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Everyone does it, they're just in denial

5 (23.8%)

Never! It's weird!

8 (38.1%)

Sometimes, if it isn't too obvious

4 (19%)

They're so well disguised that they'd never know

1 (4.8%)

Well of course! Isn't that the whole point?

1 (4.8%)

I might have, but not intentionally.

2 (9.5%)

Total Members Voted: 20

[BenRG]

As a long-running fan-writer, today's strip really touches an important note for me and something that has genuinely affected me personally.

Personally, I've sworn off of consciously doing it after writing a friend at the time into a story and it basically making us both feel so weird that we felt better stopping interacting (this was about 25 years ago and that mess has become a life lesson for me). I've also seen stories (especially self-insert fan-fiction) with OCs based on real people (including friends of the author) turn pretty toxic very, very quickly. We won't talk to much about the toxic cesspit that are celebrity slashfics, which is basically what made Fanfiction.net close their board for stories about real people.

However, what's your attitude and experience with RL OCs, as I think of them?

[Mr_Rose]

No, Hannelore, you don’t. Not if it’s one of Marigold’s fics at least. Like as not to put you right off firemen permanently…

[Thrillho]

Several people I know are major influences on characters in a novel another friend of theirs wrote.

I have it on my shelf to eventually read, as it includes two characters based on my partners, but one of the other people in had the common indecency to die of a heart attack unexpectedly a few weeks ago despite only being 39, which makes that book some of the last of him last in the world, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

I've never been one for fanfic, I don't really get it, but a lot of my friends are. I would have thought that being too particularly conscious of people you know showing up in your fiction would be a little bit 'not done', as it were, especially if it is sexy fanfiction.

I'm also not sure it's entirely fair to refer to all slash as a toxic cesspit?

[flondrix]

Sexy space firemen.

[flondrix]

On the other hand, Hanners has probably met space firemen, which would ruin the fanfic.

[flondrix]

Several people I know are major influences on characters in a novel another friend of theirs wrote.

I have it on my shelf to eventually read, as it includes two characters based on my partners, but one of the other people in had the common indecency to die of a heart attack unexpectedly a few weeks ago despite only being 39, which makes that book some of the last of him last in the world, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

I've never been one for fanfic, I don't really get it, but a lot of my friends are. I would have thought that being too particularly conscious of people you know showing up in your fiction would be a little bit 'not done', as it were, especially if it is sexy fanfiction.

I'm also not sure it's entirely fair to refer to all slash as a toxic cesspit?

I heard an author being interviewed on NPR, who had written a novel that was more or less based on his family.  The novel had been turned into a movie, and he had tried to avoid his mother seeing the movie, without success.  She asked him, "Why didn't you want me to see your movie?"  "Well, your character has a sex scene."  "Yes, but it's with Richard Gere."

[shanejayell]

As a fanficcer, no I wouldn't use real people as OCs. I HAVE occassionally used real life events as basis of stories, so I could sorta see that....

[Wombat]

I'm guilty of writing real life fanfiction (or friend fiction, thanks Tina Belcher), but it was in high school. My friends who were aware of it were on board, anyway. (Those who weren't aware tended to be friends' crushes, which featured as plot points in the story.)

[John Allenson]

I don't agree with the divide between "fanfic" and "fiction".  The ethics should be the same whether it's Margaret Atwood or Hanners.

Real people get put into fiction all the time; Shakespeare and Vincent van Gogh showed up in Doctor Who.  Fictionalized versions of the British Royal family are quite popular. 
I know authors who ask people for permission before using versions of them in stories.  I'd be careful about making caricatures or emphasizing unpleasant features.  I'd be careful about creep factors, (I know a murder mystery writer whose killers and detectives are fully OC but whose victim are thinly disguised versions of acquaintences.)

[flondrix]

Public figures are fair game.  Public figures such as Donald Trump have no rights whatsoever.  SCORCHED EARTH!

I have wondered how it works for authors of alternate history, though.  Suppose I write an alternate history in which the Beatles never made it, and Prime Minister Lennon is embroiled in a scandal in which it has been alleged that he has been cheating on his wife Cynthia with an avant-guard artist named Yoko Ono, which is actually a smokescreen diverting public attention from the less titillating financial misdealings he has been involved in.  Meanwhile Paul McCartney's score for the latest Star Wars installment has been panned by critics as "insipid" and "highly derivative."  Ringo Starr has been portrayed by a robot since the early 2000's in every timeline, regardless of whether "The Beatles" exist or not.  How much trouble am I in?

[flondrix]

Fictionalized versions of the British Royal family are quite popular.

"I'm the bloody Queen, mate.  Basically, I rule."

[pwhodges]

Fictionalized versions of the British Royal family are quite popular.

One of the closest to the bone, I felt, was the TV film King Charles III, in which Charles has acceded to the throne and proceeds to bring on a constitutional crisis (and widespread rioting) by refusing to sign a bill he doesn't approve of.  It's worth watching, actually.  He ends up

(click to show/hide)

abdicating in favour of William, rather than betray his principles.

[notStanley]

If someone can recognize themselves as the sole role model, is it really an Original Character anymore?   But just as there are not unlimited Story Archetypes, each character is an amalgamation of the authors experiences & knowledge.  Where is the line between Inspired vs Insert? 

[Farideh]

New comic.

Awww, Mar-bear

[shanejayell]

Marigold isn't aware of Hanner's issues, I guess?

[Gyrre]

Marigold isn't aware of Hanner's issues, I guess?

I don't recall the strip number, but there's one where the two of them are sitting on Marbear's bed and Hanners tells her "Thank you for lying to me. You're a good friend." It was implied that Marigold had yet to change her sheets post coitus. So I'm guessing Marigold is aware.

