Line #17 Main/MetaFic


1	->'''Eliza:''' We all know that they made a cartoon of our missions. Well, some fans made some stories about us. It's called fan fictions. They can write whatever they want, whenever they want.\
2	'''Victor:''' Really?\
3	'''Eliza:''' I know a few fan fictions, but I just got started. There are really a lot fan fictions.\
4	'''Anita:''' Like what?\
5	'''Eliza:''' All kinds of fan fictions. Song fan fictions, romantic fan fictions etcetera.
6	-->-- ''Fanfic/HowToWriteATSSStory''
7
8	You know the AnimatedActors concept, that your favourite cartoon characters have a life beyond the flickering cels? The '''Meta Fic''' is that concept applied to... well, everything.
9
10	In a Meta Fic, characters know they're fictional characters. They know their fictitious motivations, fictitious friends and fictitious enemies, but see no reason to be constrained by them. Hell, they might even have gotten ''killed off'', but it's not like they've died as an actor.
11
12	Meta Fic provides an opportunity to comment on FanFic itself (for instance, by having a character complain about the amount of {{Wangst}} writers saddle him or her with), or produce stories that are Just Too Silly even to be AltFic (for instance, the continuing saga, in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic community, of fairy tales being read to [[SpinoffBabies toddler versions of the characters]], and acted out, against their will, by the adult versions).
13
14	Not to be confused with MetaFiction or RecursiveFanfiction (the latter being sometimes called meta fanfic). Can be combined with a DeconstructionFic.
15	----
16	!!Examples:
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18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
21	* Frequently seen in the sillier or more surreal ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fanfic of the late 1990s, especially those written as part of, or in the orbit of, the fanfic cycle known as "[[http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/superhighway/Bet/bet.html The Bet]]", where the characters were portrayed as being "hired" by fanfic writers to recreate the roles they created for Rumiko Takahashi, and were sometimes ''very'' different when "off-camera".
22	** Neither silly nor surreal, Deborah Goldsmith's famous ''Ranma'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7603977/1/Genmas-Daughter Genma's Daughter]]'' inspired its author to play with the same idea in her ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7606351/1/Genma-s-Daughter-The-Cutting-Room-Floor Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor]].'' It's set up like a blooper reel for the most part, though we do get to see what goes on behind the scenes.
23	** Metroanime's ''[[http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/sharp.html Second Labor: Reluctant Bet]]'' includes numerous scenes of several of the ''Ranma 1/2'' characters having the opportunity to watch videotapes of ''other'' universes' versions of the ''Ranma'' anime -- which are all actually part of The Bet or its spinoffs, or other well-known ''Ranma'' FanFics from the late 1990s. (And after watching the "real" ''Ranma 1/2'' anime, they decide to do anything possible to keep their timeline from becoming a "{{canon}}" Ranmaverse.)
24	** Angus [=MacSpon's=] ''[[http://macspon.tamaneko.org/fanfic/ The Replacement Ranmas]]'' goes for ''very'' silly, as the cast of ''Ranma 1/2'' is missing on the first day of shooting for a new fic, and the "director" must scramble to replace them with characters from ''other'' anime series...
25	** [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1827551/1/Scenes-from-Nerima This]] goes for '''insanely''' silly. Cases in point, Akane and Ranma are [[CastIncest siblings]]. [[BrotherSisterIncest And lovers.]] And in a threesome relationship with someone who may or may not be their ''[[ParentalIncest mother.]]'' Yeah, and did we mention Ranma's [[{{Polyamory}} married too?]]
26	* Eyrie Productions Unlimited's ''[[http://www.eyrie-productions.com/NXE/ Neon Exodus Evangelion]]'' has "outtakes" and "Making of" sequences at the ends of some of its chapters. These feature, among other things, a very chirpy Rei Ayanami, and an interview with Sir Alistair Warden-Penn, the [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra classically-trained Shakespearean penguin]] who portrays Pen-pen.
27	* [[http://amethyst-angel.com/nadesico_main_tt.html Nadesico Thumbnail Theater's]] "Nagare Akatsuki's Guided Tour of [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Nadesico]] Fanfiction". NTT and its progenitor [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]] Thumbnail Theater sometimes lapse into this in their actual episode "summaries". As does Five Minute [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]], their live-action counterpart ([[http://www.fiveminute.net found here]]).
28	-->'''Gai:''' You said it! In hindsight, I'm glad they killed me off when they did.
29	* The ''Franchise/SailorMoon Expanded'' fanverse has a series of stories which deal with the everyday lives of the various characters. They operate with the conceit that all of the characters, original and fan created, are actors on a vast movie set, with the various authors as the directors. This would lead to a number of instances where segments of "actual" stories would be transcribed, only to veer off track when a completely unrelated character wanders "on screen" with some actor-related grievance.
