Inside the Love(Sick) World of Fanfic Culture

instagram: shaniya.jpg
twitter: shaniyatwainx
ko-fi: shanspeare
SOURCES REFERENCED:
Shannon Chamberlin: www.theatlantic.com/culture/a...
Wikipedia page on "Fanfiction": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fic...
Pastiche definition: literarydevices.net/pastiche/
Chris Redmond, Fanfiction versus Pastiche: www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/...
11 Classics that are Secretly Fanfictions: www.bustle.com/articles/15904...
My Immortal: www.fanfiction.net/s/6829556/...
Master of the Universe: pdfroom.com/books/master-of-t...
Why Women Date Bad Boys: www.goodhousekeeping.com/life...
Pronunciation of Macabre lol: english.stackexchange.com/que...

[@Shanspeare]

What’s your favorite fanfic trope? 😳 I can admit that mine was always friends to lovers for some reason 😳 sometimes even enemies to lovers sprinkled in too 😳

[@chynabarbieeeeee]

same

[@LizBaloney]

mine is angst with a happy ending and sometimes if i really want to cry unhappy ending lmao

[@Trevin_Taylor]

Knotting. I mean, friends to lovers. Phew, saved it.

[@Shanspeare]

@@Trevin_Taylor BESTIE?! CAN YOU REPEAT THAT? HERE’s THE MICROPHONE BESTIE 🎤

[@katherinealvarez9216]

AUs or canon divergence. Edit: it depends on the fandom but usually it goes in that area.

[@MsVc-wm6ku]

I won't lie some of the best stories I've ever read are fanfictions.

[@Shanspeare]

PERIOD!

[@enjajajajaja]

yeah same but also i dont really read non fanfic books so if anyone wanna recommend me some pls tell me

[@ainoruoste9338]

@@enjajajajaja I always recommend Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing. It is easy to read because of its structure while it definitely has emotional gravity. Many interesting characters and compelling history.

[@jeongyeon1358]

FR

[@enjajajajaja]

@@ainoruoste9338 thank you

[@katiebailey3439]

Why does everyone imagine Harry Styles so intense? He seems like a nice dude.

[@poilaaliop]

Ikr, like... He seems pretty wholesome, where's this coming from? 🤷

[@sc4rz110]

it's because in his young years his management and the paps and the world in general made him seem like a womanizer, when most of the girls he was seen with were just his friends

[@sc4rz110]

and yes he's really nice and sweet

[@louisratatoulielinson]

He dresses like a fuckin elton john but duplishiity apparently exists fuck me

[@coal1818]

its the horn knee innit

[@janaurquiza4015]

reading a ten page essay ❌ reading a 100k words fic ✅✅✅ XD fanfic actually helped me learn english and improve my writing :') and i know that's the same for other non-english speakers!

[@floral2743]

God,same. Thank you, AO3, i now know the meaning of 'throbbing'

[@tan_ishka]

Totally! No matter how weird they were, they did help. Though people here in the comment section are right, there ARE really beautiful fanfics out there. It's a big spectrum actually

[@ilovkittisncats]

@@floral2743 LMAOO

[@goldrushed]

omg yeah! me too! reading and writing my own fanfiction (it was innocent) helped me improve my english and writing soo much. especially because my first language is spanish

[@raatkikhoobsurti]

Well you should read books then, honestly way better, if you want to improve your vocabulary..

[@bunnybear9883]

i miss the old wattpad. this was the app that got me into reading. those eye burning summer nights and not wanting to go to sleep until finishing the chapter were great. wattpad hasn’t really been the same since they started to put prices on the books. i get it, get your coin. but i miss the authenticity, the comfort books and the small community

[@haleigh6089]

i was okay until they started adding video ads every other page😒😒

[@roul4842]

Switch to Ao3, baby! xD

[@bexter107]

Yeah I still read on Wattpad a lot not really fanfic but for supporting small authors I miss reading books that other people would be reading at the same time so that you could see all of each other’s comments and stuff

[@bunnybear9883]

@@bexter107 I completely agree

[@tragiclolz4587]

@@roul4842 okay but…good ao3 stories?

[@bugsontoastt]

As someone who writes fanfic, I think it’s great for writing practice, but it should only really be about fictional characters

[@halhetzel7685]

I totally agree. I'll never write something about real living people.

[@no-nv1bt]

i used to be an Established fanfic writer, it's honestly wonderful for writing practice. i think there's a sort of relief in not having to completely create your own characters, you can start with what's presented in the source material and reinvent/interpret it to fit what ever you've come up with. for me it helped a lot with practicing character development since you can focus on where there character's going rather than stressing about building one from the ground up. i also agree on the fictional characters, there's a really thin line between writing/consuming fanfiction about real people and projecting those fantasies onto the actual people that gets crossed so very often

[@aamia3769]

Will it still be fanfic if it's not about celebrities or public figures? I mean isn't that the point of fanfic to write about people you are fans of?

[@halhetzel7685]

@@aamia3769 There is also fanfiction based on books and movies. I mostly write about characters from books. It doesn't have to be a REAL person.

[@army4chair345]

@@aamia3769 i mean fandoms of real people exist on a great scale

[@elleliteracy]

never let the haters kink-shame you for reading voldemort fan fiction.. keep your head up queen 👑

[@Shanspeare]

sometimes bullying is okay

[@agstinacueva1673]

@@Shanspeare 😂

[@rennie9150]

He's bald nose-less and obsessed with a teenage boy.

[@iheartkimseungmin]

@@rennie9150 *dan Schneider

[@Girl-543]

@@iheartkimseungmin NOOOO-

[@angie2940]

As someone who has read far too many fanfics I can tell you there are so many fanfics that are just as good if not better than some novels you can find in a library

[@aissalubisi_17]

Would you mind recommending me some? I've been looking for good ones 😅

[@angie2940]

@@aissalubisi_17 oh well depends on what fandom you want fanfic from

[@aissalubisi_17]

@@angie2940 it's honestly been so long since I went and read one but I really enjoyed a 5sos fanfic. You can recommend any that you loved or enjoyed really! :) I just wanna try and see anything

[@aissalubisi_17]

@@GioGio-fq1vl that's sounds amazing! Can you remember the name? I wanna give it a try

[@angie2940]

@@aissalubisi_17 Well if you don't mind reading bl then I'm happy to share some of my fav fics from the most recent fandom I'm involved with (genshin impact) Entirely out of spite by Bgtea What I Cannot Put into Words, I Offer You in the Weight of Gold by suibianitsfine Be thou cast into the sea by Dacia All three of them are on ao3 Sorry for the late reply

[@alejandrosantos5328]

I dont read fanfics about real people it just freaks me out 😭. I love reading fanfics about anime, book, comic, or manga characters though! There is a layer of “detachment” from reality that makes it more enjoyable for me; the fictional characters stay in fictional worlds. But when it involves real people I feel a bit iffy… but thats just me

[@AaAa-wx8tj]

ALEJANDRO TE SOY TODA LA RAZÓN

[@lulusmith780]

Same dude

[@alysiamckinney8839]

My thoughts exactly

[@iamobsessedwithshadowsight]

When it comes to real people I don’t see the issue with making innocent fanfictions that just center around their friendships or something or making crackfics about real people (unless they’ve expressed their uncomfortable with it), but when it comes to shipping real people and making NSFW of them it just creeps me out

[@mariacillan9668]

SAME!

[@valerie-wm3zn]

I personally believe fanfic is a really good way for new writers to learn and have a space to write where there's a layer of cringe(if that makes sense) that's allowed. But I think that fanfiction should be exclusively about fictional characters or real people who have said their okay with it, but even then I think it's a little weird when it's about real people.

[@itachimistress]

Same. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled onto Marvel RPF on AO3 😐

[@AT-vp8qw]

Same, especially if it's sexual. I'm not sure how I'd feel if someone wrote me under a sexualized light.

