SOMEBODEH COMMENT ON MA FANFICTION

T-nex: I am not concerned with what the author is willing to allow. I didn't post that quote to show that some authors don't allow it. I posted it to show what one of our greatest minds feels about the act.

Inspiration and fanfiction are so obviously different that I am tempted to think that you are being intentionally obtuse. Inspiration comes from everywhere. It comes from life, and it comes from all forms of art. Fanfiction is theft of a dream. Pure and simple. These people's imaginations are so stunted, and sad that they lie around inserting themselves into these imaginary worlds that they didn't even create.

And no. I don't think that Splat can be a great author. His use of language, punctuation, and description may be fantastic, and could have been well augmented by his time writing fanfics, but his ideas will never rise above pedestrian at best. And don't get pissed at me, and act like I'm being rude. You shouldn't have asked the question.

Used: All children do this. This is correct. But the point at which children stop swinging sticks while making lightsaber noises they should also be grown up enough to have their own ideas.

And I'm not discouraging anything that works. Show me one example of it working. Show me someone who wrote something truly worth reading who was also writing fanfiction.

Teh Joe says (16:20):
*You asked me what my phrase meant?
*Writing is like giving birth to schrodinger's cat
*You know that it can either be alive or dead right
*And you don't know until you look at it
*Therefore it's both at once
*Or neither
*When an author finishes a story it's dead
*It no longer belongs to that author
*It belongs to the English language
*Literaly
*My story in my head at the moment is my own and nobody elses
*As soon as I write it down it is no longer mine
*I replace thoughts with words, these words require people to read them to become alive again
*Everyone who reads these words will have a subtlely different interpretation
*I might claim that my book is an allegory for the christian/judiac struggle against Islam, someone else might feel it's more of a Marxist fable to tell the working class to rise up and destroy our opressors
*This is the thing people like my brother cannot understand
*We're both right
*Just because I wrote it doesn't mean I'm more right than anyone else
*Fanfiction is just people taking stories and interpretating them differently than the authors intention, and that's no bad thing...it's even quite healthy for the brain
Salted Sugar says (16:26):
*Tell that to OANST >_<
Teh Joe says (16:26):
*Like difference of opinions is healthy for a society, difference of interpretations is healthy for the literary world
I CAN BE PRETENTIOUS TOO

Interpretation, and discussion are quite different from theft, and pollution.

And it's painfully obvious that Salted Sugar didn't understand that, but was instantly gratified that such flowery prose could be applied to her viewpoint, and used against mine.

I'm not pissed or anything. I just wanted to know your thoughts.
I think you're wrong though, and I'm going leave it at that. It's impossible to make assumptions about the future and what will happen to someone, and how they develop.

Also you say it's theft of someone's dream, but again, is the person allows it, then how is it theft? It's 'borrowing' at most. Maybe I just don't understand what you mean, but this is really how I see it.

Is it really so impossible to have written fanfics and then develop? Say .. We have a kid who wrote a fanfic about some fantasy story he really liked, then he left writing to go out to travel, experience the world, new art and all sorts of wonderful things. He comes back full of new experiences and decides to write a story based on these. He may even have forgotten about the previous story he read and wrote fanfics about.
Is this scenario impossible in your mind? I'm just curious.

Another thing is. Talent isn't something you're born with. Well, some people might be prone to writing good stories from childhood(and geniuses do exist), but most often 'talented' people are often people who worked really hard at achieving their skills. This is why I keep bringing up the fact that people develop. A once fanfic writer, doesn't remain a fanfic writer forever, and what they knew years ago would be so little compared to what they know in the presence.
But honestly... Some people only really find their call late in life.

Meh I'm gonna stop here though. I'm not really smart enough to continue this, I just know that you can't make assumptions about someone. And you can't know what surprises might come from someone you thought you knew all about.

Those who write fanfics are not "working really hard" to develop a skill. They are lazily co-opting someone else's skill.

i'm not ganging up on OANST, but i do agree with this in particular. i mean i can think of someone right now who has dabbled in this fanfic stuff and they are a very respected member here.

RESPECTED MEMBER OF ODDWORLD FORUMS HOLY SHIT NEXT THE WORLD!!!!

what the?

i hate it when people suggest you value this place so highly. really pisses me off.

I'm sorry, man. That was mean. I couldn't help myself, though.

Meh Im tired of this. You're all a bunch of dicks! *sniffle*

ITS LIKE A WHOLE AUDIENCE WATCHING TENNIS MAN

Mat: Adhering to your blanket argument; would anyone who has ever played a role-playing game be just a subpar hack with no imagination of his own too?
I've heard D&D scenarios that would blow you away, yet you believe the world should be denied such creative expression in the face of it not being wholly original. What would happen if you discovered one of your favorite books of all time was originally a fanfiction that the author altered when he/she realized it was a good enough story to stand on it's own? Granted, this is not likely, but I imagine it would rattle the elitist standpoint to which you're so viciously subscribed.
Also, I know you're trying to do Ench and all other fanfic writers a favor by injecting them with a healthy dose of "realism", but your trite, existentialist "your work is insignificant shit in the grand scheme of things" stance is laughably out of place here.

What about fanart? Do you think a drawing, no matter how insanely good it may be, automatically has less value because it does not depict an image that was generated entirely by the artist him/herself? I don't think such a thing has ever occurred to you, probably because generally, yes, fan art is shitty. But if I were to create an elaborate, intricate series of Oddworld-themed paintings (hint hint), would you seriously consider it to be a waste of my talent? If I enjoyed painting the pictures, and the pictures are great, then why does it matter what the source material is? It doesn't make me any less capable of drawing something original with equal fervidity, and it certainly does count as practice.

Stop trying Chris >_< He's not gonna budge!

Oh look a thing!! *points*

Fanfiction is great when you are drawn to a character or setting and want to continue experiencing it without doing the writing yourself. It's about the enjoyment, whether you're reading or writing.

Now I'm in the mood for some Mexican food.

Come over here, MA.

fuck you, goomba.

I'm not even going to bother responding to Sekto. I don't intend to endlessly repeat my reasons for being snobbish towards fanfiction.

I would like to apologize to Splat, and stress that much of what I said in here is unquantifiable, and obvious hyperbole. My comments about Splat's writing were uncalled for, and it is impossible for me to say that nothing good can ever come from fanfic writing. I think it's silly, and counter-productive. I also think that it's none of my business what you people do.

I felt bad enough about that Splat comment that there were a few moments over the weekend that I almost logged in, and deleted it. That wouldn't have made it any better, though. So. I'm sorry. It isn't up to me if you eventually write something great. Do as you will.