[sitnspin]

She's been told about them, but Mari still thinks everyone else's life is perfect and she alone suffers.

[Gnabberwocky]

Been a little while. Happy new year, I guess.

I feel like any mind/body switch in QC would be a disaster, regardless of the characters.

[DaiJB]

I feel like any mind/body switch in QC would be a disaster, regardless of the characters.

I imagine Roko thinking, "Oh no, not again..."

[Farideh]

Marigold and Hannelore are good friends, and Hanners is very open about her issues, so Marigold is aware of them.

[John Allenson]

She's been told about them, but Mari still thinks everyone else's life is perfect and she alone suffers.

I'm pretty sure this should be in the past tense.  Mari is no longer in as bad a position as she was before.  She is developing some self-confidence which allows her to develop some empathy.  In this comic she is embarrassed about the way she used to see Hanners and acknowledges that it was stuff she had been working through.  That implies she has worked through it.

[Farideh]

New comic, and it has open and honest communication!

[shanejayell]

Awww. Hanners is like 'Ew, sexy Dale' probably, anyway.

[sitnspin]

She's been told about them, but Mari still thinks everyone else's life is perfect and she alone suffers.

To be fair, low self-esteem and depression will do this. I have chronic depression and it fucks with your ability to logic. Even when I know the things my brain is telling me aren't true, they still feel true.

[hedgie]

Absolutely.  When one is deep into it, it’s easy to be caught in the feeling, and other things don’t always quite register.  Thankfully, my depression and anxiety seem to have gone down quite a bit ever since I came off the SSRIs, and therapy seems to be enough, although I don’t recommend up and stopping one’s medication like I did.

[sitnspin]

I have been managing without meds for a few years now and it is definitely a struggle. It requires a lot of mindfulness and paying close attention to my moods and mental state. It gets pretty bad sometimes, but I still prefer it to being medicated. It's not a path for everyone and not one that should be chosen lightly.

[hedgie]

I’m still on the other ones, which actually seem to help, it’s just that even *without* the therapy, my brain works better without the SSRI.  Those things have always fucked me up, and since I’ll be in a better position in terms of health care in a couple of months, I’ll hopefully be able to find a shrink who will listen.

[BenRG]

The possibility is that Hannelore wants to read the space adventure. She won't realise that it's also a fantasy about Dale until she actually ignores Marigold's warning and reads that chapter for herself. Any doubts about how she feels about Dale are probably answered by the fact that she needed an entire chapter to describe him in his pilot's suit.

[baronvonfritz]

Nice to see Hanners so casually touching another human without making any kind of deal about it, even subtly.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I am reminded of the skin tight outfit Dale wore briefly at CoD.

[Farideh]

Yeah, the one Emily made! I wonder how she's doing?

[shanejayell]

New strip.

Yup, adulting sucks.

[Farideh]

Adulting sucks in so many ways. Still, I prefer it over being a kid for the most part.

[Jimor]

Honestly, the fact that a game dev hasn't created a hoof trimming simulator yet is one of the biggest lost opportunities in gaming. Anybody who has fallen down the hoof-trimming rabbithole of YouTube knows exactly what I mean.

[Gyrre]

Yeah, the one Emily made! I wonder how she's doing?

Was there a name for that smoothie?

If not, I suspect one of y'all can come up with something better than 'clown car' (which sounds like it should have way more ingredients and be the same color).

EDIT: typo correction. Where the hell is my stylus?

[Gnabberwocky]

I'm both young and an avid gamer, but when it comes to the success of games in the genre of Power Washer Simulator, I'm as baffled as the stereotypical grandpa.

[sitnspin]

If I wanted a job, I'd get a job.

[Mr_Rose]

I'm both young and an avid gamer, but when it comes to the success of games in the genre of Power Washer Simulator, I'm as baffled as the stereotypical grandpa.

Especially the ones like that bus driving sim that’s accurate enough that some kid who had trained on his local route in-sim successfully ran the real route after hijacking the bus one day because (if I remember correctly) the driver was late starting…

[BenRG]

I think I've posted before that my concern is that May could be so determined to be capable, useful and responsible that she may push it too far to becoming controlling - her plan above all other things.

[John Allenson]

EH!
All three of them are in the process of becoming more functional people.  Hannelore is learning to be less OCD (which would require on-going therapy), and Marigold is learning to adult (which sucks) so May could be learning a better balance between controlling and helplessness.

[notStanley]

"the smoothie ingredients are circus peanuts, orange juice, and tang"

That sounds truly horrifying!  Though +37 points for taking back the smoothie concept from the health gurus :}     

[Wingy]

Circus peanuts and tang are mostly sugar.  The circus peanuts sweetness will offset some of the Tang's bitter, so that might not actually taste too bad...  As a smoothie presumed to have health benefits, it is of course an utter disaster.

[flondrix]

I'm both young and an avid gamer, but when it comes to the success of games in the genre of Power Washer Simulator, I'm as baffled as the stereotypical grandpa.

At first I thought this was kind of funny,

But not anymore.

Any idea what the "Ancient Britain DLC" extension for Lawn Mowing Simulator is?

[Mr_Rose]

It’s either the scythe mod or the stone henge map pack. Maybe both.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Being a functional adult beats hell out of the alternative.

( my toenails need trimming )

[Wombat]

New comic

Looking forward to see what Marigold's dad is like, if he survives this encounter.

[shanejayell]

Have we seen him before? I don't remember.

[Farideh]

As far as I can remember, we see him exactly once (though Hanners talked to him on the phone once).

[hedgie]

Yes.  At least at one point, he demanded that Marigold explain Steampunk, which is just what happens when goths discover the colour brown.

[jesslc]

Didn't Marigold used to manage his website or something like that? Maybe it's something to do with that.