Sebastian Palm wrote:

Ummm.... Yeah. What he said. Another example is characters who are
reused from fanfic to fanfic, often without any hint that this character
is not the author's, _or_ canon.

Well, the reader should realize if they are canon or not by familiarity with
the series; it's just a common sense thing. You're right about giving credit
to the author who created the original character, though. Of course I'm damn
lazy about it, but usually I give a nod the first time I use someone else's
character. Some people I'm more familiar with I've more or less given
permission to use whatever characters of mine they want, and vice versa,
when I do that.

 How many axe-wielding amazon enforcers

named Perfume, who happen to suffer from a heightened sensitivity to
pain are there? And whose _is_ that character? I _think_ she originates
somewhere in Baderland, but I might be mistaken.

Wade Tritschler created her way back when in his 'Most Unlikely of Friends'
fic. I've always thought it's a testament to a writer's skills though, when
others find their creations interesting enough to use themselves. Though one
should request permission to use original characters first.

Ok, point. But it's not just mallets, either - any convenient object
will do, like the "Romeo" script, or a mop, or the table. And the
"kick-off" technique is used almost once a chapter...

But most people overuse the 'mallet-sama' gag. I have been guilty of it as
well, though.

The basic problem, as I see it, is the relative availability of fanfics
contra canon. The Manga is either expensive, or in Japanese, or stored
on a tediously slow server that mostly requires an active connection to
read from. The anime is less expensive, but there is just so damned much
of it, which leads to the same problem as above. Whereas fanfics are as
easy as typing in www.fanfiction.net, and following the links - and you
can post your own on site just like that!

The "fourth-generation fanfics" that you described above already exist -
I've had the mispleasure to read several.

I do believe all of us has, much to our sorrow. :(

:
:: [1]  This is, of course, not an attempt to deny a pattern of
:: *violence*, which is obviously there, although I would dispute the
:: extremes to which some fanfic authors take it.  I'm using the
:: mallet itself an an example of how clichees grow with the telling.

Counter-point - The Bitter End, by Zen, which is definitely a Second Gen
fic - based off of the Manga...

But, as SW says, there are those that base their fanfics off TBE rather than
the actual series, which is where problems crop up. Of course there are
other fics that have done the same thing to other characters as well that
are equally responsible for these sorts of problems.

D.B. Sommer



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