Post by ~*Cathy*~ on Nov 12, 2008 1:17:12 GMT -5
Okay, I just gotta rant about this, and sorta ask your guys opinion on the matter while I'm at it, cuz I'm curious like that. If you don't want to hear me rant and curse a LOT, don't.read. You have been warned. 
So, I have this friend who I just recently got hooked into another fandom, and he started writing a fic for it. He went and got some opinions from other people he'd come across in the fandom before going too far into posting it or whatnot, and I'm appalled at the response he got from those people. He talked to me shortly after hearing back from them, and he was very discouraged about continuing on with the fic.
The fic is an AU, and takes place not too far into the series beginning, therefore it's going to be very different than the direction the whole series is actually going. They told him that the fandom only likes canon fics, and that an AU fic wouldn't be well received at all.
To be honest, I was extremely pissed when he told me that. My first thought was BULLSHIT! I don't know what part of the fandom these people come from, but it's obviously not the fandom I'm in, cuz in my fandom, there are AU's all over the damn place!
In fact, let me get off on a little side note here... you can't write fanfiction at all without it being AU! Honestly... nothing can be considered canon unless the books author, or show/movie's screenwriters write it, so it's all frikkin AU! So that just seemed ridiculous to me for them to even say that.
Back on topic now....
Some of the best, most amazing stories are AU ones, so I don't understand where they get off saying that AU's aren't liked. Also, I don't understand where they get off discouraging someone to write a fic PERIOD! He told me they were writers themselves, and I'm appalled that a fellow writer would, basically, tell another one not to bother with their fic. Authors should be supportive of one another (we all know how hard it is to write our fics, and post them out there for others, to begin with), even if you don't agree with their idea. If we all went around writing the same kind of fic, what would be the point? And just cuz you don't like where the fic is heading, doesn't give you the right to tell them not to write it. It's their fic idea, and if you don't like it don't read it, but don't be discouraging. Geez! *shakes head*
One of them even had the audacity to imply that he didn't know the fandom well enough, and that maybe he should go back and look at things again. WHAT?! This guy had seen everything there was to see, and then been asking me questions about anything he could. He's prepared enough to write the damn story, so who does this person think they are to tell him that he doesn't know it?! GRRRRRRR Besides that, with it being an AU, it doesn't matter what happened in the rest of the series, now does it? Alternate Universe means that not everything that happened throughout the course of the series is going to happen in the fic. Things will be different! DUH!
I kinda went off on those people to him, and told him not to listen to them, cuz they don't know what the hell they were talking about. I even sent him to some sites so he could see that I wasn't lying, and just trying to placate him. After our chat, he said he felt much better about writing it, and he's continued on, much to my relief. (I'm selfish and want him to continue on, cuz I think it's a great idea and he's already gotten me hooked. LOL) He posted the first bit of the fic to three different sites, and within the first 48 hrs, he's already gotten about 15 positive responses to it! So, in the words of my 18 year old friend: "IN YO FACE!" LMAO Sorry, but I just have to kind of throw that out there, cuz I'm so happy to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the fic is good, and that my point was proven -in spades!
So.... now that my rambling rant is drawn to a close, my question (well, it's not really a question, but we'll go with that for now) is this: what are your thoughs on AU's in your fandoms? Besides PR, I've been involved heavily in three other MAJOR fandoms, and in all of them AU's and AH's (all human) fics were just part of it. I don't know how many Buffyverse fics I've read over the years where they were all normal teenagers, in school together -no vamps allowed, ya know? And those fics were totally accepted. OR in the HP fandom, I've read fics where they weren't even wizards, and that was okay too!!
So far, the only fandom I've been a part of that hasn't been riddled with extreme altering of the characters is PR. And by that, I mean, I've not read any fics where they weren't Rangers at some point -where the Rangers didn't even exist in the fic. But still, there are AU's all over the place. *shrugs*
And, no matter your thought on AU's, isn't it kind of tacky for them to have told my friend the community at large wouldn't like it? I mean, really, who gave them the right to say something like that, just cuz they don't like those kind of fics? (Which I find totally ironic since in my opinion all fics are AU. )
[/rant]
Okay, I'm done now. Feel free to ignore my little outburst here, but really..... I've stewed over this for a week now, and finally took the time to get this off my chest. I'm angry and disappointed in the people who said this stuff to my friend. They should be ashamed.
