#a lot of people were just casual fans of the franchise and are just unaware | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pansexualkiba · 1 year ago

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Okay, now that it's over, allow me to explain the rationale for each and every one. Spoilers, of course.

The Sonic Bible was a fan favorite, as half the listed here are. I said "Which one did I miss" and you all said "Oh, remember when BDG said he never played a Sonic game?" and its treated as this big masterclass of trickery when really it's not. Tons of people are aware of giant media icons and don't interact with their source material. Pokemon is like, the biggest media franchise and there are Poketubers out there who have never played a Pokemon game. It's Plato's cave out here, and not playing a Sonic game isn't so much a reveal as it is the natural cadence of the video. A lot of BDG videos are like that. Or maybe I'm just fucking stupid, idk.

Shapeland was insane from conception to reveal. The long explanation about how such a model was difficult to implement, much less repeat. The giant timecard about how this was exactly what he did. Then the reveal that ShapeLand IS real, that it's a real park with real attendance numbers on a real date in actual history, that they could run this with ANY date - that was insane. That was iconic. No one does it like Kevin Perjuror.

The Dark Brony Double Life was insane because of the LACK of theatrics. To this day, my Discord status says "AND SO THE PONY CONSUMES ITS OWN TAIL." because of the spiralling nature of the concept of horse famous. Jenny foreshadows the reveal ONCE, and then casually just goes "by the way, I made Friendship is Witchcraft" and it utterly recontextualizes not just that video, but the other Pony videos she's done. She's not just a dedicated fan vis a vis her Star Wars and Harry Potter videos, no, she was HORSE FAMOUS, to the point that she had IMPERSONATORS. You all had a pick and you were right, good on ya.

Alex Lasarenko won last time, too. Tbh, its pretty good. The whole video was leading up to the reveal of Alex writing the Disney Channel theme, but slowly, the video becomes more than a deep dive. It becomes an obituary, a tribute, a biography of a late man who soundtracked a lot of kids' childhoods, with a single four-note melody. And Kevin decides to not let that define Alex's life, like he feels Defunctland might one day define him. And so, throughout this mystery-biopic, he plays Alex Lasarenko's music, and only ever tells you this once the time is right. And it flips the definition of Alex Lasarenko on its head, and THAT'S a reveal that has me on the brink of tears every time.

QAnon is a reveal, yes, and I'm glad you all recommended this one because I HADN'T seen it before. It's a sobering reveal, however. You're having a time, learning about the decline of flat earthers and you're learning how antisemitism and the like fuels most modern occultism and conspiracies, and then you're hit with how they're all at QAnon now, and you're explained the cult of QAnon, and this becomes historical horror. Because the history is now. And the horror is you can SEE the end result as it is. SEW isn't a sibyl, but goddamn was that a portent. With the way y'all were batting for it, I figured it'd be higher-rated. Ah well.

Waluigi, in my opinion, was an insane reveal because it wasn't just the reveal of the video - it was the reveal of a full SEASON. Of REAL LIFE. For those of you unaware of Polygon history (unlike me, who had an on-off crush on Pat Gill), Brian was some hairless Baltimore twink like some kind of emaciated harbor seal, and one day, he decided to grow a mustache. This was, as I'm sure you'll imagine, unpopular with his fanbase because he was a white twink in a suit. He had to publically go, in a video that season, "You aren't my friends and you have no say in what I do with my body". The Gilbertheads (they dont call themselves that) were INSANE over this mustache. And then he makes a Waluigi video, who was ALSO becoming a popular meme because... I assume Reddit or 4chan was responsible somehow. And you slowly realize, as the video goes on, ESPECIALLY when the words FMV tumble out of his lips, that, oh no, he's attempting to BE Waluigi. And then he opines about the nature of Luigi, after disparaging him the whole video. And behind him, fucking Vesti la Giubba from Pagliachi has been growing in volume. And he says "[...] I'm-a Luigi." so despondently it alters his color scheme, culminating in him shaving off the mustache ON SCREEN. Ridi, Pagliaccio.

