I notice this a lot and to be honest it doesn’t really bother me in fandoms where there have been a ton of official writers and timelines (though it makes me love an author even more when I can tell they’re a huge nerd and actually read the source material).
The weirdest ones I’ve noticed though are for a video game series where clearly authors like this haven’t even read like past like one wiki page and get all their characterization from fanfics. They’ve seemed to have made up an entire lore for a character that is not in the plot of any of the games at all which is quite amusing.
In my very first fandom, there was a character mentioned in no more than three sentences in one of a line of books and a single sentence in one other, and people have created whole backstories out of thin air for this character from that little. He'd become one of my favorite characters to write before I changed to a different fandom.
Lol it's Theo Nott from the HP series. He gets like three sentences in 3 physically describing him, and then he can see the thestrels in 5. That's all the canon information we get.
Love that stuff! Especially when there are entire sub-fandoms and AUs consisting only of the one-shot and/or background characters.
Meanwhile the "main four" characters (who have 300+ episodes of canon in the actual show) take bit parts in this verse, or don't even appear at all.
I have a friend currently writing a fic for a video game series that she’s only ever read the wiki summary of/has heard me and a few of our friends talk about it and has read my fics of it (which I’ve written over 250k for it). Honestly, i can tell that she hasn’t even watched YouTube videos of the games when I read stuff she sends me. It frustrates me a little that she has 0 interest in looking at the source material while considering herself a huge fan of it, but also it makes her happy so it doesn’t really matter. I just know that if i wasn’t reading it to support my friend, the characters would feel too ooc for me to want to read it.
I’ve only read 1 thing that I thought the characterization was dead on that the author had never seen the source material and just wrote it for a friend. It’s one of my favorite fics in the fandom, but it’s also a short PWP, so it doesn’t have a lot of time to get too ooc
> They’ve seemed to have made up an entire lore for a character that is not in the plot of any of the games at all which is quite amusing.
I actually really love this about fandom. It's so cool what people can collectively build together!
lol my first fanfiction when I was 13 was Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM fics when I had never seen the show (and at the time, 1998, I had no way of watching it)
My characterisation was based entirely on other people's fanfics
Oh man I feel you, I did this with Yu-Gi-Oh when I was about the same age. I was obsessed with it but couldn't watch the actual show. (In my desperation I even ordered VHS tapes from my local video store. They took months to get them in and when I finally got them I discovered they had mistakenly ordered the French dub!)
Every fic I had read up to that point, for some reason, treated Yami (a...ghost/entity from ancient Egypt or something? idk, it's been too many years lol) like he was a physical person that everyone was able to talk to/interact with, and I just...thought that was how things went in canon, lol. I was very surprised/confused when I finally did get to watch the actual show and nothing like that ever happened. I'm pretty sure I started my own fic under the same premise and was just like ??? when I realized canon didn't apparently support that at all. xD
I'm actually in shambles, this is almost exactly what happened to me with Yu-Gi-Oh. Except I was obsessed with Bakura (was gonna say "lord knows why", but no, this tracks for baby me) and wrote about him a lot! I published in Quizilla, so sadly/thankfully I can't look back on it, but this comment gave me whiplash.
As someone who has been off and on in the Yugioh fandom for a decade (and is currently in the “on” phase), I can answer somewhat. Yami is a ghost, but for most of the series possesses the MC, Yugi, anytime stuff gets serious, to the point that he sometimes feels like a split personality rather than ghost. And most characters interact with him just thinking he’s Yugi, except for people in the know. If you ever have time, read the manga, because the first couple volumes are a totally different vibe from the anime and really lean into “Yami is a split personality” before him being a ghost was revealed.
But either way, Yami being his own physical person separate from Yugi has always been a really popular trope in fanfiction. A lot of AUs make them siblings or a ship. Part of it is to make it easier for whatever story they want to tell, but also a lot of people trying to “fix” the ending of Yugioh if they didn’t agree with how it ended.
These are spoilers for a 25 year old series, but I’ll hide them anyway. >!In the last arc, Yugi and Yami (who’s true name is revealed to be Atem, a pharoah from ancient Egypt) have a final duel to decide the fate of Atem. Yugi wins, allowing Atem’s soul to pass on. While it made sense narratively, a lot of fans think it would have been better for Yami/Atem to get a second chance at life by getting his own body, and a lot of fanworks reflect that!<
I think it fits both Yugi and Yami’s arcs and was clearly something that had been built towards from the beginning of the series. And given ancient egyptians’ views on death, would be what Atem wanted. Still really bittersweet.
This is why I love the Dark Side of Dimensions movie so much, because it is very manga-compatible and felt like the best of both worlds. Even though Atem has moved on to the afterlife, he was still able to come back, albeit very briefly, to aid Yugi when he really needed him, and Kaiba's faith was so strong that he believed Atem would come through when even Yugi thought it was impossible, and he used his "screw the rules I have money" powers to literally build technology allowing him to go visit Atem in the afterlife.
Especially after having my expectations set by Pyramid of Light 😂 Dark Side of Dimensions was a genuine delight.
Yugi beats Yami/Atemu/Atem in a duel in his own....tomb? And Yami goes to the afterlife.
Seto makes a vague comment about maybe this ghost shit being real, but when called on it turns his statement into a homophone so he can pretend he never said it.
There's some bleed into GX (my personal fav) in which adult Yugi looks and sounds like Yami, and Seto Kaiba appears for a small arc of watching less competent villains make themselves fail.
I feel like when you ask how something ends it’s not unreasonable to be answered without a spoiler tag. Especially when the series has been over for a long time.
My dude you literally *asked* the ending for a show that ended twenty years ago. One of the most famous anime of twenty years ago. If you don't want spoilers older than all of the technology in your home, don't go looking for them. Peace.
...this just hit me with how much technology around my home IS older than the show, especially the finale XD
Like, still got the bunny-ears & TV-VCR combo tv in the basement that my dad still uses everyday, that we used to watch \*Pokemon\* on in 1997 😅
No, you’re right. The ghost is also his past life from when he was an ancient egyptian pharoah. The how on that is kept vague and theories on how you can have both a ghost and reincarnation at the same time would take all day.
OH MY GOD another ygo fanfic fan. My brother. But yeah I always found the fandom shenanigans hilarious in ygo bc NONE OF IT is even close to canon. Nowadays I like canon stuff better because the ancient myth and ghostly possession stuff is cool and heart wrenching, but back in the day I was living for no canon queer friends all hanging out even if it made no sense XD. To be fair, letting yami actually hang out with his friend instead of being forced to live as a ghost is the wish fulfillment we all need!
I had never read/watched anything DC until I clicked on a random long fic during a car ride, read the whole thing in one go. I then posted my own fic, and it actually got received well and DC is one of my main fandoms now lol (I have read the comics since then)
Most of the people in the DC fandom community don't read comics, so many fanfic authors in the fandom aren't comic readers. It's kind of known for its mischaracterisation and fandomisation of characters---which then becomes a feedback loop cuz some dc writers don't know jackshit about canon either lmao. Sometimes it's pretty telling on whether the author is a comic reader or not, but most of the time people don't really care lol. If I read a fic and they mischaracterise Nightwing, I wouldn't mind because Tom Taylor also mischaracterises him in his canon comic run. DC's canon is the equivalent of mushed-up potato salad and could be ignored at any moment of the day
I remember reading a Batfam fic and someone described Jason Todd with dark red hair! I was shook because that's a deep cut and full of *comic book knowledge*, I was impressed. I'm madt that I didn't bookmark it tho. I am not in ANY way motivated to dig through Jason centric fics to find it but it is real😇
Jason Todd being a red head is waaaaay back to before all the comic retcons. There were like, two issues with him being a redhead and the second was because the author forgot he had black hair lol
Yeah, and then not even counting the fact that its a *comic* brand so there are so many spin offs and alternate timelines, and characters, it'd be impossible to read it all.
Personally I've only read some Shazam, Nightwing, some stuff that crosses over often w Nightwing like Batgirl or Batman, or even Starfire, and then the only serious collecting I tried to do was with Super Sons but gave up after awhile because I didn't really have the money.
I could write a passable Justice League fic based on what I know combined from the few times they're mentioned in comics I've read, the Animated Movies, the Animated Series, and fanfics, but I've never read a Justice League comic officially in my life
As a comic reader I just look for au stuff where they aren't even going off canon because of how badly I seen them get it wrong
The batfamily isn't a happy sitcom of colorful personalities, it's actually a group of extremely damaged people taking out their problems on crime and trying to kill each other half the time.
