Self insert fanfics vs wish fulfillment fanfics

[OP1000]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

 

[SailusGebel]

Bruh.

 

[BlakeOblivion]

Yes. The major difference is the autor's personal investment in the main character: in a normal wish fulfillment story the main character is a vessel for the reader to project into, while in a self insert it's a vessel for the autor to project into.

This may seem to be a small distinction, but it causes the autor's personal biases and desires to become much more obvious than it would be in a normal wish fulfillment story, since those tend to focus on things most people find appealing(love, friendship, wealth, success, etc), rather than things the autor in particular finds appealing(specific fetishes, for example).

 

[LilRora]

They are almost always either a wish-fulfillment or have both elements present. Technically it's possible to write a self insert that doesn't look like wish fulfillment, but one has to actually try and do that purposefully.

If I were to divide them by definition though, then wish fulfillment is a story where the author forces (to a smaller or larger degree) certain views and opinions and traits on the characters. Very often it's fanfiction, but it doesn't have to be.

Then, self insert is a story where the author imagines themselves in a story, and that one refers exclusively to fanfiction. However, since they imagine themselves in a story, their wants and opinions carry over as well - which, you guessed it, is basically wish fulfillement, additionally specified to what the author wants from the story. There are ways to write a self insert that doesn't look like one (mostly because it's generally associated with harem and smut), but writing a self-insert that doesn't have elements of wish fulfillement fantasy... well, at the very least, I don't know how to prove anything there. Arguably, self insert can be called wish fulfillement by definition.

The main difference between the two will be who the main character is. If it's a fanfiction with the same main character that doesn't deviate too much from their original character, then it's very likely wish fulfillment. If the character is original, it'll be a self insert instead.

Edit: damn post merging.

Yes. The major difference is the autor's personal investment in the main character: in a normal wish fulfillment story the main character is a vessel for the reader to project into, while in a self insert it's a vessel for the autor to project into.

This may seem to be a small distinction, but it causes the autor's personal biases and desires to become much more obvious than it would be in a normal wish fulfillment story, since those tend to focus on things most people find appealing(love, friendship, wealth, success, etc), rather than things the autor in particular finds appealing(specific fetishes, for example).

It's kinda funny how based on that definition virtually any story could be called a wish fulfillement fantasy. A reasonable person won't do that, of course, unless they want to annoy someone, but still. It's a pretty good definition overall, but it can be slippery in many cases.

I'd personally add that the author forces the main character to be certain way in wish fulfillement, as opposed to them developing organically and realistically in non wish fulfillement stories. That, of course, gets slippery as well once we start asking where's the line between natural and forced development, but well.

 

[BlakeOblivion]

It's kinda funny how based on that definition virtually any story could be called a wish fulfillement fantasy. A reasonable person won't do that, of course, unless they want to annoy someone, but still. It's a pretty good definition overall, but it can be slippery in many cases.

I'd personally add that the author forces the main character to be certain way, as opposed to them developing organically and realistically. That, of course, gets slippery as well once we start asking where's the line between natural and forced development, but well.

Really the difference between wish fulfillment and a regular story that appeals to common human desires is the degree to which that appeal is central to the story: in a wish fulfillment story appealing to the desires of people is the central focus, what the entire story is built on, while in non-wish fulfillment stories those elements play a support role instead, being things that add to whatever is the central focus rather than take the spotlight.

Edit: obviously there's a spectrum of how much a story focuses on those base human desires, and different people have different thresholds/opinions on what parts of that spectrum counts as wish fulfillment and which don't, but in general that is the distinction.

 

[IanWhite2105]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

So if you were to one day learn that you have Scarlett Johansson as your co-worker would you fuck her in the restroom that same day? That is the difference between wish fulfillment and self insert. Doing things that you think you would do or doing things you may fantasize about that would never and could never happen. And yes, that is a situation I am taking from a really shitty fan-fiction.

