Oh look, someone made another Sakura recolor and called her their "Naruto OC".
And here's someone writing themselves into an obvious Sue in their fic.

So what do you do when you see this?

Most of the people who make poor fan characters or creations are young and usually relatively new to a fandom, and may even be new to DA (seeing as if they legally joined, then they could be as young as thirteen). If you wouldn't taunt a kid in public, in a real-life setting, what makes it okay to do it on the internet? It hurts them just as much, and you look like just as much of a jerk, especially if you are significantly older than they are.

Look, not all of these kids aren't going to come in here knowing the ins and outs of etiquette, fandom, or even common sense (don't you remember being thirteen? Or even sixteen? Yeah, didn't think you were a model of much of anything...no offense to my younger club members). Tearing their virtual faces off in a self-righteous huff isn't called for.

Does this mean you should leave them alone? That their age is an excuse for bad behavior? Heck no. If they are breaking rules, SHOW them where it says they can't do what they're doing, or REPORT THEM. If it's not actually agaist the rules, but just considered bad form, let them know it is and why, and offer alternatives. They probably won't listen to you, most definitely won't. If even one of them -does-, however, you have bettered your fandom, the DAspace, and furthened the concept of integrity within fandoms.

Examples.

Instead of saying, "OMG THAT MOST RETARDED THING EVAR", how about something more like, "I like the way you drew your fan character's eyes and she has a nice name. However, the show is called, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and if your character is also an airbender, that defeats the entire premise behind the show. If you want her to have a rare power, the Water tribe seems to have the fewest members..."

Or perhaps, instead of "HOGAWD NOT ANOTHER ONE YOU STOOPED GARY STU" , you could say, "You know, not every Sonic character is good at everything. Sonic can't swim, and Shadow needs mechanical assistance to keep up with Sonic even though he's the ultimate lifeform, and soforth. You should pick your favorite of your character's abilities and maybe tone down the others? And there are lots of animals to choose from, he doesn't have to be another hedgehog. I think your character's personality would make for a kick-ass Ocelot."

Will they take the advice? Often, the answer is no. Occasionally, you'll find someone who just genuinely didn't realize something could possibly be seen as distasteful about their creation, and need a lil wakeup call, though NOT in the form of an insult.

Now, why would you, or should you, do these things?

Well, if you're in this club, this is part of what it's about. But even if you aren't, could it really hurt to try and better the fan base by being encouraging rather than strictly critical? Help them improve, point them towards tutorials, suggest programs or methods, but do not harass them.

Try to criticize positively rather than attacking. It leads to better quality results in all aspects.

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