#twifan

[fic-history]

2000's and Beyond: Modern Fic

In this iteration of Fic History, we’re going to be exploring the fic culture in mega-fandoms from the early 2000’s and beyond. That’s a big field to cover, I know, so each section is probably going to be a bit less detailed than usual in order to make things easier to digest. To begin, we’re starting with:

Harry Potter

I think it goes without saying that the HP fandom is probably the fandom of the 21st century. No book series has become so ubiquitous as HP, and there are still more HP fics on FF.net than from any other fandom. Since HP was published when the internet already existed, most of the fandom’s fics were published online, although a few printed fanzines were created. HP fic is also extremely varied, most likely due to the wide cast of characters and length of time covered by canon lore. You could find fic on anything from coffee shop AUs of the Hogwarts founders to explorations of the main trio’s children when they eventually attended Hogwarts. Like most fandoms with a large internet presence, the HP fandom had its own fic sites, some of which were dedicated to specific attributes like certain ships or tropes, but fic was also posted en masse to multifandom archives like FF.net and AO3. In fact, as of 2017, there are still more Harry Potter fanworks on FF.net than any other fandom.

Twilight

If HP is the fandom of the century, Twilight is probably the fandom of the 2000’s decade. At least in the media, Twifans were portrayed as either feral teenage girls or feral middle-age women, but the fandom is actually much more diverse. In terms of fanfiction, it goes without saying that the most famous fic within the fandom is probably Master of the Universe by Snowqueens Icedragon, more commonly known by its profic title of Fifty Shades of Grey. Snowqueens Icedragon, A.K.A. E.L. James, filed the serial numbers off of her fic and sold it as an original piece of fiction to massive critical attention and success. You can read a bit more about Fifty Shades here.

One Direction

This is the odd fandom out of the bunch, as it’s the only one listed that’s completely focused on real person fic, or RPF. According to FanLore, since there isn’t traditional source material to function as a canon to write fic about, canon in the 1D sense consists of “One Direction's members' original appearance on the reality show, plus their concerts, albums, music videos, video diaries, interviews, books, photo shoots, award ceremonies, other television appearances, band members' and families' personal twitter accounts, media gossip, authorized candid photos and selfies, and unauthorized candid photos by paparazzi and fans.” 

RPF already has a bad reputation in fandom spaces, but since 1D is an engineered boy band adored mainly by teenage girls (fandom’s least favorite demographic), the 1D fandom reputation is in the pits (Jamison 2013). Despite this, the fandom is still quite large, and produces a lot of fic, especially on Wattpad, where the fanfic series turned profic After by Anna Todd was published from 2013 to 2014. The most popular ship amongst directioners is Larry Stylinson, or Harry/Louis. 

Finally, we have

SuperWhoLock

Behind HP, this is probably the largest fandom on the list, simply because it’s actually three fandoms smushed together: Supernatural, Doctor Who, and BBC’s Sherlock. Fans in this fandom are called SuperWhoLockians. This fandom was especially active on Tumblr in the early 2010’s, and while the main form of fanwork was gifsets, lots of fanfic was produced in each fandom individually as well in crossovers. The most popular Supernatural ships were Castiel/Dean (Destiel) and Wincest (Sam/Dean, who are brothers, hence the portmanteau between Winchester and incest), while Sherlock’s most popular was Sherlock/Watson or Johnlock. Doctor Who is different, as each individual reincarnation of the Doctor is considered a different character, so each Doctor has different pairings, usually with their respective companions or the Master. SuperWhoLock has a reputation for being cringy due to member’s repeated hijacking of Tumblr posts with fandom related GIFs, but now that the fandom is much less active, the cringe has turned into a feeling of nostalgia.

There are so many more fandoms I could talk about, which just goes to show how fandom spaces have only exploded in size as time has passed. Even though these descriptions aren’t the most detailed, I hope you found them informative and interesting!

Happy reading,

-KP

[gisellelx]

This has been canon in my head longer than some Twifans have been alive.

Y’all think Charlie Swan ever invited Carlisle Cullen over to watch the Mariners play and since Carlisle (and his family) love baseball soooo much he went all out and came over in a jersey and a platter of buffalo wings and was just so excited to watch the game with someone, and it’s made even better by the fact it’s a human who invited him over, a human who wanted to spend this time with him bc he’s always a little worried that he’s the monster his father always warned him about

[lemonadebottlecap]

There are residents of forks Washington who can’t stand living there anymore all because of Stephanie Meyer

potentially displacing white people? That’s kinda girl boss of her ngl

[ohmycarlisle]

Another oldie but goodie Twilight infographic - the cost of being the ultimate Twilight fan. If I were to make my own infographic, it would beat this. Do you relate, Twifam? #twilight #midnightsun #twilightforever #stepheniemeyer #edwardcullen #bellaswan #jacobblack #twifans #twihard https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPmpIAHxT1/?igshid=1e64qed8nf3dv

[stregoni-benefici]

this and Twifans.com good old days 

anyone who remembers the blingee era of the twilight fandom deserves veteran discount

[gisellelx]

Was Isle Esme a lie?