 

[BlackKnightX]

They're different things but usually go hand in hand. Self-insert refers to when the author puts themselves in the story, usually the protagonist, but it can also be a side character. Wish-fulfillment refers to when the author gets their wishes fulfilled in fiction.

Say, you wish you have a cheat ability that makes life easier, you literally make yourself the protagonist (self-insert) and do exactly that in the story (wish-fulfillment).

In fanfiction, this is when the author inserts themselves into the story as the protagonist (self-insert) and usually dates characters they have a crush on (wish-fulfillment).

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Off-topic

Spoiler

Despite it being mere meme + couple of words, it took me freaking 1800% effort, a.k.a 18x more effort than it should (1 min work expectation vs 18 min work reality).

Putting the words were easy, but fine-adjusting the font and transforming the font to fit the perspective on the paper did quadruple the time spent.

And frustratingly, it's still not perfect.

This whole paragraph is 18x easier and faster to write than the whole over build meme damnit.

Luckily my bento came in right after the image is done, therefore today is a good day.

Update 1 :

There's a problem I can't ignore, the text size of the "self-Insert" is too small compared to "Wish fullfilment".

It's supposed to be easy, but fiddling with tools and features and whatnot inside the app is quite troubling.

30 sec of edit took 3 minute of effort. I almost give up on the second minute mark.

It took too long because I'm trying to do "non-destructive workflow" which were supposed to let me edit it afterward if I want to change it again.

Too much trouble for a mere meme edit.

Update 2 :

I can't stand the font. Changed it from Monospace to Sans-Serif. Fiddling with perspective tool in phone took me freaking 15 minute. Damn.

First version vs Update 1 vs Update 2 (current) :

Spoiler

first version :

(Notice the small "Self-Insert" text size)

Update 1 :

(The "Self-insert" text Is bigger now)

Update 2 (Current) :

(Font change and bits of improvement)

I know there's so much to be done, but I simply gives up as the whole meme is already doing it's job with 75%-80% of desired result after 20% of effort, and +5% after minor edit.

Paying dozen premium silvers for mere couple of standard coin isn't worth it.

Update 2:
Damn perspective tool on mobile. My phone is on 3% by now.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Self-insert can be interesting because it can show the authors IRL struggles through various mediums without being wish fulfillment.

Wish fulfillment on the other hand is usually OP protagonist with a harem trying it's best to make an MC that the reader can project onto.

Both of these can be in the same story so it's a toss up on which is better or worse. That is usually decided by the consistency of the plot and how well it is written.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

Both of them are wish full fillments but self inserts are just more obvious and the author is the MC

 

[hippoman]

I imagine there is a lot of overlap. As it takes the author recognizing and implementing their own flaws and idiocies to make their self insert not a power fantasy.

One thing that made me realize this was when I was reading Narutaru, near the very end of the manga, the main character undertook an action that I really wanted them to do, I cheered when they did it. It turned out to be a disastrous mistake, that moment really stuck with me because the character did exactly what I wanted, and it resulted in objective tragedy that neither me nor the character expected, but in hindsight makes some sense.
That moment made the series really stick with me and remind me that just because the character I am writing is doing what I want, does not mean it is the right decision.

 

[Le_ther]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

it's mostly the self-insert given to fanfics most of the time to incorporate characters created by the author(Fan) while wish fulfillment is something akin to a tag in itself because it's more of a rendition of a fan's thoughts into a certain story. Well can't say for sure but that's what's my thoughts on both, since sometimes you can do a wish fulfillment without any self-insert like doujinshi(Fan-Comics)

 

[TheEldritchGod]

 

[Tsuru]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

Self insert
can be : for reader and/or author

Wish fulfilment (+self insert or not)
Basically realising what you/reader/author want most
To tell a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig example. AO3. Hotel series. MC somehow can have sex with a bunch of anime girls from diff dimensions:Tifa/cynthia/samus/etc
-----------------------
Edit: oops, misread your question. Here the answer about writing style ↓
Self insert. MC is probably deadpool/realistic-like. Which BTW is now VERY mainstream among popular chinese raw novels. Like "bruh a cultivation treasure? I know the xianxia tropes as a modern chinese so i know its a fking trap so i wont go there, people only live once, i prefer cultivating in my cave for 200years and surpassing others slowly peacefully"