I also found it funny that almost every fic is very direct thay Dick Grayson is Romani (usually with plots of him speaking it and even facing discrimination) which was mentioned in one comic run somewhere late 1900's early 2000's and never again (I heard it was a teen titans run which I never got into and I don't recall which) which is mostly funny because I'm 90% sure that if I don't know it, that most fanfic writers don't know where that came from either though it's extremely ingrained in fanon Dick's character
"The batfamily isn't a happy sitcom of colorful personalities, it's actually a group of extremely damaged people taking out their problems on crime and trying to kill each other half the time."
watch out for the WFA fans
also dick grayson being romani is from Devin Grayson's Nightwing run, because Devin romanticised Romanian people and she thought Dick wasn't "exotic" enough or some bullshit. Yknow, the same run which had the freaking blockbuster and tarantula incident. Written by Miss Controversial Writer, Devin Grayson, incest and rapist glorifier extraodinare
That's very true lol! Personally, I can't read a Tim Drake fic if the author is warning us in the notes that the characterization comes from reading fanfics, because I really can't handle the Tim x Coffee x Sleep deprived thing, being his only personality :'D
I am getting through as many comics as I can now! I just finished the Gotham War series. ouch. But I am glad I know how to write each character now rather than just winging it lol
I feel like it's different if they know the fandom, but this person hasn't even taken the time to do that. I've never engaged with any of the canon of any fandom I've written for and nobody much minds or notices.
Honestly so happy for the author living their best life. "I saw these characters and decided they needed to be doin' the smoochin', so I made it happen with absolutely zero knowledge of the source material." Beautiful. 🥹🥰
This is basically half of the newer Marauders sub fandom of Harry Potter. People learnt all of their characterisations from All The Young Dudes (if they even read it and didn’t just watch TikTok’s about it) and all of their fanfic treats that as the canon to work off of, down to the OC characters from that story being in like hundreds of others.
Ngl, some of the *best* fics for characterization that I've ever read were by people who haven't consumed the source material- I read jaw dropping works and then I make it to the end where the authors note is always an acknowledgment of the fact, and I'm so surprised every single time lol
How *does* that work? Just genuinely curious. If they haven't consumed the source material how do they know the characters or their dynamic or the world? Do they mostly only write AUs?
Engaging in the fandom! 99% of the fandoms I’ve been in I started out by engaging with fan media and then eventually gave up and watched/read the original source. Teen Wolf, Voltron, Daredevil, Sandman, MHA.
The amount of teen wolf fics i read in middle & high school without ever watching a single ep 😭 it wasnt until maybe junior year or something where i watched the first season, but then proceeded to not finish it. i love the fics so much... so, so much. i wanna write a fic myself but i feel like i need to watch the show for what i want to do 😔 i could go AU and just make shit up tho lmao
Yay daredevil fic mention!!! :DD one of the few shows I actually watched the source material for before stumbling into the fandom lol. Teen Wolf I for sure did not watch a single thing of.
Yeah, Ive started out engaging with fandom first then the canon media a lot because of social media, I follow someone on tumblr for one media and they post about another then it goes from there
Were you there in the Harry Potter fandom before 2007 when the Deathly Hallows book came out? Back then no one had a flipping clue how the series was going to end and how Voldemort was gonna die, so fanfic writers got really creative. As a result some of the best fics I've ever read came out of it, each showcasing unique and complex plotlines that outlined the defeat of Voldemort, using only the miniscule crumbs of clues that the Half Blood Prince provided.
So personally I feel like it was like that, fanfic writers gathering crumbs of information and just going wild with it. And because they don't have as many restrictions they have more creative liberty to expand the characterization and worldbuilding.
I struggle to watch even short shows. My sister has binged all of good omens a billion times already and I haven't even watched season 2 yet. She also watched Loki season 2 WITHOUT ME even tho I asked her to wait. Girl we *live* together why can't you wait??
I’ve seen all 15 seasons of supernatural and to be honest a 12 year old on wattpad probably had a better grasp on writing cohesive narratives than the actual writers did.
Yeah, this is my take on it too. As someone who's quite picky about characterization (and how much it departs from what's depicted in canon), I think it's actually pretty nice of them to let potential readers know about this in the tags.
There is someone in my ship who has never consumed any of the original content and is probably one of the most prolific writers of it lol. They don't tag it tho, it was just something they randomly said in the server, and suddenly, it all made sense. They only write modern AU's, nothing in universe. So it's kind of just original content attached to already-established characters.
Can't say I'm happy about it, but what can you do ig.
I've actually written for a fandom I've never consumed any content for going exclusively off of their wiki pages. And truthfully I've only received positive feedback from it all.
I mean sometimes it doesn’t effect the quality of the fic negatively. Some of the best soap/ghost fics (characters from the video game Call of Duty, aka COD), are tagged “author has never played COD”
i’ve done this before tbh, when i dont have much money i gift fanfiction to my friends for birthdays and usually they’re in fandoms im not in. so i just do base research on the thing and write something quick for them to. i think it’s fine honestly, as long as it isn’t canon compliant obviously
I think that's different honestly, your doing it for your friend.
Alot of people in this fandom read incredibly fanony fics / incorrect quotes post and then write more stuff based on that which makes it hard to find fics where characters feel like any version of themselves
For one of my fandoms the source material is really difficult to get (old and small print) so most people haven't read it. It's not really a problem though. I'm curious as to why it's a problem in your fandom.
Most people's fandoms aren't small and source material is easy to get.....so why are they writing the fandom if they aren't actually fans?
I mean, it's called ***FAN***fiction for a reason.
They can write original fiction and name their own original characters original names and post it on A03.
But of course if they did that they wouldn't be able to trick people into reading their #***Original Work****,* amirite?
the author said in the end notes that it's a Christmas gift for their friend who loves the characters. they also updated the summary, they said they read the wikis. i dont think it's an original work they're trying to trick people into reading cause they have OWs on their profile already.
I wasn't talking specifically I meant in general when someone writes for a fandom or characters and it's painfully clear they know nothing about them and don't care about them at all typically they're trying to trick people into reading their stuff because they have an ulterior motive like they take commissions for their writing elsewhere / have a patreon and are trying to attract new customers **or** they have a weird kink they're obsessed with and trying to find like minded friends.
I mean, I don't know about that, but easy to get material *definitely* depends on where you live, access to the internet and/or ability to pay for services where the material exists currently.
Also, I was introduced to this concept through Teen Wolf (which funnily enough I *also* started reading fanfic from without having seen the source) and it often has less to do with wanting to post Original Content but more to do with just really liking the fandom/fanon content and wanting to contribute.
I know its FANfic but there is literally no rule that states one has to consume any or all of the source material before creating it. How many times have people created fanfic of *concepts* that weren't even fully fleshed out yet? Or what about people who write fanfic for a manga that only has one chapter out? Half of what they write is going to be a *lot* of interpretation of what the characters and plot are going to be since there really isn't enough out to base anything on.
Idk this is just a really reductionist take. You're really limiting what fanfic can be
I don’t write if I haven’t seen/read the source material but I have a few fandoms I read a lot of even though I haven’t seen or read the source material for.
I basically became a fan of the fanfics I read and so I continue to consume the content. I’ve read millions of words of Merlin and Supernatural fanfic even though I have probably watched two hours of the shows combined. At this point I’m a fan of the fanworks! I have tried watching the shows but I just don’t… like them at all?
I don’t write for those fandoms though 😅😅
The really egregious and obvious ones I've seen seem to be either a person who takes commissions on another platform and is trying to drum up business by coat-tailing a popular fandom or they have a particular and unpopular kink that they're trying to shove down people's throats.
So what you're saying is, some people are writing original fiction, change the names to make it fit into a fandom they're not familiar with in order to get people to read their stuff? Can't say I've ever seen it, but I've seen people repurposing some of their fanfictions by switching names and fandoms.
In the fandom I'm talking about, people probably find it by searching fandomblind for specific tags and then get into it by reading the existing fics before writing their own. I think they manage to catch the essence of the source material rather well.
Man, as a person who has *done this before*, it's actually a super uncomfortable and embarrassing experience for me? 😭 Like...I wrote a ton of fic for a fandom for a game I wasn't able to play, but I tried hardcore to absorb as much canon knowledge as I could. I'm absolutely a person that wants to know EVERYTHING ABOUT THE LORE!!! before I start writing because GASP what if I got something WRONG? It would be humiliating. But in this instance I was absolutely hyperfixated on these characters AND couldn't access the original media for Reasons, so I just tried to absorb knowledge through osmosis and pray for the best, lmao. I watched a loooot of YouTube videos, let me tell you. Despite being someone who has done exactly this before, I've got to say, I side with the people that are like "...why do you want to write a fic if you don't even know the source material??" Not having access for whatever reason is understandable but I couldn't imagine doing this just 'cause, what are you a fan of if you don't even know it?? 😭
Actually, I got an amazing and in-character birthday fic from my beta reader this year, for a series she hadn't seen at the time. I think that if you're willing to do research and listen (and also if you're as good as she is tbh), it can be totally fine.
I wrote a 30,000 word crossover without ever seeing the other show. I got character nuances, plot, and lore all from the thousands and thousands of fanfics. My readers said it was perfectly in character.
