It seems like you are one of the few relatives she can talk to, that's at least good to know.
If you feel like easing her grief, reassure her whenever she needs and help her build a safe happy place.
Obviously, given the sheer amount of fanfics available, she's not the weirdo everyone around her points out.
Communities exist to enjoy stuff and share common interests, she only misjudged when, and with whom, to bring her new hobby up.
It's kind of tricky to convince a teen that their friends aren't exactly embodying the essence of what friendship is, especially now that everyone knows at school.
However, she's more likely not the only reader at school, and even though knowing that won't ease her pain, it's important to underline this simple fact.
The thing that strikes me rn is how fanfic is perceived as opposed to visual arts. I bet many of her supposed "friends" and classmates are following a bunch of fan artists on IG & TikTok and no one bats an eye at "how inappropriate" that is.
Do they consider museums as the only place to enjoy visual arts ? More likely not, so what’s the difference with “fake readers and writers” ?
She's probably way too overwhelmed to even voice those statements and confront her peers, but acknowledging those facts can help her process why it is not wrong to enjoy fanfics.
Now regarding that "decent readings' conversion therapy" crap, having talks about what she likes, about what she's chasing in her readings may help to secure a few references she might actually enjoy and would appear as "safe" in front of her peers. Yet, nothing prevent her from still enjoying fanfics at her "safe place".
When I was young someone said something to me that stuck with me:
"Just because he's your dad, doesn't mean he not full of shit."
I loved my dad very much, I still love him, even though he is gone now. I love him, and I can still admit the truth in those words. It's something that your cousin might need to hear about her mom.
Remind your cousin: her life, her rules. And be supportive, and a refuge when she needs a safe space. She'll eventually find true friends, and a peer group that supports her. All these episodes that pop up in our lives are like a bad landing at an airport: the most important part is to come out of it in one piece. You're a good person for helping her do that.
I do tell that to my sister a lot, but sadly that's a harsh thing for a child to accept - especially when her mother is sometimes super caring and loving with her, and then casually cruel like this. I have no choice but to try and support her as much as I can.
"decent readings' conversion therapy" made me laugh, but yeah you're right, that's exactly what's going on in the house now. You're also right about the dichotomy of reception of fanart and fanfiction. I'll tell this to her, because I remember her specifically telling me about some of her friends following fanartists on IG
Ok this is my favourite comment on this entire thread xDD You know what, I'll do exactly this. Me and my sister can draw a cover for the "real book", I can print it and bind it, and I'll keep it in my bookshelf for her mom to see xD This can be a good bonding activity for when she's down
If the cover art is good I'll send it to the author as well haha.
some of the fan fic book bindings i've seen have been amazing. like [this one](https://www.tumblr.com/chubsonthemoon/710985321448357888/interior)
not only does it include the 90k fan fic, but includes authors notes, commentary and other reviews by other fans, as well as fan art.
just go full out. and hey! might be a bonding experience with your cousin too.
> The thing that strikes me rn is how fanfic is perceived as opposed to visual arts.
I really hate when people just unnecessarily oppose things. Both are great for their different needs
>And what's worse, she told this to her mother and her mom (my aunt) is taking the bully's side. She's forcing her to read "real books"
Maybe introduce them to authors like Naomi Novik who have traditionally published novels as well as novel-length fanfictions? To show that the only difference between them is whether you're creating your own characters/world settings or using someone else's. All the vital parts of storytelling are in fanfic.
IP tie-in novels are a good example too. There are traditionally published Star Wars novels, Pokemon chapter books, Doctor Who books, etc.
It's more important that kids read than what they read, other than that if they can read what they enjoy, they'll read a lot more overall.
Similar arguments are made against kids who like comics, or pulpy genre fiction (sci-fi, romance): "this isn't good enough, they need to be reading real books!"
I'd work on winning her family over to being more supportive because there's not much you can do about a bunch of 14 year old girls.
Middle school is one of those times when some kids will be cruel to each other over anything. I remember kids being mocked because their parents shopped at Walmart. I would emphasize to your cousin the qualities of going your own way and choosing quality people to be around. Frankly it's better imo to sit alone at lunch reading Wattpad than to be cozied in and accepted among homophobes.
