Fanfiction

[Heather_Mc]

Well, I've never read much fanfiction myself. I think the primary reason why is that I just prefer originally written works. Not that fanfiction is bad in and of itself. I'm sure there's plenty of good fanfiction out there. I would just rather invest my time in reading original books. As for its being a genre, well, the word "genre" itself can spark debate among some people, so that makes the argument for fanfiction being a genre a muddy one. Just my two cents.

[Camille Turner]

I have steered clear of fanfiction and never read any of it. I am interested in seeing people's opinions who have read it and who like it.

[briellejee]

Oh man, I've never considered this even though I've been reading fanfiction for forever. I'd put the majority of them in romance, yes, the fact that the majority of them are written by teenagers just makes the genre (?) more interesting to me. These incredibly talented people put a lot of their hours into something that most consume for free, just for the love of the subject matter? That's amazing and I have so much respect for these authors. And also, considering that nothing is original, we can either expand the definition of fanfiction to include published works or focus the definition to include xyz traits of what we see as inherent to the genre (???). All this said I'm still hesitant to call fanfiction a genre, but I can't place why.

I am not saying that these teenagers are not talented, they are, but most of the time, or most of the works i've read, are just too cliche. NO research done on the topic they chose (again, fifty shades of grey and it's not even written by a teenager lol). Sure they give too much time on them but effort doesn't equal to quality though. Putting fanfiction as a genre could be easier for people to recognize it but I do agree though that there's something that seems so wrong to be it called as a genre.

[briellejee]

I also enjoy reading fanfiction, mainly because a lot of the time the stories answer a lot of the unanswered questions that I have from fandoms that I enjoy. While a lot of the authors are teenagers, that doesn't mean that they are bad writers per say. A lot of times the authors are participating in writing challenges, like National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo in November, and that gives them a chance to have critiques in improving their writing.

What fandom for example? I am part of fandom too lol. Anyways, i didn't mean they're bad, they're just not that good yet (except for some). I get it that some people enjoy their writings but what your read sometimes affect your perspectives right? I'm not saying they should have moral lessons in them but the plot and the characters are too cliche and too "giggly". It's fun at times but most of them focus on the "giggly" part and there's no character development (well the ones that i have read). It's good that some authors are participating in those contests, at least getting critiqued will help them know what's missing in their work and how they can improve it.

[briellejee]

I think fanfiction is neat because it functions in a way to treat the characters as legendary figures. The story of the goddess Persephone has been told thousands of times in thousands of different ways, each tells you a bit about the people and the situation it was written in, fanfiction is the same way.

A lot if it is romance, and I think romance has its own value as a genre, but I think that the choice just reflects the authors. Adults have been taught that fanfiction is useless and childish, guys have been taught that fanfiction is "girly" and "emotional", so the people most comfortable are people that don't fit into those categories. For the most part, that leaves us with teenage girls, who have often been taught that romance is the most important thing they can have in their lives and that their lives are not worth it unless they have other people romantically approving.

Plus, most media is written for the adult straight white cisgendered male, and fanfiction allows the authors to insert their own experiences into the lives of characters, to view the media in a way that reflects their own experiences.

Also a lot of it isn't romance. People will write million-word epic fantasies just because they like the dynamic of the characters they're writing for.

Well, it is really good that you have found yourself well-written fanfictions. Most of what i encounter are all teenagers falling in love with a guy and do everything in their power to be noticed. I think adults who think fanfiction is useless and childish, have read some of them. I'm not calling any written works as useless though because anything can be transformed into something beautiful. I just don't like the value of Literature being demeaned to the likes of some fanfictions. That said, I would welcome any suggestions of fanfictions you may have since I am curious of what you have read contrary to mine. Thanks!

[briellejee]

I think fanfiction is neat because it functions in a way to treat the characters as legendary figures. The story of the goddess Persephone has been told thousands of times in thousands of different ways, each tells you a bit about the people and the situation it was written in, fanfiction is the same way.

