Number Five: Dignity

And yet another all-too-common (for my tastes, anyway), issue.

Where has all the dignity gone from writing, especially when it comes to fanfictions?

Honest to Primus, just, why?

Obviously, this ties in to the previous rant about characterization and the way people can somehow just completely mutilate beloved characters. Please, just don't.

JUST SAY NO, KIDS. SAY NO TO DRUGS.

And this is one shitty ass drug. Pardon the language, but seriously? My AllSpark, it's terrible when I expect something eloquent and beautiful because that's what these successful (that is, the original works) are, and then I feel like I've been scammed by some coy con artist and all of a sudden I'm in a pawn shop of all this . . . well, dented, bruised, broken, weird, shit-tastic writing. (No, shit-tastic is not a compliment in any way.)

And why?

Because while it uses the same characters, and possibly even follows the same plot line as this amazing, successful piece of art that it'sbased off, it just . . . falls flat. Because all of a sudden this beautiful, amazing thing, is warped to the mind of someone who, well, probably can't comprehend the complexities of what they're basing their own writing off.

That, or maybe they just don't care. I don't know. But when I think of Optimus, I don't think of someone who blushes. I don't think of someone who gets weak in the knees. Over ANY species or being. I think of someone stoic and strong . A natural leader who believes in equality.

And maybe someone who has a thing for being a ballerina in some alternate universe.

I don't know why, that thought just entertains me to no end.

But anyway. The thing is, when I write, I most definitely try to keep things the way the creators would've appreciated seeing them.

And some of these fanfictions I've brushed paths with?

Well, I hope the creators never know of their existence. And I hope I never brush paths with them again.

Not just transformers, but in general, some fanfictions could make the creators turn over in their graves, or send them to an early grave if they're still alive. It's a terrible, terrible thing. When so much of it is warped that it's, well, terrifying, it's horrible. I can't stand to read these things. I stop myself before I get a headache.

Because, frankly, if you're going to start writing something that's based off something else, then please just for the love of Primus, try and do your best to RESPECT the vision the creator had in mind.

If I had a successful original work, and found out that someone had made a fanfiction of it for the first time, I would be elated, thrilled, honored.

If I found out that that fanfiction pretty much ripped every idea my work was founded on to tiny shreds and then took a shit on top of it?

I would be shattered. I would hate humanity for a while.

So why do we do this to people's original creative works? Yes, fanfictions are amazing. It's incredible, and let's face it, easy, to write something when the groundwork has already been laid out for you. You have a skeletal structure. All you have to do is add the details.

But if you're going to take that skeleton and crack the bones, alter the appearance so that it looks like something entirely different (and not in a good way), and corrupt the very core of the principles that creation was founded on, what the bloody hell is the point?

It's not a show of respect when you break the core of something. It's terrible. It's like telling the original creator "I hate you". For the love of everything good and holy, please do your best to do the original work justice. Unless you're doing some crazy parody or something, but you should at least attempt to make that well known.

Seriously. There's a reason these works are so big, so amazing, so loved. And if you're just writing to write, then great, but that's even more reason to take your time, calm yourself, and put some real thought into the creation that you are basing your fanfiction off.

Do your research before getting involved in the transfan universe, and for the sake of new members, as well as the creators who gave you something to work with, respect the original image that was worked so hard for.