Fan fiction. Is it safe to do?

[Kevintall]

I am thinking of doing some fan fiction. It is a bit lazy, but I won't have to describe the players in my story as they will be readily known by anyone who reads my story.
Is it okay to use real names of actors who are going to be hired to star in my 'film'?
Is it okay if I use the names of characters and places that are already in existance, even thought they themselves are not real?
It's only for fun, but I don't want to be in any trouble for doing it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Here is the guidance:

We do not publish non-consent stories involving real-life people, groups/organizations, or copyrighted characters.

Self-explanatory. Literotica does not publish stories in which real people or copyright characters are involved in forced sexual situations.

We do not publish celeb/fanfic stories in which the characters are artificially aged - that is, under 18 years old in reality or in the source material, but made to be over 18 for the story.

All characters must be 18 years of age or older at some point in the story, movie, television show, video game, manga, or anime upon which your story is based.



Basically, Harry Potter, Disney are not allowed. Others, proceed with caution.

Easier being not lazy and writing your own characters .

 

[Kumquatqueen]

You won't get many readers here. I would suggest AO3 where any content goes (with appropriate tags) and readers will be looking for stories involving your characters.

It includes real people. Some old friends of mine have some hilarious stories about them on there, but we're no longer close enough for me to ask if they know about them.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Kumquatqueen's suggestion of AO3 is probably best if you're doing fan fiction with Mature Audience elements. If there's nothing explicit, you might compare the fanbase activity in AO3 and Fanfiction dot net to see which is the most active and is likely to get you the most readers (note: FF does not allow non-historical characters or any MA content and any story containing either will likely be deleted without warning if someone reports it). Or, like me, post to both since neither has an exclusivity clause in their agreement.

I don't include anything beyond a mild-R rating in my stories at FF because of this, but I've seen my stories (in those specific fandoms) get two, four, or even eight times as many readers at FF as at AO3. Then again, I figured it would be similar to that based on the fanbase activity.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Kumquatqueen's suggestion of AO3 is probably best if you're doing fan fiction with Mature Audience elements.

As an inhabitant of both locations, I too would endorse the suggestions in this thread.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I am thinking of doing some fan fiction. It is a bit lazy, but I won't have to describe the players in my story as they will be readily known by anyone who reads my story.

I wouldn't count on that. There's very little that can safely be assumed common knowledge among all Literotica readers.

 

[SimonDoom]

Is it safe? Yes, probably. Literotica has its rules and it will bar your story from publication if it doesn't comply with them.

A lot of fan fiction infringes the copyright of the author. But most of the time it is tolerated, anyway. Not always, but most of the time. It's very unlikely that anyone will come after you here, where nobody makes any money off of any of this.

It's not a category that gets a lot of views. My fan fiction story, published last fall, is my least-viewed story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I am thinking of doing some fan fiction. It is a bit lazy, but I won't have to describe the players in my story as they will be readily known by anyone who reads my story.
Is it okay to use real names of actors who are going to be hired to star in my 'film'?
Is it okay if I use the names of characters and places that are already in existance, even thought they themselves are not real?
It's only for fun, but I don't want to be in any trouble for doing it.

I have four (fifth pending) stories in the 'Celebrities & Fan Fiction' category that have done alright as far as popularity goes.

Mine may be different from what you are considering since they are all about real-life personalities rather than characters in some other medium.

 

[AvroAnson]

There are many different forms of English, American, Australian, British, Canadian, Caribbean, Indian, and Literotica. Allow me to translate.

Self-explanatory. Literotica does not publish stories in which real people or copyright characters are involved in forced sexual situations.

"Forced sexual situations," means anything that a copyright holder may take offense at.

We do not publish celeb/fanfic stories in which the characters are artificially aged - that is, under 18 years old in reality or in the source material, but made to be over 18 for the story.

You can't read about Joanie Cunningham and her husband here in a fan fiction story. Even though the actress was over 18 when her character got married on 'Happy Days' because, uh, well because ...

All characters must be 18 years of age or older at some point in the story, movie, television show, video game, manga, or anime upon which your story is based.

