Internet, you disappoint me today...
I'm not sure exactly why I expected anything different... *le sigh* I can be remarkably naive sometimes.
So I recently followed David Tennant to this children’s series that he did a voice for called Tree Fu Tom. I was tickled by how positively charming the entire show was.
In terms of the plot, it follows 8-year-old Tom, who shrinks down and goes to Treetopolis to play with his little magical friends. There's Twigs (David's character) the acorn sprite, who is always getting into mischief, Ariela the butterfly, who runs a ranch, Squirmtum the wood louse, who is sort of a gentle giant, Zigzoo the frog, an inventor and tinkerer, and Treetog, the tree spirit who teaches Tom and Twigs how to use magic. They all have adventures and get into trouble and save the day using their magic powers.
It's designed for 3-6 year-olds, and particularly geared towards children with a muscle condition called dyspraxia, involving little dances modeled after some of the physical therapy routines used to fight the condition. Each episode is about 20 minutes long, and shows the characters learning the sort of valuable life lessons children at that age should be learning - how to share, being brave when you are afraid, supporting your friends, not judging people, etc. That aside, it's very aesthetically appealing; it is well written and beautifully animated. The characters are all fun and interesting, and the voice actors are all wonderful and seem to be enjoying themselves, which almost always shows and can often make or break a cartoon.
So as a whole, the show is doing a great thing. This is the kind of programming I would want to be showing my kids, because it's great for them, and I myself find it both entertaining and soothing in it's gentle simplicity.
And, being me, I've already started planning out fic for it.
Since much of my fic is, of course, very much NOT intended for children, I wanted to branch out a bit, and I figured now would be a good time to do so. I figure that there may be fanfic readers who are also parents, and maybe they are looking for something to read to their children. I figure it would be an excellent and fun creative exercise to write something specifically geared towards a younger audience.
I've always been far more advanced than my peers in terms of reading level. When I was in 1st grade, I was already reading chapter books. I remember reading Tolkien in the 3rd grade. In more recent years, I've been baffled by my classmates' bafflement at Shakespeare (I honestly don't find him difficult... is that really so weird?). In terms of my own writing, I'm accustomed to writing for teenagers and older, not only in regards to content, but just the reading level in general. So I wasn't too sure how to go about writing for a younger audience. How simplistic should it be? How complex of writing is too complex? How simple is too simple? I puzzled over this for a while and then I hit on a brilliant idea that in hindight was rather terrible: look up fanfiction for other cartoons for that age group, and see how other people write theirs. Off to look up Blue's Clues, Dragon Tales, Arthur, Little Bear, Papa Beaver Story Time, Allegra's Window, and Thomas the Tank Engine!
BIIIIIIG MISTAKE.
First Archive: Blue's Clues.
First Fic: Blue's side of the story has never before been told. Her pain and hardships should be shown to the world. This story will tell you exactly what happened in Steve's house when the lights went out, and why Steve REALLY isn't on Blue's Clue's any longer. Rated M, Genre: Tragedy/Horror
D8
AND THEY'RE ALL LIKE THAT. EVEN THE ONES RATED K.
Almost the entire set for every young children's show I looked up (I gave up after the first 5 fandoms) was dominated by parodies where the characters were tortured/killed (because this show... it's so stupid and annoying and don't you just hate it and want it to die?) or where they've turned everyone into druggies and sex addicts and murderous lunatics.
Are people really that betrayed by adulthood shattering all their childhood dreams, that they have to do this to their childhood shows?
I mean, I love a good, dark, hurt/comfort fic as much as the next fanficcer. I've read plenty of fic for Harry Potter, for Danny Phantom, for Doctor Who and CATS and Calvin & Hobbes and Animorphs and Labyrinth and Invader Zim and any number of other family friendly stories that have been matured and darkened. I love it, that you can find darker, more adult stories for things that you can watch with your kids. Family friendly does not mean immature or stupid, but sometimes I want something darker, and that's part of what makes fanfiction so great, because you can take that extra step that the original creators won't ever take due to their audience.