[@valerie-wm3zn]

@@AT-vp8qw yeah!! I would feel so violated

[@radrose4864]

Yeah I’ve always been weirded out by real people fanfic. It’s a turn off in general, but I also can see how the actual humans written about could find it invasive. But maybe that’s because I find it impossible to idealize real people the way I want to with my fiction characters. My fandoms were always stuff like final fantasy 7 and (currently) Mo Dao Zu Shi.

[@technopoptart]

yeah, when there are irl bodies involved it stops being something that causes no harm since it smooths the line between fantasy and potential abuse of actual people and makes it easier to dehumanize said people as far as fictional chars go though? be safe and have a good time!

[@mqwmrouge]

It's very uncomfortable to read fanfics about real people. Like, just imagine finding out that there are people writing sexual stuff about you and your best friends, idk man it's kinda weird.

[@technopoptart]

even more when the person writing it is 150-20 years older/younger than you are

[@utatanepikoV5]

@@technopoptart 150 years older??

[@peiithos]

i would be so uncomfortable and disgusted. Im already uncomfortable enough knowing someone would think abt me in that manner, let alone write abt it

[@chias9321]

i agree which is why i think ppl should only write fanfiction of ppl who dont mind or of fictional characters. for example, ive seen fanction of these minecraft youtubers dream and george, and theres some absoulte masterpieces on ao3 that ive loved. i dont feel guilty about reading them because both dream and george have given full consent to write fanfiction about them, unlike larry, where both are uncomfortable with it.

[@usagi907]

I've been in far too many fandoms where writing fics about real people was completely normal 😬 Even when people make the excuse that the person will never see their fics, its still weird.

[@jennynoelle6782]

I always thought the reason for so many "bad boy x good girl"-type fanfiction on sites like Wattpad speaks more to the age of the authors. Teens haven't yet developed the ability to comprehend a 'toxic relationship' - or, rather, the ability to notice the red-flag behaviors and the true danger that they can lead to. Hence, a site like Wattpad, which has a predominantly younger user base, would have shockingly large numbers of 'toxic relationship fanfiction'. Especially when compared to similar sites, such as AO3, which have predominantly older user bases. This also explains the commonality of toxic relationships in other media (ex: movies) that target (usually female) teens, as well as the comparable lack of such toxic relationships in works targeting (female) adults - which are more fond of paring the female MC with her childhood friend or friendly new neighbor.

[@Fizzyxmelon]

I’m 15 and I was surprised to find out that I HATED the “Bad boy x Good girl” fanfics only for me to realize that it’s probably a result of me growing up (and still growing up) around a very toxic relationship between my mom and stepdad😃

[@AnushkaBhattacharya710]

i think another thing naive teens think is that "I can fix him/ turn him into a good guy" mentality. Like the good girl doesn't become bad after meeting the bad guy but actually makes the bad guy tamer and sweeter. Which tbh I doubt happens a lot in real life.

[@foreverandever2119]

bad boy / good girl trope from wattpad just evolves on ao3 to criminal man / good girl/boy trope where the most popular fanfics in many fandoms are about gangsters, prostitution, violence, and unprotected sex, and it's just dark written by the adults for adults

[@kirstyc2176]

but why don't we apply this to other interests? is a teen who likes horror 'liking toxic things and violence' or just exploring things they find entertaining?

[@PugandOwn]

@@kirstyc2176 I mean the language used isn't word for word the same, but we do still talk about teens going through their "edgy" phase where they go for all the foul language and ultra-violence they can get their grubby little hands on. and it still bleeds into real social dysfunction and the terminal knowledge of what the inside of a human skull looks like.

[@Jade-ui5ml]

As part of the lgbtq+ I feel like fanfiction was my safe place to read stories I could relate to

[@the_sky_is_blue_and_so_am_I]

Yeah, that's part of the reason I got into it.

[@TimeBunny]

Same here. I think I figured out a lot of things about myself thanks to fanfiction. I’m part of the LGBT community myself. So it was a way to work stuff out in a safe way.

[@11037_kuwata]

same honestly

[@lenadoerrer9256]

Yeah!

[@hepcatliz]

and a safe space to explore as a writer 🥰

[@tirna8709]

dante literally wrote himself into his fanfic so he could live out meeting all his faves

[@aurigrangers5679]

Lmfao yes, and his love interest didnt even like him in real Life 💀💀

[@azureascendant994]

World's first (that I know of) self-insert fanfiction.

[@bdp8102]

@@aurigrangers5679 or rather, she did not really know him (nor did he know her) :)

[@spookymarti3712]

he was y/n

[@wormsontoast]

@@bdp8102 they met like twice when they were kids and that was literally it

[@Proto-Martyr]

What bothers me is that people assume Fanfiction is inherently sexual or that it only contains stories with explicit sex or sexual situations. Sure, some fanfics do have these elements, but is not a requirement and not all fanfics revolve around sex or even romance. Fanfiction can be about anything, just like regular novels. The only difference is that it features not so great writing (not all the time, though. There are amazing writers in the community) and utilises pre-existing characters.

[@yeuoh3987]

Is it still fanfiction if you were to create your own characters but it's a y/n story?

[@joelle4226]

I The first fanfiction was a hunger games one and it was pure comedy

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

Yeah, as someone who reads almost exclusively gen, I always forget that most of the world thinks fic is just the most verbose form of shipping.

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

@@yeuoh3987 No. What would that be fanfiction OF? People associate the y/n stuff with fic because only fic authors are willing to touch the format, but you could do origional fiction with y/n if you wanted.

[@JustChillingOnTattoine]

Fanfiction just means that the writer is working with existing characters or with a pre-established literally universe, and it is unauthorized by the original writer. That's all. There are throusands of great fanfictions out there, often times even better quality than the original work they are based on. The fine line between fanfiction and "legitimiate" literature for me is not the quality, but whether the original author gives their blessing (so the fanfic becomes part of cannon or an AU) or the fanfic writer gets picked up by publlisher and changes the references to the original work. It still does not say much about quality, just about monetization and control.

[@disemvowel4846]

I'm nearly 30 and haven't read fanfiction since my early teens, but there are still random fics I find myself thinking about, nearly two decades later. I wish I'd kept better track of my favourites, cause honestly a few of them were better than a lot of commercially published fiction 😅

[@bradleybrown8428]

Maybe you should start reading again. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and have found the fan fiction to be great!

[@gmmartines7331]

Agreed. There's a few Holes, The Outsiders, and Newsies fanfics that were very well written with great storylines i still think about now. Haven't found anything close to those in probably the past ten years

[@sakurasasha]

I don't understand. Do people not like Shanspeare’s soft-spoken voice? I love it, she sounds like we're gossiping at a slumber party, and trying not to get caught being up late.

[@emclaire7027]

I’ll never forget that tumblr post that’s like “Inferno is just Dante’s self insert fanfic where he meets all his favorite philosophers and they tell him he’s cool and he should hang out with them and everyone was like, yes, this is peak literature.”

[@raisyrosye7656]

😂✋

[@chailatte1234]

Dante's Inferno is self insert isekai rpf....never thought I would write those words LMAO

[@user-bx8sj6qm3w]

Tbh all fictional works are either self-inserts or a way for an author to live vicariously through their protagonists and let their repressed desires out. What matters is if their work is actually entertaining and worth reading (like classic literature stuff, cult classic movies, classic TV shows, Naoki Urasawa's works etc.) or is if cringey and childish and uncomfy etc. (Oshimi Shuuzo and his bullshit borderline CP, most shounen anime etc.) Ofcourse there are exceptions and people who write stories from scratch that aren't related to them in any regard like Jojo's bizarre adventures, Satoshi Kon's works, Shinichi Sakamoto, Stephen King etc.

