Forum: Is It Still Appropriate to Write Chen–OC Stories in Light of His News?

- Hello -

It’s Cat! I hope everyone’s day is going well! The title of this blog post states what this forum focuses on, and this happens to be something I am genuinely interested in having open and friendly discussions over after talking to my friends who are EXO fans and/or EXO–OC writers and readers.

Note: This is a forum for people to have civil conversations with one another. I would like to state that this blog post is not supposed to cause arguments and fights. The purpose of this blog post is to have an open and friendly discussion with people who are wondering about the future of Chen-centric stories. Everyone has their own opinions and views, so please be mindful of your words and actions. Bullying and bashing are not allowed, and if one of those two occur, I will do what is appropriate in order to make the comment section a safe environment for people to be a part of. Please be polite and respectful in the comment section.

First, I’m going to start from the beginning. In case anyone is unaware, on Monday, January 13, 2020, EXO’s Chen revealed that he will be marrying his girlfriend and that they are expecting their first child. I’ve been a fan of EXO for almost four years now, and whenever the members start a new chapter in life, one they’ve dreamed of having, all I feel is happiness for them. I don’t ever want them to remain single for the sake of their fans because they deserve to be with people who will love and cherish them like how they love and cherish us. Chen is one of my favorite EXO members, one whose personality reminds me of an older brother, and honestly, when I read his letter (after it had been translated), I felt as if I was a sister receiving news of her brother finding “the one” and finally settling down with the person with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life. I am genuinely happy for Chen, and I wish all the best for him, his fiancée, his loved ones, and the newest addition to his family!

Going back to the topic of this blog post, I would like to state that Chen is an artist, but more importantly, he is a human being. All artists are human beings, and like us, they want to love and be loved. They want to experience what life has to offer and they want to do it with their loved ones by their side. Many of them sacrificed their childhood and teenage years to get to where they are now. Many of them poured blood, sweat, and tears towards perfecting their skills in order to become the artists they envisioned themselves to be. But when their private life—mainly their love life—reaches the public’s ears, their hard work gets buried by views and opinions of strangers who don’t know them on a personal level.

And that brings attention to the works fanfic writers create and fanfic readers read. Fanfic writers and readers are strangers to the celebrities featured in stories you see here and on other platforms (e.g., Wattpad, Tumblr, AO3). In many cases, the celebrities are single or in relationships, but there are stories that feature celebrities that are married or parents in real life, or both.

Since I read and write EXO–OC stories, I found the last statement to be true for stories that pair Chen with a character of the writer’s choosing.

Chen will become a married man and a father in the near future, and from what I’ve seen on some writing platforms, some writers have decided to stop writing stories that pair Chen up with someone. Here and on Tumblr, I saw and read a couple posts by writers who write stories that ship him with another celebrity, but there weren’t many cases of me encountering posts from those who write stories that pair him with an original character.

And that led to me asking myself this: Is it appropriate to write stories that pair a celebrity, one who will get married and/or become a parent, with an OC?

As an EXO–OC writer and reader, I am curious about the future of Chen–OC stories here and on other writing platforms. Chen is one of my favorite members and it’s sad how he does not have a lot of stories that portray him as a main character. As of the day this blog post was posted, the tags “Chen” and “Jongdae” have 6,542 and 2,346 results, respectively, and I’m certain that tags like “Jongdae x OC,” “Chen x OC,” etc. have an even smaller result pool. The Chen–OC stories I’ve read or am currently reading hold special places in my heart, but on my “bookshelf,” they occupy a small amount of space. Only a few are complete while the rest are unfinished, abandoned, drafted, or deleted. This makes me wonder if there will be a few new Chen–OC stories for people to read in the future.

That being said, I want to present the following as the main discussion topics for this forum:

What do you think will happen to the stories that pair Chen with OCs and the future of Chen–OC stories on AFF and other writing platforms?
If you write or are writing stories that pair Chen with an OC, will you continue them?
If you have plans to write stories that pair Chen with an OC, will you abandon them?
If you read Chen–OC stories, will you continue reading them after today?

I would love to read your thoughts and see your perspective on this. This forum has more than enough room for topics I didn’t mention earlier. Over time, if there are any significant changes, I will add a section that contains the edits below my sign-off. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, and I hope the rest of your day is wonderful!

To end this blog post, I would like to send my congratulations to Chen and his fiancée! From what I’ve seen and heard, their child is going to be loved by so many people, and I am very happy that they will be starting their next chapter together.

<3 Cat

Comments

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nyamnyamnyam #1 Jan 15, 2020 07:00:56

I love the points you make and the way you’ve structured this post as a call for community feedback! I definitely think that Jongdae’s announcement has put us as a fandom in a situation we’ve never experienced before, and whether an already relatively sparse corner of the fandom - the Chen/OC English language fic realm - survives it or not will be really interesting to see in the upcoming months.

I do think that at least in the short run, a lot of writers are going to put their Chen/OC fics on hold, if not entirely abandon or change them, if they’re just starting to post new stories. That’s for a whole multitude of reasons - I would argue that suddenly being confronted with the realization that Jongdae is a real person and not just a persona is one of them. It’s harder to predict for writers with Chen fics that are already quite far along - I’m in that situation myself with Chasing Xiumin and can’t imagine swapping out the Chen in that fic with another person. Because the Chen in my fic is a doppelgänger of sorts with the real Jongdae who shares some character traits, he’s not exactly substitutable. I think readers also understand that me writing a fic about Jongdae does not mean I am implying he actually does these things or acts this way in real life, so I personally feel comfortable continuing with Chen in my fic. Same goes for Thunderbird, which you know I have long been planning but haven’t yet published. I’d also love to keep reading Chen fics, with the exception of - but I’ve never been quite comfortable with reading about real people, so that’s not something that’s been altered by the announcement.

Thanks for providing a great space to discuss, Cathy! :)

WoodlandSparrow #2 Jan 14, 2020 10:50:13

I'm a shipper so I don't write Idol/OC but short answer? I think it's silly to delete them if you still want to write.

Long answer, it depends on where the need to write is coming from. Are you using writing Chen as a way to further an impossible fantasy of actually being with Chen? Do you SERIOUSLY believe this fantasy? How old are you? I think all of this counts. For example, if you're a teen, it's normal to develop a real crush on a celebrity, it's even healthy since it's a way to experience love/crushes in a very safe way for a young girl. In their hearts, most girls know it's a fantasy, and even if it hurts, they understand Chen deserves to marry. They might quit writing to acknowledge their fantasies are only fantasies and might go on to have a crush on a boy their age they actually know. All of that is ok!

If you're like me, and are using idols as actors in your stories, and your need to write comes from loving writing and plotting and outlining and researching, then I think it's normal to feel no different about writing now. Chen was never a vampire or a werewolf either, and all the personalities he has been given in stories are fictional, since he's a stranger to all of us. I could name my characters Sam and Louis instead of Baekhyun and Chanyeol and still be into writing them haha. Except I'd have to work a lot harder for readers lol.

Those are my thoughts!