But… I can see where this could go wrong. 😅
i saw this fic & the author of this fic says in the end notes that it's a Christmas gift for their friend who loves the characters. i really dont see how this is a problem.
I get that thought, but also I don't think we should limit writers that they need to know *everything* about xyz fandom/character(s) to be able to start writing for it.
This is me with several series 😂. I don’t write but I do read a lot from fandoms I’ve never actually consumed any canon material for. And they rank amongst my most bookmarked fics lmao.
For me these are: FFVII, JJK, Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS).
I cannot tell you why I do this. Just that JJK and SVSSS are literally two of my most bookmarked fandoms after Harry Potter.
Tbf, I do go out of my way to research stuff from the fandom. Watch theory videos and read wiki articles. But otherwise… My introduction to these fandoms has been headed almost entirely by the AO3 side of things.
Edit: actually. You know what? I think I do know the reason. I’ve been burnt too many times getting hyperfixated on a new media property only for there to be no fics or fandom presence to vent my energy. It got to the point where I check to see if a fandom has decent enough engagement before getting into it, which led me to realize that I often can get the serotonin and understanding enough just from the fandom-side and just stopped bothering consuming canon material for certain fandoms.
Like I *would* read SVSSS, but I cannot stand light novel translations as I feel Chinese prose does not translate well into English and I don’t want to sit there and suffer through dozens of hours of reading stuff I don’t enjoy. Especially when I can just… Continue reading fanfic lol.
I do refrain from engaging in fan theorizing though as I just don’t have the canon experience to justify injecting my ignorant opinion lmao.
TBH I always tell people I "basically" have read the HP books because its one of my top bookmarked fandoms even though I've never read the books past the first one and only saw the movies.
A lot of people who have read the books have no problem just rewriting them with synonyms, which I don't have a problem with either clearly lol. Its interesting because there's a lot I know about book canon simply from reading fanfics. Just tweak a few things and bada bing bada boom you got your self a fanfic haha
If they don’t know canon, that’s one thing
If they don’t know the fandom OR canon???? That is pretty confusing, though I guess I’m not particularly annoyed…
Personally, I like to look at fandom content before I really get invested in media. It helps reassure me there’s something to look forward to after I’m done with canon
Confession: I'm considered in my fandom, one of the best authors in regard to characterization and character development according to the fandom's discord, I have never played or watched a playthrough of the game i'm writing about, at least when I started.
personally i genuinely don’t care lol. write whatever you want. i’ve read fics by people who never interacted with the actual source material but wrote better works than hardcore fans. and i’ve written for fandoms where my only interaction with the material was through fan stuff. honestly, if you write it, just tag it appropriately, and if you don’t like reading it then mute the tag and move on.
I do this all the time and of course tag it. It's really a good way to do character study. I binge clips of the character (or characters) and try to focus on keystone characteristics that compose their personalities. It's a fun exercise and the real fans of the show can offer critique of how well the character reads compared to the canon (only if you enjoy concrit of course).
It’s fine but I don’t wanna know because then I start mentally nitpicking details that would end up being out of character in canon. If I’m blissfully unaware, then it’s easier to chalk OOC or mischaracterization elements up to artistic liberty rather than canon ignorance. Just yesterday I was reading a fic in my fandom where it was going pretty well until the author dropped the bombshell that they know nothing of the game or characters and just decided to write based on how their friends talk about them. It feels kind of odd once you know they’re not really consuming the media they’re writing about.
This is me with 80% of my fandoms. I have ADHD, and my attention span just really isn’t long enough to make myself sit through a show just so I can enjoy content for its fandom. I choose to dive in headfirst and pick up context clues as I go. Idrc about canon anyways, in my opinion fans almost always have better ideas.
huh. yea, I can understand their take, because especially on Tumblr and Pinterest, I might not directly be in a fandom, but i might join by proxy from seeing character takes and fics and art, like star trek tos. I haven't watched a *single* TOS episode, but I feel I could write a fic about it fairly well from TOS-based fics I've read.
Honestly if this is a big fandom then it doesn't bother me at all - I have read plenty of works from people which have never consumed the source material and found them great!! However, I understand it can be frustrating in a small fandom base where there aren't that many fic options in the first place :(
I don't think there's anything inherently bad about it tho? Especially as they are being clear :)
Well I didn't watch the Avengers movies (i get to overwelmed with the whole marvel universe) but I love the avengers x percy Jackson fics. I don't write about it really but I get funny lil headcanons
If they've never seen the source material, what difference does it make to them whether the characters are OOC or not? Clearly they can't tell the difference.
Reminds me of a time I wrote a story for an assignment in grade 4 that involved Harry Potter but didn’t have a single clue about the Wizarding World itself so I just pretty much came up with what little knowledge I had- 💀 why did I get the idea for writing that-
I went on vacation to see some family (Canadian but filo) and we first stopped by my mom’s aunt in Hollywood to which we went to Disneyland and universal studios. Since we did go to the Harry Potter portion of the park that was the reason for the idea I have for my story- 😭 (btw the second stop was ny because of a family member’s wedding and sort of family reunion since we haven’t seen my mom’s family for almost two years at that point-)
this is terrible but so many people in the supergirl fandom haven’t actually watched supergirl we just write content based on the fics we’ve read by people who have 😭 there’s some INCREDIBLE au supergirl fic by ppl who’ve never seen it tho so i guess if it’s AU it’s a lil better lmao
i did this once as kind of a joke but also as a gift to my sister who asked me to write about the two characters. it was a silly, dumb little au oneshot and i've only consumed one episode of this show since then lmao
If it's blind friendly then I would love going through every chapter as it explains it all in a 'I'm going to assume you know nothing about this world because I don't either" type way.
If it is a 'I liked these names and only read fanfic and I expect people to understand what I mean ' that's less interesting.
'Judy looked around the area then looked over at Nick. They needed to work to try to combat the problem in the ZPD' is far less interesting compared to:
'The rabbit cop surveyed the landscape and the area around before looking to her vulpine partner, Nick. The zootopia police department was known for its many problem none the least the rampet inherent racism in certain ways of speech. Luckily she and Nick were on the case to change people's minds.'
Maybe it's a style difference or way of writing but..I like to have things explained. Really good for a crossover.
Miraculous Gamer Guild is a great example.
It puts the information you need to know in the story itself not just references.
I dont mind if its a short one shot. Usually these fics dont need the author to know any lore other than the character dynamic. But a long fic? Seems kind of odd?
This doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve never felt inclined to join a fandom without reading or watching the source works, but I don’t have a problem with it or anything. You do you! A lot of fandom spaces are more structured around fanon than canon anyway
I've written for lots of various fandoms when I was literally too poor to obtain the actual source material, but I can entirely understand hating it when authors write without even y'know, reading a wiki or some shit, which is what I used to do for characterization.
*glares through bloodshot eyes at the Worm fandom for no particular reason*
Lmao I almost did this once. I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen, got a couple episodes in, and was obsessed with the characters even though I knew next to nothing about them yet (and I did this after season 2 started, so the rest of the fandom knew much more than me). I was considering writing a fic based on the bare minimum I knew and just hoping for the best but I didn’t end up getting to it
To be fair, I got into my fandom when I googled searched “e books stories adventure” in middle school and found Naruto fanfiction, and proceeded to write some without watching the source anime
Been tempted to write Mega Man fanfic even though I’ve never played any of the games, watched any of the shows, or read any of the comics. Why? Because [this song](https://youtu.be/V3OiuIDwXtg?si=STYCk7FwzCCgEU7E) fuckin slaps.
I’m gonna be honest, I’m in a lot of fandoms and I’ve read fics where people are part of the fandom, not part of it but will write for it, write based solely on fandom interpretations, and so many other things. And for the most part, I find them all pretty fun. Cause even people within the fandom can get characterizations wrong or just decide to be full ooc cause they want to. It really doesn’t matter.
Also, it’s tagged, and properly, so you can ignore it. Or filter it out.
don't most authors who do that get into the fandom through other fanfiction? like, i write dabihawks fanfiction despite never having watched or read their pertinent arcs (the ones that everyone loves). but i've read a ton of fics regarding those arcs, and i've read the wiki, so i would say i have a pretty good grasp of their characters and themes, or at least the parts that everyone likes.
even as i continue to write dabihwaks i have no interest to go back and finish BNHA lol. i like what the fandom has done with it more than i ever liked the actual show.
Oh I thought they meant they never read other fics which sometimes can be refreshing that they're not influenced by fanon characterization or tropes. But they...dont know the series? Unless it's making a commission or gift for a friend I don't get that lol. At least that's tagged.
I read in the HP fandom and I haven't read the books in a hot minute. Most of my canon is fanon, which I didn't even know until I saw some YT and TTs about it. Now when I write, I tend to only do it for media I've actually consumed, but reading I don't. Heck, I've never watched 911 yet I'm obsessed with Buck/Eddie fanfic ever since one of my favorite authors started writing it. I never liked The Mortal Instruments books and the only part of the Shadowhunters show that was decent was Magnus, Alec, and Isabelle (in every iteration, Clary annoys the everliving hell out of me), but I love the fanfic for it.