[@edwxrdfox]

@@user-bx8sj6qm3w I agree with you but let's be honest, Stephen King's written his fair share of self inserts (a lot of his MCs are successful writers serving as stand ins for him). Still love the guy's work though.

[@voldemortthenoselessfreak2126]

@@edwxrdfox I'm really glad King's self insert aren't annoying and the same.

[@neptune8120]

I LOVE YOUUUU- and idk why we’re letting shitty fanfics become movies. dont get me wrong, some of them are written wonderfully and actually have a plot other then hot boy and shy girl.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Look at some of the game of thrones fics. Some are nice fun romcoms. Or cool crossovers.

[@MystiqMiu]

i know a few fanfics titled after hozier songs that deserve Much More air time than some of their counterparts :3

[@tempesttossed6029]

She ra is written like a rivals to lovers fanfic, but I like it anyway.

[@crystaljeffbabeeey]

i've never even seen buffy the vampire slayer, but oooooooo it has so much good fanfic

[@pungorma]

even i write better fanfic than some of these movies being made /exag

[@dulceroman3424]

I think people don't realize that there are a lot of fanfiction works that are not toxic and have actually good stories that are validating to a lot of fan's struggles

[@kierayoung4229]

I was in a classics class and when talking about Virgil’s Aeneid inspired by Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey , I was like ‘Ohhhh, so it’s fanfic’ and my teacher said ‘umm I guess...yeah that makes a great point’

[@megarakadmea]

Commissioned fanfic no less

[@lord-licht]

Same for Milton’s Paradise Lost, or of course the king of self insert Dante Alighieri himself with Divine Comedy.

[@abbym4916]

In fairness to My Immortal, it is DEFINITELY satire and it's some of the best satire out there. It perfectly represents the hilarity of mid-2000s teenage suburban mall goth culture

[@Emma.Lou1]

What I love about that fic phenomenon is that the Fandom still can't agree on whether or not it was Satire.

[@mixievee]

My Immortal gave the world so much culture.

[@meggisamachine]

Look, I love/hate My Immortal so much that my husband bought me a print version. I have the whole ass book on my bookshelf of this fanfic. 😂

[@CaraRowen]

Absolutely satire, absolutely hilarious.

[@elio9973]

... What about the incest 😳🤢

[@missjazz1010]

As a fanfic & original content writer on Wattpad, I can tell you this is only HALF of the tip of the iceberg lmaoo but there’s so many fanfics out there that aren’t mediocre, cringe and/or glorify toxic relationships that aren’t given movie & book deals. It’s a wonder as to why P.S. I started HOLLERING at the Harry Potter fanfic live reading

[@Shanspeare]

Yep!!! There’s so many good fanfics out there that have absolutely made my jaw drop because of how well made they were. I think we’re very lucky to have fanfic 💞

[@ToShanshuinFiction]

Same here! Writing fic on Wattpad helped me out of a five year writing slump, kept me somewhat accountable for finishing it (which I did for the first time in like a decade), and improved my worldbuilding and character work exponentially - if only out of spite towards the more popular fics. I'm so grateful for it. 😌

[@radrose4864]

@@Shanspeare I feel like you did fanfiction a little dirty with this vid 😂 maybe you could make a follow-up discussing the positive aspects too? When I was going through it as a kid, fanfiction really saved me and allowed me to mentally escape my shitty life. It gave me a hobby that turned into a lifelong passion. Writing was the only thing I felt proud and positive about. So it kinda makes me sad how everyone shits on it. As funny as I find the poorly written stuff, it’s not the whole story but it gets 90% of the attention. Love your channel, this is just my 2cents on a subject near and dear to my heart ❤️

[@daniet1904]

what’s ur user!

[@isabellp.5730]

@@radrose4864 yes!! yes!! I had very similar experiences to you! fanfic is why im in college as a creative writing major right now, it fostered a passion I’d always had in a low-stakes environment that made it feel safe to experiment and grow as a writer. and fr fr, fanfic is damn GOOD. SO GOOD, and like you said, I feel like that aspect doesn’t get as much “press” as the cringe side of things

[@nightmarishbutterflies6020]

When I was in year nine my classmate who I didn't know well wrote fanfiction about my best friend and I becoming a couple. It was told from the perspective of my best friend so I was through the lens of like a love interest gaze instead of a character on my own terms, that's not the problem the problem is that the description of kissing me was that my lips were "cold, chapped and tasted like pizza" which is the meanest and funniest description anyones given of me. Also the fanfiction ended with my classmate watching my best friend and I make out from afar? Anyway so after I uncovered that repressed memory I stopped reading real person fanfiction (not fanfiction in whole, now I only read and write it with fictional characters) because I remembered how weird the feeling was.

[@ludmiladourado4542]

How do you find out the fanfiction?

[@vi0let831]

Wtf

[@TheAmazingSpiderPunk]

No two things have made me felt older than the insinuation that fanfiction "feels like a modern invention we can blame on Gen Z" and the pronunciation of fanzines, a portmanteau of the words "fan" and "magazine" as 'fan-zaighns'.

[@literaryfirearms]

Same, haha! I feel ancient when My Immortal is treated like a historical text.

[@yogsothoth8389]

OMG, me too. I also don't remember fanfic as having so much sexual content and thus acquiring a bad reputation because of that. When I was in my teens I wrote a lot of fanfiction and the majority of it had no sex/romance/etc in it whatsoever. That I grew up to be aro/ace doesn't seem like a surprise. And I was also a little unsettled by "zine" being pronounced "zyne" and not "zeen," because it's just an abbreviation of "magazine."

[@zipbangcrash]

I'm so glad I'm not the only old person who couldn't let that slip without a mention 😂

[@shockingheaven]

Thank goodness. I had to go check how was the word "magazine" pronounced in English because I was already doubting of my own pronunciation.

[@CaraTheStrange]

Im 19 and both those things also made me feel old. Then again i love the history of star trek, one thing she didnt mention is that a big part of the early famdom was spirk shippig, they were the first modern ship.

[@user-lp3xt3lw8i]

As a lesbian, fanfiction was a huge way for me to find representation and explore my sexuality especially when I was growing up. Beyond that it was readily available and free and as long as no one snooped on my phone and it was a lot less outing than having a book with the same sort of content. I know that some fanfiction has pretty harmful tropes and is written poorly but almost all of my favorite stories are actually fanfictions.

[@raisyrosye7656]

Right?

[@alejandrosantos5328]

ME TOO. I’m gay, and I never got good representation of queer romance or queer people in general in the media, so I turned to fanfiction in order to explore that avenue. 99.99 percent of published and available stories that i could find growing up were either straight romance or heavily sexualized/fetishized gay romance, so fanfic allowed me enjoy the fluff that straight people experience.

[@josie5670]

Sarah Z did some really interesting commentary on this in her video about fanficton

[@babymilksnatcher]

I know many gay and/or trans men who found the courage to come out through fanfiction.

[@kai-hs7ct]

same its some of the only lesbian content made by other lesbians that exists

[@TaraMooknee]

I love the mic placement! You have a voice perfect for podcasting 🥰

[@Shanspeare]

Thank you Queen!! 💞

[@zombi-likes-frogs7202]

Tell the cow I said hiii!!!!

[@nat91307]

hi tara

[@nora4642]

I 100% agree

[@amandalopes3048]

YES SHE HAS!!!!

