What is your opinion of fan fiction/slash?
- Thread starter Spookshow
- Start date
I think its hard to make a statement about fan fiction as a whole. Some of it is good, some of it is of professional quality, some of it has good ideas, some of it has bad ideas, some of it is god-awful crap (And personally, I rate 99% of any "slash" I've ever come across in the last category).
this should be 6 floors down in the FF forum...
Well it's been moved now, so fair enough, but to me a discussion asking about opinions of fan-fiction should probably have stayed in the Lit forum. After all, all of us here like fan-fiction, otherwise we wouldn't be here!
hellsgate
Commodore
Spookshow:
I'm not really a huge fan of "slash" as the authors make far too much of a big deal out of a character's sexuality. Leave something to the imagination, or leave it toward the middle or end of a story. Make it erotic, suggestive rather than overt, obvious. Make it part of your "B-Story" or "C-story" sub-plot but don't jump right into an officer being sodomized as the reason you're checking out a possible Mirror Universe incursion on a given planet.
Tragedies happen in Trek & I can see a set of partners revealing their relationship while on-the-run from a rogue splinter group of Jem Hadar near an Iconian Gateway, one partner's got a huge bat'leth type weapon protruding through his/her torso & there's no hope in hell they'll get to a sickbay in time.
With Starfleet's level of technology, you can beam characters in & out of each others' bedrooms & holosuites/holodecks with a computer-initiated site-to-site transport without necessarily including a transporter officer. You don't want people knowing every little move you make, or do you want partners giving each other head on the bridge in full view of everyone?
Or, if you MUST make the relationship overt & if you MUST bring anatomical play-by-play, make it a romantic, sweet encounter that cuts from the foreplay to the partners spooning after (a-la Troi & Riker moments.) The rest we can figure out on our own, please & thank you.
I'm not really a huge fan of "slash" as the authors make far too much of a big deal out of a character's sexuality. Leave something to the imagination, or leave it toward the middle or end of a story. Make it erotic, suggestive rather than overt, obvious. Make it part of your "B-Story" or "C-story" sub-plot but don't jump right into an officer being sodomized as the reason you're checking out a possible Mirror Universe incursion on a given planet.
Tragedies happen in Trek & I can see a set of partners revealing their relationship while on-the-run from a rogue splinter group of Jem Hadar near an Iconian Gateway, one partner's got a huge bat'leth type weapon protruding through his/her torso & there's no hope in hell they'll get to a sickbay in time.
With Starfleet's level of technology, you can beam characters in & out of each others' bedrooms & holosuites/holodecks with a computer-initiated site-to-site transport without necessarily including a transporter officer. You don't want people knowing every little move you make, or do you want partners giving each other head on the bridge in full view of everyone?
Or, if you MUST make the relationship overt & if you MUST bring anatomical play-by-play, make it a romantic, sweet encounter that cuts from the foreplay to the partners spooning after (a-la Troi & Riker moments.) The rest we can figure out on our own, please & thank you.
The worst thing about slash is that it is usually so improbable. And I personally don't care about a characters sexuality. In most ST stories it doesn't matter. Exploring strange, new worlds typically doesn't involve the bedroom-which has been explored in publications like Penthouse Forum for years and years. As for fanfic-check Eliyahu's comment-it sums it up good. When it's good it's literally amazing-but 95% is general crap. Oh, but that last 5%! Literature to make you weep and cheer!
There's more bad than good fanfic out there, unfortunately. I trend toward in-universe/no-feature character fics, like Sutherland, Gibraltar, and Dark Territory. I like fanfics that make use of background or peripheral characters, or all-original characters and simply use the universe. No matter how hard a fanfic author will try, use of feature characters (Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway/Archer) is always open to interpretation by the reader and invariable results in feedback like, "Soandso would never respond that way..." I stopped writing anything with FCs and went mostly original after that.
I like the fanfics that tie-in rather than try to shape the universe. I remember reading a particularly good piece on fanfiction.net that involved a group on Deep Space Nine who handled all the various minor tasks while the main arc of the Dominion War was going on all around them. I thought it was a great character study and they didn't try to do too much with it... it's unfortunate now that I did not remember the title, because on thinking about it, I want to read it again (another hallmark of a great fanfic; re-readability).
As for slash... well, I could make a lot of generalizations about slash, but I think that slash tends to fill a desire to see certain pairings in the more creative of the shipper-class of fanatic. Problem with the sex aspect of it is that while I'm sure the person writing is thinking that it's perfectly natural for this pairing to occur, a majority of us reading may not agree.
Then again, that goes for more fan fiction as well. Not just slash. If I'm reading something and I think it's highly doubtful, the fic loses credibility and I stop reading it. I classify crossover fic in this category, as well; I prefer my fanfic to be as close to the guidelines established within itself or else it really loses its luster for me. No offense to the crossover writers here on the BBS, but I just can't get into it. I've yet to read a crossover fic that I actually finished.
Anyway... just my humble opinion.
-- ZC
I like the fanfics that tie-in rather than try to shape the universe. I remember reading a particularly good piece on fanfiction.net that involved a group on Deep Space Nine who handled all the various minor tasks while the main arc of the Dominion War was going on all around them. I thought it was a great character study and they didn't try to do too much with it... it's unfortunate now that I did not remember the title, because on thinking about it, I want to read it again (another hallmark of a great fanfic; re-readability).
As for slash... well, I could make a lot of generalizations about slash, but I think that slash tends to fill a desire to see certain pairings in the more creative of the shipper-class of fanatic. Problem with the sex aspect of it is that while I'm sure the person writing is thinking that it's perfectly natural for this pairing to occur, a majority of us reading may not agree.