A lot if it is romance, and I think romance has its own value as a genre, but I think that the choice just reflects the authors. Adults have been taught that fanfiction is useless and childish, guys have been taught that fanfiction is "girly" and "emotional", so the people most comfortable are people that don't fit into those categories. For the most part, that leaves us with teenage girls, who have often been taught that romance is the most important thing they can have in their lives and that their lives are not worth it unless they have other people romantically approving.

Plus, most media is written for the adult straight white cisgendered male, and fanfiction allows the authors to insert their own experiences into the lives of characters, to view the media in a way that reflects their own experiences.

Also a lot of it isn't romance. People will write million-word epic fantasies just because they like the dynamic of the characters they're writing for.

I totally agree that most media is created for that specific and limiting audience, so I love that when creating their own rendition of the source material, the authors get to breathe new life into the characters, especially if they apply their own headcanons to the characters/events.

While I think in today's media landscape there are more attempts to be diverse there is still a long way to go to be truly representative of US's demographic. But I think that as there is a current limit to diversity in characters in media, there is also a limit on fanfiction genre. Like you said, most of it is romance that I've seen, so I wonder what kind of push would be needed for fanfic authors to expand into different genres, and their audiences to appreciate them.

Oh this put me into another perspective. I liked it when you said that fanfic authors need to expand into different genres other than romance. That, I would really love to see.

[briellejee]

Fanfiction should never be a genre. Some of these fanfictions 1) are poorly written 2) tend to be erotic and 3) do not stay true to who the characters actually are. I've stopped reading them after reading too many terrible ones.

Me too! And it is so placidly written like there's no room for thinking anymore. Like, everything is served on a silver platter. The characters have no substance, the plot tends to revolve around on how the main character gets the last say. It's terrible. I really don't like that most of them are so childish because it being a genre also means that literature has been demeaned to such a sloppy work. But others in here have read other fanfics with a great plot so we might as well give it a try.

[tvess]

Well, it is really good that you have found yourself well-written fanfictions. Most of what i encounter are all teenagers falling in love with a guy and do everything in their power to be noticed. I think adults who think fanfiction is useless and childish, have read some of them. I'm not calling any written works as useless though because anything can be transformed into something beautiful. I just don't like the value of Literature being demeaned to the likes of some fanfictions. That said, I would welcome any suggestions of fanfictions you may have since I am curious of what you have read contrary to mine. Thanks!

That's strange; most of what I've found is romance between two of the central characters of a story. A lot of fanfiction tends to include these, even if the central plot has nothing to do with it (i.e. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11696 ... s/26334717 which is about J.A.R.V.I.S. recovering after the events of Marvel's Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War and focuses on J.A.R.V.I.S.' place and perspective as Tony's guardian, but includes some background romance between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers). Most people seem hesitant to write self-inserting fanfiction like you've described due to the same reputation that you've mentioned (not to say it's gone, of course, but you usually don't find it unless you're searching for it). I believe what you're saying about people having read some of it, I remember reading some like that, but fanfiction has grown a lot as its authors have gotten older.

Admittedly, it is hard to find fanfiction that has absolutely no romance, most of the ones with good non-romance plot are like the one above where the focus is on a plot, but there's romance on the side. If you really want to find something without romance, fanfiction websites usually show tags so you can avoid spending time on things that don't fit your preferences (CharacterA & CharacterB often designates non-romantic/non-sexual interactions, while CharacterA/CharacterB tends to be romantic and/or sexual).

I don't save many links of what I've read, though I did manage to find one that had no romance: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11082 ... rs/2230369. It focuses on (again, Marvel) Loki's brotherly relationship with Thor and attempting to use magic to fix what he's done. It's a bit long to read out of 'curiosity', at over one-hundred-thousand words (longer than Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, for reference), but I thought I'd mention it anyways. Most of the non-romance ones end up very long because they're more about exploring the universe "if this happened" (i.e. if a certain character hadn't died, or addressed a certain problem, or had been on a different side of the plot).