"At some point" doesn't mean at any point. It means at the point we think of when we think of a character. IE: Shirley Temple wasn't an adult actress and an ambassador, she was a child actress.

Easier being not lazy and writing your own characters .

While some fan fiction might be lazy, I don't consider all of it to fit this description.

Television and movies have to exist in their own business and legislative environments just like Literotica does. (Trust me I'm not blaming the site owners, I'd hate to walk a mile in thier shoes. I have my own fun dealing with governmental bodies that require that I install a piece of equipment, and then disable it, and then have it's deactivated status independently certified annually. And I'm in a business that they aren't trying to shut down.) These external rules constrict storytelling. Often truncating a promising story line at the point it prepares to cross a line advertisers feel would cause a loss in sales.

That is usually where my stories depart from, the sexual tension is built up and then the story just ends, or it goes on teasing forever. I like to bump it over the logical edge. That can't be done here because this site is bound by the same artificial rules established by brain dead advertisers, credit card companies and legislators who sell unconsummated and only partially satisfying sex, never the real deal.

Moonlighting, Gilligan's Island, Blue Bloods, Seventh Heaven, Quantum Leap, NYPD Blue, Star Trek (all of the series), Hill Street Blues, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, NCIS, CSI, and many more have contained significant plot lines that were blatant sexual teases. I just added subsequent chapters.

I have written many well received and high scoring pieces that I first posted here. But nowadays when they get taken down they go right back up elsewhere without change. I didn't say where, but it has been mentioned.

 

[Bramblethorn]

While some fan fiction might be lazy, I don't consider all of it to fit this description.

In the general case, I agree with you. Fanfic can be a very thoughtful and creative pursuit; there are plenty of pro writers out there who got their start with fanfic and I've seen some use techniques from fanfic in their pro work.

In this one, though, "lazy" is OP's self-description:

I am thinking of doing some fan fiction. It is a bit lazy, but I won't have to describe the players in my story as they will be readily known by anyone who reads my story.

 

[Abbafan]

Here is the guidance:





Basically, Harry Potter, Disney are not allowed. Others, proceed with caution.

Interesting. I think the last Harry Potter book/couple of movies fall under what is acceptable. It's been a while, but aren't they seniors, over 18 near the end of the story. And the series ends by showing them a few years later, married with kids. Maybe because people tend to think of those characters as kids because that's what they were for the vast majority of the series, it's off limits?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Interesting. I think the last Harry Potter book/couple of movies fall under what is acceptable. It's been a while, but aren't they seniors, over 18 near the end of the story.

At the time of the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione are 18 but Harry is still seventeen, which is the age of majority for wizards in that setting. As you say, there is an epilogue set some years after.

And the series ends by showing them a few years later, married with kids. Maybe because people tend to think of those characters as kids because that's what they were for the vast majority of the series, it's off limits?

I suspect also because it's a series primarily written for kids. The others that are specifically banned are Simpsons and "Disney" (which doesn't seem to cover stuff like MCU). Even though characters like Dumbledor and Monty Burns are old as balls throughout the story, they're off limits here.

 

[Abbafan]

At the time of the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione are 18 but Harry is still seventeen, which is the age of majority for wizards in that setting. As you say, there is an epilogue set some years after.



I suspect also because it's a series primarily written for kids. The others that are specifically banned are Simpsons and "Disney" (which doesn't seem to cover stuff like MCU). Even though characters like Dumbledor and Monty Burns are old as balls throughout the story, they're off limits here.

Yeah, makes sense.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

AO3 and FFNet is your best option and they're purpose. AO3 allows more explicit content than FFN. That's why I have two versions of my Peanuts story on each. I'd never waste time doing fanficts on here again.

 

[gunhilltrain]

AO3 and FFNet is your best option and they're purpose. AO3 allows more explicit content than FFN. That's why I have two versions of my Peanuts story on each. I'd never waste time doing fanficts on here again.