Then again, that goes for more fan fiction as well. Not just slash. If I'm reading something and I think it's highly doubtful, the fic loses credibility and I stop reading it. I classify crossover fic in this category, as well; I prefer my fanfic to be as close to the guidelines established within itself or else it really loses its luster for me. No offense to the crossover writers here on the BBS, but I just can't get into it. I've yet to read a crossover fic that I actually finished.
Anyway... just my humble opinion.
-- ZC
The published novels are not Trek canon -- never have been, never will be. In Trek, canon is only what is on screen.
Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie
The thing is, most fanfic is improbable. Not because it's fanfic, but because many writers simply don't care to make their stories probable.
The majority of slash-fiction is utter crap, but then, the majority of all fanfiction is utter crap. While same-sex pairing often have little onscreen support, the same can be said for many hetero-pairings that prevail in fanfics. Many slash stories are about sex/romance and so are many het-stories. Just look at Picard/Crusher and Riker/Troi fanfics, the majority of those are about sex and romance.
There's just as much onscreen justification for Worf/Riker pairing as there is for Troi/LaForge. Hell, you could even make a strong argument that Picard/Crusher has less of a chance of happening than Picard/Q.
It also depends on what you want out of your fiction. Some enjoy whimsical drabbles, others prefer long action/adventure stories, or enjoy a story more when its focus is on romance. Neither is any more or less fanfic than the other, since fanfic, by nature, is anything written by a fan (or casual viewer for that matter) involving characters, items or universes created by someone else. Since there are so many different fanfiction-writers, there are many different stories. And as someone mentioned upthread, different interpretations of characters. As for slash, even if a character has only slept with members of the opposite sex on screen, that doesn't lead to being 100% hetero. There are many people today who don't realize an attracting to someone of the same sex until they're in their 40s or 50s, after having a lifetime of straight relationships.
Does that mean you can toss any two characters together without explanation? Yes. It's fanfic after all, you can do whatever the hell you want with the characters.
However, if you want to create story that realisticly portrays a relationship, this isn't the way to go, whether it's Picard/Crusher or Worf/RikerIn my opinion, you can only devide (Trek) fanfiction, in canon-categories. Ie:
*Could be canon: nothing on screen contradicts my story. For instance: Picard and Crusher have sex after, say, Devil's Due. It's never said onscreen that they didn't have sex.
*Extra-canon: this is what you didn't see onscreen. Extra-canon tries to continue a scene after it's been cut off on tv. Take for example the scene in Second Chances, where Troi and Thomas Riker are rolling on the floor in the gym. We see them kiss and then the screen goes black. They could have sex, or not, we don't know and the show never tells us, so it's open for interpretation.
*In the face of canon: usually categorized under Alternate Universe, because these stories do clash with established canon. Any story for instance in which Picard and Crusher get married before Nemesis
*Canon for all we know: say someone writers a story about the crew set after Nemesis and adheres to all canon-facts established during the series and movies. You end up with a story that could happen and is canonically correct.
Anyway, those are just my two cents. Fanfic is wonderful because everyone can write what they want and not write what they want and everyone can read what they want, or not read what they want. But, a romance centered fanfic isn't any better or worse than an episodic story just because romance wasn't heavily featured on screen. Both are fanfics, they just attract different readers
I see the word 'drabble' used frequently by fan fiction writers these days, and nearly always it is misused. 'Drabble' is a transitive or intransitive verb (not a noun) meaning 'to make or become wet and soiled by dragging; draggle.' The proper word for the form of fan fiction described is 'dribble,' a noun which means 'a small quantity; a bit.'
If I'm really honest, I just don't see the point, there are so many "proper" books out there that I'll never get around to reading - why would I want to waste my time on third rate knock-offs of corporate tv shows.
Sure the odd gem is sure to be out there but who's got the time to find it?
Sure the odd gem is sure to be out there but who's got the time to find it?
As someone who is in the middle of writing one of his own fanfiction stories I'm all for 'em. True there are a lot of good and bad out there but I give these folks a big 
for giving it a shot.
As for slash, never been interested.
for giving it a shot.As for slash, never been interested.
Actually, the term "Drabble" used in fandom comes from a Monthy Python's Big Red Book. In the original gag it is a noun; it's a board game where "the four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins."
I'm a huge fan of fanfiction and have been for a very long time. I find it absolutely fascinating, and participating in fanfiction communities has become integral to my enjoyment of popular shows and books.
I like Sheena Pugh's idea of fanfic being divided into fanfic which is about getting "more of" and fanfic which is about getting "more from". I'm definitely on the "more from" side of that scale. I love fanfiction that offers something which you never would have seen on the show itself - because it's generically incompatible, or it's a crossover, or because the show tends to focus more on plot, while I love fic that focuses more on character-interaction.
I have very little interest in reading a fic which could have been just another episode of the show, but to each their own.
Basically, hurray for fanfiction, and especially hurray for character-centric fic, be it het, slash, or gen.
The term "drabble" is used for a short work of exactly 100 words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drabble
From Wikipedia's entry:
"The term comes from Monty Python's 1971 'Big Red Book'. In this book, "Drabble" was a word game where the first participant to write a novel wins. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice."
Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie
Edited to add: Obviously SiorX was a little faster with the send button.
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People seem to have time for everything these days. Including replying to threads on boards.
And, personally, I shoot for first-rate knock off when I write.
-- ZC