People have said that the Victorious series finale infuriated them, and GOOD. Throught the mini-miniseries, Quinton had been casually stating the episode number, implying a finale was going to happen, potentially even gaslighting people into thinking "wait, WAS there a finale?" and since he reviewed the Victorious episodes as they came, you were ultimately left unsure. This is Quinton Reviews, the guy who dug up the very first Garfield newspaper comics and BECAME the foremost expert on Garfield (in what I like to call his Agatha Christie moment), of course he might be thorough enough to dig up some lost media finale. He found theslap.com, for god's sake. And then he introduces the finale. And the screen goes black. It's black for a little too long. And the lights come up. And he reveals his trick. Notably, he had never actually SAID what was in the finale, just alluded it happened, and subtly building up to it. And it never existed. And he WANTS you to feel enraged. Because that was the attitude at the time.

Tommy Talarico, I'll admit, wasn't so much of a reveal as it was a deranged second video. Of course, that's if Tommy Talarico was the reveal in and of itself. A few eagle-eyed pollers may have noticed that I never specified WHAT aspect of Tommy boy was the reveal, and that's because Tommy Talarico is a rabbit hole that would make Frederik Knudson squirt across the room (go follow him on Twitch, he's an owl-themed VTuber now (Fred, not Tom)). He was never on Cribs. He bought his world records. He lies constantly for his own ego. He's a throwaway line on the first half of the video, and then HBG turns off the greenscreen and begins a long exposé on the son of a bitch. And every single line there is another bullet to the chest. It's its own brand of unhinged, and I respect everyone who got it to second place.

The Forgiveness of Jon (u/Rojom, 2020, Pencil on paper) wasn't really a reveal, so much as a notable piece of r/imsorryjon lore. In the same manner as Sonic, this isn't so much a reveal as it is the natural conclusion of the way the video was heading. One might CONSIDER it a reveal, as many will point out it's a direct contrast to the way Jon was depicted in all other works, up to and including the ending of the Sex Survey Results, but its a reveal in the way a final magnum opus from a long-dead painter is a reveal. However, perhaps that's all it has to be. Still a little ill-fitting for the poll, tho.

Anyways congrats to Alex-boy for winning a second time! :)

This is a sequel to this poll

EDIT: since i realize yall havent watched everything here like i have, here's all of them in a completely random order.

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re-vised · 5 years ago

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I think we should talk about Nancy Drew

Hey. So I don’t post much here anymore. Sorry about that. But as a person who is somewhat of a gaming journalist, and Nancy Drew Game fan I wanted to talk about Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem, which is launching very soon (about 6 hours from now).

For those of you unaware I’ll try and get you up to speed as best as I can. All jokes aside (bc tbh Nancy Drew is a bit of punching bag), I do in fact love Nancy Drew games. I’m a mystery fan, and a puzzle fan so it stands to reason that I fell in love with the series when I was younger. Herinteractive did some insane work, pumping out 2 games a year, leading it to currently having over 30 games in the series. But there has been a bit of a stir regarding the most recent entry: Midnight in Salem.

Midnight in Salem was first revealed, as the games were at that time, with a post-credit’s teaser in the previous game, Sea of Darkness. This is where we got the basic premise, and people started getting excited for a new entry. But on the eve of its launch, there is a lot of animosity flying around. It all stems back to the desire by Herinteractive to innovate.

Nancy Drew in its prior form was a point-and-click game. It makes sense I suppose, it’s first entry, Secrets Can Kill. So it seems that going forward into the 2010s, where point-and-click isn’t on trend, Her interactive saw fit to innovate by changing the formula. Seemingly the developer, looking to grab new audiences, hopes the changes will bring in higher numbers. Maybe it will, but in my experience this fandom is rather... shall we say insulated. The fandom is passionate and tight knit, but there isn’t any kind of movement of people into the fandom. Nancy Drew Games are well known, but there is already some stigma that lingers around the franchise. It’s perceived as girly, and casual. Is it deserved? I mean sure a bit yeah, but a move to a new engine will not change that. Hell, Unity has cheap devs not paying to have the Unity Ident removed, causing the engine to be associated with bad-quality games in some narrow minded individuals. The shift to Unity, would allow players to fully explore the 3D environments of the ND universe, but this means a lot more work. Work that Her interactive vastly underestimated.

