Fanfiction setting. Bad idea?

MadGod

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I've been devouring web novels left and right for the past few years and the idea of writing my own has finally started taking root in my head.
The problem is that any story or setting I've tried making up so far has simply not been up to my standards. So it occurred to me that instead of creating a whole new original and interesting world from scratch I try building upon an existing framework.

More specifically, there's this web novel called "Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World" which the author seems to have abandoned. The novel, if you haven't heard of it, made a pretty poor impression on the internet as being some crappy shallow harem isekai with a very tedious and boring story. For some reason though I liked it a lot. I also find it's settings to be an easy starting point for me to write, as the world building in it has a few well-established elements but is otherwise incomplete and lacking, leaving plenty of space for me to build upon.
What I fear though are the downsides of going for a fanfiction setting, such as the need to read the original material first (which is rather obscure in the first place), or my novel not being taken into consideration by potential readers because of the reputation of the original novel.

My intention is to create a slightly more in-depth world and story than paranoid MC wants to get laid but is too afraid of any girl he doesn't have on a leash. I am also not interested in becoming an actual proper author, I already have a career in engineering. I intend to write only as a side hobby. I would, however, find satisfaction in knowing there are a few people who read and actually enjoyed what I wrote.

So is going ahead with the fanfiction setting a bad idea, should I just scratch it and keep trying to come up with something myself?
 

XianPiete

Bad Fiction Author
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I would think about the elements I enjoyed reading, and then start my own story and see where I could take it. Make up your own characters and own it. Even if you start out making something similar, at some point you'll end up in a new direction.
 

tak

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Will your characters meet the Slave Harem's characters? If yes, then you have to read the story so they're not OOC (out of character)
Will your story follow every world building of Slave Harem's? Will Slave Harem's MC action be mentioned/affect your story? (iirc he has some deals with kindoms but i don't remember the specific) If yes, then you have to read the story.

You just want to take the core world building and the characters won't meet? Go wild.
You want to throw the world setting and just use the characters? Go wild.
You're not really sure about the characters & world building? Go wild anyway. There's so much self-insert "fanfiction" of Holy Scriptures, and some is considered classic.

I am also not interested in becoming an actual proper author, I already have a career in engineering
I hope you mix some of your career knowledge to the story. It doesn't even have to be about engineering, it can be about shitty customers & how you deal with them. I love learning things & karma.:love:
 

MadGod

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Thank you for the answers.

My intention is to "take over" an unimportant character that the MC screws over right at the start of the story and isn't mentioned anymore for the rest of the novel. So yes, there will be quite a lot of interaction with Slave Harem's characters.
That said, I think I may be able to make it so one doesn't have to read the original story in order to make sense of things by giving explanations using the (new) MC's inner monologue. The original MC is a transported person and I intend to have my new MC be a reincarnator who has read the Slave Harem novel.
Now that I say it out loud it kinda sounds like the otome game trope.

As for including RL knowledge, that goes without saying. Any isekai protagonist who doesn't make use of knowledge from Earth is a moron. I have no intention of creating a moronic MC, at least not for my first novel.
 

tak

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one doesn't have to read the original story in order to make sense of things by giving explanations using the (new) MC's inner monologue
you could also use footnotes if the explanation disturbs the story or if you want to add more lore/additional info. good luck!
 

Wahyu123

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I've been devouring web novels left and right for the past few years and the idea of writing my own has finally started taking root in my head.
The problem is that any story or setting I've tried making up so far has simply not been up to my standards. So it occurred to me that instead of creating a whole new original and interesting world from scratch I try building upon an existing framework.

More specifically, there's this web novel called "Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World" which the author seems to have abandoned. The novel, if you haven't heard of it, made a pretty poor impression on the internet as being some crappy shallow harem isekai with a very tedious and boring story. For some reason though I liked it a lot. I also find it's settings to be an easy starting point for me to write, as the world building in it has a few well-established elements but is otherwise incomplete and lacking, leaving plenty of space for me to build upon.
What I fear though are the downsides of going for a fanfiction setting, such as the need to read the original material first (which is rather obscure in the first place), or my novel not being taken into consideration by potential readers because of the reputation of the original novel.

