The Psychotic Tao of Fan Fiction Readers
(Disclaimer: The views expressed by Nila N. Brown of incidents of alleged bad behavior by fan fiction readers/writers and of other sites are solely the written and expressed opinions of true incidents experienced by said Cheetah Diva and neither she nor Blogger are responsible for any butthurtness. fuckery and/or bitching/moanings/groanings/complainings/whinings that has/will/prolly occur/occurred because of/in place of said incidences to the best of her memories. The names and places have been changed to protect the ratchet and/or alleged trolls/autotune loving "singers" and any/all aforementioned individual places/times/people/scumbuckets)
Hello my Lovelies!
It’s ya Cheetah-loving Diva from the 770 checking in after a
stupid-crazy amount of editing. I’m just about done editing the second book in
the “Kurai Utopia” series and I already have some ideas for a new, sexy adult
series that has been rolling around in my noggin. It’ll be a happy day for me
to finally finish and move on to original works. Perhaps I’ll finally get an
agent, make pennies on the dollar and can finally live out my dreams of owning my
own apartment in the low rent section of town.
Wait…I do that now.
Eh?
Anyhoo, I recently received an inquiry at my old email
account that I haven’t looked at in ages.
As you all or some of you may know, I’m a former fan fiction writer.
Well, that’s not entirely accurate…I’ve continued writing
fan fiction, if time permits because, 1) I have a challenge from Akay Gemini
that I’m completing as I go, and 2) I write occasionally under a completely
different account in a completely different fandom. From 2007 until 2012 or so,
I wrote in the Inuyasha Universe under the name “Kagome357.” I also have a
couple of stories that I was writing after I quit, and have never
gotten around to finishing because I’ve been working on KU. If I were
being honest about it, I’m kind of bored with the one story, but I’ll eventually finish
“Midnight Caller” and “The Pinkerton Girls” whenever I catch a moment. I
haven’t quite figured out what I’ll do with either of them since I can’t market
them; well, “Caller” can be rewritten if I want to, but “Pinks” involved the
Shikon Jewel and it’s hard to edit around that and substitute it for something
else, so I have to rock the box with that one. Of the two, I really want to
complete “Pinks” though…I love westerns and the uniqueness of it. Readers never fully caught on to that one and it was barely read. Reviews I didn't care about but the hits were pretty low so I deleted it, working on it to post to my private site for Nikki. She really loves that story so I'll labor of love it for her...eventually.
Fan fiction awakened the desire to write again and I’m
grateful for it but at the same time, I hate that I ever started writing it
because I’ve learned two things about fan fiction fans:
- If you write it, they will come.
- Fan fiction readers are fucking psychotic.
If you’re the type of person with anger management issues, believe
me when I tell you that fan fiction writing is not for you. You will learn to
cuss in ways that would make your mother faint. Don’t misunderstand me; most fan
fiction fans are salt to the earth people. They have a love for reading and it
satisfies the element of seeing their favorite character in a setting
completely different from the way the creator of the series writes them.
HOWEVER…the problem with some fan fiction readers
is they don’t read it for the love of reading; they do it because they live
precariously through it and if they think that you’re doing a discredit to
their favorite character, especially if said character is sexy or out of character, they will flame
you until their fingers bleed. I theorize it’s because either they have no
lives, are reading from prison, or from a psychiatric facility. They always seem to
be female. I’m not sure why that is.
For those of you non-fan fiction readers, a “flame” is a
review that is abnormally negative, threatening, harassing and mean-spirited (i.e., "You eat babies! I hope you get hit by a train and die!"); stupid shit like that. For
the most part, the flame has nothing to do with what you’ve actually written.
It could be something well written and beautifully written. What has happened
is you’ve written a favorite character in a way that has offended some mentally
ill psych patient to the point where she now views you as the destroyer of her
scary little world and therefore you must die. This is not to be confused with
a review that is a Con/Crit, (constructive criticism), where your grammar,
tense and structure are so bad that they make the story unreadable and you’re encouraged to edit better, get a
beta (an editor who isn’t paid), or redo the work.
Actually, some can go ridiculously overboard with their
Con/Crit. I got one like that…wait…let me post the actual review for one of
my stories, “Midnight Caller.” Yes, I included this asshole's FF.net name...cuz this one took my breath away, and up until this point I thought I dun seen everathang...