For the most part, I only recommend reading fanfiction of things you already like, because it tends to require an interest and knowledge of characters and universe. For instance, characters are rarely described because it's assumed that you already know them, and universe-concepts are often not explained (i.e. the results from a Harry Potter spell not being explained because the author assumes we know what it does). It's usually easiest to find someone who reads a lot of fanfiction in your preferred universe and then ask them for specific recommendations because they're more likely to have stumbled upon it and be able to speak about the quality. If you (or anyone, really) would like help finding fanfiction of a specific series/character fitting your preferred qualifications, feel free to ask. I can help search through the sites even if it's not a series I'm familiar with, since I know they're a bit confusion to anyone who is new to it.

[rave_2]

Fanfiction should never be a genre. Some of these fanfictions 1) are poorly written 2) tend to be erotic and 3) do not stay true to who the characters actually are. I've stopped reading them after reading too many terrible ones.

Me too! And it is so placidly written like there's no room for thinking anymore. Like, everything is served on a silver platter. The characters have no substance, the plot tends to revolve around on how the main character gets the last say. It's terrible. I really don't like that most of them are so childish because it being a genre also means that literature has been demeaned to such a sloppy work. But others in here have read other fanfics with a great plot so we might as well give it a try.

I think I'll pass. lol

[GabbiV]

Well, it is really good that you have found yourself well-written fanfictions. Most of what i encounter are all teenagers falling in love with a guy and do everything in their power to be noticed. I think adults who think fanfiction is useless and childish, have read some of them. I'm not calling any written works as useless though because anything can be transformed into something beautiful. I just don't like the value of Literature being demeaned to the likes of some fanfictions. That said, I would welcome any suggestions of fanfictions you may have since I am curious of what you have read contrary to mine. Thanks!

Admittedly, it is hard to find fanfiction that has absolutely no romance, most of the ones with good non-romance plot are like the one above where the focus is on a plot, but there's romance on the side.

For the most part, I only recommend reading fanfiction of things you already like, because it tends to require an interest and knowledge of characters and universe. For instance, characters are rarely described because it's assumed that you already know them, and universe-concepts are often not explained (i.e. the results from a Harry Potter spell not being explained because the author assumes we know what it does). It's usually easiest to find someone who reads a lot of fanfiction in your preferred universe and then ask them for specific recommendations because they're more likely to have stumbled upon it and be able to speak about the quality. If you (or anyone, really) would like help finding fanfiction of a specific series/character fitting your preferred qualifications, feel free to ask. I can help search through the sites even if it's not a series I'm familiar with, since I know they're a bit confusion to anyone who is new to it.

I definitely agree that you have to go into fanfiction with a willing mind because otherwise, everything will seem childish.

Another general way I've found that often leads to good work is to filter for the highest views/kudos/comments since fandom, I think, usually has good taste. While it might be a bit more challenging to find something without romance, if there's a will there's a way right.

[tvess]

I definitely agree that you have to go into fanfiction with a willing mind because otherwise, everything will seem childish.

Another general way I've found that often leads to good work is to filter for the highest views/kudos/comments since fandom, I think, usually has good taste. While it might be a bit more challenging to find something without romance, if there's a will there's a way right.

Agreed, on both counts. I had somehow forgotten about kudos/comments/etc.

I know you can filter out certain tags (as explained here for Ao3 http://filter-me-ao3.tumblr.com/post/94 ... -to-filter or by installing something like Ao3 Savior), which would give you a start if you target the most commonly written relationships, but you'd have to add a lot of tags to get rid of all romance. And, of course, there would still be a few people who don't tag properly, but that wouldn't be as much of a problem.

[holsam_87]

I also enjoy reading fanfiction, mainly because a lot of the time the stories answer a lot of the unanswered questions that I have from fandoms that I enjoy. While a lot of the authors are teenagers, that doesn't mean that they are bad writers per say. A lot of times the authors are participating in writing challenges, like National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo in November, and that gives them a chance to have critiques in improving their writing.

What fandom for example? I am part of fandom too lol. Anyways, i didn't mean they're bad, they're just not that good yet (except for some). I get it that some people enjoy their writings but what your read sometimes affect your perspectives right? I'm not saying they should have moral lessons in them but the plot and the characters are too cliche and too "giggly". It's fun at times but most of them focus on the "giggly" part and there's no character development (well the ones that i have read). It's good that some authors are participating in those contests, at least getting critiqued will help them know what's missing in their work and how they can improve it.

