Just to clear things up…
Hello boys and girls, your friendly neighbourhood Waterfelon here. Ok, I realise this isn't strictly a story, but it is very, very important and you should definitely read this before criticising what I, and others like me, do.
I have observed a massive misunderstanding as of late in the fanfiction community, and here I am attempting to raise awareness of it and explain where I'm coming from. I recently made a friend on here called theawsomretrun, who, like me is an "Epicfiction" author. Now, not many of you know what this is, and that's because we just made it up.
Basically, it describes the recent phenomenon in the world of fanfiction which refers to works which have been specifically designed to be as stupid, pointless, self-referential, ironic, ridiculous, and downright bad as possible, for various reasons, although primarily to deliver humour through satire, randomness and sheer idiocy.
However, this style of writing does not seem to be going down well with some of you. Not all of you, you understand, but some just do not seem to "get" what we do. Some even go as far as to verbally abuse those of us who write such fanfics, and I'm sure you'll agree that this is most definitely not on.
I think I've discovered why this is. I've noticed a very common pre-conceived misconception about so-bad-it's-good fiction, or "Epicfiction" as I have termed it. It seems that much of the aggression towards it is based on the misassumption that "Epicfic" (or even "Badfic") is actually "Trollfic", and this is understandable given the currently blurry meaning of these terms. I however am about to set out to define these terms once and for all to avoid all the hostility.
The vague nature of these terms has resulted in all badly-written fanfictions being tarred with the same brush. The term trollfiction came to mean all badly-written fanfiction, but this should no longer be the case as it causes misunderstanding. That's why I created the "epicfiction" term.
Fanfictions in the style of squirrelking, Bojak and Peter Chimeara, in my opinion, fall under the category of Epicfiction. Why? Because, unlike trollfiction, epicfiction primarily sets out to entertain and amuse. Trollfics, on the other hand, are written with the intent of defacing particular canon, annoying it's fandom, abuse, and generally offending people. Generally this results in all purposely-badly-written fanfiction to be lumped in with trollfiction, and this is simply not the case. We don't want to offend you, we are just catering to an audience.
There is a distinction here, and unfortunately it is not one that many recognise. I do not condone trollfiction, infact if it offends people I am dead against it. However, there is confusion as to what trollfiction actually constitutes.
To put it simply, epicfiction, badfiction, whatever you want to call it – works such as my own Full Life Consequences stuff, the works of Peter Chimeara, squirrelking, Ozelet and so on - is NOT TROLLFICTION.
The difference, the thing which many misinformed people fail to recognise, and haphazardly disregard, is that we are not doing this to annoy anyone.
Whereas Trollfiction has the purpose of mocking the franchise/world the IP is set in, getting attention, and/or making fun of/criticising the source material, WE DO NOT DO THAT! INSTEAD, OUR INTENTION IS TO PAY HOMAGE TO, AND PARODY, THE SOURCE MATERIAL.
This may be hard to understand for some of you, but, by basically taking the piss out of the source material, we are in fact demonstrating how highly we regard it. I Love half-life, but that does not stop me from satirising it. It is just my way of paying tribute to the original content. It is my way of expressing my affection for the franchise in question, rather than displaying hate for it!
TROLLFICTION IS OFFENSIVE, EPICFICTION IS JUST STRAIGHTFORWARD SATIRE! For a perfect example of this, see the original FULL LIFE CONSEQUENCES series if you haven't already.
If you feel strongly about this and want to support my idea, please ask to join my community, The United League of Epic Fanfics.
So, in conclusion, all I ask is that, in future, whether you like it, love it, or loathe it, please recognise the distinction between the vile nature of trollfics and the genius of epicfics and treat epicfics with the fairness they deserve. Don't just blindly criticise these stories because you don't like the "bad grammar", "bad storyline", "bad spelling" or anything else of that nature. Normally, yes, those things matter, and reviews are normally useful for improvement, but in this genre, that's the whole point. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE RUBBISH!
If you go around critiquing stories such as my own due to these reasons then you're missing the point completely. I just want this genre to be legitimately recognised, to be valued, to be appreciated for what it is.
So next time you blindly go on a review rampage, please spare a second to consider the intentions of the author. And if it is indeed Epic Fanfiction, don't just launch into a flurry of criticism. Sure, if it's not funny, or really doesn't work, then fine, give constructive pointers. But just because it doesn't conform to your ideas of what constitutes "good fanfiction" give it a chance and give respect where respect it is due.
Thanks,
Waterfelon.