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WOW. VERY well said. I agree with you. I don't put cuss words in my fics because I think it would look stupid and that it would just look like I'm TRYING to find a way to use it. And fics like Rohad's "Legend of the White Lion" are a good read. He uses pretty much all the bad words and stuff. . . and goes into detail on a rape scene, but I DO think that thatn needs to be kept under control. We're obviously not going to change their minds about that kind of thing, and I think the section for "R" rated fics is a very good idea. I enjoyed Rohad's fics. They were extremely well-written. But I want to make it clear that I am AGAINST incest and gayety. THAT is going too far. The profanity, I think is unnesseccary. It COULD be left out and still make a good story. I think that it's best to leave out characters from the movie as much as you can (although I'm not taking my own advice in the current fic I'm writing) because it is so hard to make them sound like themselves and when they don't it sounds off. The sexual rampages. . .I think I'll make it easier for all who feel the same way and say that there's something inside us that enjoys reading that. Embarrassing? yes, but true. Why else do people put that in there? (including me, but I keep it quite mild, and they're DEFINATELY not rampages. OR harassment. I don't go into detail.)Realistically, dogs and lions mate with whichever one they want. They're not bound by marrriage. But I DO think that they should also keep this in check. Don't transform Balto (or any other character from Balto or LK) into some sex god that wears him/her-self out just for a good story. That's going too far. I think that warnings SHOULD be used at the top of all fanfics that are above "PG", and that they should be liberal with their explanations on what the fic contains. While I think causing the characters to do certain things that they would'nt do in the movies is okay, changing their whole personality is not. Like making them gay, incestic or sex-crazy. I do think that there is an attraction to adult-themed fics, but even these should be kept in moderation (the severity of situations) I do think that the image of Balto needs and should be preserved. But I also believe that new things are okay to try, as long as they stay within reasonable boundaries.

Very well put teal!

What's up guys!
...of course I've got to throw my two cents into this debate. (I am a writer of some of these "controversial" fics after all. )

Well, here gos...

First off, the incest point is basically moot unless you're talking about a human character because dogs do that all the time. As for why I wrote my own (A Forbidden Love)... I think writing is a way to explore things like that, things that are unaccepted in the world, and even looked down upon. In a writing enviornment you can explore things like that and truly find out what you think about them.
Balto Seppala I'm not trying to pick on you, but since you're the one who posted this, my question will be directed to you. Do you believe the way you do (on this whole incest matter) because someone told you to, or have you made up your mind yourself?
I'm not saying incest, gayness, ext. is right, but you have to be careful not to accept things just because you're told they're right. Make up your own mind.

As to the violence, it's all about who your target audience is.
Mine was written for my friends in highschool, and then you guys, and mostly "older" people read them, so they're a little more violent.
I try to stay as true to the original as possible, but events change people, and they change characters too.
As to the point of Steele being evil?
He is evil, nuff said on that point. (I know I'm one of the ones that turned him into the devil too aren't I? )

As far as language is concerned, that's a moral standard and one that is un-breachable to me. There are a few in my series, but they're mild at most, I think D@mn is the worst one... that's it.
I mean, recently I had Balto tell Jenna "...screw you" and everyone raised a huge fit about it. That's good, I try to conform my writing to my audience, so input is essencial, however, Balto's emotions at that point overwhelmed the reader's opinion, so it's still in there. That's the perogitive of a writer though, sometimes the characters must do things to shock the reader, if not then they're just boring stereotypical characters, not interesting at all.

In short I do care about the characters very much, and try to stay as true to them as possible, but at the same time keep them interesting and inject life into them... people screw up sometimes, and just as no-one on earth is perfect (well... except one ) no character can be perfect or the reader will not belive in them.

Wow, I guess that wound up being my $100.00 instead of two cents, but there it is, my feelings on the subject.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

- RTW

P.S. The contents of this post are not meant to be mean or rude to anyone, they are simply ideas, take them or leave them, but do NOT get offended by them!

I couldn't have said it any better myself, that's what it's about!

Yes yes, very well said! Thats exactly what I was trying to get at. And as for me not liking Steele turning evil, I wasnt directing it at you, I didnt even know you wrote a fic like that If you did, then I must've liked it. But anyway. Yes. It's often good for characters to change to surprise people too. It makes things more interesting. Especially for people who WANT to read fics like that.

Very well put Cat!

I was attempting to read that, but really couldnt finish. I didnt understand, it was to put together, and hard to read. Paragraphs do wonders, Teal......................><

But i did eventually finish it......... after 20 mins of staggering on with it. xD

--Maya

mmm... Such things make me re-think why I wrote the fanfic that is the only one in my gallery. Maybe it was just because it was an idea that was waiting to get out or something... OK, here's the real reason I wrote it. I wrote my only fanfic because Ever since I saw Balto and Joined this site, and made my username, I thought of Balto and the others using swords and other medieval weaponry. I guess what I also like is those weapons being used to parry bullets, but then I would have to agree with BaltoSeppla's last point:

What happened to romance stories without gay, incest, or rape content?
What happened to adventure stories without excessive violence and bad language?