My intention is to create a slightly more in-depth world and story than paranoid MC wants to get laid but is too afraid of any girl he doesn't have on a leash. I am also not interested in becoming an actual proper author, I already have a career in engineering. I intend to write only as a side hobby. I would, however, find satisfaction in knowing there are a few people who read and actually enjoyed what I wrote.

So is going ahead with the fanfiction setting a bad idea, should I just scratch it and keep trying to come up with something myself?
I think it's still fine since it is still a light novel series instead of famous Anime
 

DaoFox

『Silkmaid』『Queen Sylvia Glasscrest of Arya』
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Dec 23, 2018
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personally, the original isn't good enough to get a piece of "fanfiction".

just take the bits you liked and write your own story on top of those elements with a new MC.

as for being a proper author, please remember that basically almost all authors have dayjobs not involved in writing. its always been something you made time for everyday around your schedule.
 

jinxs2011

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Dec 23, 2018
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Will your characters meet the Slave Harem's characters? If yes, then you have to read the story so they're not OOC (out of character)
Will your story follow every world building of Slave Harem's? Will Slave Harem's MC action be mentioned/affect your story? (iirc he has some deals with kindoms but i don't remember the specific) If yes, then you have to read the story.

You just want to take the core world building and the characters won't meet? Go wild.
You want to throw the world setting and just use the characters? Go wild.
You're not really sure about the characters & world building? Go wild anyway. There's so much self-insert "fanfiction" of Holy Scriptures, and some is considered classic.


I hope you mix some of your career knowledge to the story. It doesn't even have to be about engineering, it can be about shitty customers & how you deal with them. I love learning things & karma.:love:
Including a bit of your personal knowledge makes things feel a bit more real, imo. As you say, it lets people learn a little something along the way as well. Still, people (or I do, at least) often tend to take stuff like that at face value, so you have to be careful and check that you're right about it first, or misinform a bunch of people.
 

Ai-chan

Queen of Yuri Devourer of Traps
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I've been devouring web novels left and right for the past few years and the idea of writing my own has finally started taking root in my head.
The problem is that any story or setting I've tried making up so far has simply not been up to my standards. So it occurred to me that instead of creating a whole new original and interesting world from scratch I try building upon an existing framework.

More specifically, there's this web novel called "Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World" which the author seems to have abandoned. The novel, if you haven't heard of it, made a pretty poor impression on the internet as being some crappy shallow harem isekai with a very tedious and boring story. For some reason though I liked it a lot. I also find it's settings to be an easy starting point for me to write, as the world building in it has a few well-established elements but is otherwise incomplete and lacking, leaving plenty of space for me to build upon.
What I fear though are the downsides of going for a fanfiction setting, such as the need to read the original material first (which is rather obscure in the first place), or my novel not being taken into consideration by potential readers because of the reputation of the original novel.

My intention is to create a slightly more in-depth world and story than paranoid MC wants to get laid but is too afraid of any girl he doesn't have on a leash. I am also not interested in becoming an actual proper author, I already have a career in engineering. I intend to write only as a side hobby. I would, however, find satisfaction in knowing there are a few people who read and actually enjoyed what I wrote.

So is going ahead with the fanfiction setting a bad idea, should I just scratch it and keep trying to come up with something myself?
Don't call it fanfiction.

Just take the elements such as:
1) Slave harem
2) Labyrinth exploration
3) Resetting skills
4) Magic

And boom, you've got a generic isekai harem story. Unless using the same name is very important to you. You can give it a different title such as "Dungeoneering Slave Harem" or "Slave Harem In Another World's Dungeon". It's fine. Just use your own words and your own systems instead of copying that story's system and words.
 