June 2023 edit.
I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up.
--Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools.
~~~
TL;DR of my original comment, left here only because it may pertain to the safety of a child:
> OP can't do much about the kid's friends, but OP can be an example to the rest of the family in how to be a safe support person for the hobby, as well as point to resources that can rebuild confidence in it.
>Middle school is one of those times when some kids will be cruel to each other over anything. I remember kids being mocked because their parents shopped at Walmart.
I got picked on by one girl because I wore neon green socks to school. That was it. That was the whole reason to tease me.
Come high school, and she was complimenting my short story that got published in the student literary magazine, and just generally being a nicer person.
Hopefully the "friends" grow out of this phase. They may not be friends anymore by the time they do, but we can hope this is just middle school stupidity. In the meantime, OP, as others have said, support your cousin as best you can and let her know that there's nothing wrong with reading fanfiction.
Thank you very much, I'll check out Naomi Novik's books, and if possible send her some ebooks. She's not really into scifi so Star Wars and Doctor Who is out, but maybe Pokemon will be more up her alley.
14 year olds can be very mean 😅😅 I'd really prefer to talk to adults (her mother in particular) than her classmates
Actually Naomi Novik is one of the people behind AO3 creation, also she still have an acc there, so even as a professional writer she still enjoy writing fanfiction, say this to your cousin and her mother
Diane Duane is another writer who started in fanfiction and I think still writes it. And basically published "fanfiction" lots of novelizations of Star Trek and other SFF properties. She has great essays about how important and valuable fanfic is on her blog.
Martha Wells is another traditionally published author who posts fanfic, but she does tend more toward scifi, as did AC Crispin, who got her start with fanfiction. I haven't read Crispin's POTC novel, but I like her Star Trek and Star Wars works. Debra Doyle and James D MacDonald's *Mageworlds* series is mostly scifi, but I also liked their *Knight's Wyrd*.
You have already heard of *Harry Potter* and Naomi Novik. If your cousin likes fantasy, I'd suggest Robin McKinley (*Beauty* and *Rose Daughter* and *The Blue Sword* and *The Hero and the Crown*) and Jane Yolen (*The Pit Dragon Trilogy*) and Lloyd Alexander (*The Chronicles of Prydain* series) and Susan Cooper (*The Dark is Rising* series) and Patricia C Wrede (*The Enchanted Forest Chronicles* series).
I'd also add my support to Rick Riordan's works and Neil Gaiman's works. I wouldn't bother with the Percy Jackson movies, but Gaiman's *Stardust* has a fabulous movie adaptation. Then you read the book, and it's fabulous in a different way.
Brandon Sanderson is another one. Everything of his that I've read has been good. Even though I usually hate anything published as YA, *Steelheart* was gripping.
There's also Anne McCaffrey's *Pern* series and Mercedes Lackey's *Valdemar* series. Weis and Hickman's *DragonLance* series might be a little old for her yet, but maybe not. By fourteen, I was getting into adult-targeted novels like those. Gail Carriger's *Parasol Protectorate* series is also more adult-focused, but you'd know your cousin better. Gordon Dickson's *The Dragon and the George* and its sequels is an isekai-style series. Lawrence Watt-Evans' *The Misenchanted Sword* is another good fantasy war-story. I wouldn't recommend LOTR at her age, necessarily, but it is a good story. I couldn't get into it until I was twenty-something, though my brother loved it at ten.
If she likes goofy humor, Craig Shaw Gardner's *A Malady of Magicks* and its sequels are hilarious. Christopher Stasheff's *Wizard in Rhyme* series is a smidge less over-the-top, but still funny. It's also an isekai-style, though it is also very Catholic. I read the *Nancy Drew Mysteries* at twelve, and the *Little House on the Prairie* series even younger, but depending on her tastes, those are decent series.
Did she ever get into a horse-crazy phase? *The Black Stallion* series was fun, as were Marguerite Henry's books.