Wish fulfilment
its more a YAHOOOOOO yolooooo~~~ type of writing
Biggest example. Is the mega famous notorious novel "Invisible dragon" (people theory its written by a genius or a 3years old or a foetus bc so bad)
Dragon MC fly to the sky, and breath-attack-nuke america. Yep, happened. Somehow glimpsed randomly in and saw this.

But of course wish fulfilment can MODERATED so its a normal work/fanfic.
Another example.
Konosuba in AO3 series.
Kazuma was a lawyer genius. Ikkikomori bc WHY THE F NOT bc he can work at home. Kazu act like a mature man (despite his young age). Act kind to aqua, get close to all girls like a casanova, and luna even get included.

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Hello!!!!
Is there a significant difference between the way fanfics with self insert main characters are written compared to fanfics with wish fulfillment as a major part of the fanfic?

You have asked for two different things, and I am afraid that, due to the very nature of "fanfics", it is very hard for people to distinguish.
A "self-insert", as you probably know, is when the writer makes themselves, the writer, appear in parts of the story. What you are asking about, specifically, is "when they are the main characters." Yes, there is a big difference between wish fulfilment and being self-inserted, however, when you are talking about fanfics, things get blurry because:

1: When someone is writing a fan fiction, they already have a realised universe and are now adapting it to their desires;
2: If they are adapting it to their desires, this is inherently a fulfilment of their own desires in regard to that story;
3: If they place themselves into the story, then it changes little in the dynamics of wish-fulfilment.

If there is something that would be different, it would be how characters interact. Since you have a new character that does not belong to that universe, contrary to a not self-insert novel, the dynamic of the story is now centred on the new character.

But let me make you think of this: you do not need to write self-insert main characters and make them have their wishes realised. After all, what a story is about is different of who their characters are. As such, if a writer had as a plan to write a fan fiction not to indulge themselves in the story, but the objective of expanding it, you would end up with something that is not entirely wish fulfilling. At least, not in that which concerns the story dynamics.

The very fact of writing a fan fiction is already an act of wish fulfilment, but it should not blur the lines of what CAN be made in a story with what IS the reality of a story. And, what is in a story is different from what is outside a story. Therefore, those things are two different things, involving different aspects of the narrative.

I hope this was a bit clarifying.

 

[beast_regards]

Self-inserts are the stories revolving around the author's avatar influencing the world directly, usually thanks to the meta knowledge they have about the world in question. Self-inserts are commonly fan-fics, with author avatars purposefully trying to influence, improve or ruin the plot of the canon works by introducing outside elements in the form of author avatars armed with meta-knowledge (and often with more powers that explicitly ruin the meta). Most self-insert characters are aware of their plot armour and are not a character on their own, but the wrecking ball purposefully created to turn the plot of the original work into shambles. Some self-inserts can be self-aware or can fail in influencing the world because the author admits he realistically wouldn't be able to do anything, or even admit flaws in the writer's (and thus characters) personality, but it's largely beyond the point - self-insert is about what author wants to do about the world. For that, they need to be fan-fics, otherwise, the readers won't have a context for the meta-narrative.

Wish-fulfillment is a story about fortunate and desirable things happening to the main characters, which frequently coincide with what the author or audience would wish would happen to them, but the events are not meta in any way.

Of course, both can overlap, but I think it is rare since the self-inserts do have their special way of approaching the story.

For example, the wish-fulfilment character gets a harem of cat girls because readers secretly dream about having a harem of cat girls. The self-insert character gets the harem of catgirls because he wants to punish the original canon work and their characters by stealing their harem of cat girls.