Sabruness

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I agree with some in this thread. Rather than writing a fanfic of what is a horribly mediocre and boring webnovel, why not just take the general concept and tweak it in ways you think it would be better then write originally from there. One of my oldest stories started from a thought like that. I had considered writing a fanfic of a series i really loved but my knowledge of the story and the world wasnt enough so i took the concept, tweaked it some and added in what i like than let my average writing ability and imagination go from there

Fanfics are very much a tricky thing. In my opinion, the best fanfics are those that have indepth knowledge of the source story but are able to twist things into a new and/or different direction that respects the source while being it's own work.
 

Jemini

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I would say it's fine so long as you take it somewhat in your own direction. You could just use the other universe as a basis for the setting and build on top of it.

Something else you might do, if you have ever checked out the Ghost in the Shell franchise, I would recommend watching Pandora in the Crimson Shell. Pandora is written by the same person who made Ghost in the Shell and he states that they are a shared universe with Pandora taking place several decades before Ghost. The two completely tell their own story, and the cyborgs being somewhat similar in terms of the robitics involved are about where the similarities end.

If two different series in a shared universe can be so incredibly different to the point where you would think Pandora is inspired by Ghost, not made by the same writer and set in the same universe, then you should be able to take notes and find a way to go your own direction as well with a similar universe setting that has a lot off the same rules.

(If you haven't watched Ghost in the Shell, I would recommend watching both. In fact, watch Ghost in the Shell first, then Pandora in the Crimson Shell, and then shake your head at how completely different the two are in tone and just about everything and be inspired by how little it means that you have a similar universe to some other piece of fiction.)
 

WarlockOfTheVoid

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I personally think u r taking a risk in choosing this particular Novel for fanfic . Don't get me wrong I am one of the few people that like this novel, and also one of many that r disappointed by it , anyway the problem with a fanfic as u have already stated is the lack of freedom in world building and the rules have to follow the original, this is both an upside and downside so I suggest taking a tried and tested universe for fanfic Namely Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU ) , it's extensive , easily built upon , there r couple of great examples of fanfic I can give u with this premise for reference, U can incorporate marvel comics elements easily and selectively not to mention the source material is easily available
Now if u haven't seen all the movies or only want to do novels then I suggest taking the ones that r already completed ( tld as well ) the upside would be that u will be able to plan the story much easier and the possibility of loopholes decreases alot
 

Jemini

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I personally think u r taking a risk in choosing this particular Novel for fanfic . Don't get me wrong I am one of the few people that like this novel, and also one of many that r disappointed by it , anyway the problem with a fanfic as u have already stated is the lack of freedom in world building and the rules have to follow the original, this is both an upside and downside so I suggest taking a tried and tested universe for fanfic Namely Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU ) , it's extensive , easily built upon , there r couple of great examples of fanfic I can give u with this premise for reference, U can incorporate marvel comics elements easily and selectively not to mention the source material is easily available
Now if u haven't seen all the movies or only want to do novels then I suggest taking the ones that r already completed ( tld as well ) the upside would be that u will be able to plan the story much easier and the possibility of loopholes decreases alot

I'm going to have to voice my disagreement on every single level with this post.

1. I haven't read the novel either, but I can tell at a glance the MCU is going to be almost the complete opposite of whatever mood or tone the OP was going for in choosing this world to base their story off of.

2. They are not saying they are writing a fan-fic, they are saying they want to fork the universe and make their own story in it. (Fork is computer programing slang FYI. It means to either put a partition on the computer or copy the code, basically set up something to separate the original OS from whatever you are about to do, and then start going your own direction with it.)

3. That being the case, I feel the recommendation should not be to change the universe they use for their story, but to simply feel free to go more of their own direction and either change or supplement the world rules a little more and not be too caught up in the idea of it being a fan-fiction. The world the story is based off of could make for a good outline, but I would strongly encourage adding more of your own flavor to it for the sake of making it fit closer to whatever story you are wanting to tell.

TL;DR The only problem with a fan-fic world is it might become a restraint. It should be fine if you don't let it become a restraint by, instead of making it a fan-fic, make it a world inspired by the other work in question.
 
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