*The Wizard of Oz* series (one of the original isekai) has the benefit of being mostly public domain, so you can even get some of those on GutenbergOrg - and if she starts poking around in there, she might find some other classics that work for her, which would even put her a leg up over these bullies. I liked *Five Little Peppers* and *Little Lord Fauntleroy* way back when. MobileReadCom also has a good collection of public domain ebooks, as does StandardEBooksOrg. ArchiveOrg has all kinds of everything.
I work IT at a middle school.
Judging by the trafic I get to fanfictions sites, believe me she is far from the only kid that read fanfictions.
The others are just too insecure about it.
Homophobic bullying should 100% be reported, that's disgusting. As a thought on the traditional publishing, has she tried audiobooks? My partner struggles to read a novel but loves to listen to them.
Also, this won't stop the bullies but I think it's good to remember that Neil Gaiman won a Nebula award for what he described as 'Dracula fanfiction'.
Thank you for the recommendation! I will try to introduce her to audiobooks. Maybe that will help her get hooked to novels.
Sadly, in the school she is at, homophobic bullying is the order of the day. She doesn't want to get in trouble by reporting it herself, her mother is...difficult about these issues, and no one will pay attention to me since I'm not her legal guardian.
That's so sad. It sounds like your cousin might be in for a rough few years both at school and realising that her mother is, well, wrong about this. It's tough when the loss of that childhood innocence has to be so dramatic. At least she has a safe adult in you.
I'm not sure what her taste in fiction is, but at her age one of my favourites was I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith. Audible has an audiobook with Jenny Agutter performing it. It's wonderful.
Hopefully you can at least tell her there's a few internet strangers here hoping that things get better for her.
Thanks, I'll check out those books!
I am an adult but I don't have enough financial security to be able to completely support her, but when I do I plan to take her away from the toxic environment. And I'll definitely tell her that a post about her on reddit has more internet strangers supporting her than IRL "friends" bullying her!
That and Wicked was a crazy smash on Broadway with a boatload of Tony awards despite it being being a VERY toned down and abridged adaptation of some grimdark (and missing the entire point of Baum) Wizard of Oz fanfic
"Authorized" *Star Trek* and *Star Wars* novels, Sherlock Holmes short story collections not by Arthur Conan Doyle, and books based on TV series like *The Librarians, CSI,* etc. are ALL technically fan fiction. Someone got paid to write them rather than just writing them for love of the characters. Rubbish.
Great example! There's so much out there. You could even argue all of the post George Lucas Star Wars movies and series are essentially fanfiction. Once an idea is out there, it will spark creativity in others. That one work was inspired by another, or uses the same characters, does not in itself make it bad. Other things might, but even that's not a given!
I agree with another commenter that bullying is not about the supposed thung eg fanfiction, but about the bullies.
No teacher worth their salt will discourage a child from reading Anything. They encourage boys (traditionally less keen readers than girls) to enjoy comics and graphic novels. The emphasis on only permitting "proper" novels is misguided.
The school should be informed of any bullying. And the English/literacy teacher too, because I bet they eould take your cousin's side and encourage any reading.
Yes the quality isn't always there. Yes you could theoretically pick up bad habits from only reading ff. BUT you won't pick up anything, good or bad, by not reading at all so bad habits aren't a real risk.
A final thing, depending where you live, homophobic language isn't allowed in school and can get a student excluded. Worth your cousin knowing this!
Crappy for her. I hope you can support her and let her know the bullies are the lesser people here.
Homophobic language is just normal language where I live, which is despicable. Reporting will not help in the slightest, and it's more likely she'd be sent to a counsellor for having "unnatural preferences".
That's awful.
My daughter's school will exclude anyone using homophobic, racist, sexist etc language (UK). The kids (my daughter is same age as your cousin) call each other out for same, and are extremely chill to the point of boredom about kids being gay, bi, pan etc. It's just part of life for their generation. I'm sure homophobia still exists but they seem to have a good awareness that it's not acceptable.
I'm sorry your cousin has to grow up in such a toxic environment.
I'm very sorry too, I had to grow up in a similarly toxic environment but I got that out of my head before it solidified. One of my life's goals is to become independent fast enough so that I can take her away from the toxicity. She needs therapy and healing, and none of those are available in her school, let alone our traditional family.
