Experiences Fandom RP and Fanfiction

[Onmyoji]

Main question: when you do fandom rp, do you consider it the same as writing fanfiction or do you separate them?
If you don't usually write fanfiction, but participate in fandom rp, have you ever considered it as fanfiction? Would you call your fandom rp a 'collaborative fanfic' or not really?
Or if you write fanfiction anyway, did you consider making your rp into fanfic or use fanfic ideas in rp?
Can you state that you're 'writing in the X fandom' because you're doing fandom roleplays in that fandom?
Would your perception be different for 1x1s and group fandom rps?

Just something I thought about recently. I write fanfiction, but I usually separated rp from fanfic. I always said that 'I write in the fandom' only when I actually wrote fanfiction, but didn't count roleplaying. Mostly because no one would see my writings for roleplay while I post the completed fanfics for everyone to read... But maybe the difference is not that big? After all, roleplaying is a form of collaborative writing, and you can write a collaborative fanfic, why not? If you wrote 50k words for a fandom rp, can you actually say that you wrote a 50k words fanfiction in the fandom?

I realize it all depends on perspective, so I'm curious what other people think about it!

 

[Idea]

If you don't usually write fanfiction, but participate in fandom rp, have you ever considered it as fanfiction? Would you call your fandom rp a 'collaborative fanfic' or not really?

I think a major distinction between fan fiction and roleplay, at least for me, is the usage of cannon characters and more importantly appropriation of the original story. Fan fiction to me is more like an expansion of the original story, whereas a fandom roleplay simply borrows the setting or ideas from the original but utilizes it parallel to the original story most of the time. There is some overlap, in that some fandom roleplayers do use the cannon characters or expand on the cannon story, thus such roleplays would be both fandom roleplays and fan fiction in my opinion, however my own fandom roleplays I wouldn't consider fan fiction.

I do want to make sure I'm utmost clear on the fact that I am not in any way insinuating fan fiction is bad per se. I have had a few fan fiction ideas in my days, though the only time I actually went through with it was for a certain request of a short story regarding a character from that fandom.

 

[Onmyoji]

There is some overlap, in that some fandom roleplayers do use the cannon characters or expand on the cannon story, thus such roleplays would be both fandom roleplays and fan fiction in my opinion, however my own fandom roleplays I wouldn't consider fan fiction.

So basically, if a fandom roleplay sticks close enough to the story/in-character interactions it can be also considered fanfiction as well as roleplay? But if it just uses fandom setting to tell an entirely different story with OCs and whatnot, then you wouldn't consider it fanfiction?

 

[Redfork2000]

I usually tend to separate the two, due to how different I work with each of them. When I write fanfiction, I can fully use my headcanons, my OCs, and everything else. For example, I have about 200 OCs for My Little Pony, and I wrote a fanfiction series where most of the plot with my characters is developed. I use headcanons and all the canon x oc or oc x oc pairings I want. Meanwhile, when I RP I usually have to leave my headcanon and character arcs away, and mostly adapt my OCs to the setting. The way I write my OCs in fanfiction is very different from how I write them in RPs. Mostly because while their story has a huge timeline with continuity in the fanfiction series, I don't have that in RPs. Everything I RP isn't canon to my fanfiction series, and instead I just adapt characters to fit the RP.

I think the only time I could actually RP my characters the same way as I write them in fanfiction would be if I was roleplaying with someone who had already read my fanfiction series. Only then would I be able to work with my characters without having to change them much. I still wouldn't consider that as fanfiction though. In my eyes the main difference would be that while fanfiction has a greater emphasis on continuity and on applying headcanons to what I'm writing, expanding on the universe I'm writing about, while fandom RPs are generally more like sticking to the original content, and if I use OCs, adapt them so they fit there. You see, most of my fanfiction expands a lot on the original content, to the point where it's a considerably different setting. In fact, once I RPed with someone who had read my fanfiction series, and we both said it was actually an RP of my fanfiction series rather than an RP of the original show. I understand that this distinction might not be true for everyone, since there's people who make their fanfiction stick a lot more to the canon content, but I least for me, this is how it's different for me. It's a completely different experience to write a fanfiction applying all my headcanons and developing my OCs with their full story arcs and timelines, than to write an RP that sticks closer to the original setting, where headcanons are used more scarcely, and I usually end up adapting my OCs to the setting, or making new ones for the RP altogether.

 

[Idea]

So basically, if a fandom roleplay sticks close enough to the story/in-character interactions it can be also considered fanfiction as well as roleplay?

Not necessarily "stick close". Just making use of them is pretty much enough, though I would argue that even if you don't use the cannon characters, if your story is just a repeat of the original then it's still fanfic.

But if it just uses fandom setting to tell an entirely different story with OCs and whatnot, then you wouldn't consider it fanfiction?

Nope.

 

[FoldedPages]

I would say they’re fundamentally different? Fanfiction’s flows are completely different than roleplays. Like, you wouldn’t be able to just copy and paste your role play and publish it like that. You’d have to piece it together cohesively for the audience to understand.

Also, the way your partner may react with their character may be a completely different way you, as a writer, would want the fanfic to go?

I think it’s all personal preference really.