I would consider those sites for a - call it a re-imagination of a certain movie. It was based on a novel, so that's another issue. I wrote a lot of it a long time ago as a screenplay, but merely for my own entertainment. It has romantic themes but virtually no explicitly sexual content.

The only time I've had a celebrity in a story I changed her name and some other details of her life. But if someone read it carefully, they would be able to tell who it was. But one could also argue it was merely someone similar to the celebrity, but not really her.

 

[RetroFan]

I don't write fan fiction so it doesn't really affect me, but the 'didn't turn 18 in original works' rule could be a little blurred at times especially if a TV show is resurrected or movie sequel made years after the original.

The American sitcom Full House is a good example. The main characters of Danny, Joey, Jesse and Becky were obviously adults throughout, while DJ, Kimmy and Steve all turned 18 during the show's original run so writing fan fiction about them would always have been okay. The younger Tanner sisters Stephanie and Michelle did not turn 18 in Full House, so the under 18 rule would apply for both of them which is clear and fair enough. When the spin-off Fuller House commenced in 2016 more than 20 years after Full House finished, Stephanie (obviously now an adult) was a character, but youngest daughter Michelle (also an adult now given the time that had passed) never once made an appearance. So while fan fiction involving Stephanie would now presumably be okay, fan fiction involving Michelle - referenced by other characters as living in New York - would not be okay due to the character not appearing once in the spinoff?

 

[AvroAnson]

THE NEW GUERNSEY TIMES -- Friday, February 19, 2021

Literotica Author Killed for writing Fan Fiction

A 56-year-old New Guernsey man was killed this morning when he was crushed to death at a Perth Amboy service station. State Troopers attribute his death to retaliation for a Fan Fiction story he had just submitted to the popular literary erotica website 'Literotica'.

Mr. Edwin U. Schmazel of 1313 Luckless Lane, Perth Amboy, was declared dead at 1:13 p.m. by a doctor at University Hospital, where he had been taken by paramedics following the incident.

A passenger in Schmazel's car, Mr. Steve Buttkis, 33, was injured. He is in satisfactory condition at the hospital. Also injured was Mr. Randall Shameal, 42. He was hurt after Schmazel's car struck the car he was fueling.

State Police Investigators said the incident occurred after Schamazel had words with a Mr. Anon Y. Mouse, 50, a self-styled professional literary critic known as 'El Uno Bomber' who apparently did not enjoy Schamazel's recent 'Sopranos' fan fiction.

According to eyewitnesses, Mouse stated that any stories featuring a significant appearance by Vito Spatafore should be placed in the Gay Male category. Schamazel stated that, "while there was an assumed sexual relationship between Spatafore and Phil Leotardo in this work of fiction, because it was not explicitly depicted, Fan Fiction is the appropriate category."

The discussion became an argument where Mouse threatened to "'one-bomb' your (Schamazel's) entire story catalog." Schamazel replied that he had "turned voting and anonymous comments off because of people like you ... Have fun ..."

Enraged Mouse apparently took revenge when Schlamazel stepped around the car to reach the fuel pump.

Schlamazel's car was running. Mouse reached inside the driver's window and put the transmission into gear. The car lurched forward, striking Schlamazel and dragging him a few feet until it collided with Shameal's car, crushing him in between.

Police are actively searching for Mouse who then fled the scene of the incident in a red, blue, yellow, and orange, 1989 Yugo missing its front bumper and left fender.

The Yugo's New Guernsey licence plate number is FUK-UZAL.

The CrimeStoper TipLine is 555-1234.

 

[AvroAnson]

I don't write fan fiction so it doesn't really affect me, but the 'didn't turn 18 in original works' rule could be a little blurred at times especially if a TV show is resurrected or movie sequel made years after the original.

More than a little. Because the way the rule is interpreted is based on impressions. I stopped submitting fan fiction here for a while after a 'Joanie Loves Chachi' fan fiction I wrote was rejected as underage. 'JLC' was a 'Happy Days' spinoff. The second season of 'HD' was 1956 -- that year's presidential election featured in stories -- the actress was 10. Nine years later when the actress was 19 her character graduated from high school and moved to Chicago with her boyfriend Chachi.