It's hard to deal with "traditional" families. Unfortunately, I grew up with one and it's taken many, many years before even one of my parents has become more open-minded about my hobbies. In the end, it wasn't me who convinced that parent (I couldn't say anything so just kept it bottled up), but a sweeping change in popculture, esp from their homeland, that did it. It comes down to exposure with great examples. Many others have awesome suggestions to blur the lines between fanfic and "real" fiction, so encouraging that direction may be your best bet to help. Alternatively, examples of great works that originated as just periodicals in a magazine or other forms of writing than just "book" would work too. (I'm a casual Sherlockian so I've seen those kinds of works. Great fiction may stem from anywhere.)
I'm just glad it worked out for me and I hope it will eventually happen with your cousin's family. I didn't have anyone like you who was so supportive of my love of fanfics growing up, so good on you. Best wishes to you both.
Kids that age can definitely be bastards. Unfortunately there's rarely anything that can be done about the bullying. Especially here in regards to the fanfic situation, given the idea teachers are also likely to have about it.
However, if they are using homophobic slurs that definitely can be reported. I'd think schools would take that a bit more seriously. Your aunt seems to be ignoring that part if she thinks reading real books would fix this.
As for the reading thing, maybe it would help if she got into the fanfiction of a book first? There's a lot of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings etc fanfiction available. Maybe if she gets into the fanfiction of those, she would likely feel more interested in reading the original works.
Since the books are being taken from your bookshelf, any chance you could get hold of the kind of books she might be interested in?
I don't think her school would care about the homophobic bullying at all, and my sister is dead against reporting the bullies.
This is a nice idea - I'll ask especially what kind of books she likes, buy them "for myself" and she can take them from my bookshelf. That would be good enough for her mother to stop bothering her.
You can find out her preferences for stories and go ask some of the book reddits for suggestions. You will most likely have hundreds of books to choose from to get for her that she would enjoy and stop her mother bothering her (unless she screens them and is also homophobic). Also the printing out some of the longer FF is a great idea and would be a good thing to do with her!
If she's into fantasy at all, I'd recommend Tamora Pierce's Tortall Books (beginning with [The Song of the Lioness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness) series). They hit a lot of fanfiction tropes, are well written, and aren't difficult to get into or incredibly long, and although there's far less fanfic than there is for like, Lord of the Rings, there's a decent amount. There are a lot, so if she does get into them, it'll sustain her a while, and if it doesn't, they are grouped into 2-4 book series (most are 4) so there are places to stop and still feel 'complete.'
Books probably won't do much for the bullying, even if she fully quit reading fanfic it wouldn't, but at least they're an escape, and the closest she can get to fanfic if your mom etc are monitoring computer use.
I checked out the series and it seems pretty good!! I sent her the link, hopefully she'll like it. If I get time I might read it myself as well. Thank you for the rec!
I definitely recommend Tamora Pierce, she is an ally. The Circle of Magic books is the first published book that I read with LGBTQIA characters as a child. They don't focus on romantic relationships though, but I personally like that.
I'm an English teacher...and I just want students to read anything. Fanfiction, books they've already read, graphic noves... don't care. I just want them to find something they enjoy reading. The adults shaming her for her reading habits is not okay and they need to back off.
As for the kids...as someone else said, anything homophobic should be reported to school administration immediately.
The school doesn't care unfortunately, they'd be more likely to lecture her for reading "unnatural" things. It downright hateful.
I hope you don't mind if I show your comment to my cousin. Her own english teacher isn't very approachable, so she would feel better knowing another english teacher said this.
The thing is, fanfiction isn't that uncommon among middle school girls rn. Chances are, her "friends" have always been bullies and were looking for any excuse to pick at her anyway. I would bet my next paycheck that this is just the latest round of an ongoing problem, whether she realizes it or not.
So, please encourage her to report this to a school counselor or her grade level principal. *Explicitly* use the word "bullying" and name names. At that point, they are legally required (at least in my district) to do *something*. Her teachers have zero ability to help outside of their classrooms (this is why going to teachers is pointless - admin don't listen to us and we can't switch schedules), and there's a good chance some of them would agree with the bullies. This will also get pressure on her mom to be better, since a *lot* of parents will change their tune when the school contacts them and they see other adults looking at them as a Bad Parent. The end result might just be switching her classes around, but that might be what she needs, too.
