There should be a fanfic writing game called the showrunners challenge where someone writes a story and partway through someone else can play things like “actor leaves after 4000 more words” or “topic now too politically sensitive due to unforeseen world events” or “lost rights to that reference”
I need this to be a real game right the hell now
I do not have the energy do do a full layout right now b/c it is kickstarter season and I am under water, but here’s a prototype that can be solo-played (you can also have a friend just pick from the lists if you want that pvp feeling.)
Showrunner’s Challenge By Runawaymarbles (also sorta by sprintingowl)
Begin writing a fanfic. It is a feature length television program being watched every week by thousands. There is no plan. The industry is in shambles. The writer’s room is barely hanging on.
At the end of each chapter, roll a d12.
1 Everything at once. Roll twice, use both. If you get this again, keep rolling. Your only way out is to stop getting 1s. 2 Product placement! The next chapter must center (and subtly promote the features of) a product belonging to the most recent brand you’ve seen. 3 Fan favorite. Your most recently mentioned character (or named object) is now beloved by the audience. You must give it a bigger part in the story, a special destiny, or an important new romance or friendship. If you get this twice for the same character or object, the adoration cools and you must go back to treating the character or object normally. 4 Executive meddling. You must change to a different genre. You cannot go back to a genre until you have changed genres three times since then. 5 Audiences are craving more coziness. The next chapter must be completely low stakes and set you at ease. 6 Audiences are craving more suspense. The next chapter must take place entirely in a single location, ideally just a single room, and build tension with every exchange of dialog. 7 Audiences are craving more action. The next chapter needs to involve at least one extended fight scene, and the weapons must be the last three objects mentioned. 8 Audiences are craving more romance. The next chapter needs to involve a deep, sappy confession of either love or admiration between two characters that have not previously been romantically involved. 9 Go to the most recent line in your fic that references a brand. Due to ongoing legal action, that brand cannot be mentioned again, but you score 1 audience point every time you allude to it in a way that paints it in a negative light. 10 The two most recently mentioned characters’ actors have, IRL, gone through a VERY messy divorce or friend breakup. You cannot put them in the same scene, but they must both remain relevant parts of the show. If you get this with the same two characters again, they reconcile. 11 The most recent negative event (stabbing, poisoning, banishment to jupiter) is now the center of a very real IRL news story. You must immediately pivot away from all plotlines involving it and, if possible, also find away to apologize for even thinking to include it without breaking character. 12 The most recently mentioned character’s actor has decided to leave the show. You must write them out in the next chapter. If you are brave, also roll a d12. 1–6, they were well loved and their sendoff must be as flowery as possible. 7–12, they were despised by the cast and crew. Mulch them.
You win if you can complete the fic in a state of relative coherency.
Alternate Game Mode: TV Digest Version
Don’t write full chapters, just summaries of what happens in each chapter.
Alternate Game Mode: Realism Edition
Start your fanfic with your own telling of the first episode of an existing show, then proceed from there.
“Public libraries are such important, lovely places!” Yes but do you GO there. Do you STUDY there. Do you meet friends and get coffee there. Do you borrow the FREE, ZERO SUBSCRIPTION, ZERO TRACKING books, audiobooks, ebooks, and films. Have you checked out their events and schemes. Do you sign up for the low cost courses in ASL or knitting or programming or writing your CV that they probably run. Do you know they probably have myriad of schemes to help low income families. Do you hire their low cost rooms if you need them. Have you joined their social groups. Do you use the FREE COMPUTERS. Do you even know what your library is trying to offer you. Listen, the library shouldn’t just exist for you as a nice idea. That’s why more libraries shut every year
If this post persuades even one person to get a free library account and use it, my time on this hellsite will not have been spent in vain
TOP 10 BOOKS ON FANFICTION.NET BASED ON NUMBER OF FANFICTION (1999-2022)
To make this bar chart race, all series titles in the Books Section on November 29 (or the closest date to it) of every year were copy-pasted from Wayback Machine to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then inputted to Flourish to turn into a bar chart race.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to […] is short for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Romance of the 3 […] is short for Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.
In 2000-2003, FFN used Miscellaneous Novels as a catch-all tag for all books that didn’t have their own category yet. It was then renamed to Misc. Books in 2004-2007 before it was removed by 2008.
In 1999, fanfiction weren’t divided into sections like Anime/Manga, TV, Books, etc. yet. It was just a small list of mixed fandoms.
Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles was actually in third place in the year 2000 with 126 fanfiction. However, it was the only year FFN had fanfiction for her works, that’s why it doesn’t turn up in the bar chart race.
In 2001, a new category called Harry Potter Author Fics was in 4th place with 888 fanfiction, but this category was removed by the following year.
FFN also hosted Vampire Hunter fanfiction in 2001-2002, but was later on removed because its author L. K. Hamilton didn’t want fanfiction of her works.
The Tamora Pierce category was in the Books Section from 2001-2009 as a catch-all category for Pierce’s works before it was removed by 2009.
Similarly, the L.J. Smith category was in the Books Section from 2000-2007 as a catch-all category for Smith’s works before it was removed sometime in 2009.
I’ve decided to keep the author categories in the bar chart race since most if not all of their series did not get their own category until their author’s category was removed.
Originally, the fanfiction list was sorted alphabetically too, but was changed to number of fics at around early 2013.
By November 2013, FFN started abbreviating numbers above 1,000 to K, so exact numbers aren’t available for series with more than 1,000 fanfiction.
This bar chart was made with the assumption that the numbers listed in the Books section are correct. I can’t seem to get the same numbers for some of these series when I go to the specific series’ page and toggle ratings, other filters, and language to All though… I’m not sure where the discrepancy is coming from. (And it’s not the crossover fic numbers that need to be added to serie’s total fics from what I’ve observed.)
For example, HP currently has 844k fanfiction, but if you go to HP’s page and toggle ratings, other filters, and language to All, you’ll only get 800k fics. HP also has 51.3K crossover fanfiction, but adding those two still doesn’t equate to 844k…
Please refer to this post for more bar chart races.
Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏
I like just deciding to believe things. Ajin is now about gays. Ajins are gays. Straights don’t see em as people. Alter ego straights can’t percieve unless theyre tryna kill em. When they get loud they can stun straights (why the hell is a gay speaking up). Can usually pass, but some chads choose not to. Insanely powerful when they fully embrace being gay. Would love to lock other gays up in barrels or crashed trucks or whatever (haha just kidding…unless?). Maybe or maybe not add enrichment to their enclosure. Apparently skilled enough to remove and package organs like fuckin hearts?? Uhhh would not hesitate to jump into a woodchipper and fry their hand like friend chicken. Yeah sorry everybody ajin is about being gay now.