Fan Fiction

[Jorpho]

You folks read fan fiction very much?

I tend to stay away from it myself. A few years ago I did flip through Star Trax Traks: Borgspace out of boredom. For a supposedly humor-based series it didn't make me laugh very much, though it was reasonably well put-together and occasionally had an interesting idea.

A week or two ago I read through the entirety of Sailor Nothing after finding a link to it on TVTropes.com , and was sufficiently pleased that I even left a buck or two in the tip jar afterwards. If nothing else, it kills a whole lot of time.

I've heard some people have gotten quite enamoured with Harry Potter fanfic, and not the pornographic variety. Ever give that a try?

[0range]

I'm sure there is some good work written by fans, maybe even some great fan fiction, but I don't. My "to read" list is just too damn long as it is (and seems to get steadily longer, now matter how much I read... especially when I start hankering to re-read stuff) to go out of my way to find fan fiction.

[Mr_Meister]

I read Harry Potter fanfiction frequently. Most of the stuff isn't what I like to read, or is too short, or whatever, but every now and then you get a story that is really good, and a nice length.

I'm also writing a Harry Potter fanfic to hone my skills as a writer.

[Nyarlathotep]

I write a lot of drabbles, that is, short fan-works, mostly as a way to exercise my writing skills without having to worry about making up characters or plot. That, and it's a fun way to explore theories in a narrative way.

Read... hardly ever, mostly because so much of it is just pornography with your favorite characters.

[tiny]

Good fanfiction is rare. It's *the* genre for people who aren't creative enough to come up with their own characters. I've read over a metric ton of phics (Phantom of the Opera fics) and there were only a hand full that were worth the read; most of them were just juvenile crap and retellings of the Webber musical which end with Christine lovingly kissing "the handsome side of Erik's face". Barf.

I love writing phics, though. It's a nice challenge to explore different aspects of the known material, to play around with possibilities, change some details and develop new consequences from there without bastardizing the characters. I emphasize character depth a lot (partly to try to rehabilitate the fanfiction genre) and try to work out all the details, finish unfinished thoughts, fill holes in the plot, find answers to unanswered questions and so on.
It's a great way to enforce creativity, write inside a clear framework and practice character conceptualization, disposition development and plot development.
Plus I get to work on my favourite tensions between my most beloved characters. *sigh*

[steewi]

I wrote a fanfic once (for something really dorky, but I just wanted to explore how I thought a loose end might have ended up).

For reading - it's only very rare. The most worthwhile fanfic I've come across is on the border of being canon. It's Babylon 5: A Dark, Distorted Mirror, which is a rewrite of pretty much the whole 5 seasons on an alternate timeline. Quite disturbing, definitely not slash, and of very good quality.

[ameretrifle]

Read? Well, yeah. When it's bad, it's very, very bad. Though, I admit, I enjoy a little of the bad stuff just for the camp of it. Most of it's fair-to-middling. But there's some seriously great stuff out there, if you can find it. To my chagrin, most of it is slash of various ratings (but not all), but I do mean this: at its best, fanfic rises from "entertaining" (which I'll defend to the death as a perfectly worthy goal) to actually having some real artistic merit. So, er, don't be a hata.

Write? Well... yeah. I figure it's in my head anyway; why not use it to get a bit of writing practice in? And:

It's a nice challenge to explore different aspects of the known material, to play around with possibilities, change some details and develop new consequences from there without bastardizing the characters. I emphasize character depth a lot (partly to try to rehabilitate the fanfiction genre) and try to work out all the details, finish unfinished thoughts, fill holes in the plot, find answers to unanswered questions and so on.
It's a great way to enforce creativity, write inside a clear framework and practice character conceptualization, disposition development and plot development.
Plus I get to work on my favourite tensions between my most beloved characters. *sigh*

QFT. If you ignore the copyright mess, fanfiction's essentially a medium like any other. If you're doing it right, with some actual talent/workmanship, you wind up with something really good.

[tiny]

If you ignore the copyright mess, fanfiction's essentially a medium like any other.

Yeah, it's an advantage to belong to a fandom who's original is so old that it has already become public domain.

Is there more fanfiction of classical literature out there? I haven't seen any besides fics around Leroux's 'Phantom', but I haven't really searched.

[Nyarlathotep]

If you ignore the copyright mess, fanfiction's essentially a medium like any other.

Yeah, it's an advantage to belong to a fandom who's original is so old that it has already become public domain.