[@ToxicNeon]

One thing I'd like to add - fanfiction, especially ones about toxic or abusive relationships, are a way for people to safely explore trauma and negative societal expectations/conditioning. It can give a writer or a reader the space to safely analyze their feelings about things in their own lives. Unfortunately, this isnt a neat, simple idea - exploration of trauma and dark things is a murky area. Sometimes it can end up leading to a glorification of abuse. Other times it teaches readers how to spot abusive behavior. I personally would cite 50 shades as a glorification of toxicity, because there have been actual people who decided to try the, uh, extracurricular activities that the books/movies introduced them to. But the version they ended up trying was very toxic and abusive, and lead to the community around that kind of activity to be deeply upset at the unfortunate spread of misinformation. Other fanfics that explore dark things have done the converse and really allowed the reader to work through their own abuse in a safe way. I certainly learned to spot abusive traits in my parents through reading an absurd amount of fanfics, and subsequent research. I remember, a little less than a decade ago, some major arguments spreading far and wide about the nature of writing dark relationships in fanfic and the development of the kind of people that think "anything goes" and the Antis. Essentially, the former fully advocated for the idea that fanfiction was a perfect space for writing and reading anything you want, while the latter were deeply disturbed by anything that even remotely reeked of abuse. Very polarized. Of course, i have to mention that the term "anti" absolutely evolved beyond that, to mean some other things. But initially, being anti meant being staunchly puritanical in some ways. Of course, the "anything goes" camp had some pretty sketchy ideas being pushed and tolerated. There were serious problems with both sides, and the majority of people were actually not part of either. But the point is that there was no true consensus on the nature of exploring trauma in fanfic. But the fact of the matter is that it is a major reason behind a lot of the interest for dark and spicy fanfics out there. Fanfiction and its history is a serious interest of mine. I've been part of the community since before ao3 and wattpad were even a thing. I saw some fascinating debacles and debates. So, essentially, I apologize for rambling.

[@emmapettersson7210]

I really like this comment. As someone who’s been through a traumatic experience, reading dark fanfics helped me, still does. But it can also backfire, that happened to a friend of mine. So I understand the “pros and cons”. I was looking through the comments hoping that someone would say this. That it’s not just about rebelling or teens etc. But also about the traumatic and therapeutic side too!

[@tomat_tast1384]

Reading fanfics has helped me learn a lot about myself, especially when it comes to my favorite tropes. I solely use ao3 and my favorite tags are hurt/comfort, whump, fluff, and angst. I’ve realized that I tend to gravitate towards characters who have been ab*sed/mistreated by either society, family/friends, (or who are just generally traumatized for reasons) and they end up finding help and heal through love by finding their own loved ones. I’ve noticed that I especially like the ones where the mc finds a father figure, which revealed A LOT about me and my bad relationship with my father. I’m starting to recognize my trauma with my father and I’m learning how to overcome it. Who knew fanfiction could be therapeutic.

[@lizzybingewatches9797]

We've all had that moment when we read some fanfiction in the past and thought it was amazing and then we read it again and question how we got through its appalling plot and character development

[@sourdough_bagel]

Yesss, yes 😭

[@raisyrosye7656]

LOL, nostalgia can be a hit or miss. 😂✋

[@NeuroticBotanist]

For sure 😭

[@wombat4583]

People do that with regular fiction too, though. Like our tastes and what we want and expect out of fiction/narratives change and develop. There's a reason why target audiences is a thing.

[@coolgurl2033]

@@voldemortthenoselessfreak2126voldemort theres fanfics about u 🥺🥺

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

Now I'm just picturing the havoc that Shakespeare would wreak on ao3 😂

[@Shanspeare]

every story would be tagged enemies to lovers, major character d*ath, forbidden relationship, self-insert,

[@Melissa-sx9vh]

@@Mimikyu_8 Please I would kill for Shakespeare to be alive and write abo fics 😂

[@jinnie4271]

@@Mimikyu_8 Holy shit that would be fucking beautiful. I think I'd laugh myself to death reading Shakespeare describe an abo s3x sence

[@iveforgottenhowtofly2904]

The worst moment of my life (hyperbole) was when i was eating dinner with my mom and her friends. And a few kids. My mom, as if it was a normal topic to ask at the dinner table, asked, "so, tell us about that fanfiction you read!" ( ´༎ຶㅂ༎ຶ`)

[@colette5413]

i got into my performing arts high school’s creative writing department with a portfolio submission of mostly Twilight fanfics. Fanfics were a way for me to learn how to write, world build, and work on my character development.

[@happytoaster5682]

As a frequenter of AO3, I feel this barely scratches the surface. There are a bunch of related topics to delve into here, such as the pro-shipper and anti-shipper debate, relations between the adults who write/enjoy fanfic and minors who write/enjoy fanfic, (these two seem to go hand-in-hand), the morality of writing fanfics about real people, the nuances in the x reader, shipper and no relationship fanfic communities. Fanfic and fandom are a hot fucking mess, dude, and there's so many topics here that could be turned into a video essay in their own right. Also, this reminds me of the fanfic I drafted a year and a half ago. I say "reminds", as if it's not always lingering in the back of my mind. I keep putting off finishing it because the embarrassment gets to me.

[@themarias8350]

Oh yeah, lol. I feel like ao3 is ripe for an in depth video analysis/examination but no one wants to touch the subject with a ten foot pole, which like, /very/ understandable. I’m also just, in general, wary of people covering it bc it’s such a nuanced and complex topic that requires so much attention to detail and understanding of internet subcultures and most folks are dismissive at best.

[@deaf-tomcat]

fanfiction is just so broad, it's hard to really pin down in one video. also I think a lot of us fanfic writers have wips and drafts that we just have not touched or finished. i got a poly Witcher fic that's about 5k rn and I started it last year lol

[@taylorclarke7991]

For the pro-shippers/anti-shippers debate, defenitely check out Sarah Z's most recent video! I found it absolutely incredible :)

[@Justcallmequi]

Ao3 is my SHIT! Idc idc at 20 it’s still my shit

[@reillyg2664]

Don’t let the embarrassment get you down! You got this! And yeah, I totally agree. On wattpad harassment and abuse is more commonly sexualized and is not viewed as such to the common reader, compared to ao3 where most of the time the author is like “I do not condone this” or heap it up with tags that give you warnings. It’s all about the experience.

[@KhadijaMbowe]

Back in my day we uploaded emo band fanfics to Quizilla...2005(and 2006/2007) was a dark time.... You've given me courage though in that I may now be prepared to share my MCR fanfic with the world.

[@NoBriarRose]

Love you khadijah

[@mireiafernandezobama6361]

Lets not talk about that 😭😭

[@LittleMissNerdy08]

omg hey Khadija

[@jessiezuo8484]

OMG QUIZILLA 🙈😭

[@tayxxmonster]

lmao Quizilla held me *down* whew....I read an A7X fanfic there that still hurts me to this day.

[@darkdreamer871]

"I feel like you're still judging me about the Voldemort thing" oh you sweet summer children. if you think reading about fucking Voldemort is that bad then trust me when I say you are not ready for fanfiction. you don't know what lurks in the depths of ao3

[@alicat7633]

It’s embarrassing for sure. Just because ao3 has a bill Clinton/ Dick Cheney rape fanfic does not mean other things can’t also be embarrassing. Plus the filtering system on ao3 is amazing.

[@voldemort1477]

that’s the surface!?

[@IloveZombez]

dipper goes to taco bell is one :(

[@lidaw.5145]

*flashbacks to that margaret thatcher time-travel self-cest fic*

[@Oscar-----]

27:42 I'm like 95% sure most of my kinks are born out of spending a great part of my tween years romanticizing fight scenes between Dean and Castiel tbh

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

There are some fics that I'd genuinely love to have a physical copy of because of what complex stories they tell. But fics about real people feels super invasive...and that's not a vibe 😬

[@mmmaria1249]

people are so quick to judge all fanfiction based on a few bad, famous examples. it's like if you read one bad novel and decided that all books = trash. they are really missing out tbh. there are some Classics that i have honestly considered just printing out myself in case ao3 goes down because it's just...really good fiction baby! real people fic is weird as hell though

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

@@mmmaria1249 oh I totally agree!

[@Sunshine-vt5tf]

Same and also love ur videos

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

@@Sunshine-vt5tf oh, thank you!