Honestly? I have read a lot of really good ones over the years from Animes like InuYasha and ones that come Disney too. I did see a really good one where the characters are well written and it almost made me feel like I was seeing it happen. It's called Somewhere in Between and I have reread it a few times.

[briellejee]

I have steered clear of fanfiction and never read any of it. I am interested in seeing people's opinions who have read it and who like it.

will you give it a chance? well, you're in the right topic thread a lot of people here are showing interests about fanfiction.

[briellejee]

I also enjoy reading fanfiction, mainly because a lot of the time the stories answer a lot of the unanswered questions that I have from fandoms that I enjoy. While a lot of the authors are teenagers, that doesn't mean that they are bad writers per say. A lot of times the authors are participating in writing challenges, like National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo in November, and that gives them a chance to have critiques in improving their writing.

What fandom for example? I am part of fandom too lol. Anyways, i didn't mean they're bad, they're just not that good yet (except for some). I get it that some people enjoy their writings but what your read sometimes affect your perspectives right? I'm not saying they should have moral lessons in them but the plot and the characters are too cliche and too "giggly". It's fun at times but most of them focus on the "giggly" part and there's no character development (well the ones that i have read). It's good that some authors are participating in those contests, at least getting critiqued will help them know what's missing in their work and how they can improve it.

Honestly? I have read a lot of really good ones over the years from Animes like InuYasha and ones that come Disney too. I did see a really good one where the characters are well written and it almost made me feel like I was seeing it happen. It's called Somewhere in Between and I have reread it a few times.

Oohhh I'm a fan of InuYasha!! but i didnt know there are fanfics for animes too. lol i should check out some. Thanks for sharing your views! will try to read your suggestion and hit you up when i'm done.

[briellejee]

Well, it is really good that you have found yourself well-written fanfictions. Most of what i encounter are all teenagers falling in love with a guy and do everything in their power to be noticed. I think adults who think fanfiction is useless and childish, have read some of them. I'm not calling any written works as useless though because anything can be transformed into something beautiful. I just don't like the value of Literature being demeaned to the likes of some fanfictions. That said, I would welcome any suggestions of fanfictions you may have since I am curious of what you have read contrary to mine. Thanks!

That's strange; most of what I've found is romance between two of the central characters of a story. A lot of fanfiction tends to include these, even if the central plot has nothing to do with it (i.e. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11696 ... s/26334717 which is about J.A.R.V.I.S. recovering after the events of Marvel's Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War and focuses on J.A.R.V.I.S.' place and perspective as Tony's guardian, but includes some background romance between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers). Most people seem hesitant to write self-inserting fanfiction like you've described due to the same reputation that you've mentioned (not to say it's gone, of course, but you usually don't find it unless you're searching for it). I believe what you're saying about people having read some of it, I remember reading some like that, but fanfiction has grown a lot as its authors have gotten older.

I don't save many links of what I've read, though I did manage to find one that had no romance: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11082 ... rs/2230369. It focuses on (again, Marvel) Loki's brotherly relationship with Thor and attempting to use magic to fix what he's done. It's a bit long to read out of 'curiosity', at over one-hundred-thousand words (longer than Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, for reference), but I thought I'd mention it anyways. Most of the non-romance ones end up very long because they're more about exploring the universe "if this happened" (i.e. if a certain character hadn't died, or addressed a certain problem, or had been on a different side of the plot).

Ohhhh. It's interesting. But isn't it a bit, this is just me though, somewhat twisting the characters of the author? I mean, fanfic authors literally are taking the original author's character away from his own perspective and his original story? They're twisting it too much to their own liking. I mean, if you're the author, you pictured this whole character in your head bu to somebody suddenly twists it and kinda like "destroy" your character? It sounds genius though, I'll admit, like creating a whole new story from one single character.


also another note, we have JK Rowling's new books right? Like fantastic Beasts and where to find them. It's basically a part of harry potter that JK wanted to expand more. Fanfics are basically the same right? taking out a character and making a whole new story about him/her? The difference is, it's just a different author? I'm actually just spewing things out of mind here because this is what i've thought when i read the examples you've given me.