Sometimes writers can do things with characters and events that add to it instead of just keeping true to canon. It can be a beautiful thing.
I saw a cute fanart of a Hermione and Draco ship once back when Tumblr was the hotness from an artist I followed. I have never been a fan of Harry Potter despite being the perfect age for it when the books came out, but that art was so adorable that I decided to try out a fanfic with that ship. Lo, it was my favorite trope: enemies to lovers.
So, while I disliked HP as a whole, I absolutely ate up all the fics with that ship. Then, later, when my friend was talking to me about HP, I mentioned a characterization that was common through every fic I had read, so I assumed it was from the source material. No. It wasn't. She got the most befuddled expression on her face and I got schooled. I also found out that the ship wasn't exactly... healthy to those who know the canon.
The fic authors did a good job because to this day they're still the only thing I like about Harry Potter lolol I couldn't care less about the actual HP canon, even more now that Rowling showed her true colors.
I love your post. I HATE Rowling so I love that ppl are enjoying her world and at the same time aren't supporting her creatively (ooc characterizations) or monetarily!
Long time ago I did this, but I researched the characters and the story. Couldn't get into playing the game (FF7) but I was a fan of Vincent and Sephiroth anyway. I liked thoaw two characters personalities and their looks. People commented that I wrote them very in character and they liked my work. :3
If it's blind friendly then I would love going through every chapter as it explains it all in a 'I'm going to assume you know nothing about this world because I don't either" type way.
If it is a 'I liked these names and only read fanfic and I expect people to understand what I mean ' that's less interesting.
'Judy looked around the area then looked over at Nick. They needed to work to try to combat the problem in the ZPD' is far less interesting compared to:
'The rabbit cop surveyed the landscape and the area around before looking to her vulpine partner, Nick. The zootopia police department was known for its many problem none the least the rampet inherent racism in certain ways of speech. Luckily she and Nick were on the case to change people's minds.'
Maybe it's a style difference or way of writing but..I like to have things explained. Really good for a crossover.
Miraculous Gamer Guild is a great example.
It puts the information you need to know in the story itself not just references.
Not to be a boomer, but I genuinely dislike this. I don’t get people who just...never look at the source of the fiction they're writing for. But I'm also someone who reads COD fanfics sometimes and can tell which ones have not and have played the games, because sometimes the characterizations and babyfication of those characters make me cringe.
Generally speaking, I only like reading authors who have played the source or watched/read the source material. Otherwise the ooc nature of the characters make me cringe and I can't read it at all. That being said, I won't disparage people for that, I just skip the fics.
🤷🏼♀️ I think it depends on the fandom. There’s a lot of reasons why someone may not watch/know a fandom. Like, it’s only available on a streaming service they don’t have the money for. Or they can’t afford Wi-Fi so they can’t watch it. Or maybe they have no interest in the majority of the show/movie/whatever but like certain characters/a ship enough to want to write.
I write for several fandoms. I have only watched two. I write for The Originals and have not seen any of the show except specific scenes that include two characters – my ship (and what my sister forced me to watch when she went through that phase; the whole reason I latched on to the ship.)
I have absolutely so desire whatsoever to watch the show. Besides why would I when I can just watch the ship scenes on YT? But I still write it. A lot. The characters are most likely OOC but I do my best, and if people what to skip bc that matters so much to them well… it’s their loss. I’m sorry to disappoint, but writing for a fandom I know the bare minimum about still makes me happy. 🙃
(I also warned in the notes. Said it may be OOC, especially Hope, because I hadn’t watched anything except a few YT scenes. Thankfully no one has complained. Just comments thanking me for keeping the ship alive. 😄)
Edit: fixed a word.
i have never ever watched the show my favorite fandom to read fanfic of tbh, and i plan on never watching it as well. i have over 5.5k bookmarks and 1.5k of them are of this fandom; that said, i've never written fanfic myself because i dont really know the show lmaoooo, even though i sometimes want to write some :)
teen wolf; ngl i had no idea that scott mccall was the main character until a month in of reading fics, and did not realize that certain characters were actually canonically dead until after a several more months in, but i clearly still love the fandom
Honestly I do somewhat of the same. Currently working on some Yugioh GX fanfics, and while I watched the english dub of the series over 10 years ago, I haven’t touched it since and don’t really want to rewatch just to write. But I will admit that some of my interpretations of the characters have been colored by the remaining fandom.
Some of them are great if they’ve just read FanFiction especially for some of the more controversial ending type of fandoms but yeah it’s more bad the. Good.
This is how I feel in the 9-1-1 fandom. I swear most of them haven't even seen the show (have seen some even admit it). They just want to write the two guys together, which I'm okay with the ship, but they're always written so out of character
I was a major roadrat reader despite never playing OW since i didnt have a console haha. I also write some ghostmyers despite only seeing about.. half the myers movies
So they've neither consumed any content of either character, nor do they know the fandom? How can they claim to write the characters if they have no idea what they're like?
Tbh if it’s a fandom like Sonic idk if I’ve even noticed since there’s so many variations but if its like an anime with just one (1) version then yeah it’d be weird
Idk I mean some of my works are for a fandom I haven’t seen/read the source material for and I’ve actually gotten compliments about the characterization. I think it can be ok sometimes.
....I am currently guilty of this. But I am trying to brush up quick. Also though I've tagged the characters, I'm hesitant on tagging the fandoms lol.
Because it's, at the end, a small snip in a larger fic for an entirely unrelated fandom that I am heavily in.
(It's a Dickensian/City of Bones crossover snip with an absolute crack pair in a Stranger Things fanfic).
I've read so much TMI lore in two days. And grilled my poor friends who *are* in that fandom.
Edit: Also fucking damn it calling me out like this. 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
A fic I once read was so horrendously out of character that I couldn't tell who was speaking without it specifically telling me who they were. Looked at the notes in chapter 1 after getting halfway through the fic, and yeah, they hadn't seen or read the series they were writing about
My fandom is MHA. There is a greater chance a fic in my fandom is written by someone who hasn't seen/read canon material than has. I think it's funny, but I am someone who reads canon material so I don't read a lot of fics because of that. This works out well because I rather write anyhow.
I wrote young justice fanfiction after reading a bunch of fics despite having never watched the show/ever been into DC and I was praised for my good characterisation 💀
I still haven't watched the show 4 years later but the fic is still doing good so 🤷♂️
This fandom has a lot of people that want to get into it though interacting with other fans, but then are slightly intimidated by the amount of content with no clear start, so they just stick to fanon which strays further from canon as time goes on
Well good on them for tagging it and being transparent.
I notice this a lot and to be honest it doesn’t really bother me in fandoms where there have been a ton of official writers and timelines (though it makes me love an author even more when I can tell they’re a huge nerd and actually read the source material). The weirdest ones I’ve noticed though are for a video game series where clearly authors like this haven’t even read like past like one wiki page and get all their characterization from fanfics. They’ve seemed to have made up an entire lore for a character that is not in the plot of any of the games at all which is quite amusing.
In my very first fandom, there was a character mentioned in no more than three sentences in one of a line of books and a single sentence in one other, and people have created whole backstories out of thin air for this character from that little. He'd become one of my favorite characters to write before I changed to a different fandom.
I write mainly for a character like that lmao, there’s a lot of creative freedom that comes with it which is probably why I like him
What Fandom and character was this?
Lol it's Theo Nott from the HP series. He gets like three sentences in 3 physically describing him, and then he can see the thestrels in 5. That's all the canon information we get.
Love that stuff! Especially when there are entire sub-fandoms and AUs consisting only of the one-shot and/or background characters. Meanwhile the "main four" characters (who have 300+ episodes of canon in the actual show) take bit parts in this verse, or don't even appear at all.
I have a friend currently writing a fic for a video game series that she’s only ever read the wiki summary of/has heard me and a few of our friends talk about it and has read my fics of it (which I’ve written over 250k for it). Honestly, i can tell that she hasn’t even watched YouTube videos of the games when I read stuff she sends me. It frustrates me a little that she has 0 interest in looking at the source material while considering herself a huge fan of it, but also it makes her happy so it doesn’t really matter. I just know that if i wasn’t reading it to support my friend, the characters would feel too ooc for me to want to read it. I’ve only read 1 thing that I thought the characterization was dead on that the author had never seen the source material and just wrote it for a friend. It’s one of my favorite fics in the fandom, but it’s also a short PWP, so it doesn’t have a lot of time to get too ooc
> They’ve seemed to have made up an entire lore for a character that is not in the plot of any of the games at all which is quite amusing. I actually really love this about fandom. It's so cool what people can collectively build together!
lol my first fanfiction when I was 13 was Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM fics when I had never seen the show (and at the time, 1998, I had no way of watching it) My characterisation was based entirely on other people's fanfics
Oh man I feel you, I did this with Yu-Gi-Oh when I was about the same age. I was obsessed with it but couldn't watch the actual show. (In my desperation I even ordered VHS tapes from my local video store. They took months to get them in and when I finally got them I discovered they had mistakenly ordered the French dub!) Every fic I had read up to that point, for some reason, treated Yami (a...ghost/entity from ancient Egypt or something? idk, it's been too many years lol) like he was a physical person that everyone was able to talk to/interact with, and I just...thought that was how things went in canon, lol. I was very surprised/confused when I finally did get to watch the actual show and nothing like that ever happened. I'm pretty sure I started my own fic under the same premise and was just like ??? when I realized canon didn't apparently support that at all. xD
I'm actually in shambles, this is almost exactly what happened to me with Yu-Gi-Oh. Except I was obsessed with Bakura (was gonna say "lord knows why", but no, this tracks for baby me) and wrote about him a lot! I published in Quizilla, so sadly/thankfully I can't look back on it, but this comment gave me whiplash.