[@anyone1111]

Yes! Real people fanfic is weird as heck and honestly. I just can’t.😑

[@Hallfreakyzoid]

I see no problem with wanting to read school age Voldemort. It’s a little dark and edgy but nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s the fanfiction about real people that’s weirder tbh.

[@wombat4583]

Just to challenge your thinking: does 'official' fiction then make it okay to write about real people? It's something that has changed my mind in the past year. Big box movies and stories can refer or be about real people. 'Based on' typically is extremely loosely based and don't accurately represent the person. We have plenty of current and historic shows that are fictionalized within the setting of their existence (for example think about all the royalty shows or period pieces - costume history or otherwise).

[@seabreeze4559]

time travel tomione

[@NeuroticBotanist]

@@wombat4583 agreed. Band of Brothers fandom is a good example of this phenomenon

[@Andyatl2002]

@@wombat4583, don’t forget the Hamilton fandom it is probably the biggest “based on real events” fandom

[@lizziemailord9524]

Add On: Another thing is the way the character is being viewed from, like an aged character being portrayed by a teenager in a show, being sexualised in a fanfiction purely based on the character despite their being book character. Idk, but I feel like it's very iffy there, but an important thing to bring up.

[@jenniferwest3085]

Oh shit, so you're telling me when I write fanfiction about Athos from the three musketeers, I'm actually writing fanfiction about a movie, based on a book, which is actually a fanfiction of another book. Fucking meta dude 😂

[@stephanie6661]

I just am so greatful for the writers that I read works from would always put warnings before their stories. Such as whatever they wrote was not how sex or real healthy relationships worked. So even though I wasn't supposed to be reading hella erotic Avenged Sevenfold fanfic at 14. I always knew that what I was reading did not translate to real life.

[@sithonis7818]

i’ve consumed and written fanfiction for years now and to say that it’s helped grow and shape my writing ability is an understatement. it’s been a massive positive influence on my teenage life, but there’s a line between crafting compelling stories based around fictional characters and publicly (and shamelessly) fantasising about real people at their expense.

[@Arinaretina]

My teachers have commented on my writing ability, especially learning English as a second language, multiple times before. I read a lot of published books but now that I’m thinking about it, maybe reading fanfics has really sharpened my sense of what makes a good story and how to write when I’ve seen examples of how _not_ to write. Wouldn’t be who I am today without fanfiction man what kind of Wattpad universe am I in 😭

[@brittneytrujillo1234]

Absolutely dying at “we did pot, coke, AnD cRaCk.”

[@cat-sd5cr]

I admit that I’ve read and enjoyed fanfics about real people (none of them were sexual), but what I’ve realized in the past is I’ve never really viewed the real life people in the stories as real life people, I just view them as characters. Which I guess that is still a problem because I’m still participating in reading something that people might be uncomfortable with. The only reason I have a hard time just stopping reading fanfics about real life people is because there are so many amazing stories out there and I can rarely find the kind of books and genres that I like in real life. So one day I will stop reading fanfics about real people, when I can figure out how to find the kinds of books/genres/tropes I like in real life.

[@Arinaretina]

I understand that people might be uncomfortable with knowing that they’re in fanfiction, but that’s the fault of the interviewers, or themselves at times. Celebrities know this and they don’t search themselves up online for that reason, because they’ll find way worse things than some weird fanfic written about them. I think once something is on the internet, you can’t control it anymore. Stopping “real life fanfics” won’t stop porn sites from using their faces or bodies. And even if you’re writing about a fictional universe, like Harry Potter for example, you’re still using that actor’s likeness for your writing anyway, so what exactly is the difference? The problem isn’t that people write about real people, heck, Dante’s Inferno is about him hanging out with his favourite philosophers and talking to his crush. The problem is people not being able to differentiate real life from fiction, and that’s on the individual’s fault.

[@cat-sd5cr]

@@Arinaretina yeah I totally get what you’re saying. I just am the kind of person to beat myself up about stuff like this because I feel like I’m enabling people who write like dirty things even if I’m not the person who reads the dirty fanfics 😭

[@Arinaretina]

@@cat-sd5cr but people are gonna write or read or do dirty things with it without your involvement :’) might as well enjoy it yourself. don’t beat yourself up for something if you like it

[@mikhailavandermerwe5636]

My Immortal is transcendental. Also, the stuff we see around modern fan fiction is definitely influenced by modern intellectual property laws that were introduced in the 1900s (mostly forced there by Disney lobbyists). Fan fiction was once a legitimate thing (dating back to ancient Greece). Nowadays because there is a massive profit to be made out of intellectual property, companies cling on to the characters and worlds and sue anyone who tries to explore them on their own. We have, essentially, destroyed the marketplace of fictional ideas and, thus, we are thrust into the childishness of modern fan fiction. You know, just a contribution to this whole thing. Great video, by the way.

"A lot of preps stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them." iconicccc ok i love this video, the reading, the history, the NUANCE, i actually wrote an essay or two about fanfiction it's one of my favourite subject to discuss because there's just so! much!

[@33katec]

i love fan fiction and spend a lot of time on ao3, but i never read fics about real people, just fictional characters. it’s always made me uncomfortable that so much fanfiction about real celebrities exist, because i know how uncomfortable and self conscious i would be if i were a celebrity in that position

[@schabowy6149]

That's weird, ao3 is weird

[@uh8300]

@@schabowy6149 the point of AO3 is to be an archive, archives don't care what's in them as long as they don't get lost, it also has one of the best filtering systems ever so don't disrespect it like that.

[@lei5912]

I have read many fanfictions on ao3, many are just au s without any seggsual content and some written so beautifully.. it is a shame that it is looked down upon so much when there are so many talented writers :(

[@ameliajames1463]

The fact that i found the voldemort fanfic the most normal shows you what kind of brainworms i have

[@Shanspeare]

I’m almost afraid to ask what you’ve seen on the internet

[@jiminjams52]

@@Shanspeare the internet is a dark place,,

[@silvipeppers]

yeah same! i was like "aah finally a fictional character i can feel ok reading stuff about"

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

Yeah I was like, that's actually the only one I'm not gonna judge.

[@Itzkeisha]

Yess speak on it ❣️you’re absolutely gorgeous btw

[@HeyoitsJay]

Hi keisha

[@jackfruit-sm7fi]

Oh snap!!! Hi Keisha ❤️

[@Payube]

hi keisha!

[@aesha8689]

OMG HI

[@BeetleLaundry]

The sheer joy on your face as you said "bible fanfiction" is the biggest mood

[@mayplsyrup5144]

One time I cried reading a fic cause it was about processing grief and I went to my grandma's funeral like a month before and it was the first major death in my life

[@blm_multifandomgurl946]

I do read fanfiction but like not all the time but it must be uncomfortable for the celebrities and also some don’t even show good relationships like after or the kissing booth and it’s problematic as well.

[@kimisea]

I looove fanfic because it's predominantly a hobby for young women and LGBTQ people to discover themselves, improve a creative skill and share that skill with others, and add more depth that lots of people are wanting to existing stories. The amount of fanfiction being romantic shows how young people are building their understanding of the world and their place in it. I won't comment on real person fanfiction, I've never really been into it but there's no coincidence that fanfiction, which is often made fun of, is mostly popular with teenage girls. Mocking fanfiction is just another way people look down on the things that make teenage girls happy.

[@radrose4864]

Thank you! I agree. It’s just like how everyone bashed twilight.

