As I'm sure, we've all probably came across fanfics at some point in our lives. What do you think of them?

For me, if the author is genuinely competent, I feel you can learn a lot from them. And if done properly, they can be a nice continuation or deviation from the original source material. It is obvious when the fanfic author isn't the original author in most cases but since my interest in these cases are characters, I don't nearly mind as much.

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I was cured all right.

Frostie, how is it that two people can have so many similar interests!

I've had an account on Fanfiction.net since 2005 and have enjoyed reading everything from LotR, to Harry Potter, to PotC, or more recently, The Hunger Games. I've also authored several stories on that sight as well, although I can't say they're worth very much. FF.net is difficult. You can find virtually any kind of fan fiction you want, but you have to know how to search for it. It takes quite a lot of effort to really dig in there and find quality stories.

For me, I use the TVTropes: Fanfics Recs. They usually have good ones there.

I'm...really selective when it comes to fanfics. Some material I deem sacred like Six Feet Under or Lord of the Rings that I'll never read fanfictions of simply because, well, you can't improve on those. At all. Sometimes I make exceptions like Firefly and sometimes...I can't even find fanfics for the material. Like Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and let's be fair, no one will ever be able to match Suskind.

How do you feel about pairings? Some of them amuse me, some of them I support and enjoy reading those even if it derails every other character, and some...well I just ignore those. ^.^

One thing that really frustrates me about fanfics is they don't get updated. For months. Kinda annoying.

Here are some of my favourites.

Code Geass
Dauntless (T)
Code Geass: Megiddo (T)

Battle Royale
72 Hours (M)

Firefly
Forward (T)

Those are the ones that I...don't feel ashamed of telling people to read.

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I was cured all right.

I know what you mean about waiting for updates. Unfortunately, as a fanfic author, I'm guilty of making my audience wait for months before I update. Generally I'll make lots of updates during the summer and the beginning of the autumn term, but then school eats my life and my readers are left hanging till May. It's an unfortunate trade off.

As for pairings, I'm quite selective. I generally go for the canon pairings, however I have been known to deviate. Norribeth is my growing favourite for PotC, and I've even looked at Harry/Hermione or Grima/Eowyn. [I know, the last one is a little odd.]

For some reason I can't access FF.net, but as soon as I can I'll go through the hundreds of favourites I've amassed and pick out some good ones.

It honestly does depend on the pairing because a lot of times, I simply want either the guy or the girl for myself. One that I find myself enjoying is Lelouch/C.C. from Code Geass. Honestly with pairings as long as it doesn't get in the way with canon or the story or the prose, I don't mind.

Is it strange that an OC from a source becomes your favourite character? In 72 Hours, I was quite fond of Marie, the cold anti-social ballerina who gleefully kills more than a handful of students by sniping them from afar. I was rather sad when she died and she probably had one of the more...painful deaths in the fanfic. Yes, I have issues.

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I was cured all right.

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Hanasian
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor
~ ~ ~
Durian: Dúnedain Ranger of the North: Rhudaurian Lineage
- - - -
Roleplay Repository

Fanfiction is such a guilty pleasure for me! So much of it is so shockingly awful, but if it hits on something that amuses or interests me in a certain fandom I'll probably still read it anyway. I'm not a huge fan of PWP's though or the really weird kinks as I prefer storyline to how 'Hot' the fic is too. And everyone agrees Mary Sue Fic is just plain terrible!!

Possibly my favourite fanfic EVER is Bagenders it's stupid, it's funny, it's basically an AU with LotR character but it's near enough the only Fanfic I've re-read frequently since I first found and read it!!!

I have no shame

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Stupid question here... what's a PWP?

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Hanasian
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor
~ ~ ~
Durian: Dúnedain Ranger of the North: Rhudaurian Lineage
- - - -
Roleplay Repository

It means "Plot? What Plot?" which usually means that according to Urban Dictionary :

Refers to a fanfic in which nothing of import occurs except sexual activity between the characters.


I generally avoid them as I'm interested in stories/ situations with characters , not sexy times

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Ah..... gotcha. You got to have a good plot, and if a bit of sex happens as an aside, there isn't anything wrong with that. But if its just sex between the major characters of the fan-tale, that is no good.

I have been guilty of writing up some of that though... involving a 'love-quad' of Aragorn, Eowyn, Arwen, & Faramir. It was crap.

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Hanasian
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor
~ ~ ~
Durian: Dúnedain Ranger of the North: Rhudaurian Lineage
- - - -
Roleplay Repository

To be honest, I *hate* sex fanfictions. Even if it less sex than in PWP, I can't stand reading it. I don't know why, I am not close-minded, I just don't like reading about it, I love action, adventure, twist, not even love; sex is too much for me.

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I know what you mean. Except when the author is 12 or something and clearly has no idea how male or female or both anatomies work. Then it's just hilarious!!

Or even better, they use the most absurd euphemisms to describe sex organs. I remember reading one story that went along the lines of "He then sticks his thingie into my you-know-what". It's less arousing than it's more hilarious.

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I was cured all right.

The fanfiction I am stumbling upon mostly is written by children. And all have sex in it. For example Snape raping student in toilet. I mean, what the heck? Do they actually KNOW what rape means? Is Snape capable to do so? This is more annoying for me than amusing

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I'm trying to imagine that...but it isn't..coming to me.

I think writers should have a basic understanding of sexual behaviours before they can be published.

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I was cured all right.

Interesting turn this thread has taken. While I think PWP has its place in some fanfiction circles [mainly places like adultfanfiction.net or other fandom specific sites], I despise seeing it on sites like fanfiction.net. Honestly, I understand why they have the M rating, but it shouldn't be used as an excuse to write PWP. That sort of thing should be elsewhere, especially considering there are a lot of a younger users on fanfiction.net. I just don't think it should be so easy to search for that sort of thing.

I'm much the same as Hanasían when it comes to fanfiction - I really enjoy those "between-the-lines" moments that we never get to see. I've been reading a lot of Hunger Games fanfiction lately, and it's been wonderful reading a more fleshed out ending to the last book.

_________________
Hanasian
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor
~ ~ ~
Durian: Dúnedain Ranger of the North: Rhudaurian Lineage
- - - -
Roleplay Repository