Is there more fanfiction of classical literature out there? I haven't seen any besides fics around Leroux's 'Phantom', but I haven't really searched.

I have heard tell that there is a lot of Pride and Prejeduce fanfiction out there; and I have seen on occasion Shakespeare fanfic, as well as Paradise Lost and the Divine Comedy.

[ameretrifle]

Is there more fanfiction of classical literature out there? I haven't seen any besides fics around Leroux's 'Phantom', but I haven't really searched.

Fanfiction.net has a "Bible" section. This frankly terrifies me.

I've also seen other sections there, like Count of Monte Cristo and mythology, which means someone's got to be doing it, if probably not well. I'd hazard a guess that anything kids are forced to read in high school probably has a better chance. And I know for sure there's Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, if that counts. Hell, some of it's even published. Laurie R. King has a series of novels about a young, brilliant heiress from America who becomes an aging Holmes' student and partner... oh, and then wife. *rolls eyes* It's actually not as bad as it sounds, but... published or not, I'd say it's most definitely fic. Though Sherlockians tend to call fics "pastiches". They've got a couple of odd habits. Appropriate, considering the source.

Also, Jean Rhys wrote a somewhat famous book based on Jane Eyre, 'Wide Sargasso Sea'... it's about Rochester and his first wife, and it's very good. Of course, this is blurring the lines between "fanfiction" and, I don't know, "derivative work" or something...

Oh, and:

There MUST be Taft slash fiction.

[tiny]

Fanfiction.net has a "Bible" section. This frankly terrifies me.

"Oh Jesus..." Peter moaned softly while he pressed his throbbing manhood against his Saviour's heavenly butt...? ô.o Yeah, I know... But there *should* be!

-Lots of info 'bout classical literature fics-... Though Sherlockians tend to call fics "pastiches". They've got a couple of odd habits. Appropriate, considering the source.

Heh, I like that.
And apparently I have been off of ff.net for too long. Interesting. Now I know what I'll do next weekend.

[JediWIngKnight]

The New Testament is really a collection of fanfiction of the Old Testament with Jesus as the Mary Sue.

[william]

The New Testament is really a collection of fanfiction of the Old Testament with Jesus as the Mary Sue.

And Revelations is fanfic of the New Testament.

[annals]

I just found this site recently: Fanfiction ideas galore!

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers and 21 Jump Street. The story should use floods as a plot device!

I've read some fanfiction (Labyrinth themed--yes, I am ashamed), and occasionally been tempted to write it when I come across some really compelling characters or something. I have yet to give in, though! I have never read a good fanfic.

[Mother Superior]

Fanfics is how I started out writing, so I guess I have something to owe them, but I don't really read much of them any more. Not much good stuff out there.

[Narsil]

On one hand, every literary bone in my body cries out against this, but on the other, Neil Gaiman wrote the best fanfic ever with A Study in Emerald. Maybe that's my reason. After that, it's game over.

[Rodan]

I used to write fan-fiction. In retrospect, they were terrible. I had very grand plans though, but my work ethic is abysmal, so they were never realized. I got behind in my deadlines and eventually quit.
Yes, there were deadlines.

[Kendo_Bunny]

I wrote fanfic until I was about 15 (except for one foray when I was 18). It taught me a lot about utilizing characters with set stories and working around limitations in a believable manner. If the series ended at a point I found unacceptable, it was fun being able to just change it around while still making it seem like the original work.

My best friend and I have a long-running Gundam Wing fic with two OC's. Lest they be called Mary Sue's, we put every possible precaution against. Each of them have talents and drawbacks, with the drawbacks being major enough to affect the plot, and the talents not being special enough to eclipse every other character. It taught me a lot about how to write a heroine, because even in legit fic, heroines tend to be perfect and thus dull.

[Klapaucius]

The trick to fan-fiction is to balance the amount of effort put into it. If you do a quick, lazy piece, nobody will care, because it probably won't be very good. If you put way too much effort into it--say, beyond 100 pages--then people will start to wonder if you're somehow bedridden.

I do write fan-fiction occasionally, but only satire. The longest was about... thirty pages, but it was unfinished. It was entitled Mushroom Kingdom Hearts, and was basically exactly what it sounds like. It did get pretty epic around the time when Demyx challenges K.K. Slider to a fight to the death, and K.K. responded by using his earth-shattering ultimate weapon: K.K. Dragonforce!

[tiny]

If you do a quick, lazy piece, nobody will care, because it probably won't be very good.

