask for people to tag and warn on the fics they write? I mean, if you had time to write the canon character/OC fic, you really should have time to add "canon character/OC romance" in the summary.

People have limited time to read, so it is general considered polite among fanfic writers to give the reader a clear idea of what to expect, and what not to expect, from that fic. That includes, on the most basic level, telling the reader which characters and pairings appear in your fic, whether they're canon or original. It's just good manners.

As for everything else, that's what you have tags and a summary for. Of course you don't have to warn for every single thing that appears in your fic, but you should make it clear whether you're writing a super serious, potentially triggering story about child abuse or porn without plot or a philosophical piece where characters discuss their religious beliefs or whatever.

THIS

Funny you should mention original trainers out on their own Pokemon adventure. Years ago, one day it struck me how strange it was that EVERYONE in the Pokemon world is obsessed with Pokemon and everyone you ever encounter wants to be a pokemon trainer/breeder/doctor/whatever. So I got the idea to write a story about a kid who had grown up in this world and just wasn't that interested in pokemon but had it shoved in their face constantly, sort of half satirical but sort of serious too.

THERE'S NO CANON CHARACTER LIKE THAT IN THE POKEMON WORLD. (Or at least there wasn't ten years ago when I was starting to write it. XD)

Ohhh Really? That sounds interesting. I noticed that too and often wondered, "what if someone doesn't care about Pokemon?"

Link?

Sadly, it no longer exists on the net (I think) - I got the first couple chapters down, skipped ahead to a later point because it would be fun to write, couldn't decide which plot twist to go with shortly afterwards, and it wound up sitting for years, past a couple different domain name and hosting changes. :P

Every now and then I think of going back to it, but I haven't watched the anime since Red/Blue and a little ways into Johto and don't really know much about the world/setting beyond what they'd gotten to by that point. (Maybe I should actually pick up the new game coming out and try to reacquaint myself.)

I'm writing an AUish fusion pokemon fic (including characters from Harry Potter and Danny Phantom in the pokemon world) that is sort of intended as a 'real world with Pokemon' type thing (the world as we know it has pokemon).

It's set up as a coming of age/loss of innocence type story. You have three groups of kids on their own individual journeys who start out as the bright eyed and naive new trainers, but gradually on the trip encounter difficult realities (the fact that some trainers are actually just vicious animal cockfighters for example) of the world. Facing disappointment and the fact that they won't all turn out to live the "pokemon trainer's dream" [as exemplified by Satoshi/Ash, who's mentioned as a World Class Pokemon Master in the world and time it's set.]

I mean kids going out into the world at a young age. You know they're going to grow up a little through the experience. That seemed like a cool theme for a fic.

I made it an AU crosover type thing because well....I did want to have some characters that might be familiar to people.

Yeah, that kind of thing seems like it could be interesting, whereas if it's just "My OC who is based on me goes off on a Pokemon adventure which basically is the same as Ash's but he starts with a Pidgey" or something... big difference. Of course, it may be obvious that I am all over examination and creative deconstruction. ;)

I do have some OC characters but well none of them are really self inserts. They're from an original project of mine that I added on to this, because three sets of characters and all that. Rule of three. Also I just like having something that's mine in there.

I think this idea came after I remembered how I felt a little upset when I was a little kid that Pokemon would never be real. But looking back I realized- "If I left home at 10...I'd probably be dead by now." Then the thoughts of deconstruction and stories began.

I don't have much on it right now , just a prologue that foreshadows the Team Rocket subplot. (which I'm not a fan of because business talk is a pain in the ass to write.) But I am working on the first chapter and am close to the end.

I could link you if you like?

SA

(Anonymous) - 2013-09-16 21:47 (UTC) - Expand

*nods* One of the best fics I've ever read doesn't include a single mention of a canon character as far as I can recall: The End and the Way (http://archiveofourown.org/works/299205) by Luzula in The Left Hand of Darkness fandom.

And then there are the fandoms where I really love one or more canon characters, but for whatever reason can't see shipping them with the available options, so if I want to read or write shipfic about them (which I often do), then my only choices are crossover pairings or OCs.

For various reasons, close to 99% of the fanfic I read and write focuses on canon characters, but I definitely don't think that OCs are inherently bad or useless.

Those all sound fun and I would read OC's about them, but I would still prefer an OC tag so I go in knowing this. World exploration with OC's I can enjoy, generic trope with established characters and an OC in disguise, I don't want.

Following on from yesterday, I love OC Anne Mccafrey fanfic.

I agree.

I strongly believe OCs should be warned or at least mentioned if you want to avoid trouble.

Though I do agree with the OP's sentiment that OCs are nothing to flip out and shirek at people over.

Also if a fic is warned as having an OC and someone complains about the OC being there. Yeah they can be ignored.

(funfact I once had someone complain about some foreign (non HP) characters in an HP crossover when I warned THREE TIMES (initials before the title,put in the crossover section and labeled as a crossover) that it was a crossover. Not even joking. He had been someone who flamed me for a fic I wrote seven years ago and when I told him he was a little late he tried to hurt my feelings by commenting on something more recent. It was hilariously stupid. )

If a fic isn't warned for having an OC and someone complains, they can still be ignored. In fact, they should be. Let people flip out, it just reveals how immature and entitled they are.

I looked up and noticed something interesting. One of the people harping about how OC warnings are sooooo important and it's horrible if you don't (a s igned in user upthread) seems to disregard trigger warnings as bullshit.

So in a nutshell "who cares if you give someone a fucking flashback but heaven help you if you cause someone to waste fifteen precious minutes of their lives reading about an OC".

Some priorties there.

Re: AYRT

(Anonymous) - 2013-09-19 13:23 (UTC) - Expand

Someone making a complaint about an OC not being tagged is hardly immature and entitled. An essay of insults yes, but leaving a comment asking them to tag their OC's? no way, no more than asking them to tag their main pairs or the triggers (although certainly not comparative to triggers)

Pfft, what you mean is that you are still butthurt that you never got your Hogwarts letter and now are going to Self-Insert and pretend you had.

......and then there's this asshole.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2448 ]

Just a friendly reminder that

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AYRT

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That's really funny

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also speaking of Pokemon

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AYRT

SA

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AYRT

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