I love a well-written torture scene, love the grief and pain and loss, the angst and drama... but not for the sake of the torture itself. I'm not a sadist, need the comfort with the hurt. I like it for literary plot device and for a gritty sense of dark realism, not because I feel rejected by society, or hate my parents, or have secret desire to kill people, or because a certain show or character annoyed me. I dislike Disney for promoting a candy-coated stereotyped view of the world, and for sugar-coating stories that, classically, were very dark and morbid. But I also don't feel like the world has betrayed me or lied to me because children's media today is positive and sunny and then I grew up and discovered that life can be harsh and cruel and unfair.
Maybe it's because, as I said before, I grew up with far more advanced tastes in literature, and didn't get suckered into all the South Park, Jerry Springer bullcrap that my classmates were watching at age 7. That sort of viewpoint just feels incredibly self-centered and childish to me. It's like they take growing up and being expected to act like a responsible human being is this personal affront, and then they decide to take it out on programming designed for three-year-olds. They blame cartoons for giving them a skewed view of the world, and because they could not progress all the way to adult-oriented literature, it is for some reason a huge shock when they hit adulthood.
That's not to say that I assume this is the only reason dark!fic for Blue's Clues exists. I guess I just don't understand why there is such a lack of age-appropriate fanfiction for children's shows. Why the huge vacuum of proper stories? Is it because serious writers find that sort of material beneath them? Or is early age programming that ignored? These programs don't receive enough credit. Any writer or regular reader will tell you that what stories you read help to shape your perceptions. You may not even realize it, but the TV and movies you watch, the books you read, especially the stories you are exposed to when you are young, they make such an impact on your psyche. Why is it impossible to find proper fandom for these wonderful shows? You're enough of a child to read Harry Potter or watch Disney or anime, but Nick Jr. programs are beneath you? Really?
So I've come to the conclusion, now I REALLY need to write some Tree Fu Tom. Also, I'm thinking when I start posting that, I might also make a group (perhaps here, but definitely one for fanfiction.net) to collect as many K and K+ stories that actually stick to age appropriate content. Something that parents who want to look up more stories about Blue and Steve to read to their children can go and not have to worry about fics where Steve is going to torture Blue, or say naughty words, or assassinate Dora the Explorer.
Because honestly, is an emotionally mature approach to writing for children too much to ask?
So I recently followed David Tennant to this children’s series that he did a voice for called Tree Fu Tom. I was tickled by how positively charming the entire show was.
In terms of the plot, it follows 8-year-old Tom, who shrinks down and goes to Treetopolis to play with his little magical friends. There's Twigs (David's character) the acorn sprite, who is always getting into mischief, Ariela the butterfly, who runs a ranch, Squirmtum the wood louse, who is sort of a gentle giant, Zigzoo the frog, an inventor and tinkerer, and Treetog, the tree spirit who teaches Tom and Twigs how to use magic. They all have adventures and get into trouble and save the day using their magic powers.
It's designed for 3-6 year-olds, and particularly geared towards children with a muscle condition called dyspraxia, involving little dances modeled after some of the physical therapy routines used to fight the condition. Each episode is about 20 minutes long, and shows the characters learning the sort of valuable life lessons children at that age should be learning - how to share, being brave when you are afraid, supporting your friends, not judging people, etc. That aside, it's very aesthetically appealing; it is well written and beautifully animated. The characters are all fun and interesting, and the voice actors are all wonderful and seem to be enjoying themselves, which almost always shows and can often make or break a cartoon.
So as a whole, the show is doing a great thing. This is the kind of programming I would want to be showing my kids, because it's great for them, and I myself find it both entertaining and soothing in it's gentle simplicity.
And, being me, I've already started planning out fic for it.
Since much of my fic is, of course, very much NOT intended for children, I wanted to branch out a bit, and I figured now would be a good time to do so. I figure that there may be fanfic readers who are also parents, and maybe they are looking for something to read to their children. I figure it would be an excellent and fun creative exercise to write something specifically geared towards a younger audience.
