# Fan fiction and related works: do people aside from their creators really enjoy it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147 "2010-03-28T22:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/61 "2010-03-31T01:08:22Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Did you know about the loonballs who printed out a selection of the “best” Dean/Castiel **and** Jensen/Misha, put it in a three-ring binder and were going to give it to Misha?! Seriously scary people exist in SPN fandom. > > I can cast aspersions because no one in my fandoms (Trek, NCIS, Pundits) is that loony. Yet. 🆒 Hahahaha, you must be referring to Star Trek reboot, because original Trek is the craziest everrrrrr. And yes. I think people talked down the person who wanted to do that. That doesn’t mean fans haven’t presented the actors with other, horribly embarrassing presents. whyyyyyyyyyy do they do this? Have they no sense of boundaries? Ugh it makes my skin crawl. Of course, I can’t even bear watching con videos on YouTube, I have such embarrassment squick. And look, I’ll be the first one to admit that there are some loony people in my fandom, but it’s a big one, and most of the people are nice, not crazy, and productive members of society. We don’t like to talk about that one woman in England who has covered her entire bedroom with pictures of Jared Padalecki. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/62 "2010-03-31T01:40:36Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > And yes. I think people talked down the person who wanted to do that. That doesn’t mean fans haven’t presented the actors with other, horribly embarrassing presents. whyyyyyyyyyy do they do this? Have they no sense of boundaries? Ugh it makes my skin crawl. If I remember correctly, someone(s?) in the Smallville fandom once gave Michael Rosenbaum a box of sex toys. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/63 "2010-03-31T01:43:08Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > If I remember correctly, someone(s?) in the Smallville fandom once gave Michael Rosenbaum a box of sex toys. … Used? ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/64 "2010-03-31T01:50:24Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > … > > Used? … OK, I just checked, and it doesn’t seem like it. Thank god. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/65 "2010-03-31T02:19:35Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I generally can’t let a fanfic thread go by without mentioning Ratliff, even though he’s incredibly old-school by now. While he wasn’t as straight-up crazy as the Harry Potter and Twilight fans, and he didn’t include much sex in his stories, he was…creepier, in a way, primarily due to his fixation on a young girl who had a speaking role in _one single_ Star Trek: TNG episode, eventually creating her into the biggest Mary Sue that ever walked the internet. > > And yet people loved him. Why? [The MSTings are gold](http://home.netcom.com/~mblackwl/mst.html). In the 15 years since I first read them, I have never found anything that even begins to approach the sheer amount of pure, undistilled _funny_ that the MSTed fics contain. It’s been pointed out that some fic writers can beat out 99% of the published material out there, and that’s true; similarly, the MST writers are way, way, way better than Joel Hodgson and Mike Nelson. > > To Ratliff’s credit, despite his stories being ragged on so mercilessly, he took it in about as good a grace as you could expect. > > Edit: After rereading a bit…well, maybe they were funnier when I was 15. Hm. Oh, wow, I had almost forgotten Ratliff and his creation, Marrissa Amber Flores Picard, who was adopted by Jean-Luc Picard, became a captain herself at a ridiculously early age, married young, and was crowned royalty of Essex (was it a whole planet? I forgot that part.) She truly was the biggest Mary Sue that ever Mary Sue’d. Ebony Dementia Dark’ness Raven Way (of the infamous Harry Potter fic _My Immortal_) couldn’t hold a candle to her. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/66 "2010-03-31T02:42:12Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > If I remember correctly, someone(s?) in the Smallville fandom once gave Michael Rosenbaum a box of sex toys. I must admit if there’s anyone who might find that kind of thing funny, it’s Michael Rosenbaum. Misha Collins would also probably have some choice words for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/67 "2010-03-31T03:24:56Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Misha Collins would also probably have some choice words for that sort of thing. I would probably die of embarrassment if it happened, but you’re right, Misha would totally find it funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/68 "2010-03-31T06:32:37Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Oh, wow, I had almost forgotten Ratliff and his creation, Marrissa Amber Flores Picard\*\*[…]\*\* She truly was the biggest Mary Sue that ever Mary Sue’d. Ebony Dementia Dark’ness Raven Way (of the infamous Harry Potter fic _My Immortal_) couldn’t hold a candle to her. 😛 Heh. Funny thing is, the original Mary Sue _was_ from a Star Trek fic…[from a fanzine in 1974](http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/dark/1000/marysue.htm). Apparently it was a parody. Thank the old gods in heaven. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/69 "2010-03-31T09:16:29Z")
After looking at the fanfic, I went and looked up Ms. Flores to see what canon actually said about her. Her [Memory Alpha article](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Marissa_Flores) is short enough that I’ll quote in its entirety: > [@](#): > > **Marissa Flores** was one of three children given a tour of the USS Enterprise-D by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2368 as a reward for the best science projects at that year’s science fair. At nine years old, she was the oldest of the children, but was incredibly shy. > > The tour was cut short when the Enterprise was severely damaged by a quantum filament. Picard and the children were trapped and isolated in one section of the ship at the time. In an effort to keep the younger children optimistic while they searched for a way out of the damaged section Picard made Marissa his Number One. An emboldened Marissa responded well and helped to get the children to safety. > > As a further reward for the bravery the children showed Picard promised to resume their tour later, this time including the battle bridge. (TNG: “Disaster”) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147/70 "2010-03-31T14:37:02Z")
Sure. For a wank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-fiction-and-related-works-do-people-aside-from-their-creators-really-enjoy-it/534147.md?page=3)