[@maebeck]

Opinion before watching the video: I don't really mind fanfiction about real people because it is never actually about a real person, but about the persona a public figure puts out and the interpretation of it by fans. After watching the video: I have no idea why bad boy fanfiction is so popular, but their popularity shadows what I feel constitutes the majority of fanfiction works, certainly there are many good ones out there, the darkest ones are almost always written by an older author for an older audience. I feel like more information is needed

[@hellevators]

I started reading fan fiction at the lovely age of 10, from mainly wattpad, and I fell down a rabbit hole. But I think that wasn't necessarily a bad one. I can say that toxic and ''cringy'' fan fiction is mainly just the surface because I have read fan fiction longer than books which were simultaneously better than books. As for shipping real people, I've been in two fandoms notorious for that, Hamilton and MCYT, but I believe it's fine ONLY if both the shipped have consented to it or if it is fan fiction of a fictionalised version of the real life people ( so like hamgelica if it is only the stage play versions of them and c!skephalo)

[@cpucake2802]

As someone who reads and writes a lot of fanfiction (even though I'm not even a teenager anymore...), and has been reading fanfiction for almost a decade now, I feel like I have a lot of thoughts on this topic I've never been able to express before. Although I completely agree with all of your points, I think you missed some aspects of fanfiction that really make it such a wonderful form of media. Let me be clear, I think fanfics of real people are messed up, no matter the content. Fantasizing about real humans is just icky to me, but expanding upon a fictional universe has so many wonderful possibilities. And believe it or not, they're not all romantic. Seeing people only talk about the romantic and sexual stories when discussing fanfics makes me so sad, it just perpetuates the idea that that's all there is to it. But in reality, there's SO MUCH MORE. Fanfiction is wonderful because it gives you the ability to continue to consume content from your favorite shows, movies, cartoons, etc. Even if the creators have finished the storylines, if you love the characters and plot and overall world, you always want more: "Why can't they make one more season?!" But with fanfiction, you can have as many seasons as you want, with any plot you want. Or, you can change parts of the plot that bothered you in the original, or you can explore character interactions in a whole different universe. It's a way to hold onto your favorite stories and characters, and I honestly believe the best fics are not based on relationships at all (especially since most relationships are male/male, which is a whole nother issue...). Just to give an example, my favorite fandom is the My Hero Academia one. Oddly enough, I wasn't all too crazed about the show, but I just loved the concept and characters. But I absolutely ADORE the mha fanfic scene on Archive of Our Own (AO3), which if you're unaware of it, is the best and most populous current site for fanfiction. When I'm searching for a new fic to read, I always first exclude all relationships, exclude rated M fics, and sort by kudos. And there are some absolutely incredible fanfics by incredible writers, you never scroll down far enough to reach the ones with thrown-together, messy plots and poorly developed characters. Some of them are literally longer than the Bible. I'm talking tens of thousands of awesome fics that have nothing to do with romance. So while there is a lot of truth in the "good girl, bad boy" shitty Wattpad stories touched on in this video, that's only scratching the tip of fanfiction, and is usually the tip that a lot of actual enjoyers of fanfics cringe at. I hope this cleared up some people's misconceptions on fanfics. It's just frustrating to me when people only see one side of it, and I've been judged so many times in my life for expressing my interests (to the point that I just lie about what I do in my free time now). Also, to be clear, I loved this video and I'm glad you didn't completely bash fanfics like many others do! Sorry for the long-ass essay, I just felt like I had a lot to say on fanfiction that has always been ignored, so maybe it'll reach someone in the comments under this video. :)

[@radrose4864]

I agree with you 100%. I’ve been involved in fanfiction since 6th grade. It was my only avenue of escape when I was young, and it gave me a passion for writing that was the one thing I felt proud of about myself. I am SO SICK of seeing it degraded and mocked. At this point I am such a staunch defender of fanfiction that I openly acknowledge it in real life and online, hoping to do my part to change the perception. I just feel like it’s such low hanging fruit to say “fanfiction is creepy and poorly written and brainwashing young girls to romanticize abusive relationships”. Like, come on. There’s nothing wrong with exploring sexuality and romance in your imagination, especially as a young person. It’s totally natural. And for a lot of us, it’s not even about that. As an adult, it’s mostly about appreciating the craft of writing and my love of characters and being involved in a supportive community. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here lol

[@cpucake2802]

@@radrose4864 I appreciate those like you that are open about their interests and stand up for it even though so many people love to hate on fanfiction. Keep destigmatizing it! And yeah although there’s a lot of truth to that claim, it just diminishes all the well-written fanfics, only looking at a small percentage of them. And I’m glad you brought up the community aspect as well. I love being able to recognize my favorite author’s work on ao3 and join discord servers to talk about fics. There’s really so much to talk about we could make our own 30 minute video essay!

[@cintarella9455]

thank you for this comment! as someone who’s also beyond their teens and still an active fan fiction connoisseur, it’s disheartening to see fanfiction get stomped on so hard. i understand that the videos aim was at a certain type of fanfic writing more akin to what i’d have read when i was 12, but along with its criticisms i definitely feel like people just kind of muddle ALL types of fanfic writing as “cringe” and “problematic”. i can’t tell you how many fanfics i’ve read that have left me speechless and absolutely wanting more, even as i read it two, three, even four times. the quality, plot and intriguing bests even established authors! and don’t get me started on the amazing talent on ao3. even including fanfics that do incorporate romance into its plot, there’s a substantial difference between those works compared to fan fictions based upon real people through a jaded lens of hormones and extreme caricatures. i just wish that we could see more appreciation for the writers who create such beautiful works for themselves and others, or at the very least, not lumped together or made fun of because of a very bastardized version of really well thought out writing.

[@Proto-Martyr]

Your comment is so spot on! As someone who's been reading fanfiction for over a decade now, I genuinely get upset when people shit on fanfiction because they think it's just erotic stories for horny people.

[@sadtitties222]

@@cintarella9455 Honestly tho, (semi-unpopular opinion here) even those who write fanfics/one-shots/etc. through "jaded hormones and extreme caricatures" deserve to not be sh*tted on because of what they choose to write. These people are making serious bank off comissioned work from fans and I simply can't get mad at that. I've read some pretty great ones that you can tell have had put hard work and effort into it and it pays off well for them. I do agree with the being uncomfortable with the real life people fanfics, but I'm more talking about fictional characters who are written into 18+ sexy/smutty scenarios. These people should be allowed to thirst and type/write their thirsts down for the masses, especially since most of these people are grown a** adults writing for other grown a** adults. Just my two cents and you can feel free to ignore, lol.

[@mechanical-scarecrow3064]

I love to think of the Sistine chapel as a temple dedicated to Jesus fanart.

[@raisyrosye7656]

LOL, fanworks have existed since creativity was a thing.

[@Arinaretina]

Fanfiction was, and still is, a huge help in coping with my mental health. I once wrote a Loki fanfic because I identified a lot with his abandonment issues and loneliness. I fantasised about a whole scenario where he comforted me, stopped me from self harming and hugged me to sleep. Looking back, it’s not really that well-written, but I still go back to it every now and then cause it’s hard to find that kind of comfort elsewhere, y’know?

[@anarup916]

Therapeutic even

[@archibaldthejester42069]

That scenario sounds VERY comforting and I'm glad you were able to cope. Hope you are doing better

[@GorilkaCore]

Anything enemies to lovers with angst, owning up to mistakes and a good ending is right up my alley. I never got to shipping real life people though, that always felt a bit…. Off? Like the sole reason I ship characters because I like the entire sweet fantasy aspect to it, fully getting that its not real and can’t possibly affect the actual characters no matter how weird or fucked the ship is. That line feels so crossed with real life people ships.

[@kelly55]

This made me realize that the stories I tell myself before bed (inserting myself in lotr, hp, etc.) are essentially fanfiction 😂 also more confirmation that I'm ace because I am always just friends with ppl so I can come on adventures lmao

[@bacul165]

This is _so_ me it almost hurts ;)

[@sammythescrub5258]

this is so relatable

[@lazybelphegore6748]

My favorite show’s lead actor died after a few short seasons. I was thinking about his character, and how he might be in different situations; and realized I was writing fan fic in my head. So I started writing it out, and posting it. It isn’t easy, but when it’s done, it is so rewarding. Good work is out there, you just have to wade through a lot of stuff that isn’t.