Apparently not.
Lort hammercy, she actually has a SYSTEM! To rate fan fiction. FAN FICTION! If she only had a brain...for real though. Bitch wrote this shit like she was getting paid! How much of her life did she waste on devising this ridiculous rating system? Fan fiction - you read it, you love/hate it, review/critique it. THIS IS YOUR CUE TO MOVE ON! Oy vey...
Okay Duckies, here's my reply after I stopped laughing...
What? I got issues.
You knew that.
This is how deep some are in it:
One of my stories, “Hisa’s Journey to the Past,” the final
story in the “Seekers” trilogy, was posted to this community called “Worst Fan
Fictions” under the community owner’s name “Bad Fics.” It wasn’t that the story
was badly written, but she viewed the character as being a “Mary Sue.”
SSKKKKKKRRRRP!
*taking the needle of the record*
A “Mary Sue” or a “Gary Stu” is a character that is written
as the most perfect being on earth. They’re beautiful, perfect in every way,
nothing bad ever happens to them, they shit rainbows and cotton candy, and
everyone on the earth loves them. The birds fall from the sky whenever they
sing because they can’t compete; the sun blushes because it’s not good enough
to shine on them; girls/guys kill themselves because they will never be as
perfect. They can do no wrong. Apparently this is a major bone of contention
with many fan fiction readers and is therefore the most hated type of character
portrayed. In their warped opinion, any writer who does this deserves a special place in hell. Personally, I think these people need to get laid.
*back to our program*
I never thought of Hisa as a “Mary Sue.” I wrote her as a
brat who didn’t appreciate the good life as it was, but I think the bigger issue with
“Hisa” was she was not an original Inuyasha character – she was actually an
original character (OC) that I introduced in the “Seekers” story, and some
readers are iffy on OCs. If they don’t mesh well, they will give you a piece of
their minds. They won’t drop the story, though. They’re stuck because even
though they hate a character, they must see how the story pans out. I was
dismayed about the story being included in a list of stories that were so
horribly written that you developed bloody diarrhea while reading them, but
that’s the nature of the beast so I just let it roll.
(Uh, this is your cue to go and get something to drink. This is going to be involved,
but you’ll see at the end of this little discussion why I went there)
Sometime later, I got pulled into a battle with some
alleged Autotune singing, Sesshomaru/Kagura loving, Sesshomaru/Rin-hating scumbucket
with an Asian name (I can’t post the name because since she’s never admitted it
or been woman enough to respond to my inquiries, but I know it was that
scumbucket and she uses her real name for her “hip hop R&B singing career,”
I have to say “alleged” to avoid legal issues) who sent me the link to a story
and asked me what I thought about it. I’m thinking this is the author of the
story so I went in to read it. I got inquiries like that all the time - “can you
read my story and tell me what you think?”
However, the story was a
Sesshomaru/Rin "lolicon." In the Inuyasha universe, Rin is a small child who was
brought back to life by Sesshomaru, who had been nearly killed by Inuyasha when
he learned how to use the Wind Scar, a technique utilized by his sword
Tessaiga. Rin had tried to take care of the injured Inuyoukai and then was
killed by marauding wolves lead by Koga (another reason why I hated Koga).
Sesshomaru, after being prompted by his sword Tenseiga, brought the little girl
back to life and she followed him from that point on as his ward. People like to argue that Sesshomaru and Rin are a canon couple, but since the originator of the series never clarified it, it leaves
room for argument.
Get that? Okay so in
the fan fiction world, you can write the characters in whatever way you want,
romanced by whoever you want. If they like it, fine but if not, you end up
with psychotic fans who can make your life an online hell. They gives not one
damns about what it is - you will pay for ruining their lives. Most write
Sesshomaru/Rin in a romantic setting, but with Rin as an adult. “Lolicon” is
the type of fan fiction where you write a character, mostly a female under the age of
ten (yeah) having a romantic/sexual relationship with an adult; “Loli” being
short for “Lolita.” The opposite of this with underage boys is called “Shota.” I
know…super gross and I’m grossed out even remembering this whole situation.