The first obvious problem is that Her interactive had some vastly, inaccurate predictions of the work needed. It seemed to many that, whilst there might be *some* delays, that Midnight in Salem wouldn’t fall too far from the standard biannual schedule. In this case, Salem was set to release the year after it’s predecessor, giving a difference between the two of 9-21 months. With the upcoming date, it is being released just short of 55 months later. Now of course, delays happen. We don’t like them but they happen. But to have a game being kicked 4 years down the road is pretty crazy. It’s crazier if that four and a half year development time is that big a discrepancy from your initial projections. That’s just underestimation, and oversight like that has left some cold on the release.

Many are of course looking through a crazy lens. This game basically replaced 9 possible releases. People are giving an unfair view of this. As such people are wondering if it is “worth the time” spent on it, which I mean it won’t be. A game can’t really be that good that it is going be worth 9 games that’s unrealistic.

But could it all be worth it? Well no I don’t think so. Nancy Drew as a brand is not something that people have been itching to jump on. There are no COD bros who secretly wanted to jump on board but didn’t want to bc it was point and click. I think for the most part, Midnight in Salem will not bring in new fans to buy stuff, but some fans seem to be feeling a bit dejected.

Whilst I can’t abide the fans jumping on #NotMyNancyDrew, protesting the crime of changing the format, let’s be real, it is a step back. See the games looked good in their previous style, but creating a fully immersive 3D environment is pumping totally different, unused muscles, and it shows. Textures are unimpressive. Character models leave a lot to be desired. Simply put, the resources are stretched thin, and there are some obvious faults in the screenshots we have been seeing.

All in all Midnight in Salem is rather disappointing. In trying to capture more audience, Her interactive is doing a disservice to itself. It’s done so much work polishing point and click to a mirror shine, and seems to have thrown it away to pursue something that seems poised to fail. The backlash, whilst a little overblown, is not unjustified. Unfortunately with the backdrop seemingly being Her Interactive flagging as a company, this will probably fail. And as much as I do not want it to be the truth, the company as a whole might not be far behind

#nancy drew #midnight in salem

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winteriron-trash · 7 years ago

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Ok, so that fanfic questions ask meme? You wanna do ALL OF THEM?!

YES, LET’S DO IT, HERE WE GO, PREPARE YOURSELF I’m copy and pasting answers I’ve already done just so I don’t have to retype them and there’s a break because god this got long. I might link this on my About Me post, cause holy shit I spent time on this

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Actual fandom? Probably DC. That’s when I started reading fanfiction and really poked my head around online communities dedicated to media and all.

2. What is your latest fandom?

I don’t know, probably Marvel? Maybe Riverdale, but I was a fan of the comics before so

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

If I’m assuming this question is about the actual fandom and not the source material and the people in the fandom and its community as a whole? Probably the Percy Jackson fandom. Not really into it anymore so I don’t know the state of it now, but it was a pretty wholesome and positive community. Any community that calls it’s creator “Uncle Rick” has gotta be pretty dope.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

Oh lord save my soul for admitting I like this, but definitely Five Nights at Freddy’s. The indie gaming, creepypasta, underground subculture as a whole is something I regret getting into. Don’t get me wrong, I usually love the source material, but the fandom is just so bad. You probably know what I’m talking about, the fangirls who insist they’re insane and are in love with Slenderman or something.

