Jun
12th
2018
Fanfiction Studies! · 9:24pm Jun 12th, 2018
Hey gang, I've found yet another cool individual who'd like to do a study on how people consume and write fanfiction. They're studying at UCLA for the MFA (So many letters!) and could use some insight.
Check it out here and try and signal boost a bit too. Cuz c'mon, we deserve to be known for the awesome talented people we are!
EDit: They're specifically looking at gender and race in fanfic and representation vs consumption.
I filled it out.
Most common character race: Other: Pony.
To most of the questions I basically just put "I really could not care less." Racebent? Genderbent? Whatever, if it serves some purpose to the story.
I've filled it in, but I suspect my answers will just confuse them.
Race of the characters
Other: Both unicorns
Are these characters' genders changed from the original?
Other: OCs not appearing in the original
etc.
Kind of only half relevant here, but hey, I did it. :B
Submitted, though I did have to respond "Neutral" to several questions. This questionnaire definitely isn't looking at the medium the way I usually do. I didn't even realize racebending was a thing until now.
I don't understand. What pairings?
4881668
I was trying to think:
If I've ever come across a story where the Mane 6 are different types of pony, and I came up with a vague, tickling memory of something where Rainbow was the unicorn who was Princess Celestia's student--she'd perfected flying magic to such a degree that she performed sometimes with the Wonderbolts even as a youngster--but I don't recall anything else about the story...
Answering the questionnaire here, I found myself a little uncomfortable with the questions asking what fanfiction should do and what its responsibilities were. I finally had to answer that I always thought of fanfiction as a fairly irresponsible pastime, all told....
Mike
4881693
There have been several stories in that regard, but I'm pretty sure that's not what the questionnaire had in mind.
s7.leapfrog.com/is/image/LeapFrog/my-little-pony-a-canterlot-wedding-video-app_58918-96914_1
Gotta fight that heteronormativity!
pre00.deviantart.net/ae01/th/pre/f/2015/172/2/5/bon_bon_x_lyra__request__by_the_queen_of_cookies-d8xc6n1.png
DAT'S MORE LIKE IT!
I put Pony in other races. I'm sure that is going to either confuse them, skew their data or make them think I'm some sort of sexual deviant.
I myself consider the story and the characters first. If the story and the characters in it are interesting then it doesn't matter to me how they identify or which orientation they prefer.
If the story concerns that subject, I think it is definitely worth a read if it is well written and well told.
I believe that, overall, our little (if you can call 10 million plus small) is wonderfully inclusive and well versed in its portrayals of same sex, transgender and heterosexual characters. As One Fimfiction writers tag line reads'Stories about ponies are stories about people.' I just wish the real world was as intelligent, caring and tolerant as the characters in our stories and the beautiful people I've met that write about them.
4881648
Agreed. It feels a little cart-before-the-horse for me to consider the presence of gender/racially/sexualitybent characters as a sign of socially responsible fanfiction before measuring the quality of the story itself. If anything, I feel like a poorly-written story exploring genderbending does far more damage towards the general understanding of gender issues than it does good. I'm not inherently opposed to stories featuring gender/racially/sexualitybent characters, but I tend to prefer high-quality stories over low-quality ones regardless of the subject matter.
4881776
As above, but also what you've stated here - one of the things I've loved to bits about the community is that a fair amount of the time I don't even think about the cultural implications of a story I've enjoyed reading, and I've had multiple occasions where I've been in the middle of describing a synopsis to someone else in non-pony terms, and realized halfway through "holy crap, this is actually really freaking progressive. Didn't even notice."
I answered it, but I have to agree with several of the comments below/above (Depending on settings)
4881648 Personally, I find the idea of using fanfiction to have some sort of political agenda aberrant.
Obligation to support a specific group? Why?
I mean. No offense. I'll step outside and march for people's rights, but using fanfiction to specifically write stories with the specific purpose of promoting a view on gender issues or equality? That's a personal choice, not something that should be expected of writers of fan-fiction.
I filled it in, and clarified most of my fandoms are animal fantasy (that's pony, Filly, Niko, and Valt when it hits... so the races are equine, cervine, and occasionally canine). I'm curious if they consider Pokémon to be Asian
In all seriousness, though, this politicisation of hobbies needs to stop. It sucks the fun out of everything, and it's counter-productive to boot. I doubt it'll make a difference (the title alone has White Guilt written all over it) but I did my part, at least.
I'll see you on the battlefield. You will not see me before it's too late
4881849
Yeah, I basically put a polite version of "fuck right off with that" as a response to the 'social responsibility' question. No one is responsible for social issues just because they privately decide to create art.
I also found the question as to whether women need more representation in fanfiction funny, and pointed out that the overwhelming majority of fics I've read are majority or exclusively female. that isn't just an MLP thing, either, from what I've seen in other fandoms. Ah, well.
4881820
I've had the same situation happen with me, as well. It's very profound when you realize just how deep some of the stories reach.
4881849
I quite agree. It should never be the fandoms responsibility to endorse a specific view point. That should be an individual choice. The fact that as a fandom we are tolerant and supportive of others, exclusive of race and sexuality speaks to who and what we are as a whole. Not all of us are of the same mind, that is true. But the vast majority are.