That's okay, 'JLC' only ran 17 shows. I have several fan fictions published "somewhere" that continue that story forward.

The American sitcom Full House is a good example. The main characters of Danny, Joey, Jesse and Becky were obviously adults throughout, while DJ, Kimmy and Steve all turned 18 during the show's original run so writing fan fiction about them would always have been okay. The younger Tanner sisters Stephanie and Michelle did not turn 18 in Full House, so the under 18 rule would apply for both of them which is clear and fair enough. When the spin-off Fuller House commenced in 2016 more than 20 years after Full House finished, Stephanie (obviously now an adult) was a character, but youngest daughter Michelle (also an adult now given the time that had passed) never once made an appearance. So while fan fiction involving Stephanie would now presumably be okay, fan fiction involving Michelle - referenced by other characters as living in New York - would not be okay due to the character not appearing once in the spinoff?

I have published several 'Fuller House' stories (but not here) some have 'Full House' flashbacks (like DJ recalling her "first time" -- it was with Kimmy BTW) IMHO if a character is mentioned contemporaneously by other characters the character "appeared." I also did this in several Brady Bunch fan fictions where "Cindy" was said to be in college in Colorado.

While logical, none of this gets past the "perception" problem that likely drives the rule. People who are anti-sexual at heart are looking for any toe-hold to attack what they see as permissiveness. Since nobody will defend the depiction of "children" in erotica they paint everyone and everything in those terms.

Their logic is flawed, their position is as hypocritical as having Bristol Palin as the face of abstinence education. But then again, I was born in a state founded by a man who: "Despite being imprisoned for three years in 1827 for kidnapping a fifteen-year-old girl, he enjoyed a distinguished political career" (afterward). (Wikipedia)

 

[TxRad]

'Celebrities & Fan Fiction' isn't very good for a Star Trek parody.

Been there, done that, got a score of under 4 for my trouble.

 

[AvroAnson]

'Celebrities & Fan Fiction' isn't very good for a Star Trek parody.

Been there, done that, got a score of under 4 for my trouble.

"While a parody targets and mimics the original work to make a point, a satire uses the original work to criticize something else entirely. Another way to look at it is that satire uses another work as a way to comment on something happening in the world that has nothing to do with the original work." -- LegalzoomDOTcom

In the USA (where LitE's servers are) "Parody" is legally protected but "Satire" is not.

I once had 'Sacrificial Lambs', a fan fiction, up at Lit. It was about a few struggling Hollywood actors whose "work" in series was being introduced as new characters only to be killed off in lieu of an "important" actor. 'Star Trek', being the new crewman/woman played prominently.

The story was inspired by an old interview of Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind'. she said: "I'd rather play a maid than be one. Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid?" ($700 US in 1933, which is $13,918 today.)

That interview was research for 'Sewing Circle'. It's another of my deleted fan fiction stories deemed to fit the label "Satire" more closely than "Parody." Because the stories as a whole poked fun at movie and TV tropes in general rather than a specific movie or TV show.

I disagree with that categorization. Because the part of each story that included specific -- like Star Trek -- references were directly making fun of those referenced -- again like Star Trek -- introducing a new character specifically as a stand-in for a metaphorical Issac. To provide a cost-free loss to the MC or show.

But I understand, I wouldn't be dealing with any potential fall out. Both of these stories are up "elsewhere." At sites used to dealing with the annoyances associated with publishing fan fiction.

 

[rescatooor]

I have to revive this thread since I have a further question on the topic.

Does anyone know, how does Literotica feel about shows that are technically targeted at teens? I'm talking The O.C., Gilmore Girls (storylines with Rory or Lane, that is, maybe Lorelai is up for grabs) or Gossip Girl. I am sure in some of these shows the characters do eventually grow into adulthood and maybe the fan fiction might even be set in those years. Are these permitted?

I recently saw something like this on the site and i was a little confused. And yes, I may have reported it. I may feel bad if I was just being a hasty Karen and these stories would be a-okay. Any wisdom?