Um... I think I have to disagree here. There's a lot of utter crap out there and it gets tons of reviews.

[Klapaucius]

If you do a quick, lazy piece, nobody with good taste will care, because it probably won't be very good.

Um... I think I have to disagree here. There's a lot of utter crap out there and it gets tons of reviews.

Fixed.

[ameretrifle]

If you do a quick, lazy piece, nobody with good taste will care, because it probably won't be very good.

Um... I think I have to disagree here. There's a lot of utter crap out there and it gets tons of reviews.

Fixed.

Which, given the ratio of people with good taste to people with questionable taste, can get pretty demoralizing after a while. If you're doing decent work. "The three people who read it thought it was fantastic!" = my lot.

If you're not writing porn. The quantity of porn reviews seems to stay pretty much constant, if not actually going up with quality. Not... that I've made a study of this or anything. *whistles innocently*

[fersrs]

I've found a few pretty good pieces, but tend not to read it a lot because of all the bad ones, and the time it takes to pick through them to get to the good ones.

[Tillan]

Generally i dont read any fanfiction because I get annoyed with people making my faveroite charactors do things they just would never ever do (and I dont just mean the porn).
Having said that I have read some Fanfiction that I thought was just as good as the original source. However most of the time I have been pointed in the direction of this fanfiction by somebody else, rather than gone looking for it myself.

Perhaps if youve read some fanfiction you thought was good you could post links?

[Rinsaikeru]

I read fanfiction for a few books/series--mostly Harry Potter because there is so much of it (odds are better on finding something good).

I understand what you mean about characters though, when they are totally out of character I can't read the story at all. If you want to write original fiction and stick names from books on it, please explain that in the intro. Sheesh.

There are some really fantastic fanfic authors out there--I generally keep track of what they write and read new things by them.

[Jorpho]

Perhaps if youve read some fanfiction you thought was good you could post links?

Yes, we need links.

[ameretrifle]

I haven't really been reading much fic recently, but here's what I can remember off the top of my head:

This author does some brilliant Doctor Who stuff, sad and sweet and hilarious, and often all at once. "Downtime" especially is incredible; even after I grew to loathe the Tenth Doctor to the depths of my soul, I still adored it. And it's even gen! Nothing pervy to worry about here.

This author has written slash in all sorts of fandoms; if you can cope with that, it's very, very good. if you can't, well, you're pretty much out of luck.

Same with this one, except I'd say the slash in this West Wing fic is so vague as to be all but nonexistent, and it's really just goregous. But I don't want to traumatize anyone, so be careful. Caveat lector an' all that.

You do realize you're practically inviting us to post links to our own websites? "But if I didn't think it was good, I wouldn't've written it!"

[Tillan]

You do realize you're practically inviting us to post links to our own websites? "But if I didn't think it was good, I wouldn't've written it!"

Touche. However, to be honest I wouldnt have a problem with that. Anybody here have some fanfiction they dont mind inflicting on us? Ive noticed quite a few people have claimed to write fanfiction (which doesnt supprise me) but nobody has posted links to it.

Ill have a look at the Dr Who Fanfics later (in work at the moment)

There are some really fantastic fanfic authors out there--I generally keep track of what they write and read new things by them.

Who and where?

[Felstaff]

Who and where?

Right here. Like Garth Marenghi, I am probably the only person to have written more than I have read. I don't, as a general rule of index finger, read fanfiction.

Because it is shit.

I do, however, write an awful lot. I don't actually read it afterwards either; the fun (and escapism) is in the writing.

[blakat1313]

I agree with Felstaff on this one, I've yet to read a decent fanfic. That being said, I haven't clicked the links in this thread either. I'll probably do that eventually, but this is the sort of thing you need to get in the right state of mind for.

Also:

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Garfield and the Diary of Anne Frank. The story should use shopping for a Wii as a plot device!

I think this may already exist.

I've been tempted on a few occasions to write something that was gouge-out-your-eyes-so-you-never-see-it-again terrible just to mock the people who do the same thing unintentionally, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

[ameretrifle]

Oh, yeah, for sure, the vast majority of it's some degree of terrible, but me, I can get at the least a bit of campy fun out of it if the spelling's done right and there's half a plot. I haven't been reading as much of it lately, but I'm a staunch defender of escapism, so I can't even really denounce the crappiest of it. If it makes twelve-year-old fangirls happy, I'm not gonna judge, I'll just avoid it. *shrug* Not to mention, sometimes I just need to read, and it hardly matters what. That happen to anyone else?

