What is fanfic FOR?

[montmorency]

Why do you read it? Why do you write it? What are the required/non-required elements? How is fanfiction different from other types of fiction? Is RPF/RPS okay? Are we weirdos for reading/writing? Are some pairings appropriate and others not? Are there limits to what is "allowable" in choice of pairing or kink

Comments

[thrace_adams]

I started writing fanfic because I wanted to explore the characters created by a show - take them places they hadn't gone on the show - because I wanted to see what happened when they went there. I started reading it for the same reason

[montmorency]

Tommy's adorable, they are both open, and they both have AMAZING chemistry.

That's pretty much what drew me in. :D

RL couples don't work at all for me for the reason you said. That said, things that happen in RL (such as the Moscow concert) can be mined for things to toss into the latest fic. That's always fun. I like a happening fandom, not one that's as unmoving as a still life.

On the RL kick, there are people who say that there's something wrong about writing fanfic about a non-RL couple when the individuals have actual significant others in RL. That's ass-backwards. Because it's fiction and fantasy, it should involve characters, not the actual human beings and their actual lives. To suggest that a fandom's readers and writers are wishing the fic couple to be real and the real couple to break up is absurd. We understand it's fantasy and this gets at what I think fanfic is for - it's for our entertainment. Would Adam and Tommy make a hot RL couple? Fuck yeah. Is it going to happen? Uh, one of them is straight and the other is

[thrace_adams]

Yes this so much - I agree, you can use RL stuff or "canon" but you don't have to do RL couples & FFS if Adam and Tommy were real I would most likely stop writing them and lock all my fic down LOL.

Oh cool, can't wait to hear what you think :D

[casey270]

i think the most important thing in writing fanfic is characterization. when writing original fiction, you can give your characters whatever personalities and quirks you want, but with fanfic, & especially RPS, the challenge is to nail the characterizations.

i love seeing some little quirk in someone's personality & using it to develop a whole fic. maybe it's just a look you see in their eye in one pic, or a postural stance you've never seen before, but for some reason it catches your imagination. i love reading this type of fic, too. you can always tell when the author is doing that & it just makes the fic feel so, so right--i'm particularly looking at you, moodwriteras far as pairings go, i used to be kinda squicked by RL couples, but someone pointed out to me that once the author takes them under their writing wing, they are just another character, another characterization challenge

[montmorency]

In agreement with all you say. Some well-known and well-respected authors have used characters from the past and expanded on a quirk or an aspect of the personality, to very good effect. That's what we're doing here.

The amazing thing about Adam/Tommy fandom is that we actually have picture after picture after video after video of them kissing. That's really astounding, given that most slash fandoms have no such thing available. Both Tommy and Adam strike me as very open people, as you say, and I think both support creativity for everyone, however it arises. They aren't a RL couple but they also have no hangups about sexuality, whether gay or straight or bi. Clearly they have enjoyed their stage-gay antics. <3 to them both.

[pinkmeltingpot]

Ok so I'll try to answer everything

[montmorency]

But I cannot imagine reading a story where the characters are not respected at all. I mean, physically and in behavior. When it becomes a totally different person, almost an original character, I don't like it.

In agreement. While different authors will work on different aspects of a character's personality, the character must still be recognizable, or what's the point?

I love your first paragraph about how online reading can be more affordable. Stories should be available as widely as possible, as far as I'm concerned. There's a war going on about copyright and withholding culture. I support the right of artists to make a living but it should reasonable, not suing the ass off some lowly person because they downloaded one song. I'm all about free culture. I say that as someone who is putting things out in the cultural commons. We need to share and be open, not hoard things just to get money. Okay, rant over!

[rhodynne]

This is an interesting question. Why fanific?
For me, it's because I want to live in that world longer.
I'm trying to get my brain to expand on that, but it's really a complete answer. I'm not ready to leave.
I resisited RPS for a long time, it seemed impolite somehow. For me the key is well written. If the writing isn't good, it doesn't matter what the subject is, it's not worth it.
Once you accept the fact that we are talking straight (no pun intended) fiction, then it's just writers who, to make it easier to picture characters and places, take them from 'real life'.
The very center of all of this is the word FICTION. That is the single most important aspect to remember. Anyone who loses sight of that has lost it all. Or never had it to begin with.

[montmorency]

I resisted RPS for a long time, it seemed impolite somehow

Me, too, I know what you mean. What changed my mind was thinking of things like skin mags or even a lot of mainstream movies with sex scenes. People are selling sex with their own images. Historically it's been mostly women and frankly I think getting naked in a film gives an actress a better chance of getting an Oscar - LOL. Men aren't used to be treated as objects, yet men have been fapping over women in skin mags of one sort or another since the dawn of print. It's their turn. After all, it's fiction, no one is claiming it's true.

[nikibee]

Have you read this recent Times article? It talks a lot about why people write fanfiction and some of the cultural/social themes that go along with it. What I remember from the top of my head: people in fandom interact with their source material - analyzing, discussing, writing, viding, etc - rather than just consuming it. It's a transformative process, it's a way for them to take the story and expand it's boundaries - what happened before? What happened after? What did this other character think of things? Also, specifically regarding slash, people feel that the films and TV shows of today don't show enough positive gay characters so they have to add them themselves. I've actually been planning to make a meta post about this myself, it's fascinating.

[montmorency]

That was a cool article, and I'm really glad to see fanfic writers are being treated a little better lately. Some published authors don't appreciate having their characters used but that's foolish. These are dedicated fans of the source material. If I put a novel/movie out in the public arena, I'd figure that people have a right to use it for personal creativity. If I didn't care for some of the things they do with my characters, well, I don't have to read it and the world will realize that wasn't written by me. Disney stole like crazy from earlier tales that were out of copyright protection - without permission from the authors - and Disney made billions on that, and of course now Disney would sue your ass for using "their" characters. LOL

Culture wants to be free in my opinion.

You should make that meta post!