~Cat~
So, I have this friend who I just recently got hooked into another fandom, and he started writing a fic for it. He went and got some opinions from other people he'd come across in the fandom before going too far into posting it or whatnot, and I'm appalled at the response he got from those people. He talked to me shortly after hearing back from them, and he was very discouraged about continuing on with the fic.
The fic is an AU, and takes place not too far into the series beginning, therefore it's going to be very different than the direction the whole series is actually going. They told him that the fandom only likes canon fics, and that an AU fic wouldn't be well received at all.
To be honest, I was extremely pissed when he told me that. My first thought was BULLSHIT! I don't know what part of the fandom these people come from, but it's obviously not the fandom I'm in, cuz in my fandom, there are AU's all over the damn place!
In fact, let me get off on a little side note here... you can't write fanfiction at all without it being AU! Honestly... nothing can be considered canon unless the books author, or show/movie's screenwriters write it, so it's all frikkin AU! So that just seemed ridiculous to me for them to even say that.
Back on topic now....
Some of the best, most amazing stories are AU ones, so I don't understand where they get off saying that AU's aren't liked. Also, I don't understand where they get off discouraging someone to write a fic PERIOD! He told me they were writers themselves, and I'm appalled that a fellow writer would, basically, tell another one not to bother with their fic. Authors should be supportive of one another (we all know how hard it is to write our fics, and post them out there for others, to begin with), even if you don't agree with their idea. If we all went around writing the same kind of fic, what would be the point? And just cuz you don't like where the fic is heading, doesn't give you the right to tell them not to write it. It's their fic idea, and if you don't like it don't read it, but don't be discouraging. Geez! *shakes head*
One of them even had the audacity to imply that he didn't know the fandom well enough, and that maybe he should go back and look at things again. WHAT?! This guy had seen everything there was to see, and then been asking me questions about anything he could. He's prepared enough to write the damn story, so who does this person think they are to tell him that he doesn't know it?! GRRRRRRR Besides that, with it being an AU, it doesn't matter what happened in the rest of the series, now does it?
Alternate Universe means that not everything that happened throughout the course of the series is going to happen in the fic. Things will be different! DUH!I kinda went off on those people to him, and told him not to listen to them, cuz they don't know what the hell they were talking about. I even sent him to some sites so he could see that I wasn't lying, and just trying to placate him. After our chat, he said he felt much better about writing it, and he's continued on, much to my relief. (I'm selfish and want him to continue on, cuz I think it's a great idea and he's already gotten me hooked. LOL) He posted the first bit of the fic to three different sites, and within the first 48 hrs, he's already gotten about 15 positive responses to it! So, in the words of my 18 year old friend: "IN YO FACE!" LMAO Sorry, but I just have to kind of throw that out there, cuz I'm so happy to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the fic is good, and that my point was proven -in spades!
So.... now that my rambling rant is drawn to a close, my question (well, it's not really a question, but we'll go with that for now) is this: what are your thoughs on AU's in your fandoms? Besides PR, I've been involved heavily in three other MAJOR fandoms, and in all of them AU's and AH's (all human) fics were just part of it. I don't know how many Buffyverse fics I've read over the years where they were all normal teenagers, in school together -no vamps allowed, ya know? And those fics were totally accepted. OR in the HP fandom, I've read fics where they weren't even wizards, and that was okay too!!
So far, the only fandom I've been a part of that hasn't been riddled with extreme altering of the characters is PR. And by that, I mean, I've not read any fics where they weren't Rangers at some point -where the Rangers didn't even exist in the fic. But still, there are AU's all over the place. *shrugs*
And, no matter your thought on AU's, isn't it kind of tacky for them to have told my friend the community at large wouldn't like it? I mean, really, who gave them the right to say something like that, just cuz they don't like those kind of fics? (Which I find totally ironic since in my opinion all fics are AU.
)[/rant]
Okay, I'm done now. Feel free to ignore my little outburst here, but really..... I've stewed over this for a week now, and finally took the time to get this off my chest. I'm angry and disappointed in the people who said this stuff to my friend. They should be ashamed.
~Cat~
I can't stand that they would be like that, almost acting superior to him just cuz he was new to the fandom, it just boggles my mind.
) right then and there.
Sorry, I feel like having my own rant now