# Why do some writers ask for use of other's characters/fursonas?



## ScottyDM (Mar 31, 2009)

Note: This is not about writing a fan-fic where you take an existing set of characters _and_ a storyworld then create a story.

*I am fascinated by how many people here post requests for other people's characters and fursonas.* I don't understand it. Why?

To me, characters and plots need to be carefully crafted to fit together. The characters suggest the plot, but then the characters' details must be crafted to fit the story. Example: One of my human charcters has a "thing" for anthro-foxes, but why goes back to her childhood and to her lineage. Her desire for my fox character suggested itself very early on. Then I had to craft her background to answer the question of how she knew so much about foxes when she'd never met an anthro-fox before.

Other than borrowing a name, or using someone in a minor role as a tribute to that person, I cannot imagine using a hodge-podge of characters in a story. *So why do you who do such things, do such things?*

A puzzled,
Scotty


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## Gavrill (Mar 31, 2009)

For mine:

My main character is my character. A character I created to have a story around. My "story" is very lose and fun, since my only plot is my character attempting to find a home (with lots of comedy and adventure in between) and I didn't want to create a hodgepodge on my own. I'm not creating my story for any other purpose then fun, so I don't see the problem.

I'm also taking suggestions from people about what should happen next. Interactive stories are just plain fun for the audience, so instead of just telling a story, the viewers get to have some input on how the story turns out.

If I were doing a serious story I intend to publish, I'd be making my own characters. And besides, what's a community without community involvement? That's how I see it anyway.

My $0.02.


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## ScottyDM (Mar 31, 2009)

Placebo said:


> For mine:


Wow! Quick. You posted this while I was "arguing" with the poll posting code about the length of my poll questions.

So... fun and lighthearted and you're willing to go anywhere with the story, plus there's the audience participation.

S-


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## Gavrill (Mar 31, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> Wow! Quick. You posted this while I was "arguing" with the poll posting code about the length of my poll questions.


I jump as soon as I know a topic relates to me. x3



ScottyDM said:


> So... fun and lighthearted and you're willing to go anywhere with the story, plus there's the audience participation.
> 
> S-


Right. If I were to write, say, a drama-filled love story, then I'd make my own cast to avoid anyone saying "No, my character would never do -this-", among other reasons (including "character copyrights").


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## Xaerun (Mar 31, 2009)

I do it for a bit of fun, and a bit of practice. Often other people have crazy or interesting ideas for characters and it's good to really get your head around switching in and out of roles, particularly if you didn't design them. *shrug*

It's also good to use people's 'sonas in that they've developed them to a T. Everything you could ever need to know has been thought of, and it also gives me a nice warm feeling as usually it makes people happy to see 'themselves' star in something. Especially if it's free!


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## M. LeRenard (Mar 31, 2009)

Yeah... I've never done this, and I doubt I ever will.  The closest thing to it that I've done was a story trade once a long time ago with a guy on VCL, in which I pretty much wrote part of his book for him.  But even though I was using his characters, I wrote it from the point of view of someone else entirely, and I took all the traits he gave me to work with and made them go in a direction that was purely my own.  Thankfully, he liked it.
I'm just not all that fond of using other people's ideas, for some reason.  Mostly because I know I won't get it 100% right, and you never know how folks are going to react to that.  Maybe I just like to have complete control.  And I also think it's great fun to think up characters myself, so I'd rather not give that responsibility to someone else.


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## Vieryon (Mar 31, 2009)

I like the interactivity it brings to bring in another person's fursona if they want to be involved. I almost never need the aid of another character -As i have too many as it is- I just want to give back to a community that ive just become part of. I'm always nervous about it though, wondering if im using them in the right way. But the main reason that i do it is to get the people involved in my work in some way. If anyone wants to see something in my stories, i usually encourage them to ask me so I can appeal to their wants. Its always nice to get feedback ^^

The thing about it is, I have a lot of ideas surrounding the topic in which i specialize because i love it and love writing about it. But, its not only my ideas that I want to tap into, its everyone's. I'd like to do something that not only I would like but the others would too.

Im a micro/norm writer who specializes in micro situations =3 But I don't only write micro stories, ive got a large project in the works... Well, Im off.


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## Yorokonde2 (Mar 31, 2009)

See... to me, using another person's character would be more like RPing than actual writing. 

*short post*


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## Gavrill (Mar 31, 2009)

Yorokonde2 said:


> See... to me, using another person's character would be more like RPing than actual writing.
> 
> *short post*


Wait, do you not use your own characters when you RP?


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## Zeichwolf (Mar 31, 2009)

I love doing it as a friendly thing, most of the time. That and the fact that, aside from the most basic concepts of a work, I never plan out a story in advance makes it easy to fit the borrowed characters into a niche. People love being involved and admittedly there's some slight attention-whoring in there, but we ignore that part. I personally love stringing together the story based on the pre-defined charcters, altering the base idea in slight nudges whenever the need calls for it.

But why don't I just create my own characters then, you ask? Well, a tiny bit is due to being too lazy to go past the two main ones (at least in my stories there's two), but again, people love being involved and it makes the story more fun to read, because you can say "Hey look, it's me!" when reading it.


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## wendyw (Mar 31, 2009)

I've used other people's characters in my comics before but only for single pages. I have permission to use someone's character for a short arc, which I'll be consulting her on, but other than that I wouldn't want to do more than one or two pages with anyone else's characters in.


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## Xipoid (Mar 31, 2009)

I've never done it myself and never intend to. While I have been asked to write a story for someone else using their characters (which I did so I could see something from another point of view), I have not written someone else's character into something of mine.


Really, I feel I cannot have a complete grasp of the character unless I created it. How they think, how they act, their priorities, their wants, desires, quirks, and even what they will sacrifice. I will be seeing the character from my own lens and not that of the creator, giving me a different interpretation that may or may not be true to the character. It could help with diversity and broadening, but I try to keep those to simply reading.


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## TakeWalker (Mar 31, 2009)

I answered that i hadn't, and as I clicked Submit, realized I had, and fairly recently, too.

I'd like to think I'm doing it the right way, however: taking the characters' likenesses, names, etc., and basic bits of their personality, then reenvisioning and adapting them to fit into my story.

Of course, at the rate I'm going, that story's not gonna be written, so it doesn't matter.


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## Henk86 (Mar 31, 2009)

I got asked to contribute to someone's series of stories before, so in that way I've written for other peoples characters. But I've never asked or used someone elses character without permission, I tend to stick with my own stuff. If somebody asked me or commisioned me to do so then the answer would be yes providing if the characters where sound.


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