Apparently fan fiction sites don’t see it as kiddie porn so they allow it to be
posted; probably because of the nature of it being anime/manga characters being
written as opposed to illustrations, and if you actually read Japan
manga/anime, most of the female characters are pubescent. I swear…I used to
think that the only people who lived in Japan were 10 year old girls and
tentacle monsters.
Not surprisingly, in my research of cases that have been
singled out by authorities, those who argue against the government’s handling
of those who order these types of comics from Japan have been men. Go figure.
Anyhoo, I avoid it because while I don’t stifle creativity,
it’s not something I prefer to read. I posted a review and asked not to be sent
items like this because I’m not into it. Then I reread the PM I had received
and realized that it was not from the author – it was from this alleged
“recording artist” scumbucket who had issues with lolicon so much that she
flamed the entire fan fiction universe across dozens of sites with dozens of
multis to argue her point. I immediately contacted the author and apologized to
her, explaining that this person had sent this story to me and I should have
paid more attention to the names. She was cool about it and that was it. I read the reviews and noticed others had no idea why they were sent the link to the story. I got
pulled into some pointless battle because some twat had issues with someone
else’s story and writing style.
I couldn’t imagine where this alleged “singer/rapper” scumbucket
had even gotten my name, since she’s a Sess/Kagura writer/shipper (worshipper)
and I’m a Sess/Kagome writer/shipper. We didn’t even cross streams in the writing
universe, and except for the one forum I used to go to, we never even communicated. At any rate, I PMed her and told her not to contact me with this weak
shit again; that if she had problems with this girl, she should take it up on
her own, not try to recruit people in this manner to prove her point. I’m not
sure why she was going all HAM like this, but I don’t like drama and would
prefer to stay out of it. I had my own crazy ass fan fiction stalkers to deal
with. I think she was trying to build a support network to shore up her POV.
Bitch, I’ont know you. Hell, nobody even likes you.
A few months later, I was reading in an Inuyasha forum on
Fan Fiction.net and this alleged “autotune-loving singer” scumbucket was going
on and on about the subject. Something she wrote clicked in my head, so I
went back to the “Bad Fics” account. Because I didn’t really care what some hoe
thought of my story, I never investigated it, but I went to the account and
studied it. One of the things listed on the page was the link to a role-playing
community (I don’t have to explain that, right?) on another website. I clicked
the link and there was the alleged "singer/rapper/autotune-loving scumbucket’s name. I then went to said alleged "singer/rapper/human being" scumbucket’s
real name site and saw that “Bad Fics” was saved as a community favorite. The description of the community's summary was in the exact same writing style; she even used the same phrases over and over
again. That's how she got my name - she had saved my story to her flame troll community, had taken a list of the authors that she ragged on by adding them to this account, and sent PMs to us with this girl's story and info. You can change your name but not your writing style - you can do a few words here or there but when you get in the heat of the moment, you revert to what you know. Really, bitch...really??
Once I had her down pat, I sent her a PM asking
her if this was really her. I never got a response because she’s not woman
enough to stand by her shit. She then changed her name to "I don’t wanna show up
on search engines" or whatever because she thought it would hurt her alleged
“singing career.” No, bitch...the fact that you can’t sing is hurting your
“singing career.” My point was made so I let the matter go. She tried to get me
to talk to her in a different forum about something I said but I ignored her.
The moderator tried to explain my POV to her but I told the mod not to bother;
I don’t associate with trolls and crazy people. The miserable little
scumbucket/”alleged singer” went kinda batshit crazy but I just left it at
that. I figured either she had a mental problem or had been molested, to which
I hope she gets some counseling; obviously she’s still suffering from it and I
let it go. I have no idea if she’s still doing her trolling or if she’s alright.
From what I could tell, she created at least 8 different accounts to argue her
POV that I knew of at that time. It’s not even that serious.
Whew! Fun times, huh? You see why I don’t bother with fan
fiction like that anymore? It's not that I'm evil....well, okay I am, but my Gives A Fuck Coupon Book is completely empty.