30	** Of particular hilariousness was an instance where the author of a long-running-but-never-quite-finished story was kidnapped by his own characters and locked in a room with a supply of [=MREs=], a chemical toilet, and a computer, there to remain until he finally finished the story. Though he was prematurely released by the impact of an asteroid soundstage belonging to a newly arriving author, the story was eventually completed.
31	* Played for drama in the penultimate arc of ''Anime/ReCreators''. [[spoiler:''Elimination Chamber Festival'' is an in-universe special event where all the characters involved are aware of being fictional. The heroes, previously established to be copies of canon characters, are willingly acting out a {{Crossover}} plot on their authors' word much like the cast in a typical Meta Fic. Altair, who is pretty much the power of fan works personified, knows how to play the field and turn the EnsembleCast narrative into [[HostileShowTakeover her own personal story]]. She also spends most of the fight showing off her different fanons and railing off at the cast for being walking cliches in her eyes, while the characters and their authors desperately try to edge out a win. The plan in general was a pretty dark spin on this trope, as the cast needed to trap her in the fic to control her or else she'd blow the universe sky-high.]]
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder: Comic Book]]
35	* ''WebVideo/ImAMarvelAndImADC'' has the characters referencing their own movies and writers, even after the series takes a more serious turn.
36	* It's apparently quite common for ComicBook/TheJoker fans to have the Joker starring in a Meta Fic where he meets up with the [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold many]] [[Film/Batman1989 different]] [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse versions]] [[Film/TheDarkKnight of]] [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman himself]], often with the objective of exploring certain traits about him (why ''does'' the guy keep coming BackFromTheDead?) or of simply exploring the different ways the character can be portrayed. Since the Joker regularly [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaks]] [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall and leans on]] the Fourth Wall all the time in canon, Meta Fic involving him can get rather complicated...
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38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Fan Works]]
41	* Fanfic/{{BHF5}} is super guilty of this, sometimes [[NoFourthWall referring to the very fourth wall they just broke (could we get a janitor in here?)]].
42	* ''Fanfic/BringMeAllYourElderly'' is all about the animated characters of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' going into [[Film/TheLastAirbender The Movie]] and correcting their live-action counterparts, all fully aware that they are in a fanfic (except Zuko). At one point, the characters read and discuss the comments section.
43	* In the {{crossover}} fic ''FanFic/TheBankCalledYourRealityCheckBounced'', the main cast of ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' gets dropped into the world of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist.'' Most of the characters are at least slightly distressed; however, Kyoya not only takes the whole thing in stride, he corrects some of Tamaki's mistaken notions by explaining that "We're not in an anime. We're in a ''fan fiction''." He also comments on the concepts of a PortmanteauCoupleName and {{shipping}}.
44	* [=Clell65619=]'s ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4070610/8/Thrilling_Tales_of_the_Downright_Unusual Harry Potter and the Read Through]]'' mixes this and AnimatedActors, as the cast of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels critique the new fanfic script they've just been handed.
45	* Hella Jelena's "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8398893/1/Just-a-fictional-character Just A Fictional Character]]" is composed of a conversation between herself and Dr. [=McCoy=] from Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries. The two discuss her love of HurtComfortFic and how tired he is of going through physical and mental anguish at her hands.
46	* This is ingrained as part of the premise of ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'' project, which treats real life (known in-universe as "the Hub") as a core part of its setting. Due to the multiverse being damaged, the Hub containing the backups, and [[{{Crossover}} Fused loops]] being a thing, every looper is aware of their nature as fictional characters within the Hub, and many will keep copies of their own source material on them to give to other loopers who may not be familiar with their series.
47	* The ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'' fanfic ''Fanfic/HowToWriteATSSStory'' is basically the characters reading fanfics about themselves, even going so far as to [[NoFourthWall break the fourth wall]]. Hilarity ensues.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder: Literature]]
51	* Played straight and very dark by Creator/StephenKing in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series. Roland and his ka-tet find themselves in a world that's realer than theirs, where time never runs backward, and which is critical to saving the multiverse--specifically, they have to make sure Creator/StephenKing lives to finish the series.
52	* The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' novels have something like this (in-story) called the Bookworld. It's fiction, viewed from the inside. The one caveat is that when characters die or are changed outside of their narratives, it's permanent. For example, all the main characters of ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' are forced to attend group counseling meetings, including the ones that die in the course of the story. Yet one character is assigned a protection detail, because of all the people trying to kill him outside of the story, and if he died, the main narrative would fall apart.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder: Live Action TV]]
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57	* That ''Series/DoctorWho'' example up top? That comes from ''FanFic/ThisTimeRound'', the Doctor Who pub outside continuity, where the Who characters hang out between stories. More specifically, it comes from Look Who's Talking, the Doctor Who day care centre outside continuity...