I've always been far more advanced than my peers in terms of reading level. When I was in 1st grade, I was already reading chapter books. I remember reading Tolkien in the 3rd grade. In more recent years, I've been baffled by my classmates' bafflement at Shakespeare (I honestly don't find him difficult... is that really so weird?). In terms of my own writing, I'm accustomed to writing for teenagers and older, not only in regards to content, but just the reading level in general. So I wasn't too sure how to go about writing for a younger audience. How simplistic should it be? How complex of writing is too complex? How simple is too simple? I puzzled over this for a while and then I hit on a brilliant idea that in hindight was rather terrible: look up fanfiction for other cartoons for that age group, and see how other people write theirs. Off to look up Blue's Clues, Dragon Tales, Arthur, Little Bear, Papa Beaver Story Time, Allegra's Window, and Thomas the Tank Engine!
BIIIIIIG MISTAKE.
First Archive: Blue's Clues.
First Fic: Blue's side of the story has never before been told. Her pain and hardships should be shown to the world. This story will tell you exactly what happened in Steve's house when the lights went out, and why Steve REALLY isn't on Blue's Clue's any longer. Rated M, Genre: Tragedy/Horror
D8
AND THEY'RE ALL LIKE THAT. EVEN THE ONES RATED K.
Almost the entire set for every young children's show I looked up (I gave up after the first 5 fandoms) was dominated by parodies where the characters were tortured/killed (because this show... it's so stupid and annoying and don't you just hate it and want it to die?) or where they've turned everyone into druggies and sex addicts and murderous lunatics.
Are people really that betrayed by adulthood shattering all their childhood dreams, that they have to do this to their childhood shows?
I mean, I love a good, dark, hurt/comfort fic as much as the next fanficcer. I've read plenty of fic for Harry Potter, for Danny Phantom, for Doctor Who and CATS and Calvin & Hobbes and Animorphs and Labyrinth and Invader Zim and any number of other family friendly stories that have been matured and darkened. I love it, that you can find darker, more adult stories for things that you can watch with your kids. Family friendly does not mean immature or stupid, but sometimes I want something darker, and that's part of what makes fanfiction so great, because you can take that extra step that the original creators won't ever take due to their audience.
I love a well-written torture scene, love the grief and pain and loss, the angst and drama... but not for the sake of the torture itself. I'm not a sadist, need the comfort with the hurt. I like it for literary plot device and for a gritty sense of dark realism, not because I feel rejected by society, or hate my parents, or have secret desire to kill people, or because a certain show or character annoyed me. I dislike Disney for promoting a candy-coated stereotyped view of the world, and for sugar-coating stories that, classically, were very dark and morbid. But I also don't feel like the world has betrayed me or lied to me because children's media today is positive and sunny and then I grew up and discovered that life can be harsh and cruel and unfair.
Maybe it's because, as I said before, I grew up with far more advanced tastes in literature, and didn't get suckered into all the South Park, Jerry Springer bullcrap that my classmates were watching at age 7. That sort of viewpoint just feels incredibly self-centered and childish to me. It's like they take growing up and being expected to act like a responsible human being is this personal affront, and then they decide to take it out on programming designed for three-year-olds. They blame cartoons for giving them a skewed view of the world, and because they could not progress all the way to adult-oriented literature, it is for some reason a huge shock when they hit adulthood.
That's not to say that I assume this is the only reason dark!fic for Blue's Clues exists. I guess I just don't understand why there is such a lack of age-appropriate fanfiction for children's shows. Why the huge vacuum of proper stories? Is it because serious writers find that sort of material beneath them? Or is early age programming that ignored? These programs don't receive enough credit. Any writer or regular reader will tell you that what stories you read help to shape your perceptions. You may not even realize it, but the TV and movies you watch, the books you read, especially the stories you are exposed to when you are young, they make such an impact on your psyche. Why is it impossible to find proper fandom for these wonderful shows? You're enough of a child to read Harry Potter or watch Disney or anime, but Nick Jr. programs are beneath you? Really?
So I've come to the conclusion, now I REALLY need to write some Tree Fu Tom. Also, I'm thinking when I start posting that, I might also make a group (perhaps here, but definitely one for fanfiction.net) to collect as many K and K+ stories that actually stick to age appropriate content. Something that parents who want to look up more stories about Blue and Steve to read to their children can go and not have to worry about fics where Steve is going to torture Blue, or say naughty words, or assassinate Dora the Explorer.
Because honestly, is an emotionally mature approach to writing for children too much to ask?