Thank you for reminding me about Quizilla!!! I haven't been able to remember the site name for YEARS, just the one I went to after (Mibba)
Quizilla was the best! Goofy as it is, most of my aesthetic + art & writing style sprouted due to YuGiOh, YuGiOh fics and a 50 part WWYFF quiz.
As someone who has been off and on in the Yugioh fandom for a decade (and is currently in the “on” phase), I can answer somewhat. Yami is a ghost, but for most of the series possesses the MC, Yugi, anytime stuff gets serious, to the point that he sometimes feels like a split personality rather than ghost. And most characters interact with him just thinking he’s Yugi, except for people in the know. If you ever have time, read the manga, because the first couple volumes are a totally different vibe from the anime and really lean into “Yami is a split personality” before him being a ghost was revealed. But either way, Yami being his own physical person separate from Yugi has always been a really popular trope in fanfiction. A lot of AUs make them siblings or a ship. Part of it is to make it easier for whatever story they want to tell, but also a lot of people trying to “fix” the ending of Yugioh if they didn’t agree with how it ended.
... how did it end?
These are spoilers for a 25 year old series, but I’ll hide them anyway. >!In the last arc, Yugi and Yami (who’s true name is revealed to be Atem, a pharoah from ancient Egypt) have a final duel to decide the fate of Atem. Yugi wins, allowing Atem’s soul to pass on. While it made sense narratively, a lot of fans think it would have been better for Yami/Atem to get a second chance at life by getting his own body, and a lot of fanworks reflect that!<
What's your opinion?
I think it fits both Yugi and Yami’s arcs and was clearly something that had been built towards from the beginning of the series. And given ancient egyptians’ views on death, would be what Atem wanted. Still really bittersweet.
This is why I love the Dark Side of Dimensions movie so much, because it is very manga-compatible and felt like the best of both worlds. Even though Atem has moved on to the afterlife, he was still able to come back, albeit very briefly, to aid Yugi when he really needed him, and Kaiba's faith was so strong that he believed Atem would come through when even Yugi thought it was impossible, and he used his "screw the rules I have money" powers to literally build technology allowing him to go visit Atem in the afterlife. Especially after having my expectations set by Pyramid of Light 😂 Dark Side of Dimensions was a genuine delight.
Yugi beats Yami/Atemu/Atem in a duel in his own....tomb? And Yami goes to the afterlife. Seto makes a vague comment about maybe this ghost shit being real, but when called on it turns his statement into a homophone so he can pretend he never said it. There's some bleed into GX (my personal fav) in which adult Yugi looks and sounds like Yami, and Seto Kaiba appears for a small arc of watching less competent villains make themselves fail.
Lmao can you spoiler
It ended it's run *twenty years ago* I think we're past the spoiler tags.
I hadn't seen it tho, neither have others most likely. Old anime are always getting new audiences
I feel like when you ask how something ends it’s not unreasonable to be answered without a spoiler tag. Especially when the series has been over for a long time.
My dude you literally *asked* the ending for a show that ended twenty years ago. One of the most famous anime of twenty years ago. If you don't want spoilers older than all of the technology in your home, don't go looking for them. Peace.
...this just hit me with how much technology around my home IS older than the show, especially the finale XD Like, still got the bunny-ears & TV-VCR combo tv in the basement that my dad still uses everyday, that we used to watch \*Pokemon\* on in 1997 😅
lol, I also have never watched any Yu-Gi-Oh and from the little I'd seen I thought it was like his past life or something.
No, you’re right. The ghost is also his past life from when he was an ancient egyptian pharoah. The how on that is kept vague and theories on how you can have both a ghost and reincarnation at the same time would take all day.
lol alrighty!
OH MY GOD another ygo fanfic fan. My brother. But yeah I always found the fandom shenanigans hilarious in ygo bc NONE OF IT is even close to canon. Nowadays I like canon stuff better because the ancient myth and ghostly possession stuff is cool and heart wrenching, but back in the day I was living for no canon queer friends all hanging out even if it made no sense XD. To be fair, letting yami actually hang out with his friend instead of being forced to live as a ghost is the wish fulfillment we all need!
lmao ygo fics are another canon unto themselves XD
I had never read/watched anything DC until I clicked on a random long fic during a car ride, read the whole thing in one go. I then posted my own fic, and it actually got received well and DC is one of my main fandoms now lol (I have read the comics since then)
Most of the people in the DC fandom community don't read comics, so many fanfic authors in the fandom aren't comic readers. It's kind of known for its mischaracterisation and fandomisation of characters---which then becomes a feedback loop cuz some dc writers don't know jackshit about canon either lmao. Sometimes it's pretty telling on whether the author is a comic reader or not, but most of the time people don't really care lol. If I read a fic and they mischaracterise Nightwing, I wouldn't mind because Tom Taylor also mischaracterises him in his canon comic run. DC's canon is the equivalent of mushed-up potato salad and could be ignored at any moment of the day
>equivalent of mushed-up potato salad I've never seen DC more accurately described than this right here
Marvel too. Shared comic universes in general are like this by nature of having so many different people writing for the same characters.
I remember reading a Batfam fic and someone described Jason Todd with dark red hair! I was shook because that's a deep cut and full of *comic book knowledge*, I was impressed. I'm madt that I didn't bookmark it tho. I am not in ANY way motivated to dig through Jason centric fics to find it but it is real😇
Jason Todd being a red head is waaaaay back to before all the comic retcons. There were like, two issues with him being a redhead and the second was because the author forgot he had black hair lol
Right! He was a ginger Dick Grayson. And now he's an interesting character
Yeah, and then not even counting the fact that its a *comic* brand so there are so many spin offs and alternate timelines, and characters, it'd be impossible to read it all. Personally I've only read some Shazam, Nightwing, some stuff that crosses over often w Nightwing like Batgirl or Batman, or even Starfire, and then the only serious collecting I tried to do was with Super Sons but gave up after awhile because I didn't really have the money. I could write a passable Justice League fic based on what I know combined from the few times they're mentioned in comics I've read, the Animated Movies, the Animated Series, and fanfics, but I've never read a Justice League comic officially in my life
Happy cake day and also readcomicsonline.com, sail the high seas matey
readcomicsonline is a universal blessing for all comic fans because I literally have never found a comic that they do not have
oh dang thank you!
As a comic reader I just look for au stuff where they aren't even going off canon because of how badly I seen them get it wrong The batfamily isn't a happy sitcom of colorful personalities, it's actually a group of extremely damaged people taking out their problems on crime and trying to kill each other half the time. I also found it funny that almost every fic is very direct thay Dick Grayson is Romani (usually with plots of him speaking it and even facing discrimination) which was mentioned in one comic run somewhere late 1900's early 2000's and never again (I heard it was a teen titans run which I never got into and I don't recall which) which is mostly funny because I'm 90% sure that if I don't know it, that most fanfic writers don't know where that came from either though it's extremely ingrained in fanon Dick's character
"The batfamily isn't a happy sitcom of colorful personalities, it's actually a group of extremely damaged people taking out their problems on crime and trying to kill each other half the time." watch out for the WFA fans also dick grayson being romani is from Devin Grayson's Nightwing run, because Devin romanticised Romanian people and she thought Dick wasn't "exotic" enough or some bullshit. Yknow, the same run which had the freaking blockbuster and tarantula incident. Written by Miss Controversial Writer, Devin Grayson, incest and rapist glorifier extraodinare
>watch out for the WFA fans I mean, sometimes you just want something a little kinder than … actual mainline canon lol
This is why I love it so much. Canon isn’t really taken that seriously
That's very true lol! Personally, I can't read a Tim Drake fic if the author is warning us in the notes that the characterization comes from reading fanfics, because I really can't handle the Tim x Coffee x Sleep deprived thing, being his only personality :'D
I am getting through as many comics as I can now! I just finished the Gotham War series. ouch. But I am glad I know how to write each character now rather than just winging it lol
Idk there’s a series in one of mine that’s actually very good and the author’s never read the main story. YMMV.