But specifically on FNaF, lord, I don’t even know what the fandom is anymore. It’s a meme, a fetish, and a hellspace all at once. And I’m not gonna fucking lie, I’ve been in this hellhole long before any of that. Like, I can’t even try to escape it, I’m in it for the long haul. I was just someone who joined for the lore and now we’re here with fucking casual bongos and trash gang and fuck I didn’t ask for this. I can’t escape. I know so fucking much about the franchise it hurts my fucking soul. I remember when the FNaF 2 trailer came out and we were all micro-analyzing London Bridge Is Falling Down. I remember when Springtrap didn’t have a name and we called that fucking Spring Bonnie or Golden Bonnie. I survived that era and I have PTSD from it, trust me. I remember when we were naive enough to think FNaF 3 was the last game. I know what channels were born and what channels died because of that series. I know it all.

I’m sorry, I got off topic. BUT I DON’T GET TO FUCKING RANT ABOUT IT ENOUGH, FUCKING FUCKSHIT

Oh, and a lot of bandoms I was in too. I went through an alt phase where I’d only listen to shit like BVB, BMTH, MCR, PTV, SWS, and so on. Once again, that sort of fandom was the same as the indie/creepypasta in being ‘different’ and ‘insane’ and all that and I was no different. I was a weird fucking kid when I was like 13. I regret all of it.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

Marvel, DC, and a couple Riverdale.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Not in many fandoms but

Marvel - WinterIronDC - SuperbatStar Trek Voyager - Captain Janeway/Seven of NinePercy Jackson - Solangelo

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Marvel - Stucky, Stuckony, Romanogers, Clintasha, any incest ones, (save me for admitting this) SpideypoolDC - Any batboys shipped together, Bruce/Talia

And I don’t really have NOTPs for my other fandoms? Marvel and DC are really the only two things I’m invested in the fandom of. I guess you could count Wincest as well for Supernatural.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

What even is my latest fandom? Um, we’ll just say Marvel because I’m really not into joining fandoms much anymore. Honestly, I was a big DC fan who felt the need to hate Marvel because no shit. Eventually, I just got sick of the absolute shit movies DC had and I decided I had nothing to lose by just watching Iron Man. When I watched it I realized “wow, superhero movies can actually be good???” and I just binged the entire MCU in one month and was ready to see the next movie in theatres and I think I’ve seen every single MCU movie in theatres since Civil War? Definitely since Homecoming. I gave up on DC movies. The new Aquaman looks like shit, I’m so fucking pissed they redid Mera’s look when she looked perfectly fucking fine before and now she’s oversexualized and it’s gross. I’m excited for the new DC Batwoman TV show because I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO SEE A LIVE ACTION BATWOMAN SINCE THE DAWN OF FUCKING TIME

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Probably the Tony Stark Defense Squad. As a collective whole, I think the Defense Squad is one of the sweetest, nicest corners of the fandom. We’re incredibly kind to each other, write great meta and fic, and it’s just a great community. Of course, there are assholes, but you know.

I might get flamed for saying this, but also the HYDRA Trash Party corner of the fandom is actually really nice? Like, they understand consent and abuse aftermath and all the real shit better than the rest of the fandom, not gonna lie. Like, for as dark as the fic is you’d expect the people to be fucking nasties, but I have never met a rude HTP enthusiast. Or even one who’s unaware of how consent and whump work. They’re all very aware and kind. It’s bizarre, considering the source material. They get an awful rep though.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Literally any fandom I’m in besides Marvel and DC. I think I wrote like 2 Riverdale fics. Getting into reading fanfic and getting into writing fanfic are two entirely different ballparks. I don’t really read that much fanfic anyway, especially not anymore. I read Marvel and DC, but even then. I think it’s hard because sometimes you can’t switch off the whole ‘reading like a writer’ thing. That’s why I enjoy classic literature. I’m a slut for some good ass prose and symbolism.

11. Who is your current OTP?

WinterIron, of ducking course.