Then there was the one flame I got from someone regarding
“Utopia.” She felt that I should make the humans some jacked up biomechanical
beings and battle the demons for supremacy. Hey, that sounds like a good
idea…you write that shit instead and leave me to my story. She flamed me again
and I blocked her. She then created a new name and flamed me again, actually
comparing the story to Nazi Germany. Huh? What?? Luckily, FF.net deleted both
flames and banned her. You see the shit I had to deal with?
Oh yeah…then there was poor little “Midnight Caller” that
became the reason why my stories are no longer on FF.net. I received a few
flames because I put Sesshomaru in a wheelchair, but it was kinda sexy. Anyhoo,
I told them fools if I get one more flame – didn’t matter in what format…a
flame is a flame, I would delete every last damn story off the site. Of course
I got flamed by some flake named Sessacat or some shit like that…bitches be like, “Imma be a bitch and fuck it up for erebody!”
This bitch was creative in her flame thought…she sent it all passive-aggressive
and shit, but I’m a demon of my word. Every last story was deleted.
Then something strange happened. World War X started! I got dissed on the Sesshomaru/Kagome
fan site for removing my stories. This other non-writing skut who had been following me all over
cyberspace, even PMing me at one point, took exception to me saying I would
never post “Caller” again and said something to the effect that I was wrong for
offering a teaser and then never giving up the goods.
Yeah, I did that. I was entitled.
At that point, I only went there to read stories by my
favorite authors since I had stopped writing in the fandom, but even at that
point, I hadn’t been on the site in awhile so I didn’t see the actual bitch out
session of what this tripe talbout she aint have no respect for me no more. I was PMing with
someone on Livejournal (remember that site?) and she sent me the text of the
conversation that went down with this broad. Well, I went on FF.net with a note
in my profile and called that slitch everything from a child of god to a spawn
of satan. Your respect? I’ll wipe my ass
with your “respect!” LOL! Oh dear lord, them bitches got hot and bothered, but
in the end the moderator calmed them rats down, telling them I was entitled to
my opinion and chill the hell out.
Actually, it was the second time I got dissed on that site.
The first time was when I said I didn’t want to read a very popular fan fiction story, or what they call, “the Greatest Story Ever
Written!” I had my reasons; none of which had anything to do with the actual
story itself but the rats, including someone who eventually became an admin,
came at me like I had called their mother a cum dumpster or something. How dare I diss "The Greatest Story Ever Written!" Far from being
angry, I was amused by it. Greatest
story? You ever hear of Alcott, Hemingway, Clancy, Salinger? You spend hours upon hours reading fan
fiction, but seriously…pick up a real book.
Anyhoo, the thread was deleted by the Admins to quash the drama but I
got blackballed; none of them would read my stories or even speak to me.
I have a love/hate relationship with that site. I love that a
forum/fandom exists for Sesshomaru/Kagome, but I hate the cliquish thug
behavior that came from its message boards and chatrooms. A lot of authors have
left and taken their stories down because of it. Who wants to put up with that much shit? I still vibe
with quite a few of the authors who used to go there so I know what happened. I
used to just go there to read certain authors who still hung out there but I
honestly haven’t looked over there in a couple of years; in part because I’m
into my own writing sort of career and in part because none one who I
originally wrote next to are in the fandom any longer. Since the manga was
finished a few years ago, all of the Inuverse seems to be winding down but I
hope the forum flourishes and continues its growth. It's one of a few active ones in the fandom, but I hope the cliquishness
ends. That’s not the legacy you want the fandom to have. There are people there that I do miss vibing with but it's either remain stuck in the past or move on. I'm always moving forward...
One of the first things you learn when you write fan fiction
is to develop a thick skin. I’ve heard and known of some who quit because they
couldn’t handle the extreme flames that were leveled at them. I could say “why let that bother you?” but
I’ve seen some of the flames and I completely understand. No one is getting
paid to write this so why put yourself through drama with some horrible skainch who has a
shitty grasp of reality? They just care about the story, not you. They don't even know you; they just live through you! You don't believe me? Try this - write a multi-chaptered story and post the first chapter, and then don't update it for two weeks. Your PM and reviews will
be filled with shit from people you never heard from before "when are you gonna update? I love your story! I'm sorry to bother you!" You wanna
push it further? Don't update for six months. Bitches be like hunting you down all over the internet. Don't update for a year. Bitches be like "Imma kill you and steal your story! You gon' learn!" One of my favorite writers got called a
cunt and worse for not updating a story since 2009. Sometimes a story just dies in your mind and there's no way to write it without diminishing its original idea but bitches be like not giving a damn. You've ruined their lives and now you must pay...they will find out where you live and where you work, who your momma 'nem is and your DMV info.