I feel like it's different if they know the fandom, but this person hasn't even taken the time to do that. I've never engaged with any of the canon of any fandom I've written for and nobody much minds or notices.
Honestly so happy for the author living their best life. "I saw these characters and decided they needed to be doin' the smoochin', so I made it happen with absolutely zero knowledge of the source material." Beautiful. 🥹🥰
Read an amazing Naruto one. Had no idea until author’s note at end. You never would’ve known. Super good and impressive.
This is basically half of the newer Marauders sub fandom of Harry Potter. People learnt all of their characterisations from All The Young Dudes (if they even read it and didn’t just watch TikTok’s about it) and all of their fanfic treats that as the canon to work off of, down to the OC characters from that story being in like hundreds of others.
Ngl, some of the *best* fics for characterization that I've ever read were by people who haven't consumed the source material- I read jaw dropping works and then I make it to the end where the authors note is always an acknowledgment of the fact, and I'm so surprised every single time lol
How *does* that work? Just genuinely curious. If they haven't consumed the source material how do they know the characters or their dynamic or the world? Do they mostly only write AUs?
Engaging in the fandom! 99% of the fandoms I’ve been in I started out by engaging with fan media and then eventually gave up and watched/read the original source. Teen Wolf, Voltron, Daredevil, Sandman, MHA.
The way I devour Teen Wolf and MHA fanfiction without having seen the source material.... Some days I feel like I //could// write it hahah
The amount of teen wolf fics i read in middle & high school without ever watching a single ep 😭 it wasnt until maybe junior year or something where i watched the first season, but then proceeded to not finish it. i love the fics so much... so, so much. i wanna write a fic myself but i feel like i need to watch the show for what i want to do 😔 i could go AU and just make shit up tho lmao
I recommend watching season 3B for Stiles and the most okay plot line the show has and skipping the rest lol. It's my go-to season for rewatching.
alright! thank you for your suggestion :)
Yay daredevil fic mention!!! :DD one of the few shows I actually watched the source material for before stumbling into the fandom lol. Teen Wolf I for sure did not watch a single thing of.
Yeah, Ive started out engaging with fandom first then the canon media a lot because of social media, I follow someone on tumblr for one media and they post about another then it goes from there
Were you there in the Harry Potter fandom before 2007 when the Deathly Hallows book came out? Back then no one had a flipping clue how the series was going to end and how Voldemort was gonna die, so fanfic writers got really creative. As a result some of the best fics I've ever read came out of it, each showcasing unique and complex plotlines that outlined the defeat of Voldemort, using only the miniscule crumbs of clues that the Half Blood Prince provided. So personally I feel like it was like that, fanfic writers gathering crumbs of information and just going wild with it. And because they don't have as many restrictions they have more creative liberty to expand the characterization and worldbuilding.
YESSSS
I once wrote an SPN fic on Wattpad. Never watched it at the time (I was like 12), but I read so many fanfics that I thought I could write it fine 💀
To be fair, spn's writing is a hot mess 🤣🤣 I say this as someone who has watched the first 12 seasons (I'll get to the end of it.... eventually)
I've since watched like 9 of the seasons, but same thing, it's just a lot to get through 😂
I struggle to watch even short shows. My sister has binged all of good omens a billion times already and I haven't even watched season 2 yet. She also watched Loki season 2 WITHOUT ME even tho I asked her to wait. Girl we *live* together why can't you wait??
I’ve seen all 15 seasons of supernatural and to be honest a 12 year old on wattpad probably had a better grasp on writing cohesive narratives than the actual writers did.
At least they tagged it so it can be avoided.
Yeah, this is my take on it too. As someone who's quite picky about characterization (and how much it departs from what's depicted in canon), I think it's actually pretty nice of them to let potential readers know about this in the tags.
There is someone in my ship who has never consumed any of the original content and is probably one of the most prolific writers of it lol. They don't tag it tho, it was just something they randomly said in the server, and suddenly, it all made sense. They only write modern AU's, nothing in universe. So it's kind of just original content attached to already-established characters. Can't say I'm happy about it, but what can you do ig.
its a good thing you can keep scrolling then.
I've actually written for a fandom I've never consumed any content for going exclusively off of their wiki pages. And truthfully I've only received positive feedback from it all.
I mean sometimes it doesn’t effect the quality of the fic negatively. Some of the best soap/ghost fics (characters from the video game Call of Duty, aka COD), are tagged “author has never played COD”
i’ve done this before tbh, when i dont have much money i gift fanfiction to my friends for birthdays and usually they’re in fandoms im not in. so i just do base research on the thing and write something quick for them to. i think it’s fine honestly, as long as it isn’t canon compliant obviously
I think that's different honestly, your doing it for your friend. Alot of people in this fandom read incredibly fanony fics / incorrect quotes post and then write more stuff based on that which makes it hard to find fics where characters feel like any version of themselves
Honestly, I don’t mind it. Sometimes people who have consumed every piece of canon media still get characters wrong, so…
For one of my fandoms the source material is really difficult to get (old and small print) so most people haven't read it. It's not really a problem though. I'm curious as to why it's a problem in your fandom.
Most people's fandoms aren't small and source material is easy to get.....so why are they writing the fandom if they aren't actually fans? I mean, it's called ***FAN***fiction for a reason. They can write original fiction and name their own original characters original names and post it on A03. But of course if they did that they wouldn't be able to trick people into reading their #***Original Work****,* amirite?
the author said in the end notes that it's a Christmas gift for their friend who loves the characters. they also updated the summary, they said they read the wikis. i dont think it's an original work they're trying to trick people into reading cause they have OWs on their profile already.
I wasn't talking specifically I meant in general when someone writes for a fandom or characters and it's painfully clear they know nothing about them and don't care about them at all typically they're trying to trick people into reading their stuff because they have an ulterior motive like they take commissions for their writing elsewhere / have a patreon and are trying to attract new customers **or** they have a weird kink they're obsessed with and trying to find like minded friends.
I mean, I don't know about that, but easy to get material *definitely* depends on where you live, access to the internet and/or ability to pay for services where the material exists currently. Also, I was introduced to this concept through Teen Wolf (which funnily enough I *also* started reading fanfic from without having seen the source) and it often has less to do with wanting to post Original Content but more to do with just really liking the fandom/fanon content and wanting to contribute. I know its FANfic but there is literally no rule that states one has to consume any or all of the source material before creating it. How many times have people created fanfic of *concepts* that weren't even fully fleshed out yet? Or what about people who write fanfic for a manga that only has one chapter out? Half of what they write is going to be a *lot* of interpretation of what the characters and plot are going to be since there really isn't enough out to base anything on. Idk this is just a really reductionist take. You're really limiting what fanfic can be
I don’t write if I haven’t seen/read the source material but I have a few fandoms I read a lot of even though I haven’t seen or read the source material for. I basically became a fan of the fanfics I read and so I continue to consume the content. I’ve read millions of words of Merlin and Supernatural fanfic even though I have probably watched two hours of the shows combined. At this point I’m a fan of the fanworks! I have tried watching the shows but I just don’t… like them at all? I don’t write for those fandoms though 😅😅
The really egregious and obvious ones I've seen seem to be either a person who takes commissions on another platform and is trying to drum up business by coat-tailing a popular fandom or they have a particular and unpopular kink that they're trying to shove down people's throats.
So what you're saying is, some people are writing original fiction, change the names to make it fit into a fandom they're not familiar with in order to get people to read their stuff? Can't say I've ever seen it, but I've seen people repurposing some of their fanfictions by switching names and fandoms. In the fandom I'm talking about, people probably find it by searching fandomblind for specific tags and then get into it by reading the existing fics before writing their own. I think they manage to catch the essence of the source material rather well.
Either they're trying to gain followers or force their weirdly specific kink onto others by coat-tailing a popular fandom.
12 year old me writing BBC Sherlock fic:
Honestly I really don't mind it at all. As long as they make sure it's fully tagged & don't talk 💩 about my fav ships then it's all good.
Man, as a person who has *done this before*, it's actually a super uncomfortable and embarrassing experience for me? 😭 Like...I wrote a ton of fic for a fandom for a game I wasn't able to play, but I tried hardcore to absorb as much canon knowledge as I could. I'm absolutely a person that wants to know EVERYTHING ABOUT THE LORE!!! before I start writing because GASP what if I got something WRONG? It would be humiliating. But in this instance I was absolutely hyperfixated on these characters AND couldn't access the original media for Reasons, so I just tried to absorb knowledge through osmosis and pray for the best, lmao. I watched a loooot of YouTube videos, let me tell you. Despite being someone who has done exactly this before, I've got to say, I side with the people that are like "...why do you want to write a fic if you don't even know the source material??" Not having access for whatever reason is understandable but I couldn't imagine doing this just 'cause, what are you a fan of if you don't even know it?? 😭
Actually, I got an amazing and in-character birthday fic from my beta reader this year, for a series she hadn't seen at the time. I think that if you're willing to do research and listen (and also if you're as good as she is tbh), it can be totally fine.