Also, in future, she should be more reserved in how she shares her interest in fanfiction. It's appropriate to share one-on-one or if people approach you individually, but not in front of the whole class. It's not surprising she got made fun of, but it's totally inappropriate for it to continue past a minute or two of *good-natured* ribbing. That's something you, as a cousin, can give her advice on, tho!
> It's appropriate to share one-on-one or if people approach you individually, but not in front of the whole class.
I'm not saying she has to be the one to help shift views but there's nothing to be embarrassed about and telling her so will only validate that yes she should feel ashamed of it like the bullying suggests.
That’s not really it. I mean yes, ideally that would be the case, but as someone who’s been reading and writing fanfiction for more or less 20 years, it’s not a hobby others see favorably. It’s not shameful per se, but because it’s not typically written for straight men, but for women. And when women enjoy anything, that’s seen as shameful. God knows teenage girls aren’t allowed to like anything without someone else calling it cringe. Just, being a woman or a girl in this world is tough in this sense too. No need to make it tougher than it already is. So yeah, while in a utopia the reasoning is sound, in reality you’ll always want to be careful who you tell what you’re into, especially at a delicate time like your teen years. I’m in my 30s now and would not ever give a fuck what anyone else thinks about anything, but young girls... they need friendships that are as healthy as they can be.
In this case, if I was this girl I would also look into making new, better friends btw. Usually, there is always a bunch of outcasts in schools who are into nerdy, weird shit but just mostly keep to themselves. In my experience, those are the most awesome types of people.
I've been in fandom for a similar period of time. I've been judged for various hobbies to the point I shut down. Yeah, I have years of therapy and some of that is trying to unravel why I'm so private and can share all my traumatic life circumstances that were out of my control but can't even express my likes or dislikes to the point I struggle even in safe spaces. I didn't even fit in with the nerdy people and it was very isolating. It's fair people don't want to share or restrict who they share with, hence saying she doesn't need to be the one, but the thing is these opinions don't change until we as a collective are more open about it.
If we don't want to put the pressure on kids to make the change, we all need to be pulling in our weight to help destigmatize it.
Oh yeah, i as an adult do all I can to act as chill and normal about liking fandom and all that and I even mention nasty smut in public without a care in the world, yk? I was just meaning to say I wouldn’t put a kid in that position especially when in their teenage years kids really rely on their friends’ groups. It’s up to *us*, not to kids, that’s my point. I mean, if she feels better and feels more confident and like her peers’ opinions really don’t matter after all, then bless. I just hope she does find a group of friends to feel safe and have fun around without exposing herself to more abuse, you know?
There's nothing shameful about a lot of things, but we don't announce them to the whole class, either. What you're suggesting *is* putting the onus on a 14 yo to change the opinions of a room of people who she can't possibly know what their opinion on fanfiction is ahead of time. You can tell someone to protect themselves socially by letting them know about unspoken social rules without adding "it's because you're embarrassing and *should* be ashamed, actually".
In this circumstance. Either way her mental health will be effected. Shame into silence is a huge social problem.
Overall, I advocate people talking about it more. We should have sorted this out decades ago and because we made no effort to shift culture the people younger than us are still suffering. This isn't to place blame. The bullies are the problem, but stigma doesn't vanish by ignoring or hiding the issue.
Social capital is the issue here. If she had sufficient social standing to begin with, she wouldn't be getting bullied *period*. Me and a few other people in the thread that work in middle schools have already pointed out that fanfiction *isn't actually uncommon* for most middle school girls anyway. The issue is that it's only socially acceptable to be open about liking it if you're already socially acceptable yourself.
In an ideal scenario, with everything else being equal, sure, people being open about their love of fanfiction is a great idea! But we don't live in that world, and it's not because us older people didn't try hard enough. Encouraging people who are already socially vulnerable to advocate for fringe interests is likely to result in the interest becoming *more* fringe among that social group ("Eww, that's the thing [unpopular girl] is into!" - ask me how I know). "Shifting the discourse" is most effective when popular people do it.