12. Who is your current OT3?

I’m not really a fan of OT3s, to be honest, I find I’m personally pretty weak with writing poly relationships and I don’t really enjoy reading them because one character is usually focused on a lot more than the other two. But if I had to pick, I would say T’Challa/M’Baku/Bucky only because I am solely responsible for the creation of that abomination and you have no idea how much people begged me for a series after the first one, it astounded me.

13. Any NoTPs?

As before listed, Stucky, Stuckony, Spideypool, Clintasha, Romanogers

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

IronWidow is my top BroTP, but I also like WinterWidow as a BroTP. Stucky is good as a BroTP too, as well as Tony & Rhodey.

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Literally any ship I have. Yall I’ve been here since WinterIron was obscure. But to name a specific one I’m just gonna go with Pietro/Tony. I don’t know, I just had an idea I was writing for them and I was thinking about how much missed out potential there was between them. And with Pietro as a whole, but you know. Marvel has to kill off the only good Maximoff they had.

Oh, Natasha/Pepper too, but they aren’t as obscure, I guess.

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Stucky, clearly.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Stony, and no. They fell apart for me, at least MCU-wise.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

By now, WinterIron, I believe. I recently passed my count of fics for Superbat.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Pepperony, probably. I think it’s actually a cute and sweet ship and I like their in-canon moments, but I just can’t get behind reading fanfic of them? It never works out for me, I don’t really get it. It sucks because I do enjoy seeing their cute moments.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

I’ll do a different answer I thought of besides the first time I answered this. But Thruce was a big shocker for me. I didn’t even think about it during Ragnorak but then I saw an incorrect quote for it and I was like? Oh? This? This is a good, pure ship right here. The funny thing is, I actually wrote a fic with them as a side ship long before they hit it big so like, I was shocked when they came out of nowhere. But hey, I’m fucking here for it. I’ll probably never write it, but I’m here for it.

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Goodnight, My Angel. It was a Superbat fic and really sad, but I still love it.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Probably... You Deserve Love And You’ll Get It. No, I won’t link it because I hate it that much. I’m not even gonna talk about it. It’s my most popular fic too why

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Super dorky, but The (Un)Wanted Kiss. It’s my first finished chapter fic, and the first chaptered fic I did on Tumblr and it just brings me a lot of nostalgia. It reminds me of where I was as a writer when I started it and it was an entire fic spawned from people wanting more of a simple 500-word prompt and that just blows my mind. It reminds me of the power of fans and how much love and support I got from it. It really kicked me off as a “serious fanfic writer” I think.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

All You Are Is All I Need. That is a hot fucking mess. Probably The Red Halo too.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

*sigh* You Deserve Love And You’ll Get It

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

I bullshit my way through them. My most recent fics have actually followed a trend of being named after songs.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Summaries. I always make them so fucking corny, I hate it.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

One Foot In Front Of The Other, probably. Just because I want more fem!WinterIron fanart. I can’t say what scene because spoilers but.... yeah, anything from that would be great, really.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

Sort of. I make some of my friends like Pizza read over my shit before I post it, but that’s not often, only when I think I need it. I don’t just because I write a lot and I’d feel bad for constantly annoying someone with making them read everything I write. I hate inconveniencing people.

30. What inspires you to write?

The better question is what doesn’t. I never stop thinking like a writer. My brain forgot how to turn off that feature.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Ummmm, I can’t think of an exact thing? I get so many beyond sweet comments and messages, it’s hard to pin down one comment. I think if I had to pick, I once got a message from someone on Tumblr who was old enough to be my mother complimenting me and telling me I didn’t write like a teenager and I think that was really sweet.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And honestly, any genre. I listen to everything. Everything. But specifically, Emilie Autumn has inspired a lot ideas/fics I’ve written.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

All of the above.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Around 23k, I think?

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

Yes, and whatever I get prompted for, really.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

For fanfiction, I guess romance? I mean, that’s really all my fanfiction is. Otherwise, I’ll write quite literally any genre I feel like. I go wherever an idea takes me. I’m character based, not genre or plot based.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third. I fucking despise 1st person. I just do. That’s an entire rant we ain’t here for today.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Usually canon characters. I only use an OC when I absolutely have to, to make the plot do the plot stuff.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

Nothing. My writing sucks. All of it is shit.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Everything. I screech the most about pacing and sentence structures though.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

Most of these are actually on my to-read list but whatever.