And I suspect I will fervently regret this, but since you asked, Tillan:
Me on Teaspoon

...Don't think I can bring myself to post my ff.net account. Not sure I want to run the risk of sharing the Pokemon fic I wrote when I was twelve. In my defense, er, twelve. And at least it wasn't the more usual "Yayz I am a pokemon trainer! I pick bulbasaur and now I am going on route 30 and I see a pidgey, go viney! i yell" Mary-Sue dreck...

...Now someone else post some links so I can maintain the delusion that I have a life.

[Jorpho]

I've been tempted on a few occasions to write something that was gouge-out-your-eyes-so-you-never-see-it-again terrible just to mock the people who do the same thing unintentionally, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

One of the more troubling things I have permitted my brain to be exposed to on the Internet was a website obsessively devoted to mocking in great deal the extensive body of fanfiction written by a particular author. It was sad.

[blakat1313]

I've been tempted on a few occasions to write something that was gouge-out-your-eyes-so-you-never-see-it-again terrible just to mock the people who do the same thing unintentionally, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

One of the more troubling things I have permitted my brain to be exposed to on the Internet was a website obsessively devoted to mocking in great deal the extensive body of fanfiction written by a particular author. It was sad.

That's a little disturbing. I can understand lampooning the genre, but mocking one specific author? Then again, the internet is a pretty dark place so it isn't too surprising.

[yukari koizumi]

Generally i dont read any fanfiction because I get annoyed with people making my faveroite charactors do things they just would never ever do (and I dont just mean the porn).
Having said that I have read some Fanfiction that I thought was just as good as the original source. However most of the time I have been pointed in the direction of this fanfiction by somebody else, rather than gone looking for it myself.

Perhaps if youve read some fanfiction you thought was good you could post links?

This is why I think fan-fiction is just plain out stupid.... I can understand if you are going to write a good story and keep your character's persona in the same element that it is portrayed as in whatever novel, manga, comic, etc... but most people just make the characters do such offtopic out of character shit... it seems annoying.

[Iori_Yagami]

If it makes anyone happy, I cannot write at all. Long posts are too hard, and writing a lot is what I hate. Scribbling-dribbling, I hate it so much. So no fan fiction from me.

[ameretrifle]

If it makes anyone happy, I cannot write at all. Long posts are too hard, and writing a lot is what I hate. Scribbling-dribbling, I hate it so much. So no fan fiction from me.

I have exactly the opposite problem. I have trouble making short posts because I feel I'm not contributing.

For instance, watch me try to end this post at that. X_X

[Joeldi]

I have never been tempted to read a single normal fan-fiction. I do get weird urges to write my own loose end ties, but I can't write for shit, so that doesn't happen.

--The situation changes when I hear the author actually worked on the show. Just recently I've started reading an Avatar comic written and drawn by a storyboard artist on the show. TV tropes directed me there- how could I refuse. It's posted on dA and very messily on her? LiveJournal if anyone's looking for it.

[JayDee]

On one hand, every literary bone in my body cries out against this, but on the other, Neil Gaiman wrote the best fanfic ever with A Study in Emerald. Maybe that's my reason. After that, it's game over.

While I haven't read that (and I should) I've been meaning to post in this thread, because I keep hearing that Lovecraft fan-fic is often regarded as being better than what the man himself wrote.

[Gazing Rabbit]

Here's the best non-pornographic fanfic I've ever read. The only one too. Basically, it says: let's take Neon Genesis Evangelion, and introduce it to Warhammer 40k. The result is an excessive amount of awesome. Warning: it's very, very, VERY long, and not yet concluded. Oh, and you might want to be familiar with WH 40k fluff to get the jokes. Shinji and Warhammer 40k

Mr. Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation said that any fanfiction (and webcomics) is shit unless proven otherwise. I agree with him.

[steewi]

This is a link to Babylon 5: A Dark Distorted Mirror.

From the Reviews on the front page:
"Technically fan-fiction, but very, very, VERY good fan fiction." - Glenn
"This is supposed to be the best alternate history of Babylon 5!" - Alone in the Night
"epic and amazing" - Marysia
"Very damn impressive." - Elizabeth Gendler
"really cool" - JumpNow
"All in all: You HAVE to read it. It is absolutely outstanding." - Hesperos

The Battle of the Line failed. This is what followed.