My friends and I used to play this game where we had contact with the spirit world, which existed as sort of a parallel dimension to the real world, and were privy via telepathy or something to all sorts of drama and whatnot between the ghosts living their afterlives. We all had "contact" with different people and reported to each other on what they were saying and doing, basically like RP. I think we all knew it was a game, really—I mean, it was very soap opera (especially with my friends' people [and they had multitudes compared to my handful]), and there were canon characters as well as OCs—but part of the fun was being borderline-serious about it. Like, how thrilling would that be if it were real? Especially the part where it would've proved our favorite books and stuff true. It was nice to pretend to believe it. {= )

So, my guess would be that "shifting" works the same way, where there's always the kernel of knowledge that this is a fantasy at the back of your mind, but also a whole lot of wishing it were real and enjoying the feeling of almost believing that something so extraordinary could happen to you.

I don't think we ever expected anyone else to take us seriously about it, though. At the very least, there was the whole trope about young people being privy to something important but not being able to tell the adults because they wouldn't believe it and might forbid it if they knew, which added to the thrill. As for other kids, of course we weren't going to tell anyone who wasn't special and cool like us. We certainly weren't looking for approval or feedback from anyone about the events we were "reporting."

Therefore, I think if the shifters explicitly seek feedback, that could be an acknowledgement that their journals are a work of fiction and make them eligible for critique, but otherwise I agree that this is something other than fanfiction and is probably best left alone. I feel like I should also mention my friends and I had grown out of the game by high school if not even by middle school, so I suspect the age of the average shifter may be younger than the average ficcer? I might worry about making sure they do know it's fantasy, and gently questioning things that don't make sense in a journal might be a good way to introduce critical thinking skills that will make them better writers later, but there IS such a thing as a wrong time and place to nitpick writing mechanics. {= )

~Neshomeh

Since they treat scripts akin to actual reality, and their inserts as themselves, no matter how distant they are, I'd find it to be in bad taste personally. It feels too personally (if that even is the right word) to spork something someone feels would (or did) actually happen to them.

Of course, this is just my opinion on it, not fact or anything, and they really shouldn't be posting the scripts online anyways (since it's personal).

Self-inserts tend to differ from scripts in that the author doesn't feel like the events could happen to them but are writing themselves into it anyways.

Also, shifting is really popular (still, oddly enough) at the moment and I'd think it would be bad to spork a script right now because, well, lots of things.

Sorry if my thoughts aren't very clear, but I was trying to get across the point that I wouldn't want to personally but everybody is different.

kA

By which I mean, it's being written as fiction, not because the authors believe that they have actually experienced the events of the journals? (Note that this doesn't rule out other people believing it's true.)

If so, it's like you said: a specialised form of first-person self-insert, just the same as the old Girl-Falls-Into-Middle-Earth. Having a common backstory doesn't make them any different.

The biggest problem would be if they're explicitly saying that they can change the world when they enter. You can't charge for 'making Legolas fall in love with you' if they literally have a 'make Legolas fall in love with me' button! It's character abuse, but it's not against the logic of the story. (Though in this case you could send a message to the Interdimensional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elves.)

If they're not written as fiction, or if it's unclear whether the authors believe they're reporting actual events, it's probably best to leave it alone.

hS