[@Arinaretina]

The problem isn’t writing or reading fanfiction. The problem is when people can’t differentiate fantasy from real life.

[@garbagerat7966]

i dont trust people who dont read fanfiction like what else could you be doing in your spare time? murdering?

[@naivelopez3601]

Lmaooo I love ur comment

[@sourdough_bagel]

Oh gosh 😭😭 Why do I love your comment so much? 😂🤣

[@doha4258]

ma'am... im... aroace... and.. sc.ared...

[@audir8464]

Only on Tuesdays

[@radrose4864]

Seriously though. Inquiring minds want to know.

[@ladylydbug]

also "he had an amazing ethnic voice" i SCREAMED

[@lizmerrick6883]

Your hair is amazing! I wrote fanfiction WAY later than is socially acceptable, because I wanted people to read my writing. And they did. It was great.

[@notromeosjuliet4837]

When you talked about imagining storylines involving your celebrity crushes before falling asleep I couldn't have related harder. Yay, I'm not alone (now that I think about it it's probably not uncommon but I never talked to anyone about it). In my case it's more fictional characters, though, I don't know, I don't really care much for real people. Love your voice btw, it's really calming.

[@OBYfan]

I learned English by reading fanfics, also for a very long time it was the lgbt friendly media out there

[@lemmeknow9584]

finally someone said this! it helped me improve english so much, especially well-written fics on ao3 it's like the most enjoyable and effective way of learning a new language 😂

[@lipsticklez9940]

Yeah, for a long time bts fanfics were the only time I seen gay relationships depicted ever. I understand anit-shippers but I'm glad that ppl are starting to take a gentler approach to teaching ppl about the dangers of shipping fanfics because ppl just kinda bullied me about it and it didn't stop me from reading them it just made me hide the fact that I did

[@SheepasaurusRex]

it's also pretty wild when authors of original works legally attack fanfic writers (i.e. anne rice) like as long as fanfic isn't being sold, it's not necessarily a problem to the author directly.

[@radrose4864]

I know! Laurel K Hamilton did this too! She also wrote vampire/werewolf type novels. Some authors are really controlling about their artistic vision. On the one hand I get it, but on the other hand it’s like come on… why can’t you take it as a compliment? that people would like your work so much they’d put in the effort to write about it themselves. J K Rowling was very smart for encouraging Harry Potter fandom. It only increased its popularity and momentum

[@sadtitties222]

@@radrose4864 That's actually a pretty good point you made about Rowling. Seems to be the only good piece of legacy that her hateful a** has left behind, lol.

[@herossoup6027]

@@sadtitties222 That’s probably the only decent thing she’s done as the massive bigot she is. Without the Harry Potter series, I doubt the fan fiction scene would be the same as it is today. HP has managed to bring in so many writers and different communities, and you’re lying if you haven’t seen at least ONE HP au for any fandom you’re in

[@wombat4583]

@@herossoup6027 I mean she turned back on her fandom support after the series was over so even that decent thing was tempoary

[@herossoup6027]

@@wombat4583 Yeah, fair enough. I should’ve mentioned that. Though her lasting impact on fandom culture as a whole, is still undeniable. Just wish it wasn’t accomplished by a disgusting, violent racist transphobic bitch

[@cintiavargas6617]

Fanfics have honestly gotten me through some of my toughest life moments and have been some of the best literary works I’ve ever read

[@cascharles3838]

When I was younger I was exclusively in fandoms revolving around fiction, and while there was fanfiction based on the real people involved, e.g. actors, a significant amount of people in these fandoms were strongly against them. The biggest one that comes to mind is Hamilton. So when I looked at most people's idea of fanfiction outside of these fandoms and saw that the majority of people talked about fanfictions of band members etc. it blew my mind. I just can't wrap my head around the concept, it creeps me out and how could you possibly know these people well enough to write a story about them anyways?

[@upsetstudios1819]

Also, I think it's important to talk about the fanfiction-esque nature of many rebooted movies. The director was a *fan* of the original work, and created their own spin. It's not just drooling over celebrities and fictional bad boys, it's also the possibility of changing details or whole world dynamics of a beloved work of fiction

[@iamcoolrealnotfake5486]

I really want to use a my immortal quote when I graduate from high school

[@iamcoolrealnotfake5486]

“I MAY BE A HOGWARTS STUDENT….” Hargirid paused angrily. “BUT I AM ALSO A SATANIST!”

[@izzie9020]

Omg do it

[@devynj9651]

As somebody who is currently deeply attached to a particular fanfic, I really would defend it to the death, but you're so right about the damaging tropes that are out there. This video is such a thoughtful take on this subject because it really is more nuanced than it seems

[@jaiwalker377]

I’m crying at the reading of my immortal😂 not the “ethnic voice” and “wurped tower”

[@KidChu404]

I 100% agree that reading/writing fanfictions helps ppl develop new skills. My literacy skills improved drastically through reading new fics and experimenting on my own. To this day I swear I only passed my english exams because of how many fanfics I read

[@gtfolactose]

I've never been a fanfic kinda person but i do spend a lot of time in fandom spaces where the topic comes up a lot, and I personally feel like we should draw the line at writing fanfic about real people, especially if it's sexual and ESPECIALLY if the celebrities are underage or "barely legal". It's just very invasive and dehumanizing in my opinion

[@wombat4583]

I think there is a lot of blurred area for it. For example is it really fanfiction of the person themselves of the character/branding that they put out into the world. For some this is separated, some is the same, and some is blurred between reality and fictionalized. For example all these stories and movies 'based on real life' are fanfiction based on real people. They aren't biographies and they are typically loosely based. There are royalty shows based around current living people who have actively spoken out against it. People have a double standard for it. But if people can't write about live people despite all of popular media saying otherwise (and is only criticized in fanfiction form) then what about when they are dead. Again, this isn't only tied to fanfiction - costume historical fiction and historical fiction for example are their own genres which imposes their own stories based on what was once a person.

[@gtfolactose]

@@wombat4583 yeah I can definitely see where you're coming from, personally I'd say if the content could be considered social/political commentary, historically educational, or satire then that would be totally free game (I wouldn't even really consider something like that to be "fanfiction"), however if it's none of those things and is really just fiction inspired off of real people the ethics of the whole thing really depends on the actual content of the story even if they're not still living, like if someone were to write a really smutty fanfic about Einstein or something it'd be causing virtually no harm since he isn't alive, but (as much as that would be funny in it's absurdity) it would still be pretty disrespectful to the dead. But it's definitely more serious when the people are still living, generally i think projecting personal sexual/romantic desires onto a real person in a context that isn't just in your own head is always pretty weird. Say you have this acquaintance who tells you they wrote a book and one of the characters is loosely inspired off of you, if you read the story and it's something like a murder mystery and you're this genius detective solving the crime, many might be flattered by that (although some people may be a little weirded out by being written about in general), but then if instead you read the book and the character you inspired is just sexually objectified throughout the whole book most people would be really creeped out and likely offended. that's how i think about it anyway, but it is definitely a very complicated thing to discuss

[@wombat4583]

​@@gtfolactose I don't disagree, I just don't think people realize how much those historical based, political/social based, etc. are really removed from the reality. Once had to do a project in my undergrad where we were comparing the accuracy of films to their events. Even movies that people typically thought of accurately were wildly different. Very few would even reach 50%, and the one that scored the highest was banned for decades so that it wouldn't get representation. Many would even 'mess up' the key aspects which has actively caused harm and misunderstanding on topics. All these new reiterations and most revivals are technically fanfiction too- different interpretations or framework for the base of a new adaption. It's all how we think about it but it's so ingrained that somehow big industry is somehow different. It's really not.

[@Si-qk7ol]

i can’t get over how well laid-out/edited your videos are. Amazing!!

