DEAR FANFICTION WRITERS, PURPOSE OF EROTIC FANFICTION IS TO EXPLORE HOW CHARACTER X WOULD BEHAVE IN EROTIC SITUATIONS NOT TURNING ALL FEMALE CHARACTERS INTO SUBMISSIVE SLUTS TO PLEASURE YOUR SELF-INSERTS. THANK YOU Yep, I got frustrated after reading few fanfiction stories on chyoa today. Most authors don't even try to keep characterization intact.
It's a wish-fulfillment thing, which you see a lot of on this site. People can't think of a believable way to have the characters they like quickly fuck them so they have to distort their personalities to make it easier, ironically destroying part of what probably attracted them in the first place. I agree it's frustrating, in the same way lazy mind-control stories annoy me as well. There's no struggle or emotional moments, just pointless sex that then has to become more and more outlandish and extreme for the story to go anywhere. Erotica can be so much more! So much better if you can manage keep the character intact or at least have them start that way and then slowly fall into corruption.
I do have a fanfic where your character has a super powered "sexy twist gun" but I like to think that it's more about torturing the player in the end than gratifying them, since the reader dies at the end (or in the middle!) of every story and is punished even in the "good ends." I agree in general that I think the point A to point B is something people have a hard time with. I don't necessarily mind the mind control or transformative type stuff as long as one approaches it with the same graceful touch one should any story, ideally, with realistic character motivations and plot beats that aren't rushed. On the other hand I do think some people have a fetish just for that straight up "here's a developed, rounded character and suddenly they're a blond, curvaceous, ditzy female." Not my thing, but... as always, different strokes, different folks.
So... I'm currently building a fanfic story that might "offend" in some of these ways. First off, it's in 1st POV, not to put myself in a "self-insert" role, but more for the sake of the story. I'm shooting for more of that noir detective/mystery vibe which tends to work better in 1st and it felt a bit distanced when I tried to put it into 3rd. And 2nd wouldn't make sense as "you" are not the fictional character. That said, the goal is for the character to come off as himself (or a version of) and not based on me doing some sort of literary "cosplaying". Also, I try to explain why/how this character ends up sleeping with multiple characters in the universe (as much as one can when thinking about writing erotic fanfic). For the female characters, I agree. Unless you setup your fanfic to be "This is the submissive slut/bimbo universe where all your favorite [insert fandom] characters are busty, horny, and ready to go!" or explain it with some sort of "slutty" magic or setup/explanation, I think adhering to general characterization is important -- at least as much as one can considering none of us know (for most fandoms) how our favorite characters are in bed. But you never know. As the great poet Ludacris once said, "We want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed" I'm looking at you Jessica Fletcher ('Murder She Wrote'). All joking aside, I agree. Captain America as a beer drinking douche-frat bro banging shy, reserved virgin Emma Frost just doesn't make sense on its own. FYI, that's not my story, just an example. Or is it?
TBH, I never liked that stories about celebrities and fan fiction are in one category. They are just different genres with nothing in common.
I agree so much with you on this one! Feels like a lot of fan fics are just characters copy and pasted into a series of short, cliche sex fantasies. Hopefully my latest fanfic, Harley's Plaything - https://chyoa.com/story/Harley's-Plaything.29625 doesn't disappoint. I've tried really hard to maintain a sense of the original characters.
Somewhat related: I was thinking about this recently and wanted to know what others thought about FanFic with original characters as part of an author-created expanded universe type story? I know there's some non-erotic FanFic out there like this, but does it work the same in an erotic atmosphere like CHYOA? I'm not talking about self-insert situations as mentioned above (though it could happen), but my question is more about creative play inside an existing world. For example, while these fandoms have iconic characters, the worlds of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, LoTR, etc. are so rich, why not have sexy adventures with new characters and only sometimes have minor threads involving fan favorite characters, but those chapters are not the meat of your story. Or explore a known character, but it's their post-/pre-story life that may involve sexual adventures with new characters. Personally, I think this could work with the right universe. We know there are other magic schools in the Harry Potter world, space and lore is vast with Star Wars and Star Trek, so why not? Or do people just want to read about known characters getting on or self-inserts with those characters turned into "submissive sluts"?
On the contrary. I think such stories are among the most effective ways of writing fanfic. I find that, among amateur authors, one of the most lacking skills is the ability to devise a complex, convincing world and communicate its depth to readers. The fanfic you describe effectively circumvents this issue and allows writers to focus on the storytelling and characters - the latter point being of especial importance in erotica. It's rather useful to have the audience go into your story with a mutual understanding of its setting and 'rules', so to speak, as long as you adhere to it. If writing a story is like meeting the reader halfway, then a predefined universe is like a mobility scooter. Or something. That said, one of the franchises you mention is not like the others. Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Star Trek are all notoriously silly and unrealistic. On the other hand, Tolkien developed the places, history and languages of LotR over years, if I recall, and only later decided to write stories actually set in them. In that regard, it's not only useful to understand the 'rules' of your setting, but also to realise how much you're allowed to warp it. It is probably easier to make up an entire system of planets in Star Wars than it is to persuade the reader of the existence of a single city not mentioned in the canon of LotR. As a matter of fact, once upon a time, Lucasfilms would essentially pay authors to do just that: make up whatever they wanted, throw it in a book, and bam, it's canon. An important consideration to make, however, is whether the world you're using is actually useful. For instance, there's no point in stealing the setting of the sitcom Friends if you're not using any of the characters. It's New York. Just set your story in New York. An exaggerated example, but remember, settings are often more generic than they might seem. The upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 is by no means an original idea - it's just that its target audience has had little prior exposure to the cyberpunk genre. Broaden your horizons, and you will find that many universes aren't worth taking because they were never owned by anyone in the first place. TL;DR: You should know your audience and know your setting. Borrowing another story's universe makes this easier, as long as the world is actually worthwhile and specific.
If you don't want to start your own fanfic story, there are stories where you can add your own take on fanfic, like this one: https://chyoa.com/story/Movie-madness.29314
@insertnamehere, great points and yeah, LoTR might differ from the others, but my general point was more about using the setting and races/character types as a base since (IMO) those can be just as exciting for fans, if not more, than the dynamic characters that exist in them. If one suddenly found themselves in Hogwarts learning to be a wizard, in space training to be a Jedi, walking the grounds of Rivendell, or on the Enterprise as a science officer it would be just as fun even if there were no interactions with the iconic characters of those worlds. Whereas, as you mentioned, with FRIENDS or say Marvel or DC, you're just in a semi-realistic place and world -- nothing inherently fun or exciting, at least outside of any real world experience, if the iconic characters aren't there. And sure, being on a Helicarrier could be cool in real life, but I doubt anyone would read a story about non-canon SHIELD agents John and Susie getting it on in a broom closet during the 'Avengers' battle of New York -- at least not without a lot of build up and investment in John and Susie's relationship. Thanks for the feedback though. I have a few ideas slow-cooking on the back burner, but didn't want to invest too much if no one was going to care about Doug the Jedi and his crazy, sexy (non-Skywalker related) adventures in the galaxy. <-- Not a real idea of mine btw, but if someone writes this, give me a shout-out.
