Article written by Ashleigh Lowry.
We love books, characters and their relationships, but sometimes we feel as if writers didn’t give us enough of what we wanted. Fan fiction gives us the opportunity to tell more about the thing we love in the way we want.
For those who have never heard the term before. Fan Fiction or fanfic is “fiction written by fans of a TV series, movie, etc., using existing characters and situations to develop new plots.” (dictonary.com) but that is only the dictionary definition, which is great, but it doesn’t tell us why?
Why do people like writing and reading fan fiction at all?
Well there are many so many different reasons why people write and read fan fiction. At its core, through every alternative universe, original character, or self-insertion we do, fan fiction is a love letter to our favourite stuff. We love to tell and read stories about our favourite characters in new ways or expand on moments we think should have been given more time. We shine a light on the relationships we wanted to happen but never did or we just enjoy having the chance to insert our own made up characters or ourselves into the story. No matter why or how we write it or when and where we read it, the primary reason is because we love the source material and want to showcase your own unique form of thanks and gratitude towards it. We get to create and interact with the world outside the genre of media we love through the eyes of other fans and find likeminded people who view the show in a similar way to us.
Sometimes for people fan fiction writing is a creative dump of ideas. They use something that they love and change it to get rid of any ideas that they have clogging up the creative works. These fanfics could be anything from covering plot holes, questions that were raised from a series ending to just a slowly growing list of ‘What If’ questions. These are always a fun read because you are watching writers literally just pour an idea onto paper and see if anything sticks long enough to make a coherent story. Sometimes it’s just one or two long(ish) chapter of a tight and brilliant idea, other times it a few dozen “What would happen if the character made out in this scene early in the series?” chapters. There is a wonderful sense of interest in these quick flashes of inspiration that make for an entraining read and refreshing write, enjoying fan fiction as a celebration of a form of interpretive creativity and expression.
For some, fan fiction is a way to make the impossible possible, give opportunities that would not even have had a chance in the original content and inspirations for these types of fanfic. Groups of fans that feel that certain characters should have had a romantic relationship or cross two genres that would have never been possible EVER.
Writers and readers alike get to experience the crossing of two of their favourites worlds. Watching as the colourful mixed bag of characters they now have form relationships, friendships and rivalries that would have never been allowed to happen in the original content. They are allowing for both animated & live action, novel & movie to cross and become a mixture both of the world’s the fan loves. These sometimes completely chaotic fan fictions are just a great way for answer the questions that we just randomly think about from day to day such as, “What happens if Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice were living in the zombie apocalypse?” (Wait that’s already a book… You definitely should read that book. It sounds awesome!)
Sometimes the things we fall in love with finish before we time to really save them. So we create fan fiction as a way to continue the legacy or in some cases create one to continue. The continuation of ended stories, the changing of endings to provide happier (or sadder) ones and just providing fans with the ability to control or decide the narrative of the world they love in a way they can enjoy. It gives others a way to continue adding new content into their everyday lives about the things they love. We use fan fiction as a way of starting conversations, bringing up our own ideas or just having something fun to share for a bus or train trip home. We can use fan fiction to debating how we think a relationship would pan out or how a huge plot issue would be resolved using fan fiction we’ve read or written as evidence. Because no matter how much content the original sources gives us, we always love to create more.
For a few they read and write fan fiction to watch their favourite relationship finally gives into temptation and sleep together… that’s it… nothing more… no complex stories or struggles with responsibility, just two people, standing in front of each other, wanting to get it on.
For some fan fiction writers and readers, these stories that they create and read are a way to escape. They insert themselves into the worlds they love, build relationships with beloved characters, fight evil and maybe save the day. Fiction gives them a space where they can feel safe and a world where they feel wanted. They find comfort in knowing that people like the same things as them and enjoy interacting in a way that lets them be themselves and enjoy things they love without the fear of prosecution.
The fan fiction dives deep into these worlds that others have created to find our own connections and understandings to provide to the world. They form special connections to characters and write these love stories as a way to profess that love to the world. They enjoy watching the happiness of characters and find the strength in the knowledge that others like themselves enjoy the same things they enjoy. Because as we read and write we want to be a part of the worlds and to connect to the characters and fan fiction gives us the opportunity to just that.
There are negatives to fanfiction as there is to all forms of writing but many of them are closely related to the communities and people within them. People can be mean, they can tear down the fan fiction they don’t like and booster the ones they do. There are some in the phantom ‘mainstream’ society who still do not understand why people write or read fan fiction and look down on those how do. There are some who deliberately try and cause controversy through their actions or words. But for many we rise above because them not understanding doesn’t phase what we like or don’t like because it’s our body and our minds. This mocking is a dark part of fan fiction but many people continue to write despite it; because we love what we love and we are expressing it in the best way we know how.
Now to answer the question at the start of this article:
People write and read fanfiction for many different reasons but the primary one is they fell in love with something and wanted to express it.
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