 

[SimonDoom]

I have to revive this thread since I have a further question on the topic.

Does anyone know, how does Literotica feel about shows that are technically targeted at teens? I'm talking The O.C., Gilmore Girls (storylines with Rory or Lane, that is, maybe Lorelai is up for grabs) or Gossip Girl. I am sure in some of these shows the characters do eventually grow into adulthood and maybe the fan fiction might even be set in those years. Are these permitted?

I recently saw something like this on the site and i was a little confused. And yes, I may have reported it. I may feel bad if I was just being a hasty Karen and these stories would be a-okay. Any wisdom?

1. I'm not sure what you mean by "targeted." The presumed age of the target audience for the story is irrelevant. The question is the age of the characters in the source material. YOu cannot age up source-material underage characters and present them as adults in your story. So, you can't write erotic fanfiction about Harry Potter and Hermione.

2. I personally do not report stories. I leave that to Laurel. If a story somehow gets published that in my opinion violates Laurel's content regulations, I don't care, and it's somewhat puzzling to me why others would care. But that's just my opinion.

 

[rescatooor]

1. I'm not sure what you mean by "targeted." The presumed age of the target audience for the story is irrelevant. The question is the age of the characters in the source material. YOu cannot age up source-material underage characters and present them as adults in your story. So, you can't write erotic fanfiction about Harry Potter and Hermione.

2. I personally do not report stories. I leave that to Laurel. If a story somehow gets published that in my opinion violates Laurel's content regulations, I don't care, and it's somewhat puzzling to me why others would care. But that's just my opinion.

No, apparently it does matter who the target demographic is. It is discussed in this thread previously. For instance, the no Disney rule: the characters might be adults, still does not make it acceptable for this site.

Still, you have lots of Marvel fan fiction here (now owned by Disney, also largely consumed by children) so the line seems very blurry to me. And I wish to understand.

Edit: Also for the same reason you can't write Dumbledore fan fiction, because he is deemed a character in a children's book. Makes me wonder how much Alice in Wonderland fan fiction there is on this site.

 

[SimonDoom]

No, apparently it does matter who the target demographic is. It is discussed in this thread previously. For instance, the no Disney rule: the characters might be adults, still does not make it acceptable for this site.

Still, you have lots of Marvel fan fiction here (now owned by Disney, also largely consumed by children) so the line seems very blurry to me. And I wish to understand.

Edit: Also for the same reason you can't write Dumbledore fan fiction, because he is deemed a character in a children's book. Makes me wonder how much Alice in Wonderland fan fiction there is on this site.

You're right. I'd forgotten about the Disney/Harry Potter adult thing. My error.

As far as Disney is concerned, as long as the movies are based on previous source material, I don't think it's forbidden if the age of the characters isn't obviously under 18. For example, there's no prohibition on writing an erotic "Snow White" story as long as Snow White isn't under 18.

 

[rescatooor]

You're right. I'd forgotten about the Disney/Harry Potter adult thing. My error.

As far as Disney is concerned, as long as the movies are based on previous source material, I don't think it's forbidden if the age of the characters isn't obviously under 18. For example, there's no prohibition on writing an erotic "Snow White" story as long as Snow White isn't under 18.

Yeah, this is true. But that line gets easily crossed if Dopey suddenly enters the scene. Or if you have a mermaid with red hair named Ariel.

With that said I am more curious about IPs that are at the threshold of adulthood in more than one sense. The aforementioned "teen shows".

I tried to look into it. It seems like sometimes people get around it by just acting like the actors are the characters. In the case of something like Gossip Girl, this might make sense because rich, beautiful actresses (who are over 18 by now) aren't all that different from rich, beautiful NY socialites (who are minors for a good part of the narrative). But with The O.C. and Gilmore Girls, I'm not so sure.

I think what makes the whole thing even messier is that sometimes you have way younger actresses playing older characters. Like Keira Knightley in Love Actually (in which she was underage and she was playing a woman getting married). Now, would it be okay to write an erotica about that character?