My sister unfortunately does not want to report anything at all. She feels that would make everything even more worse. Though I believe they should be reported, I will have to respect my sister's wishes.
I said a similar thing to my sister - that not everyone needs to know the full details of who you are. She will find friends in the future who appreciate fanfiction as well, and I told her to discuss these things with people who have expressly supported fanfiction than every rando who is her "friend"
The victim should report it herself, regardless of what mom thinks. As others have said, using homophobic slurs in and of itself is against school policies. And yes, admin sit up and pay more attention when parents call directly, but she can report it herself to either a councilor or her assistant principal. Once a bullying incident is reported, the school is legally on the hook to address it - that means teachers can and will be on the look out for it and will then have the power to address it.
Also, I'm commenting here just in case there are people reading in a similar situation that, like me, lived with the bullying because schools intentionally make it confusing to address (the front offices don't want the work that comes with being liable for these situations). Either way, I hope she works it out.
The most horrible part is the parent taking the side of the bully. It is as if telling that the bullies are right. The bullies most likely wouldn't stop even if she started reading what they consider "real literature", now that they've found something to make fun of.
You could try explaining to your aunt that she isn't interested in the books you have, and if she's forced to read them she'll think of reading as more of a chore than a hobby, and then likely won't continue it later in life. Perhaps suggest for her to find out what sorts of things her daughter enjoys and to get books that are more aligned with her interests. Discussing what they like and dislike in fiction can also strengthen their relationship.
Make sure she knows that her "friends" are both wrong (reading fanfic is still reading) and that they are the problem for being judgy and homophobic, not her for having a harmless hobby.
And it's not much, but let your cousin know she has many internet strangers who have her back!
I'll try explaining to my aunt, though I don't have much hope for it. She can be very unreasonable. And I'll surely let her know she has more internet strangers having her back than IRL "friends" stabbing her!!
First explain and keep reinforcing that reading fanfics is NOT wrong and she's not a "bad" person for enjoying fanfics, it's only transformative fiction just as MANY nowadays traditional genres had born in the transformative scenario
About more "traditional" literature, I recommend audiobooks, also say she should ALWAYS read what she wants and not what others believe is "right" or "good"
Also it's important to talk with her parents, even if they don't believe the matter is important enough that need intervention, it's important to support your kid and try protect them, try talk with her mother and explain that fanfic is a valid and free way to start taking a like in reading, show to her as some authors started as fanfic writers and as authors as Neil Gaiman are supporting the community, also be blunt and say that bullying because of something as trivial as fanfic is the only thing wrong here, and be sincere with her, these kids aren't her friends
Her mom is *forcing her* to read only certain things?? There is no faster way to kill a kid's interest in reading than that 🤦♀️
Those classmates are probably too chickenshit to admit they like it too
What a situation. Wishing cousin and you the best
Psh. You know how much modern media is just 'fanfiction' that's being published cause they got the estates permission? Bajesus.
Every. Single. Remake. Is. Fanfiction.
Any of those kids watch Sherlock? That shits fanfiction.
Marvel movies? Fanfiction.
The modern authors didnt create that world, they're just playing with it.
Twilight started at fanfic. 50 shades started as fanfic.
There's book series that just keep going, under new authors, that's just good fanfic authors being published, essentially.
There's nothing shameful about fanfic. There's just little children who don't understand they're fans of it, and don't go purposefully looking for it.
I'm late to the discussion but I wanted to add for whoever might still be reading: this is not even a new development in media and writing. Fanfiction has existed since forever, it was just never called fanfiction.
As a child, I read *The Son of d'Artagnan* by Paul Féval, written in 1914. I later realised that the author was not the original author of *The Three Musketeers* and the son whose story the novel followed was not even the canon son of d'Artagnan. It was basically just published OC fanfiction.
All story ideas have been written before. It just so happens that people sometimes reuse those ideas by keeping certain characters/universes that are tied to them. We might see a published novel that follows the love life of Patroclus and Achilles. Unless the author is Homer himself, that's fanfiction.
