RPS Aus are like my crack, I dont even know why but they are my favorite things ever and I much prefer them to if they are orginal fiction, I understand the not liking it hough. I think for me, its because I already adore Jared and Jensen, I think they are good guys and aus are just a bit of fun really, they get to have different lives and stories and its really fun. I wouldnt changeJared or Jensen for anything but I really do love reading rps aus' There are some aus which really are so amazingly built they would work as orginal fiction (like "The doors of time" which seriously if it was a book I would buy and send to everyone its an amazingly beautiful story and if yiu changed the names you wouldnt even know it was Jared and Jensen that the characters were based on) but yeah I love aus because they are fun, and I dont have to take them seriously to be able to enjoy them, and they are always really well done (the ones I read anyways) Im not sure if that answered your question lol
You make very good points here - my problem is, is that when a writer takes it so AU (like having the boys in college together for example) then where do you draw the line between RPS and original fiction?
I remember from reading the first year of the college fic I mentioned, that it was fun. Reading it each week made me smile (even when they broke up in the middle of term). But to be honest I wasn't reading them as Jared and Jensen, I was reading them as other people. And yet, to contradict myself straight away, I had to stop reading the second year because I 'knew' Steve by then and was extrememly uncomfortable with the way he was being written. (No different than he had the previous year, the difference was purely in me and my experiences.)
I guess in a way I may have been spoiled given that I don't read a lot of RPS AUs, those that I have read have been the best out there and as such I can see them as being able to stand alone as original fiction.
The Doors of Time is amazing, really a breath taking fic. I've actually been talking about it to non-fandom people (without saying it's fanfic) because it's so beautiful. I read it a month ago, but I'm still thinking about it and listening to the soundtrack.
A friend of mine reads J2 fanfic without watching SPN or being in the fandom (and she has not intention to either).
But that's the thing - these characters are just that. They are characters. The story is an AU, these are not Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and sundry others as we know them. These are characters who happen to share the names of the actors whom the author sees in the roles.
Writing fanfiction gives the author the chance to take shortcuts in character development.That's pretty much why I don't have a problem with J2 RPS. They are characters as much as Dean and Sam are characters. They are so completely different in my head I sometimes forget why it creeps some people out to read RPS. Though I remember why when I read RPS that's too much set in real event. I love AUs and even if I do read fic where they are both actor on SPN, it's not often set in the present or doesn't refer to really specific events like cons
( ... )
I think if I were to start reading RPS it would be purely AUs like this.
When I do read a story that is really good, I almost feel let down that it's an RPS fic - that's no doubt a personal failing on my part based on my own prejudices, but I can't shake the feeling that if only the author took that one extra step into original fiction it would have been so much better.
Came across this via Friends of Friends. This is something I've thought about a lot. I also feel somewhat uncomfortable about reading RPS but I find that I don't have that problem about RPS AUs. I think of them as fanfiction of imaginary film/tv shows that happen to star the actors. They may share the same appearance/certain characteristics but they aren't actually about the actors themselves.
I agree that most AUs could be written as original fiction and I believe that at least one J2 writer has had a fic published as original fiction (with certain details changed). I think that it is all about the audience. There is a much smaller audience for a romance between two random high school boys. However if those boys are "Jared" and "Jensen" - you have a built in audience.
i.e. an audience on the internet, without going to the trouble of getting published. I also think that there are often copyright issues with getting an audience for original fiction on the internet
You make a very good point about the built in audience perhaps being the critical facter. There are no doubt thousands of wonderfully written 'original' stories out there which never get to see the light of day because they lack that audience.
I think of them as fanfiction of imaginary film/tv shows that happen to star the actors. This is also how I tend to see them, but I've also been lucky enough to meet some of the people being written about and the more I get to know them in person, the harder it is for me to make that disconnect.
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I think for me, its because I already adore Jared and Jensen, I think they are good guys and aus are just a bit of fun really, they get to have different lives and stories and its really fun. I wouldnt changeJared or Jensen for anything but I really do love reading rps aus'
There are some aus which really are so amazingly built they would work as orginal fiction (like "The doors of time" which seriously if it was a book I would buy and send to everyone its an amazingly beautiful story and if yiu changed the names you wouldnt even know it was Jared and Jensen that the characters were based on)
but yeah I love aus because they are fun, and I dont have to take them seriously to be able to enjoy them, and they are always really well done (the ones I read anyways)
Im not sure if that answered your question lol
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I remember from reading the first year of the college fic I mentioned, that it was fun. Reading it each week made me smile (even when they broke up in the middle of term). But to be honest I wasn't reading them as Jared and Jensen, I was reading them as other people. And yet, to contradict myself straight away, I had to stop reading the second year because I 'knew' Steve by then and was extrememly uncomfortable with the way he was being written. (No different than he had the previous year, the difference was purely in me and my experiences.)
I guess in a way I may have been spoiled given that I don't read a lot of RPS AUs, those that I have read have been the best out there and as such I can see them as being able to stand alone as original fiction.
I'm waffling again amn't I?!
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But that's the thing - these characters are just that. They are characters. The story is an AU, these are not Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and sundry others as we know them. These are characters who happen to share the names of the actors whom the author sees in the roles.
Writing fanfiction gives the author the chance to take shortcuts in character development.That's pretty much why I don't have a problem with J2 RPS. They are characters as much as Dean and Sam are characters. They are so completely different in my head I sometimes forget why it creeps some people out to read RPS. Though I remember why when I read RPS that's too much set in real event. I love AUs and even if I do read fic where they are both actor on SPN, it's not often set in the present or doesn't refer to really specific events like cons ( ... )
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When I do read a story that is really good, I almost feel let down that it's an RPS fic - that's no doubt a personal failing on my part based on my own prejudices, but I can't shake the feeling that if only the author took that one extra step into original fiction it would have been so much better.
Reply
I agree that most AUs could be written as original fiction and I believe that at least one J2 writer has had a fic published as original fiction (with certain details changed). I think that it is all about the audience. There is a much smaller audience for a romance between two random high school boys. However if those boys are "Jared" and "Jensen" - you have a built in audience.
i.e. an audience on the internet, without going to the trouble of getting published. I also think that there are often copyright issues with getting an audience for original fiction on the internet
Reply
You make a very good point about the built in audience perhaps being the critical facter. There are no doubt thousands of wonderfully written 'original' stories out there which never get to see the light of day because they lack that audience.
I think of them as fanfiction of imaginary film/tv shows that happen to star the actors. This is also how I tend to see them, but I've also been lucky enough to meet some of the people being written about and the more I get to know them in person, the harder it is for me to make that disconnect.
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