Let's talk Fanfiction.

I hate Wednesdays. Seriously. I am SO busy on Wednesdays. But once again, I forgo sleep to write about nothing on a blog nobody reads. Fun, right?

I should really start accepting superhero fanfiction snippets from people just so I can talk about the writing (whether it be bad or good), make some well-meaning jests, kid alongside others, and maybe make some poor nooblet cry.

But seriously, as much as I constantly rag on Fanfiction (and not undeserved, I might add.)there is actually some real merit behind it. before you give me funny looks, let me list a few reasons why I like the idea.

1. It gets people writing. And practice makes perfect. Sometimes you need a LOT of practice. Just so long as they're trying to make it look presentable. I don't give two shits about something written in chat speak.

2. It's always interesting to see new ideas on old favorite fandoms. What if Tony Stark re-painted his armor? What if Superman went on the Colbert Report? What if Robin wore sensible clothes? What if Aquaman didn't suck? (I kid, I kid! Don't kill me with the hook hand!)

3. Believe it or not, fans can offer more to a character than sometimes even the professionally written comics can. At least, when written well enough. Most of the time fanfiction writers are painfully shallow creatures (Sasha Nein is not an emo, Tidus is not some poetic young athlete, and Superman isn't as big of a lughead as everyone thinks.) But some gems out there can really add some depth to a character. I can't think of any off the top of my head for how few there are and how little fanfiction I read, but there has to be some SOMEWHERE like this.

4. Most importantly: They are GREAT for a laugh. Seriously, I read a Batman fanfiction snippet (don't ask why, I was bored) where Batman called the Scarecrow a Whore. I had to stop reading there because I laughed so hard I was crying and didn't want to be scarred for life, but it was hilarious while it lasted.

Now I don't condone completely stupid pairings in fanfiction. I don't mean "Oh, so you think there's no way Batman could be gay?" I mean "Why is Batman jumping the Scarecrow's bones?" Is not something I should EVER HAVE TO THINK. EVER. Fanfiction tends to tend toward the crack-y, and that's ok at times. Sometimes it's funny to just read a piece of fanfiction that is all about the "wtf?" Big-lipped alligator moments. These should be clearly labeled (next to the mandatory 'toxic waste' sticker) as such so we all know what we're getting into. For the rest of the fanfiction writers, be sincere and try your bestest to stick to the characters. And Heaven help any of you, should I see a hyper-active Batman.

Have a nice Wednesday night (what's left of it) and I shall see ye when I post next! (feel free to send SHORT -and I say again- SHORT snippets of fanfiction by a link in the comments if it's superhero-related and rated T or less. And if you don't think it will make me scratch my eyes out in pain.)
Good Night everybody!

Ideas I never see.

So everybody has something unique about their characters that makes them special, right? Well, how many times have you heard the same thing? bored spoiled princess, tough girl, lone hero, suddenly-orphaned hero of the day, superhero who's family/friends/planet are dead/destroyed, whatever. We've heard it all before, haven't we? So why are there still ideas that are somewhat unique that we never see?

Color-blindness. It's a common enough occurrence (and not just a genetic trait to men, only certain kinds are strictly-male.)and a genuine problem for some. One can still work around it, while it still hampers some.

Light-sensitivity. It's a good reason for the good guy to wear sunglasses at night without being that "dark and tormented soul" we keep hearing about. It's a serious problem that takes serious working around, so why do people opt instead for having a dark and tormented past or being entirely blind?


Inability to feel pain. Do people not realize just how big an issue that is? It may be difficult to work around, but not being able to feel pain can be a serious problem for a character to try to work with.

Broken Bones. It seems obvious, but I rarely see any character who keeps a cast for anywhere near the amount of time a person with a broken bone should keep a cast on. It happens occasionally in cartoons that someone gets a bone broken and spends all of one episode in a cast, but I don't think I have ever seen it last for any length of time. A pity, since it is something one would need to work around. I see how it could only work for about an episode in a cartoon, but it's not often someone simply breaks a bone in a book. It's either a severe injury, or it's shrugged off after a bit. Kind of a pity, really.

A real disease. I'm just mentioning this because usually if some character has a disease, it's typically one that was made up. After a while I start to wonder who has more diseases: Reality, or the land of fiction.

War wounds that are still open. War wounds almost always seem to be old scars. What if the fight wasn't that long ago? It'd be more interesting to see the pain an infected war wound causes than seeing the battle scars. Scars tell a story, open wounds show one.

Just a few of many ideas that'd be nice to see more of once in a while.