On Tuesday, October 21, 1997 11:47 PM, Zen 
[SMTP:databank@mindspring.com] wrote:

At 23:52 10/21/97, Andrew M. Petalik wrote:

So... the revengefics are coming back are they?

Looks that way...  Looks that way...  ^_^;

Please note:  I was not asking other people to write more revengefics. 
 I was just announcing that I was going to be writing another one. 
 Y'all can do as you please.  :)

Well... I agree with Richard about the Revengefics being a lot
of wish-bringing. With the exception of the guy that commits
suicide and couple of the other REALLY twisted revenges... they
aren't too bad.

<<shrug>>  Yah, Zen would have to say that there was rather a lot
of that wish fulfillment sort of thing going 'round...  Though,
to be honest, Zen never really saw a problem with that.

My problem is that they shouldn't be called revengefics.  They should 
be called otaku wish-fulfillment fics.  Truth in advertising and all 
that.  I got a little ticked because I wrote a *true* revengefic - I 
would *not* want to be the me described in that story.  No one else 
did.  They wrote themselves in fun adventures, doing what they always 
wanted to do, becoming female for the most part.

So call a spade a spade and label them self-insertion fics, but don't 
call them revengefics unless it's *real* revenge.  *Not* "please don't 
throw me in that briar patch!" type of revenge, either.  Real, "Oh God, 
please, don't let that happen to me!"

<Richard sits back and waits for the rationalizing to begin.>

^_^  Now, truly I don't get worked up over other so-called revengefics. 
 The above is just a very minor quibble, is all, and is presented all 
in good fun.

After all, the original fic that spawned the whole mess (Sauce,
by Scott K Jamison, aka SKJAM!) was, while a charmingly original
reversal of the otaku-fic genre, still wish fulfillment itself.

This is quite true, actually, and something I noticed myself.  However, 
Frosty's call was for true revenge.  Not "Sauce" clones.

Now! Do you want to have an interesting challenge? Ask
a fellow writer to do your revenge. There will certainly
be no wish-bringing there. I can imagine that more than
a few of the victims might be truly afraid this time.
<EVIL GRIN>

Oooohh... this *IS* a scary idea...  Not quite as scary
as having another author write you into a lemon, but damned
scary, none-the-less... ^_^;;

Personally, I think this is an idea with a lot of potential for 
trouble.  I can already see people whining because no one will write a 
revengefic based on their works.  I can see people getting upset with 
the kind of revenge someone else chooses to take out on them.

While the idea is fine in theory, I would suggest a couple of controls:

First, ask permission before you write.
Second, show the revengefic to the author lampooned before submitting 
it to the FFML.

I really don't want to discourage anyone from writing anything, ever. 
 Go for it - for one things, this is one way to get *true* revenge on 
an author, rather than wish-fulfillment.  :)

Zen no Itan-sha

-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com

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