Winter's End by ali_aliska Winter is Coming (aka Fifty First Avengers Dates) by 27dragons, tisfan My Love is Vengeance by seikaitsukimizu The caged Hawk by asamandra Fertile Ground by 27dragons, tisfan

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

27dragons tisfanChiaki_Hamano arianapeterson19 thepartyresponsible

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Not really? I’m not knocking any of the other ‘big names’ in the Marvel fandom, but I don’t really draw inspiration from other fanfic writers. Not for plot, and definitely not for writing style. I get inspiration from fanart I see sometimes, but it’s never one main artist who I stalk to be inspired, just whatever I happen across online.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

WinterIron, duh. I will not rest until WinterIron is the biggest ship in the Marvel fandom.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

I’ve mentioned this fic before and honestly, it hasn’t been topped yet, but In the Company of Monsters by Chiaki_Hamano. It’s not even a Marvel fic, and it’s not even a ship I like, but god, I fucking adore it. I’d love to write something like it, but with WinterIron if I had the time, I think the entire world and setting would fit WinterIron beautifully.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Well, that all depends on what they’re looking for in my fanfiction. If they’re looking for WinterIron, I’d probably tell them to start with The (Un)Wanted Kiss just because that’s one of my most loved fics and I think I did really well with it. But if they just want a general fic, A Great Connection is one I’m really proud of and I still get gushing feedback about.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

For just writing fanfic, Ao3. Tumblr can be a pain in the ass, and I don’t even use ff.net.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes. But only if 1, I really, really loved it or 2, I don’t think the fic has enough attention. It also helps if the writer responds to comments. I don’t see the significance of saying “I loved this!” if the fic has dozens of other comments saying the same thing. As a writer, I know what comments writers prefer. Longer ones, deep comments pointing out what things they liked, and so on. However if I write a comment that long, I like to get a response because you know, I love seeing the writer talking about the elements of the story I liked.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

Not really, to be perfectly honest. Yes, I love and cherish every kudos and note I get, and the sweet comments make me want to die of joy. But I write for me. Even when I take prompts, in the end, I write because it makes me happy. Yes, I love the validation. But even without it, I would still write. I do not write fanfiction for you, I share fanfiction with you. There’s a difference. Writing makes me happy. If I only cared about the validation, I wouldn’t have a folder reserved of fics I’ll never post but I wrote just because I wanted to. I write to write. The moment I start writing for validation, I might as well stop writing, because it’s not worth it.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

Ummmm I think I was just curious? I was new to internet culture, I saw fanart of Superbat and I discovered Ao3 and was like “wow, this stuff exists??? Words for free????? About my favourite characters being happy and dating each other??????????” and it was a downward spiral. I was like, 11 when I read my first fanfiction. I was obsessed with Superbat fanart, and I thought, what would it hurt to try actually reading it? Like, that was so taboo to me. And now we’re here. Tadaaaaaah

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Oh, a chance to ramble. Yay. I’m gonna rant because I’m a rant-y person.

I think something that annoys me about fanfiction is not necessarily a probably within fanfiction, but rather the outward view of it. Fanfic has an awful rep within the real world. The one-time fanfiction really took centre stage was when Fifty Shades came out, which only hurt the platform by furthering the stereotype that it’s all porn made for horny freaks who just want to get off.

I should not be ashamed to say I write fanfiction. I should not feel childish saying it to myself. No one should. At least half of my ‘fans’ are nearly a decade or more older than me. It’s clearly not something that’s immature or silly. Of course, it can be, but any hobby can be dumbed down to a kiddy version.

