fanfic jawns
Have some of my fanfic thoughts:
- Okay, one of the things that really bugs me is how minor or off-screen characters end up getting the same characterization in every fic. Obviously, with characters that are on screen and developed enough to have solid characterizations, authors will carry that over to their fiction. But with minor/off-screen characters - why do they always have to be the same in each fic? For example, in the Teen Wolf fandom, I'd love to see Laura Hale explored. I personally love fic that also is a bit like meta and gives the readers a good look into what a character could be like and what their relationships could be like. And as much as I do like fandom's interpretation of Laura I'd love to see more. I'd love to see her in more situations, developing more and different relationships, and see her as something other than the sweet, fun, fierce woman that everyone writes her as. This goes for Mama Stilinski as well. And all of the minor characters - including Erica/Boyd/Issac (while we've seen them quite a bit on screen, they've become completely pigeon-holed into just a couple of words in fic)
- I get really put off when there is only one queer pairing in fic. Like, even when the only other pairings are side pairings. I don't understand why people are reluctant to add more than one queer narratives. And it really doesn't feel genuine? Like, they become the ~token gays~. Then I start to think - why has fandom chosen these two characters, this one pairing as being the only one acceptable to make into a queer narrative. It just really rubs me the wrong way, like all of sudden there are criteria that characters have to go through to be queer (both in sexual orientation and gender identity). And we're only allowed one queer narrative per show? Not okay.
- That being said, when you make everything a queer pairing as a way to get rid of all the ladies in canon, I'm going to ignore that fic so quickly.
- On that note, a PSA: Ladies can be queer too. There needs to be more femslash.
- Why are writers so hesitant to have characters identify as bisexual? I saw this more in the Merlin fandom than in the Teen Wolf fandom, but it's EVERYWHERE. There are like two ways writers do that - either no character is bi, or they are an identity that could be considered bi but they never say the word (aka ~I go both ways~, ~I don't discriminate~ etc). Like, I'm all for people identifying with whatever words they want BUT seriously a character out there somewhere has to feel comfortable with identifying as bisexual. It just reeks of biphobia that it's so hard to actually read the word "bisexual" in a fic.
- Bisexuality is not a "crazy lifestyle" as I read in one fic and then exited out as fast as I could. Bisexuality is as valid of an identity as any other. Also, when people warn for bisexuality. Ugh.
- Warnings are great! Things you should warn for: Rape/sexual assault, violence, ableism, homophobia, and other triggering things. Things you should not warn for: bisexuality, bottom!x, top!x, gay sex!!!, and other things that add stigma to the already stigmatized queer community.
- (I really want bisexual characters)
- (I do acknowledge though that there is a lot of fluidity in identity and someone can identify as gay/lesbian while having past partners of the opposite sex, and that is important actually for EVERYONE TO ACKNOWLEDGE).
- Why are the majority of rarepair fics porn without plot? I want my minor characters developed!
- Gen fic is lovely. Like, there is nothing I'm craving more right now than a gen Melissa McCall fic (which, side note, is why I'm working on a epic Mama McCall meta). Like, I understand the authors want feedback and gen fic isn't really popular (which is why we as readers need to comment more, especially on rarepairs and gen fic), but there is something so nice about gen fic. Just the extra glimpses into a character's life that you'll never see on TV. Or how a character interacts with other characters, when there is no romance involved.
- Friendships matter too.
- If you got to the end of this A+, here's a fun fact: When I was a wee little one in the fandom world I thought "rarepair" was read "ra-repair" and a kink that I just wasn't aware of. Oh me.