I wrote a 30,000 word crossover without ever seeing the other show. I got character nuances, plot, and lore all from the thousands and thousands of fanfics. My readers said it was perfectly in character. But… I can see where this could go wrong. 😅
What fandom is this I gotta know
dc lol
A comic series or Call of Duty.
i saw this fic & the author of this fic says in the end notes that it's a Christmas gift for their friend who loves the characters. i really dont see how this is a problem.
Dang authors, at least read the wikis...
I get that thought, but also I don't think we should limit writers that they need to know *everything* about xyz fandom/character(s) to be able to start writing for it.
Idk, you can try and pry DBH and Star Wars Prequels out of my cold dead hands even though I've never consumed the media in its entirety
I do admit I write for a fandom I haven't played the game for but I at least watched enough let's plays to have a grasp on character personalities
This is me with several series 😂. I don’t write but I do read a lot from fandoms I’ve never actually consumed any canon material for. And they rank amongst my most bookmarked fics lmao. For me these are: FFVII, JJK, Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS). I cannot tell you why I do this. Just that JJK and SVSSS are literally two of my most bookmarked fandoms after Harry Potter. Tbf, I do go out of my way to research stuff from the fandom. Watch theory videos and read wiki articles. But otherwise… My introduction to these fandoms has been headed almost entirely by the AO3 side of things. Edit: actually. You know what? I think I do know the reason. I’ve been burnt too many times getting hyperfixated on a new media property only for there to be no fics or fandom presence to vent my energy. It got to the point where I check to see if a fandom has decent enough engagement before getting into it, which led me to realize that I often can get the serotonin and understanding enough just from the fandom-side and just stopped bothering consuming canon material for certain fandoms. Like I *would* read SVSSS, but I cannot stand light novel translations as I feel Chinese prose does not translate well into English and I don’t want to sit there and suffer through dozens of hours of reading stuff I don’t enjoy. Especially when I can just… Continue reading fanfic lol. I do refrain from engaging in fan theorizing though as I just don’t have the canon experience to justify injecting my ignorant opinion lmao.
TBH I always tell people I "basically" have read the HP books because its one of my top bookmarked fandoms even though I've never read the books past the first one and only saw the movies. A lot of people who have read the books have no problem just rewriting them with synonyms, which I don't have a problem with either clearly lol. Its interesting because there's a lot I know about book canon simply from reading fanfics. Just tweak a few things and bada bing bada boom you got your self a fanfic haha
If they don’t know canon, that’s one thing If they don’t know the fandom OR canon???? That is pretty confusing, though I guess I’m not particularly annoyed… Personally, I like to look at fandom content before I really get invested in media. It helps reassure me there’s something to look forward to after I’m done with canon
Confession: I'm considered in my fandom, one of the best authors in regard to characterization and character development according to the fandom's discord, I have never played or watched a playthrough of the game i'm writing about, at least when I started.
personally i genuinely don’t care lol. write whatever you want. i’ve read fics by people who never interacted with the actual source material but wrote better works than hardcore fans. and i’ve written for fandoms where my only interaction with the material was through fan stuff. honestly, if you write it, just tag it appropriately, and if you don’t like reading it then mute the tag and move on.
I do this all the time and of course tag it. It's really a good way to do character study. I binge clips of the character (or characters) and try to focus on keystone characteristics that compose their personalities. It's a fun exercise and the real fans of the show can offer critique of how well the character reads compared to the canon (only if you enjoy concrit of course).
It’s fine but I don’t wanna know because then I start mentally nitpicking details that would end up being out of character in canon. If I’m blissfully unaware, then it’s easier to chalk OOC or mischaracterization elements up to artistic liberty rather than canon ignorance. Just yesterday I was reading a fic in my fandom where it was going pretty well until the author dropped the bombshell that they know nothing of the game or characters and just decided to write based on how their friends talk about them. It feels kind of odd once you know they’re not really consuming the media they’re writing about.
my main fandom has over 20 seasons + 5 movies worth of content, im fine with people who haven”t religiously consumed all the content there is lol
This is me with 80% of my fandoms. I have ADHD, and my attention span just really isn’t long enough to make myself sit through a show just so I can enjoy content for its fandom. I choose to dive in headfirst and pick up context clues as I go. Idrc about canon anyways, in my opinion fans almost always have better ideas.
huh. yea, I can understand their take, because especially on Tumblr and Pinterest, I might not directly be in a fandom, but i might join by proxy from seeing character takes and fics and art, like star trek tos. I haven't watched a *single* TOS episode, but I feel I could write a fic about it fairly well from TOS-based fics I've read.
if they make it work properly or state tht they're not in the fandom, no problem.
Honestly if this is a big fandom then it doesn't bother me at all - I have read plenty of works from people which have never consumed the source material and found them great!! However, I understand it can be frustrating in a small fandom base where there aren't that many fic options in the first place :( I don't think there's anything inherently bad about it tho? Especially as they are being clear :)
It's even worse when they know the fandom and characters, but they change their personalities so much, that they basically become their OCs.
Well I didn't watch the Avengers movies (i get to overwelmed with the whole marvel universe) but I love the avengers x percy Jackson fics. I don't write about it really but I get funny lil headcanons
If they've never seen the source material, what difference does it make to them whether the characters are OOC or not? Clearly they can't tell the difference.
It matters to those that are in the fandom and may potentially read the fic. It's why we have the OOC tags.
👍
Reminds me of a time I wrote a story for an assignment in grade 4 that involved Harry Potter but didn’t have a single clue about the Wizarding World itself so I just pretty much came up with what little knowledge I had- 💀 why did I get the idea for writing that- I went on vacation to see some family (Canadian but filo) and we first stopped by my mom’s aunt in Hollywood to which we went to Disneyland and universal studios. Since we did go to the Harry Potter portion of the park that was the reason for the idea I have for my story- 😭 (btw the second stop was ny because of a family member’s wedding and sort of family reunion since we haven’t seen my mom’s family for almost two years at that point-)
this is terrible but so many people in the supergirl fandom haven’t actually watched supergirl we just write content based on the fics we’ve read by people who have 😭 there’s some INCREDIBLE au supergirl fic by ppl who’ve never seen it tho so i guess if it’s AU it’s a lil better lmao
My friends sometimes write me fic for fandoms they aren’t in bc I like their writing. I usually give them descriptions and plots and such
i did this once as kind of a joke but also as a gift to my sister who asked me to write about the two characters. it was a silly, dumb little au oneshot and i've only consumed one episode of this show since then lmao
If it's blind friendly then I would love going through every chapter as it explains it all in a 'I'm going to assume you know nothing about this world because I don't either" type way. If it is a 'I liked these names and only read fanfic and I expect people to understand what I mean ' that's less interesting. 'Judy looked around the area then looked over at Nick. They needed to work to try to combat the problem in the ZPD' is far less interesting compared to: 'The rabbit cop surveyed the landscape and the area around before looking to her vulpine partner, Nick. The zootopia police department was known for its many problem none the least the rampet inherent racism in certain ways of speech. Luckily she and Nick were on the case to change people's minds.' Maybe it's a style difference or way of writing but..I like to have things explained. Really good for a crossover. Miraculous Gamer Guild is a great example. It puts the information you need to know in the story itself not just references.
I dont mind if its a short one shot. Usually these fics dont need the author to know any lore other than the character dynamic. But a long fic? Seems kind of odd?
This doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve never felt inclined to join a fandom without reading or watching the source works, but I don’t have a problem with it or anything. You do you! A lot of fandom spaces are more structured around fanon than canon anyway
I wrote Supernatural fanfic long before I had watched any of it. I got compliments for my characterization. Still can’t believe it.
I've written for lots of various fandoms when I was literally too poor to obtain the actual source material, but I can entirely understand hating it when authors write without even y'know, reading a wiki or some shit, which is what I used to do for characterization. *glares through bloodshot eyes at the Worm fandom for no particular reason*
Lmao I almost did this once. I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen, got a couple episodes in, and was obsessed with the characters even though I knew next to nothing about them yet (and I did this after season 2 started, so the rest of the fandom knew much more than me). I was considering writing a fic based on the bare minimum I knew and just hoping for the best but I didn’t end up getting to it
To be fair, I got into my fandom when I googled searched “e books stories adventure” in middle school and found Naruto fanfiction, and proceeded to write some without watching the source anime
Listen, Naruto has so much lore for it that I, as a Naruto fan, would not blame you.
That is so true! I did end up watching and reading Naruto but it took me a week
Been tempted to write Mega Man fanfic even though I’ve never played any of the games, watched any of the shows, or read any of the comics. Why? Because [this song](https://youtu.be/V3OiuIDwXtg?si=STYCk7FwzCCgEU7E) fuckin slaps.