But fanfiction at its core is ignored for what it really is. When adults talk about fanfiction they belittle it and only see a tiny subsection of it, ignoring what it’s supposed to be about. It’s about creating transformative works for media you’re passionate about.

Fanfiction gets a worse rep than other transformative works such as fanart or whatever. Writing as a whole does. Fanfic is painted as this utter trash.

I’ve read fanfiction that made me cry, laugh, feel shit. I’ve read fanfiction that tackled heavy topics. Even on a sexual standpoint, I’ve read fanfiction that was willing to write erotica that published authors wouldn’t fucking touch. Both in a kink sense, but also in terms of how the relationship functions. I’ve read shitty fanfictions, sure. But I’ve read fanfictions that were better than 90% of the published books I’ve read. Even fanfics I didn’t like.

To put fanfiction into perspective, the average YA novel (the age group fanfiction is generally but not always aimed at) is 70k words. I’ve read fanfiction that blows that word count out of the water. And it takes fucking skill to write something that long. It’s not just writing a bunch of porn or cute scenes, that takes serious world building and character arcs.

Fanfiction kills so many tropes that are common in YA and literature in general. I read a YA after reading nothing but fanfiction for a long time and I was fucking appalled? It was a popular YA too. I won’t name what one because you could literally imagine anyone and it’d probably fit. The characters were flat, the romance was outright manipulative and toxic, the plot was dull, even the writing itself was bland. This was the type of book years ago I would’ve loved. But compared to most (of course, not all. Shit exists, but I think in fanfiction, we’re able to better filter out the shit) fanfictions, it was fucking trash.

When I started reading fanfiction, I assumed it’d lower my standards. The first time I picked up an actual novel I was relieved, excited to not have to deal with the problems that are in unpublished writings. But I quickly realized it was the complete opposite. Fanfiction threw my expectations through the roof. I expect fiction to include representation, fresh plots, interesting characters, thrilling romances, and decent fucking sex scenes if they’re there. But it just wasn’t there. It all fell flat. As someone seriously into the writing and reading community I hear so often that it’s hard for plots to be original and you shouldn’t judge on originality, but then I read fanfiction written by fucking teenagers that’s fucking mind-blowing with plot twists and original ideas, and I have to wonder is it really that hard? It’s clearly doable, you just have to take away the fanfiction part.

I have YA novels sitting on my sheld I know I’ll never read and enjoy because fanfiction just made my expectations too high. Which is good in a sense because I pray some of these amazing writers, when they get older will go on to write mind-blowing original novels and I hope that this generation of writers will put out great literature in ten to fifteen years, but for now I’m just… underwhelmed. I think it’s why I read a lot of classic literature too. Shit was better back then.

And yet despite all that, fanfiction is still made to look like shit in the modern media. It sucks so badly for fanfiction writers not to look like serious writers. I could publish one book, have it get the amount of attention my biggest fanfic got and be considered a serious author. My biggest fanfiction currently has 40k notes on Tumblr. Imagine if that were a published short story. It’d be a fucking hit. And there are others that make my numbers look small. And yet it’s brushed aside as unimpactful.

I think a lot of that stems from the fact that fanfic writers do generally start out younger. I’m 16. Others either are or were my age. But age does not equate to skill in writing. Sure, that is a factor, but it is not the entire story. I know a 14 yr old who writes some of the best prose I have ever seen. And even if younger fic writers aren’t on level yet, fanfiction is what’s helping them grow as a writer. But because we’re teenagers, we’re turned away just because of that. Even more specifically because we’re teenage girls (for the most part, I’m not saying other genders and/or age groups aren’t writing/reading fanfic) and we all know how society feels about them. It’s just a fucking shame that fanfiction can’t be respected for the legitimate form of writing it is because of the stigma. I’ve seen fanfic writers say they aren’t real writers because of the stigma, it’s awful. We feel the need to tear ourselves down for an admirable hobby. I can’t say my favourite book is a fanfiction I read, when I has every right to be a valid answer.

We’ll cut this ramble off here because wow I really went on didn’t I.

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