Another thing you need to learn is you have to write for
you, not what the “fans” want to see. If you start taking directives from
everyone, it’s no longer your story and it becomes a mess. They don't know you from a can of paint or even care what happens to you. You can’t please
everyone, so stop trying.
Also, don’t allow “fans” to bully you. How can someone on a
computer screen scare you? The real nuts will do everything from wishing you
would die to issuing death threats. If that happens, you can contact the
administrator but if you really want to put the fear into them, copy the
information, then contact the FBI. If they investigate it, they’ll track the
source down. I would love to say that it’s probably some 11-year old punk kid
but the odds are it’s someone who is much older. Keep in mind that the majority
of readers are over the age of 20. The only time the kiddie crazies come out en masse is during the summer when school is out and they have nothing better to do...you know how it is...they've gotten their newly discovered "monthly visitor" just a couple of months ago and now they know that they'll be bleeding like that for the next 35 years or so...hormones are driving them batshit - they got extra energy to spend, so they get online and get all extra and make life hell for the rest of us. Notice how slower the internet is during the summer? Because all of the nuts are on at the same time being shit stains.
Then there are the ones who are such fans that they'll steal your story, post it elsewhere and call it theirs. Those are called "assholes."
Overall, I think most of my fans really hated me, but they followed
me as long as they could get a chapter update. You’re only as popular as your
last chapter update; after that, they move on to someone else or try to nag you
into a sequel. If you haven’t noticed, I wasn’t the type who would get a flame
and be humble. No, I’m not like that in real life, much less online.
“Kagome357” morphed from the twisted mind of one of the meanest internet trolls
in cyberspace. Come at me sideways, I made sure they never did it again. The
funniest part about it was with some of the nastier ones, they had accounts
that were linked to email addys which, if you knew how to do it, you could pull
them up. From that information, I could
actually track down this person on social media and get their real name – who doesn’t have a social
media account? I’d hit them up, telling them, “Is this you? Yeah, bitch this is
you! Don’t make expose you and if I suddenly get flamed by a “new” account, I’ll
think it’s you and expose you anyway!” Believe me when I tell you they never
flamed anyone else ever again.
Hey, I have a few final things to lay out for now:
One, my Official Facebook page was closed by me for non-participation.
I’ll open it up after I finish “Kurai Utopia.” I’m supporting an Instagram
account, Twitter and other social media and since I don't go there much anyway, it was best to close it for now. I think I’ll get my fan base in my writing
career from non-fan fiction fans when I move on. I know…I tested it to see if I
would get any responses and only one person pinged back. Eh?
Two, I was a guest blogger for Cheris Hodges and wrote a
piece called, “The Editing Process – Why Obamacare should cover it.” Check it
out at:
Third, I’m almost done with the editing and hopefully
(knocking on fake wood) will have the proof done by month’s end and definitely
have it published before I go on vacation.
Finally, I’ve chosen the cover art for the second book. It’s
really bad ass and doesn’t look like my anti-hero but it conveys that the book
has entered a dark period of war and turbulence.
Until then, tonight is the season finale of “Game of
Thrones,” so I’ll be by the teevee to check it out. I hope Tyrion doesn’t get
got. George RR Martin will kill all that you love.
Final note: Casey Kasem passed away on this Father’s Day. As
someone who had a father who suffered from a terminal illness, I fully understood
and supported Kerri Kasem’s decision to withhold food and water. A dying body
can’t take on nourishment and it becomes painful to force it on the person.
It’s a cruel thing to do that a loved one and she had the guts to do right by
him. No one wants to see a parent die but dying is a part of life. We fear it
so much that we have a romantic view of the process, but a terminal illness is
anything but that. It takes heart to make that tough decision.
Casey, thank you for always having a positive attitude, a
beautiful smile and for bringing music into my life. I hope the journey to your
next life is filled with love, peace and happiness. Rest in peace. This long
distance dedication goes out to you…
nnb
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