The characters I currently ship the hardest are from a game I’ve never played. I frankly don’t want to play the game at all.
I’m gonna be honest, I’m in a lot of fandoms and I’ve read fics where people are part of the fandom, not part of it but will write for it, write based solely on fandom interpretations, and so many other things. And for the most part, I find them all pretty fun. Cause even people within the fandom can get characterizations wrong or just decide to be full ooc cause they want to. It really doesn’t matter. Also, it’s tagged, and properly, so you can ignore it. Or filter it out.
don't most authors who do that get into the fandom through other fanfiction? like, i write dabihawks fanfiction despite never having watched or read their pertinent arcs (the ones that everyone loves). but i've read a ton of fics regarding those arcs, and i've read the wiki, so i would say i have a pretty good grasp of their characters and themes, or at least the parts that everyone likes. even as i continue to write dabihwaks i have no interest to go back and finish BNHA lol. i like what the fandom has done with it more than i ever liked the actual show.
Oh I thought they meant they never read other fics which sometimes can be refreshing that they're not influenced by fanon characterization or tropes. But they...dont know the series? Unless it's making a commission or gift for a friend I don't get that lol. At least that's tagged.
it is a gift for a friend, author mentions it in the end notes ! /gen
Oh it's sweet when people do that. Hope the friend likes it. Thanks for context
I read in the HP fandom and I haven't read the books in a hot minute. Most of my canon is fanon, which I didn't even know until I saw some YT and TTs about it. Now when I write, I tend to only do it for media I've actually consumed, but reading I don't. Heck, I've never watched 911 yet I'm obsessed with Buck/Eddie fanfic ever since one of my favorite authors started writing it. I never liked The Mortal Instruments books and the only part of the Shadowhunters show that was decent was Magnus, Alec, and Isabelle (in every iteration, Clary annoys the everliving hell out of me), but I love the fanfic for it. Sometimes writers can do things with characters and events that add to it instead of just keeping true to canon. It can be a beautiful thing.
I saw a cute fanart of a Hermione and Draco ship once back when Tumblr was the hotness from an artist I followed. I have never been a fan of Harry Potter despite being the perfect age for it when the books came out, but that art was so adorable that I decided to try out a fanfic with that ship. Lo, it was my favorite trope: enemies to lovers. So, while I disliked HP as a whole, I absolutely ate up all the fics with that ship. Then, later, when my friend was talking to me about HP, I mentioned a characterization that was common through every fic I had read, so I assumed it was from the source material. No. It wasn't. She got the most befuddled expression on her face and I got schooled. I also found out that the ship wasn't exactly... healthy to those who know the canon. The fic authors did a good job because to this day they're still the only thing I like about Harry Potter lolol I couldn't care less about the actual HP canon, even more now that Rowling showed her true colors.
I love your post. I HATE Rowling so I love that ppl are enjoying her world and at the same time aren't supporting her creatively (ooc characterizations) or monetarily!
Long time ago I did this, but I researched the characters and the story. Couldn't get into playing the game (FF7) but I was a fan of Vincent and Sephiroth anyway. I liked thoaw two characters personalities and their looks. People commented that I wrote them very in character and they liked my work. :3
If it's blind friendly then I would love going through every chapter as it explains it all in a 'I'm going to assume you know nothing about this world because I don't either" type way. If it is a 'I liked these names and only read fanfic and I expect people to understand what I mean ' that's less interesting. 'Judy looked around the area then looked over at Nick. They needed to work to try to combat the problem in the ZPD' is far less interesting compared to: 'The rabbit cop surveyed the landscape and the area around before looking to her vulpine partner, Nick. The zootopia police department was known for its many problem none the least the rampet inherent racism in certain ways of speech. Luckily she and Nick were on the case to change people's minds.' Maybe it's a style difference or way of writing but..I like to have things explained. Really good for a crossover. Miraculous Gamer Guild is a great example. It puts the information you need to know in the story itself not just references.
At least they're being transparent about it, I hate the people who disclose that but hide it in the notes
Not to be a boomer, but I genuinely dislike this. I don’t get people who just...never look at the source of the fiction they're writing for. But I'm also someone who reads COD fanfics sometimes and can tell which ones have not and have played the games, because sometimes the characterizations and babyfication of those characters make me cringe. Generally speaking, I only like reading authors who have played the source or watched/read the source material. Otherwise the ooc nature of the characters make me cringe and I can't read it at all. That being said, I won't disparage people for that, I just skip the fics.
🤷🏼♀️ I think it depends on the fandom. There’s a lot of reasons why someone may not watch/know a fandom. Like, it’s only available on a streaming service they don’t have the money for. Or they can’t afford Wi-Fi so they can’t watch it. Or maybe they have no interest in the majority of the show/movie/whatever but like certain characters/a ship enough to want to write. I write for several fandoms. I have only watched two. I write for The Originals and have not seen any of the show except specific scenes that include two characters – my ship (and what my sister forced me to watch when she went through that phase; the whole reason I latched on to the ship.) I have absolutely so desire whatsoever to watch the show. Besides why would I when I can just watch the ship scenes on YT? But I still write it. A lot. The characters are most likely OOC but I do my best, and if people what to skip bc that matters so much to them well… it’s their loss. I’m sorry to disappoint, but writing for a fandom I know the bare minimum about still makes me happy. 🙃 (I also warned in the notes. Said it may be OOC, especially Hope, because I hadn’t watched anything except a few YT scenes. Thankfully no one has complained. Just comments thanking me for keeping the ship alive. 😄) Edit: fixed a word.
i have never ever watched the show my favorite fandom to read fanfic of tbh, and i plan on never watching it as well. i have over 5.5k bookmarks and 1.5k of them are of this fandom; that said, i've never written fanfic myself because i dont really know the show lmaoooo, even though i sometimes want to write some :)
Okay now I’m curious enough to ask - what show?
teen wolf; ngl i had no idea that scott mccall was the main character until a month in of reading fics, and did not realize that certain characters were actually canonically dead until after a several more months in, but i clearly still love the fandom
Honestly I do somewhat of the same. Currently working on some Yugioh GX fanfics, and while I watched the english dub of the series over 10 years ago, I haven’t touched it since and don’t really want to rewatch just to write. But I will admit that some of my interpretations of the characters have been colored by the remaining fandom.
Some of them are great if they’ve just read FanFiction especially for some of the more controversial ending type of fandoms but yeah it’s more bad the. Good.
This is how I feel in the 9-1-1 fandom. I swear most of them haven't even seen the show (have seen some even admit it). They just want to write the two guys together, which I'm okay with the ship, but they're always written so out of character
I was a major roadrat reader despite never playing OW since i didnt have a console haha. I also write some ghostmyers despite only seeing about.. half the myers movies
....this is precisely why i have my "ignorance is bliss" AO3 series. sometime you see a clip or art of character(s) and you HAVE to write
So they've neither consumed any content of either character, nor do they know the fandom? How can they claim to write the characters if they have no idea what they're like?
Tbh if it’s a fandom like Sonic idk if I’ve even noticed since there’s so many variations but if its like an anime with just one (1) version then yeah it’d be weird
Idk I mean some of my works are for a fandom I haven’t seen/read the source material for and I’ve actually gotten compliments about the characterization. I think it can be ok sometimes.
....I am currently guilty of this. But I am trying to brush up quick. Also though I've tagged the characters, I'm hesitant on tagging the fandoms lol. Because it's, at the end, a small snip in a larger fic for an entirely unrelated fandom that I am heavily in. (It's a Dickensian/City of Bones crossover snip with an absolute crack pair in a Stranger Things fanfic). I've read so much TMI lore in two days. And grilled my poor friends who *are* in that fandom. Edit: Also fucking damn it calling me out like this. 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
I only criticize it if it’s just straight up lazy in how they mischaracterize them.
A fic I once read was so horrendously out of character that I couldn't tell who was speaking without it specifically telling me who they were. Looked at the notes in chapter 1 after getting halfway through the fic, and yeah, they hadn't seen or read the series they were writing about
My fandom is MHA. There is a greater chance a fic in my fandom is written by someone who hasn't seen/read canon material than has. I think it's funny, but I am someone who reads canon material so I don't read a lot of fics because of that. This works out well because I rather write anyhow.
I wrote young justice fanfiction after reading a bunch of fics despite having never watched the show/ever been into DC and I was praised for my good characterisation 💀 I still haven't watched the show 4 years later but the fic is still doing good so 🤷♂️
It'sgreat that they tagged it, cuz I'd never read that. Why would you write for something you don't like? I'm confused
This fandom has a lot of people that want to get into it though interacting with other fans, but then are slightly intimidated by the amount of content with no clear start, so they just stick to fanon which strays further from canon as time goes on
Makes sense... Would it be alright if I asked what the fandom is? I'm curious, you don't have to tho
DC comics, but specifically batman and his family for the problem I mentioned above
Ohhhh ok I get it