 

[Lord Food Person]

Sometime I do kinda connect da two. Especially since there r many canon divergence fanfics out there, me rp would def resemble one had I been none da wiser to it. I have never written fan fiction before but some of me rps could def be down 4 a nice read.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So I do a lot of world building for my fandom roleplays and I do put up disclaimers and link back to the original creators fan fiction policy in those. The same way I would if I was writing a piece of fiction on say A03 or something.

That said roleplay in writing solo fiction is fundamentally a different process. It doesn’t matter if it’s original or linked to a fandom.

The big different is just the collaboration. Most of the time fiction (original or fan) is done by a single person telling their own story. They might have multiple characters but they also have total control over how the story progresses and how each character behaves.

If you tried to do the same thing in roleplay you would rightly get called an ass. And be accused of micromanaging and puppeting other people’s characters.

Because roleplays tend to be collaborative works where the story isn’t usually as set in stone and more importantly two or more people are controlling all the characters.

So there is more of a sense of sharing the narrative.

Now rarely fiction might be a collaboration between multiple authors but even then it’s usually heavily outlined out to make sure the story has a full arc.

Whereas roleplays (at least the ones I have taken part in) don’t have arcs, just a continuous progressing story.

 

[CrowOuttaHell]

Personally, I tend to separate the two. There's kind of a fine line between collaborating on a fanfiction and writing an RP based in a certain fandom. For me, you can use canon characters in both though I tend to observe that canon characters are mostly used in the former (though as someone who hasn't done a whole lot of Canon X OC for an RP, I may be a bit inexperienced in that regard).

Collaborative (fan)fiction for me is two people working together to create a concrete story- i.e plotting together, beta-reading a single draft/story, suggesting characters that both of you can work on. In a sense, it's like this- writing (fan)fiction is like a co-op game, while RP is a back-and-forth turn based game.

I rarely do fandom RP (seriously, the only fandom RPs I've probably entered adds up to a grand total of one fandom: Pokemon) due to my own kind of insecurity about the source material. I'd rather create an original universe that is somewhat based off a certain fandom, but open enough to add original ideas to. I've dabbled in fanfiction every now and then (both collaborative and solo- I mean, currently, I'm writing fanfic for a certain psychological horror visual novel with self-aware AI...).

So, yeah, for me, I tend to separate fandom RP from fanfiction.

 

[Onmyoji]

Whereas roleplays (at least the ones I have taken part in) don’t have arcs, just a continuous progressing story.

Interesting, your experience seems to be totally opposite of mine. In most of my long-term rp the plot has 'arcs' and those arcs can be summarized as separate episodes while still being parts of a continuous story.

So there is more of a sense of sharing the narrative.

Not to argue, more like to clarify your point: imagine two authors are writing one story, one chapter each. Would it be fundamentally different from the shared narrative of roleplaying?

writing (fan)fiction is like a co-op game, while RP is a back-and-forth turn based game.

I like this comparison!

due to my own kind of insecurity about the source material. I'd rather create an original universe that is somewhat based off a certain fandom,

That actually leads up to another interesting topic. Why some people may prefer total AU or can-n-divergent AU in fanfiction/rp!

 

[rae2nerdy]

Interesting, your experience seems to be totally opposite of mine. In most of my long-term rp the plot has 'arcs' and those arcs can be summarized as separate episodes while still being parts of a continuous story.


Not to argue, more like to clarify your point: imagine two authors are writing one story, one chapter each. Would it be fundamentally different from the shared narrative of roleplaying?


I like this comparison!


That actually leads up to another interesting topic. Why some people may prefer total AU or can-n-divergent AU in fanfiction/rp!

On the phone so just gonna quote the whole post.

But in my mind simply the style of writing is different.

If a roleplay has arcs their usually loosely created so as not to give the impression the GM is micromanaging and basically making people write up their fiction for them.

Because roleplay has a degree of narrative freedom for each individual player even when tied to a specific arc.

A work of fiction doesn’t have that freedom. Even if it’s two people writing a piece of fiction together there is usually a very strict story arc in play and a specific way each character is meant to act to achieve that arc.

So it’s not so much broken into each person controls their own narrative and move along a common arc as it is in roleplays.

It’s two people following the same narrative to achieve the arc.

 

[Onmyoji]

On the phone so just gonna quote the whole post.

A work of fiction doesn’t have that freedom. Even if it’s two people writing a piece of fiction together there is usually a very strict story arc in play and a specific way each character is meant to act to achieve that arc.

So it’s not so much broken into each person controls their own narrative and move along a common arc as it is in roleplays.

It’s two people following the same narrative to achieve the arc.

Even in fiction, with more than one author it's as strict as you want it to be. But now I understand what you mean!


I had some experience in collaborative writing which was basically rp then turned into fanfiction. Maybe this was why it made me think about this topic.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Even in fiction, with more than one author it's as strict as you want it to be. But now I understand what you mean!


I had some experience in collaborative writing which was basically rp then turned into fanfiction. Maybe this was why it made me think about this topic.

Strict might have been the wrong word. It’s more about narrative, a roleplay is rarely going to translate to a very good story.

And vice versa. I have read published books that were roleplays and seen any number of people try to make roleplays out of story ideas.

But the two formats are very different. Ultimately one is meant to be more social while the other is more about publishing an idea.

Whether your publishing it online in IRL you are still publishing it for peoyour people who are not you and your partner to read.

No one roleplays so people outside of their group can read their work. They roleplay so that they can socialize and write with their group itself.