Okay okay but hear me out. I've been completely grooving on @panlight's meta about the Cullens as NPCs. Which is so true and is basically why I finally started writing fanfic to begin with--I read these books and just had this sense of "This writer left so much on the table" that I had never had when reading a series before. Everything about this story was built to support E/B, and when you think about it, many of the parts don't hold up on their own.

But the last section of this meta is honestly something I had absolutely taken as canon and now am suddenly realizing that another explanation makes a ton more sense. Basically, I've never seen a fic/fanficcer/fandom member--including me!--not take as gospel truth that Carlisle bought Isle Esme for Esme on whatever anniversary yadda yadda yadda. And yet, as pan points out, this really is contrived for the sake of E/B and it's not even ever about C/Es. It's like "oh it would be convenient for the Cullens to own an island!" and so boom, they do.

And I buy into this wholly because, y'all islands are actually quite cheap in the grand scheme of things. A private island can be had for the low six figures, depending on where it is. Add a modest house at the cost of construction and you're in the mid six-figures. I realize that when you're twelve, as many big Twifans were when they read the series for the first time, $400,000 seems like a lot of money, but I assure you, it is not. (stepping on my personal finance soapbox for a second: if you intend to retire well, younger twifans, $400,000 needs to be a number that is real to you and is in your investment accounts at around age 45. Trust me on this...) So if you are a decabillionaire, which I think we all can agree Carlisle is, and you also have an intense need for privacy, the odds that you drop $1-2M every now and then on a nice vacation spot are pretty high. It makes every sense in the world for Carlisle to have bought Esme an island. I always assume they own several.

However. When you consider that Isle Esme comes completely out of the blue, and isn't at all about Carlisle and Esme, and that in fact, Esme supposedly chooses to decorate the cottage as though it is like her supposedly private island that Carlisle bought her as some grand romantic gesture, which is kind of a weird thing for a mom to do, you know?...

...and you add that to the degree to which we know for a fact that Edward tries very unsuccessfully to honor Bella's desire for non-lavish gifts, and the degree to which we know, from the "crystal" heart he already gave her, that he is absolutely willing to lie to make Bella okay with an extravagant gift...

I am now suddenly thinking he lied about Isle Esme. He bought it, for Bella, for the purpose of this honeymoon. Esme decorated the house on the island, and then also decorated the cabin just like it, because she expected they would have wonderful memories of this place that is just theirs. Edward presents the idea that Carlisle bought it for Esme because he is still somewhat careful to help Bella to not lose her mind that he bought a freaking island (because it seems really extravagant, even if for ultra rich people, it is not, see above) and at some point in time, this is all going to come to a head in some giant Cullen foofaraw that involves Carlisle frowning disappointedly about Edward lying yet again and Bella forgiving him inside the space of three seconds as she is wont to do.

So, reversing ten years of headcanon...I think Isle Esme is really Isle Bella and Edward, as usual, lied through his skinny seventeen-year-old teeth about it. He bought it. Not Carlisle. It's for Bella. Not Esme. And oh, to be a fly on the wall when Bella found out.

[stregoni-benefici]

Guys, Honestly do you actually remember Twifans site? Before tumblr, the place Where it all began.

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

It was different for me. I hated twilight cause it took over my life. My friends were soo obsess with twilight that whenever we hung out we talked about nothing but twilight. I remember at my birthday party they when they came over it suddenly became twilight themed cause they brought in twilight shit and a twilight trivia game. I mean I would have been find it just It just feels force on me. And I did read the book to try to get into it but it didn't work. They'd constantly push me.

I understand that feel. Twilight was everywhere during its height of popularity. Twifans and Twilight-antis alike were obsessed with it. Lol

Totally get where you're coming from, anon.