58	** ''FanFic/ThisTimeRound'' was inspired by ''Subreality'', and the Subreality Cafe, where all the comics characters - and their fanfic variants - hung out.
59	* ''[[http://holmeschat.livejournal.com/1586.html The Theory of Narrative Casualty]]'' is essentially a ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' fic where the characters are Platform/LiveJournal users who are fans of Literature/SherlockHolmes. John Watson is a popular writer for the fandom, and Sherlock Holmes is a (in)famous fan artist. That has to be some kind of meta right there.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder: Tabletop Game]]
63	* Much of the humor of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{PRIMARCHS}}'' is derived from the characters constantly bitching about the poor job being done by the canon writers and getting into arguments with the author. Humor aside, this is metafic through and through. The most powerful weapon in the universe is the author's laptop, which can rewrite reality; the heroes must save their universe from the PlotHole which is slowly devouring it, and guest writers of canon ''Warhammer'' material occasionally make an appearance. And are [[RageAgainstTheAuthor then usually killed off]] as [[TakeThat punishment for the aforementioned bad writing]].
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder: Video Games]]
67	* ''How to Write a Sprite Comic in 8 Easy Bits'' takes all the old Nintendo game characters that nobody ever writes into web comics and casts them as out of work actors that happen to live in the same general area as the comic's author. Included in this nonsense are the blocks from ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', Prince Myer from ''Deadly Towers'', and that chick from ''The Guardian Legend''.
68	* The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/ThoseLackingSpines'', while ostensibly self-contained, mercilessly skewers the dark side of every aspect of fanfiction, including High School AlternateUniverse, {{yaoi}} fanfiction, the {{flanderization}} of all the "hot" characters (Xaldin, Vexen, and Lexaeus are the heroes of this fic because they are unaffected by TheVirus that turns their comrades into shadows of their former selves), poorly done crossovers, as well as [[CrackFic random]] and [[{{wangst}} overly melodramatic]] storylines.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder: Webcomics]]
72	* ''Webcomic/BooksDontWorkHere'' lives and breathes this trope even though it's an original. There is NoFourthWall and the characters are actors paid (not much mind you) to act out the plot of the comic. That's how it works in theory, at least - in practice, there is a lot of ad-libbing, backtalk, and complaining about the budget.
73	* The point of the ''{{Webcomic/Buildingverse}}'' besides being a MegaCrossover (in this category because most entries are FanWebcomics) is that there is a world between stories where fictional characters go after (and between) stories and this is the story of the world. By the way FourthWall? What's that?
74	** To make matters more confusing. The characters there are not actors but {{Living Dream}}s and they know the verse is still a story so they have vested interest in [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality keeping the story going]] and the [[{{Fanservice}} fan wishes satisfied]]... if they don't want to both of those things are {{Sentient Cosmic Force}}s (in ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' one also has an AnthropomorphicPersonification) and YouCantFightFate, so in the darker installments cross over to DeconstructionFic routinely.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder: Web Original]]
78	* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' features at least one long section of Meta Fic (the AnimatedActors eulogizing Tristan's Original Voice) in addition to its general disregard for the [[NoFourthWall Fourth Wall]].
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder: Western Animation]]
82	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has ''Fanfic/MyLittleDashie'', a [[TearJerker decidedly non-comedic]] example.
83	** And ''My Little Stashie'' as a decidedly comedic example.
84	** FIM also has ''Fanfic/{{Human}}'' by [=DannyJ=], which while indulging in HumansAreCthulhu and DarkerAndEdgier, involves a former animator using his knowledge of the show to take over Canterlot, and Celestia working to become a main character to defeat the villain, as families explode and motives are revealed.
85	* The Avatar fic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7300974/1/I-Love-Bad-Fanfiction I Love Bad Fanfiction]] is about the characters being aware they are in a fanfiction and being forced to act out bad fanfiction cliches at the "director's" (read author's) "bad fanfiction party". It's implied that all other fics from other fandoms are acted out as well by each fandoms respective characters (although the Literature/HarryPotter output is so large the characters have no choice but to use body doubles).
86	* In the short ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'' fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8448120/1/Oh-Crap-There-Are-Fanfics-Of-Us Oh Crap! There Are Fanfics Of Us]], the Kratt brothers and company discover the disturbing world of fanfiction and fanart. What makes the story real interesting is that the references are to actual fan works you can find, such as the [[OriginalCharacter Kitty]]/Martin fics on Fanfiction.net and {{Incest Yay\|Shipping}} art of the bros.
87	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MetaFic