In response to
this essay on the subject, I have a response, which is an opinion piece as well.
Why do I write fanfiction, especially that fanfiction which is of an erotic nature?
Pure and simple. For entertainment. If people want something out of my writing beyond entertainment, a good read or something to get off on, they've obviously come to the wrong place. Morals have no place in erotic fiction (note that I say erotic fiction, not all fiction), except as a reflection of a characters persona. ( ie - If a character is bad/amoral in the original source, this does not make me a bad/amoral person for writing about that character.) Because I practice creativity and like angst creation as a literary device to draw my reader in, I write things very much so that are against my views in real life. My real life views and moral standing have no place in the escapist literature I produce for online communities.
Further more I feel no moral guilt because of this. I don't go to bed and night thinking "how could I write something like that?" I go to bed with a clear conscience, aware that what I produced was merely for entertainment, and that I took precautions to ensure that people who wished not to read it could avoid it. I sleep with the knowledge that I, for one, do not wish to be raped in real life, nor would wish this on anyone else. That forcing someone to do something against their will is wrong... again, in REAL LIFE.
As a side note, Rape in fanfiction is NOT a serious issue, as it is a fictional fantasy. Especially if it is used as a literary tool to allow the writer freedom to explore whatever they would like. To clarify, this means the author could be using rape to do any number of things, explore their fear or interest the subject in a safe environment. (ie - not real life.) They may be using rape to explore further characterization of a person in their fanfiction, or even as a tool to manipulate the reader to arousal or disgust. None of these point to a person who would ever condone the act in real life.
The mentioned distress of a reviewer who reads a fic and knows it is out of character because of the pornographic aspect of the literature indicates that said reviewer is not aware of the purpose of erotic fanfiction. Though keeping the characters in character as much as the situation would allow is a sign of skill and should be admired in an erotic fiction writer, it is not necessary. The amateur reviewer who is distressed by the supposed out of character-ness of the erotic fanfiction is ignoring the very purpose of the fanfiction in the first place. This is to create an erotic scenario where there was none before. As erotica is not something inherent in the original universe, the characters must then act and perform as the author sees fit as extensions of already established persona. This, because none of us know how a Ninja Turtle (for example) would really act when faced with a sexual situation, is left to the author's interpretation. By calling a piece of erotic fanfiction out of character, you are in fact telling that author that she or he is a bad story teller. This then becomes a personal insult, because the reader may be choosing to ignore the author's purpose for writing the erotic fiction in the first place.
A reviewer interested in leaving constructive criticism on a fanfic which involves kink should therefore consider whether the fic was meant to be criticized as such. A polite thing to do would be to inquire whether this feedback is welcome. Are they writing kink for kink or erotica sake or are they aiming to improve their writing? (And one could argue that the erotica writer is doing both as well.) A good rule of thumb for the novice erotica reviewer would be to inquire directly to the author as to whether this feedback is wanted. Some people may want this feedback. Others may not. If this lack of interest in producing anything but erotica for entertainment is distressing to said reviewer, it would be suggested that the reviewer sticks to authors and erotica pieces where the writer is interested in a profound in-depth analysis of their fiction.
In conclusion, a comment on the final points would be that a well trained fanfic slash/yaoi reader would know automatically by just reading a couple paragraphs of a fanfic whether or not the story is deep and something that involves impact or just erotica written for entertainment. I would further argue that most of the people on the community would know how to properly navigate the community, use clues like warnings and ratings to their advantage and know further how to avoid what does not interest them.
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