[theocseason4]

I’m not surprised rob patz wasn’t at the BLM protests with his gf considering how when he was dating fka twigs he was a spineless coward that never stood up for her in public when his racist twifans would flood her socials with racist hate messages on the reg. If he wouldn’t stand up to racist “fans” for a woman he claimed to love why would he’d do it now

[temencmoth]

 irealize i may be the type to have been a twihard but i was. EMPHATICALLY not. i searched twilight hate on deviant art. i watched a book burning on youtube. i read the mormon essay and didnt even understand it but was so ready to find things to hate about it i just added it to my arsenal. The anti-hype around it was the first place i learned about what makes an abusive relationship. 

but now that im thinking about it, you know what i did? minded my buisness. never interacted with twi fans online, tried not to rant about the book to my friends who liked it, once they showed the film in my homeroom and me & my friend sat away from eveyone so we wouldn’t disturb them when we made fun of it. i gave a friend edward cullen body glitter and a couple other hot-topic twi themed items bc she liked them and that was about the worst ribbing i ever gave anyone about it. 

even when it was “in fashion” to hate it and call twifans dumb i didnt do it to their face. i aint invade their spaces. at 12/13 i was out there mindin my own buisness. i said “at least people are reading a lot.” i said “it sucks that that guys mom likes edward but the haircut looks good on him.” 

i really aint see why some of yall cant let people fuckin live with their dumb shit you dont like.  Mind your business let people be dumb and move on 

[debbieolsensblog]

twifan:

Twilight Saga Challenge Day 15: Favorite Jacob moment/scene.

All of them.

[ncvaflows-archive]

Ok but if any of my followers has twilight muses yall seriously need to hmu. I can make up a twilight au/verse for my muses on a dime.

[adhd-demetri]

I've looked and all I found was a au thing called twifan

I learned yesterday on a back story post of each volturi guard that apparently felix does indeed have a mate ! What do you think about that ? It was a big shocker for me and my friend

Woah!! Where'd yall hear of this from?! Am in shock!

[eliottdemauries]

ty 4 answering. I've been a Nic fan for 10 yrs & I've barely known Evak 4 a yr. so it's normal I guess. I'll give it some time. if I see Evak in my dream or sth, continue 2 ship! XD well, that was actually what happened. I said I hate Twilight all the sime & karma happened 2 be a b**. I started 2 see Twilight in my dreams & time came 2 accept myself as a Twifan. & their separate characters your right. but i liked Even more b/c i'm pan myself & i could identify w/ him. now it's a bit changed. >.

good to hear, but really don’t worry about the nic cage comment, it was just something that showed their different tastes. so continue to ship evak as you please!

[deanie-dhampir]

V I C T O R I A 🦇 Fun fact: When I was 18, I went on my first ever trip to America to attend a Twilight convention at sea and it was one of the best decisions I’d ever made. The world is even more nuts than usual rn because they just announced Midnight Sun will finally be released. People always mock the crap out of Twilight but I could never be ashamed of being such a huge twifan when it brought me some of my best memories. I explored Forks and La Push, popped my Hot Topic virginity, went to Pike Place Market, saw the glaciers in Alaska, did my first proper cosplay, met a violin-playing Darth Vader in Canada, did karaoke with Mike the human, and made lifelong friendships through it all. No ragrets y’all. Swipe for some truly potato-quality memories from the trip!! #twilight #twifan #stephaniemeyer #midnightsun #eclipse #newmoon #forks #lapush #breakingdawn #vampire #vampirecosplay #redhead https://www.instagram.com/p/B_x_5UlgFDI/?igshid=9bkpsvpxs1ek

[allgoodthingsinthetardis]

Why I am a Twifan and it’s benefits...

Yes...if your reading is good, you have just read that I am a Twifan.  Now if you’re one of those haters who makes fun of people who are Twifans, I suggest you leave now or if you leave a negative comment, you will be blocked.  I will not be criticized by anyone and I will not give up my nerd card. But being a twifan isn’t all bad.  Now how I became one...it was totally random.

In January 2008, I was taking finals from first semester (we had to take our exams after Christmas break due to no having enough time before Christmas)...well let me back it up just a tad bit.  I went to a bookstore across the street where my mom was working and I browsed around the YA section.  I saw a book called Twilight and the lady at the store told me it was good and that it was becoming a movie later that year.  So I went ahead and got it.  I started reading it and couldn’t put it down.  Even when I took exams, it was hard not being able to read it.  I did get to after I was done of course.  It didn’t take me long to finish the first three books of the series. (Breaking Dawn came out later that year) I was so much in love with these books and characters that I started doing this thing called roleplaying.  I wasn’t so good at it at the beginning but I kept practicing and got better at it.  I don’t even write one liners anymore (hell they annoy me!)  I write paragraphs, multiple paragraphs, even novellas.  I’ve since left the twilight roleplaying and moved on to other fandoms but I wouldn’t forget my time roleplaying as characters from Twilight.

I realized Twilight did more than kill my boredom after my exams... it brought be out of depression and it helped me through my final semester of high school and the beginning of college.  In recent years, I felt like I had to hide my love for Twilight because everyone who likes it winds up getting made fun of. But you know what?  Screw the haters!  I hate hiding things..well most things.  I should be proud of being a twifan.  So I’m kinda thinking I’m going to admit I’m a Twifan and if my ‘friends’ don’t like it, then ‘Bye Felicia’