My old theatre teacher would agree with me. Whenever we dis improvisation stuff, she would tell us that violence is not creative, and nor is swearing. Now that I think of that, I have to ask myself:

We joined this site because we liked the characters Balto and Jenna (at least) for who they were in the first movie, and maybe the second one.

Is it really nessecary to change them in such ways to make them more interesting? I thought they were already interesting enough in the first movie, if it made us join the largest Balto fan site on the internet, aren't they?

I honestly think that giving characters a unique twist and doing the same to the plot line is a good healthy addition to Balto. Some profanity in Some Fanfics does fit, though not too much. As for violence..well..I can honetly say I do enjoy violence in stories to a certain degree. As an example, BaltoLuver63's kodi and Dusty story is amazing to me, and it contains both violence and some profanity...I do not see why stories can't have violence..and mild profanity if needed. I enjoy reading stories like that.

Hmm...maybe you can't hold onto friends because you act so aggressively with ANYONE who disagreed with you. Or that you were trying to spark arguments with them. Or that, as in Maya's case, you essentially repeated what she said in her post. Did you ever consider that?

I acknowledge that. Your first reply was very well thought out and diplomatically-worded. My compliments.

As to my command of the English language, I appreciate the compliment, but a person can still be a wizard at constructing a good bit of prose, and still make it offensive. And then again, a village idiot could pound out a story rife with grammatical and spelling errors, and still have the best of intentions. And, through all that bad grammar and spelling, he or she might end up cranking out a touching or inspiring story.

I don't want people to think I hate those who are writing these fictions. They are doing what they feel is good writing, even if that is a highly-subjective point of view. But I just cannot get past this idea that the things I mentioned, used in stories, are offensive to me and hurtful to the original characters...and don't belong on a site maintained as "family-oriented" and "kid-friendly". I was raised with a certain morality, which finds such things to be simply horrible. Perhaps if I was raised differently, I wouldn't care much about this. But even now, as a discerning and intelligent adult, I feel that the moral compass I was guided by, as a kid, was right, and still is.

My hat's off to you, Swords. Your old theater teacher is quite right too. Certainly, in certain settings, they can be an effective tool (if used creatively, rather than just gratuitously or simply for the sake of having them in a story).

But when a writer or artist places characters into situations they are not designed for, or which are completely out of character with who they are, it violates a fundamental tenet of good writing or artistry, and sinks to the level of sensationalism. For instance, you simply could not expect Balto to appear in, say, a Looney Tunes cartoon...or in the movie "Cool World". The settings are too dissimilar, and the style of their foundational milieux are completely different (Looney Tunes is zany, slapstick comedy, and the Balto cartoons are adventure/dramas, based loosely - at least the first one - on history; and "Cool World" is a chaotic, often violent surrealistic urban cartoon universe, populated by cartoon characters AND humans...and even the cartoon characters which are cute often turn out to be violently insane. LOL.). It's a violation of the audience's "suspension of disbelief", as is so often said in Hollywood.

(Do I sound like anyone's English, literary, theater, art or acting teacher or professor now? )

(Sorry for the repeated posts, gang. I was replying individually to everyone, and didn't want to water down just one post with resposes to many people...which would also have made it very long and confusing to follow)

That comment at the end was unnesseccary, Maya. You could have left that out. I don't use paragraphs that much (I forget to indent) and my posts are what I have to say and I don't pay attention to indentions.

Rotramel, no one convinces me what I should believe. I believe the way I do because that is the foundation of my morality...and my belief (as someone who has been an actor, on an amateur level, and also is a living historian and a writer) that commitment to accuracy and an in-character portrayal are essential.

Certainly, there are places for adult fiction. Or violent fiction. But I don't think this place is it. Or, at the very least, it should be filed in a separate section, which can only be accessed by those of a certain age range (not necessarily 18 and up, but something approaching that).

Oh God, how did I miss this topic?

Well, since I was the person who began the whole "incest fic" trend, I might as well say it:

The only reason why I wrote those with this certain situation is because I waqnted to do something different for a change. Sure, I can write G and PG rated stories that definitely stay true to the personalities of the characters, but I wanted to expand my styles of how I write. This is just one of those things that we writers do.

I suppose some writers give the readers what they want: a violent battle between good and evil with loads of blood, sexual matter (either gay or straight), and cursing. Others just write things that interest them: two dogs fall in love, no matter what tries to separate them apart. And then there are the ones that just write whatever they want because they can and they feel like it (those writers would be the "muck-rakers" of our time, I suppose . . . and most likely, I would be one of them).

Heck, everything else that I wanted to say Rotramel beat me to it. (But then again, you know how I feel about these things . . . you read my latest fic, right BaltoSeppala?)

- Juuchan17