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Writers without morals.

Pef

Pef

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Why do so many wanna-be writers begin their stories by murdering a major character in a franchise, then replacing them with another, or inserting themselves in the dead body?

I find this type of fiction creepy and a bit Lich-like.

There are plenty writing methods(such as ROBs, genies, CYOA, gods, demons, angels etc) to beautify or otherwise change yourself to fit into a story, why resort to murder or body-puppeting as a first option?

Also, it would be amazing if people would link such stories here to be properly castigated and shamed.
 
At some point, it's not the supplier's fault, but the consumer's. Maybe you should reflect on your tastes in fiction, and why you seemingly bump into things you loudly proclaim to hate all the time...

Basically, this line of reasoning:
 
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Other people don't need to share your preferences. From a writing perspective, I can see how erasing characters can be sloppy, but as you say we're all "wanna-be writers" here. In the first place, if you read fanfiction long enough, you'll find people who don't want to be critiqued; you're using the wrong medium if you expect professionalism.

There's nothing wrong with being a Lich in fiction. It's a thing, it's fictional, and it's always up to the writer to spin it in a direction they want.

There's nothing wrong with murder and body-hijacking in fiction. Again, I can see how it can lead to sloppy writing, but even the more conventional methods you suggested can be done well or done badly. I'd argue that murder and body-hijacking in fiction can be better for storytelling than some of the other methods you mentioned (e.g. ROB, genies) because it puts the main character in a position with problems.

I know there are a few threads that do the shaming thing on this site (complaining about SB, complaining about bad stories) so I guess this is allowed... but I'll avoid participating in that.
 
I mean a lot of the time the character is a self insert anyway so its basically the same thing with extra steps. edit worded this badly, meant the characters being replaced are designed to be audience stand ins in the first place and are generally underdeveloped
 
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Glad to know we are allowed to criticize poor writers who murder established characters. Doesn't this hurt their feelings?

Anyway, I did see alot of this on SB, where plenty writers murder Taylor and insert themselves in her body with new ideas, powers or morals. It's got so bad the mods made a special 'Worm' folder to dump all those trash in it.

Then there is Naruto. I can't really count how many morons decided to murder the child of prophecy and retell his story with their own, flawed, words. There's perhaps some 100 thousand such numbing attempts on ff.net
 
Pef said:
Glad to know we are allowed to criticize poor writers who murder established characters. Doesn't this hurt their feelings?
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Ah. Well I don't participate in either threads so this is just my impression. As long as such things are kept in this topic and not on said writer's stories/topics, there shouldn't be an issue. I'm not a mod, so maybe I'm wrong.

Anyways, typically stories like those originate from some dissatisfaction with how said character functions. This happens irregardless if fandom. Naruto and Worm just so happen to have lots of fandom content.

There's also the plot point where too much of the story hinges on the action of a single major character, a lynchpin. Sometimes replacing that character presents the correct question of how the plot should progress if you're not a "child of prophecy." And by "correct," I mean, "logically and/or narratively, how does the story proceed when a hero is absent?"
 
An absent hero is actually a great plot for a story.

Wearing his skin, and stealing the relationships the character had with other people is ghoulish.

With one exception.

The newest trend I've seen is Game of Thrones fictions, the vast majority of which murder an established character and take their place. Now, this being GOT murdering someone is rather natural and recommended, although wearing someone else's skin is rather frowned upon, unless you are a warg or a Bolton, or Aria Stark, or a Many-Faced-God adept, or a Lord of Light adept, or a greyskin plague victim, or... you get it.

Somehow, GOT had made murdering someone to wear their face a real thing.
 
Then again, are there valid reasons why killing a character makes the story or the universe better?

As an example, there's a tiny silly story about some SI killing Scion and wearing his body. In universe, this results in saving the lives of 99.90% of all humans on Earth Bet (about 5 billions), plus perhaps 40% of all humans in the entire multiverse (there are mentions of trillions of universes). Story wise the plot is ruined and there's plenty hilarity, but morally?
 
Pef said:
Why do so many wanna-be writers begin their stories by murdering a major character in a franchise, then replacing them with another, or inserting themselves in the dead body?

I find this type of fiction creepy and a bit Lich-like.

There are plenty writing methods(such as ROBs, genies, CYOA, gods, demons, angels etc) to beautify or otherwise change yourself to fit into a story, why resort to murder or body-puppeting as a first option?

Also, it would be amazing if people would link such stories here to be properly castigated and shamed.
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oDrLTOF.jpg
 
Not sure what the site's punishment for such behavior is?
Perhaps spanking?
 
Pef said:
Not sure what the site's punishment for such behavior is?
Perhaps spanking?
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A tempban possibly, more likely a sternly worded warning. If your behavior subsequently doesn't improve, then harsher measures (including needing moderator permission to post a thread) are applied. General tips to avoid problems include reading the rules and don't flame others.

edit: for simplicity's sake, don't think of the site as 4chan. We have standards. Just don't ask what those standards are.
 
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Depending on context, death by T-rex might be awesome.
Not domesticated ones in amusement parks though. Those are similar to death by penguins. Marginally possible, but pure proof of incompetence.
 
I do find this pretty creepy, especially when the mc starts interaction with the original bodies friends/family/lovers, but sometimes it's works well. Take Wearing Robert's Crown for example my favourite (well the first half at least) Game of thrones fanfic.
 
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Pef said:
Why do so many wanna-be writers begin their stories by murdering a major character in a franchise, then replacing them with another, or inserting themselves in the dead body?

I find this type of fiction creepy and a bit Lich-like.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Pef said:
Anyway, I did see alot of this on SB, where plenty writers murder Taylor and insert themselves in her body with new ideas, powers or morals. It's got so bad the mods made a special 'Worm' folder to dump all those trash in it.
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Click to shrink...
Pef said:
Wearing his skin, and stealing the relationships the character had with other people is ghoulish.
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I must admit I never thought of it this way. A story which toys with this premise, of knowingly killing and replacing someone to selfishly take advantage of their powers, friendships and other relations... Creepy and ghoulish, I believe you said?

I'm going to add this to my To-Write list.
 
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