[@shobonsoul5547]

Howl Pendragon fan-fiction was definitely what I was missing as a kid😂 I had a huge crush on him and Sophie lol

[@KittySnicker]

30 year old Millennial here. Trust me I’m not blaming fanfiction on Gen Z lol. I was reading Draco and Hermione fanfiction circa 2004.

[@radrose4864]

Right! I chuckled. The fanfic scene BEEN around.

[@tayxxmonster]

Yep! And when I was reading Sailor Moon fanfic in the late 90s, it wasn't our generation writing those stories 😂 we all just stumble into it as we go.

[@raisyrosye7656]

LOL, but the thing is, fanfiction or just fanworks, in general, have probably been around since creativity existed because nothing is a hundred percent original per se because everything already exists and creativity is just a remix of already existing things, you just mix, match, and morph them into something entirely different! For example, Renaissance art is just Biblical fanart, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it’s a weird concept but the reason why it’s deemed as “original” is that you have four already existing things, turtles, teenagers, mutants, and ninjas from Japanese culture all combined to make this hybrid of a concept! We're all just taking ideas and inspiration from other people or another place and using them to create something different which stands out from the rest! “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” - Pablo Picasso

[@tiomela]

I was writing X-Files fanfics in the mid-90s. I just didn't know that's what it was called.

[@poilaaliop]

My dad had an ex who wrote Kirk/Spock stuff in the super early fanzines and several friends who wrote Doctor Who fic they'd send in for competitions in magazines. My dad is almost 80. Fanfic is OLD, it just wasn't called that until recently.

[@elizahamilton2691]

I read fanfiction but never about real people it makes me feel a certain type of way

[@corenisveryconfused]

Same

[@dxhyunjin]

I personally don’t read fanfics but the cool part to me is when people can expand on fictional stories and universes, when it’s actual people it feels like an intrusion on their privacy

[@lareesmoother4448]

The microphone/soft spoken voice is literally the reason I started watching your videos! It's so relaxing and calming so no need to be insecure

[@sofetchxx]

Never forget when I found out what LEMON meant in fanfic. 😂 Also. I support the Tom Riddle fanfic adoration. 🖤🤣

[@belledamer89]

I gotta be honest. Most of the fanfics I read aren't about real people. Anime took the fanfic community by storm and I was living for it 😤

[@raisyrosye7656]

Same. 😂✋

[@jaggerchang2062]

I got into fanfiction ironically. There was this ship between two people and I thought "oh, how funny it would be if someone wrote a love story between these two people, that couldn't possibly exist." Oh, how I should've known better because, in fact, there were. I read the first fanfiction that came up after I searched the ship name on Wattpad, and it was actually quite nice. So I read another one, and another one, and another one, and another one, and now I'm here, with forty completed fanfictions under my belt. Now you may be asking what ship was it that started it all. Well, I'll tell you, my friend It was a ship between one of the most famous songwriting duo, part of the world's most popular band, the Lennon-McCartney ship, more famously known as McLennon.

[@CoffinFullOfBees]

Nooo dont change how you talk, it's great!! I love watching your videos as i'm winding down for the night, I usually listen to asmr to fall asleep and you bridge the gap between that and other things really well! I like hearing soft spoken more mentally stimulating content before I switch to the sounds I fall asleep to :)

[@reckonerwheel5336]

I think one thing many don't realize about "problematic" romance in fic is this - the stories you consume do NOT always reflect your real-life desires. When it comes to romance in fanfic, the reader either consciously or unconsciously knows they're safe because what they're reading is fantasy. Fantasy is safety. You're not the one experiencing the stress of a love/hate relationship, and most importantly -- you know forgiveness is on the horizon. In reality, there's a ton of uncertainty and that's really stressful to experience. But when you're reading about it happening to another couple, you get a lot of the thrill of the make-up sex and none of the stress that needs to happen to get there.

[@NinjaCupcakeAttack]

the wattpad vibes are unreal. ao3 would never.

[@vanessa-iv8qz]

Istg it would never!!!

[@themyofmy]

Wattpad is kids making inappropriate content about adults, Ao3 is adults making inappropriate content about kids

[@scarlett-iy8yh]

@@themyofmy 😭

[@raisyrosye7656]

@@themyofmy I---I don't think anyone else could have explained it better...

[@happytoaster5682]

AO3 would, and it always has. There is plenty of overlap of AO3 writers also frequenting Wattpad. In general, I think AO3's userbase is on the older side, but that doesn't mean you're always reading quality stuff. It's not as clearcut as AO3 good, Wattpad bad. Fanfic quality in general is just hit and miss.

[@yumeechuu]

i actually love the way you speak and your microphone is set up. listening to you talk that way is so comforting, especially after a long and stressful day. thank you for that

[@Jonny_Black]

I am not judging you AT ALL we're all beautiful freaks, lol. Oh my GAWD, my fav tropes are friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, and angst all the angst....

[@notmychairnotmyproblem]

8:35 Fun fact: Lucille Ball's Desilu studio produced the original Star Trek pilot. She was the only one in Hollywood at the time who believed the series would be successful.

[@ForeignManinaForeignLand]

Mi love how Shanspeare could make whispering sound animated 😩 swear yuh need an ASMR channel next

[@Shanspeare]

HAHAHAHHA

[@cpnm0002]

girl i love your softspoken vocalization, soothes me so < 3 also literally put on your channel for this exact reason

[@HanniieeX]

You are probably one of the only KZbinrs that actually make me laugh out loud. Love your videos.

[@Kkid54]

Some of the best fics that I have ever read, that help me to contextualize what it means to be disabled living in an ableist society have been star trek fanfics between a twinky doctor and an evil space reptile

[@watson483]

Yo, you got a link for those?

[@GwendolynnBY]

I have... I have written a couple of those

[@frodowaggins6647]

I got 1 minute 20 seconds into the video before I had pause and subscribe. Love the editing and the energy you're bringing 💖

[@lolocanread2092]

Um, your microphone setup is perfect for your tone. Nice podcast vibes

[@heatherlee2967]

You pointing out that romeo and juliet is fanfiction is ending me

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Romeo and Juliet is basically Shakespeare’s fanfic displacement of a little known renaissance era Italian novel series called Romeo e Giulietta.

[@myraclesname]

I think the conversation about fanfictions and whether it's okay to write abt real people or not is really complicated. Because there are so many types of fanfictions. If I for example, were a celebrity or public figure, I'd LOVE to read fanfiction about myself. However, I know that there are celebs that don't like being shipped and I absolutely understand that. But shipping doesn't have to be a part of fanfictions! As well as tropes that could make someone uncomfortable. Sadly, the community (especially wattpad) crosses boundaries in ways that even make me as a reader uncomfortable. I've seen all of it and I wish there was a way to tell people not to cross the lines, but it's impossible. People will always write, no matter what. That's why I think tagging systems, warnings etcetera are great. But there will be fucked up stuff everywhere you go. It's nearly unavoidable.

[@SMoya-bc6tw]

Yesss. I think writing about a real person isn't bad per se, as long as it's something like "the adventures of INSERT FAMOUS PERSON HERE as a knight during the dark ages" if I was famous I'd love to read something like that about me. But when it starts to be about a ship with another famous person or a familiar, and worse when someone writes about them fuggin it gets really weird and disrespectful, you're crossing a big boundary there and make those real people (because yes they're real) feel deeply uncomfortable. Can there be someone who doesn't care? Yes, there must be. But most of them don't so please stop (and I say this as someone who reads fanfiction but sticks to fictional characters only)

[@lipsticklez9940]

@@SMoya-bc6tw yeeees the first bts fan fiction i read was a taegi fanfi were yoongi is the devil and tae is a lonely human who gives him a cup of water on a hot day. They do fall in love in the fanfic but it is depicted in a wholesome way and there's no smut at all. I think it can be hard to find books like that but as long as you block some of the tags reading fanfics about real people doesn't have to be this nasty dehumanizing experience that alot of ppl think it is