blythering
what's your opinion on how much of an application character the author can change?
this is specifically in reference to Lamentations (haven't heard that one in a while have you?). it's my passion project, it's the one book I have a clear end in mind and I'd love to publish it if I could.
but it's going through major, major revisions, and one of those things is a specific character. i don't want to go too much into it, but i wanted to get your thoughts on what you feel is an appropriate amount to change/alter another person's OC if they submitted them to your applyfic.
also like, in the rare case that Lamentations ever does get published, how does that work with the characters being other people's creations? would I have to get copyrights?
idk guys pls help lol
XxFaylinexX
I have always been open in my own applyfic(s)/collaborative work that things might be subject to change. I feel like it helps to give that kind of transparency; it makes it so that people know what to expect. And I have changed some things to make sense with my plot and worldbuilding without discussing. Like, if it's about things that are really central to the character, I would talk about it to the creator, but with more minor things, I tend to just... do it.
For example, I believe your character sheet said that Mele belonged to the people of the land, but with the heritage you described, there was basically no way that she wouldn’t be a hybrid. And since that also fitted with the rest of the description you gave, I just made that call. But with that kind of thing, I'm always very open for people to tell me when I made a change that doesn't make sense to them, and to collaborate on finding a solution. You can never quite tell where the line is without communication, because that's different for everyone and every character.
In this spirit, I have basically decided not to worry about it. My door is open for any complaint someone might have about the alterations. If it's really big, I'll try to contact the person, but if I don't get a response, I just... go with my idea, and if the person involved doesn't like that, my door is still open. And of course I still worry about 'can I make this change?' and 'won't they be upset that I killed their character off in the new version' etc, but I won't let it stop me from making the things that I want to make. The responsibilty to communicate is not all on you as long as you are transparent, willing to listen, and provide a means to contact you, I think. We're adults, we can talk about things, y'know
I can go on and on and on about this, idk, I just really feel this a lot. And well I'm just glad that I'm not the only one I guess lol
XxFaylinexX
With publishing... on the legal side of things, it would probably be safe to change a name and minor details, like what happens when a fanfic is published, though I don't think that's always necessary with an applyfic. You did all of the writing, after all. Again, communicating directly with the people involved (or at least inviting them to) is probably your best bet to make sure nobody gets mad. But also, if it ever gets that far, talk to you publisher and/or agent about it - they should have the legal answers to stuff like this.
Anyway, I have been through this exact thing as well, and I have a lot more thoughts, and I might rant about it later, but know that I relate very deeply. You know where to find me if you want to talk about it ^^
XxFaylinexX
@blythering I rewrote a story that had previously been a collaborative one (like, in the original, all the dialogue had been roleplayed beforehand so we could both write the same story from different perspectives). The rewrite included things like killing off a character that used to make it to the end alive, as well as revamping some characters entirely, and that made it really complicated. Though I tried to stick to the original as much as possible, that wasn't always possible. I tried to communicate about it with the original creators as much as possible. My advice would be to do that if you can, since a lot of this comes down to personal preference. Some people really dislike alterations, some love to see the character take a new direction, and some don't mind either way. However, in my case, years had passed (and with some people I was no longer on good terms) which made communication significantly harder, and I can imagine that that is also the case here. The thing is, stories evolve and develop when they are rewritten, and the characters have to move with it. I think it's valid if you make those alterations. But at the same time, I think the most transparent and polite thing to do with this is to set out an open invitation for the people involved to contact you about it if they have any concerns. That way, you communicate that you are thinking about their feelings as well, and that you are willing to work together to figure out a solution if problems do arise.