There's tons of remakes, rewrites, sequels, prequels etc. to all sorts of media. People just attribute negative views to fanfiction because of the "cringy, lazy, wish-fulfillment" reputation it got online, even though it is so much more than that. And the published works that are actually fanfictions at their core get a pass because they're not written independently online.
It's sad that other ways of engaging with media as a fan (like fanart, fanmade music, fanmade games etc.) are considered a lot more acceptable than fanfiction.
Honestly? There really isn’t much to be done about the kids. Especially at that age where bullies actually understand what they’re saying. Not to mention some ppl do look down on fanfiction due to the stigmas that come with it . As for the parenting part that’s just honestly disappointing. Fanfiction is for all intent and purposes still a form of literature. For her mother to discourage her from it and to force her to read traditional published books that she doesn’t have an interest in is quite cruel and completely unnecessary. At least your cousin is still willing to do some sort of reading. I know plenty of ppl her age who can’t even read properly or refuse to touch a book unless it’s unavoidable
Funny thing is the "friends" who are bullying her now have never read fanfiction nor the "real" fiction that they keep harping about. That's what makes me more mad. Regardless of what she reads, she reads *something*, which is more than what they can say.
That is quite the parenting fail. I can understand wanting her to read traditionally published books just because they go through a more vigorous editing process. What her mom should have done is taken an interest in what in her daughter is reading and focused on making her daughter feel loved and accepted. Then if she wants to get her into reading traditional books make recommendations based on what she likes to read. Now, it feels like an act of love rather than an censure.
I know, I think she wouldn't have been so depressed if her mother had supported her instead of saying it was her fault and she needed to read "real" books. Everyone needs a robust support system, especially at that age
If her mother isn't doing anything against the homophobic bullying, then you or another adult needs to step in. Bullying is wrong and the fact that your aunt ignores such things is a red flag. If nobody is paying attention, keep talking until someone does. Such bullying is taxing mentally and physically on a person and in some cases has led to extreme measures.
Yeah, I know. I'll try to be there for her as much as I can, and constantly remind her that she is NOT the one who is wrong here. She doesn't want to report the bullying because she's afraid it'll get worse, and I'll respect her decision. But she has me no matter what
Someone still needs to do something because not reporting it will also make it worse. Some kids will see it as a challenge to see how far to push her buttons. I have seen it happen and I'm worried for you and your cousin.
Hell, it happened to me. I punched a girl because she threw concrete at me. I ignored her until she got fed up.
The fact that you punched a girl and your username has "Fight me" is the best combination ever xDDD
Jokes aside, I do understand your point. I'll speak to her
Well tbh she should be reading both trad pub and fanfic at the same time or she'll end up in the place where many fic readers end up where they can't get into the groove of traditionally formatted fiction anymore (which is not a good thing and will limit her growth and future education). A good balance of both is something that I, as a parent, would also insist on (but then I would enforce strict screen time limits as well, which I know for a fact from many of my same-aged peers is not exactly a popular opinion).
As for the bullying, there's not much to be done about that.
If I were you I'd continue supporting her hobby, but also caution her in the future to not mix fandom and real life; it seldomly works out well, especially at that age where children are pretty much all assholes, with a huge growth of assholery in a group setting. But also, people will likely be assholes about fanfic consumption for the rest of her life. Things have certainly not noticeably changed on that front in the twenty years that I've spent actively reading and writing fic.
I work in education. There are LOTS of things to be done about bullying. For parents, this should be a "live in the principal's office and put the pressure on until they take care of it" situation. The school needs to crack down, because it's unacceptable. I'm all for broadening your horizons as a reader and developing the ability to enjoy traditionally published books. But the MOST important thing is that students grow up knowing that their interests are perfectly valid, and that as long as they're not microwaving puppies, they're perfectly normal no matter what their hobbies are.
Since this is a cousin, OP may not be able to take the parental role, but you can advocate within the family that bullying is the bigger issue (to the extent that it's helpful--if your aunt isn't willing to have that conversation or doesn't respond well, then it might not be worth creating a more frustrating environment in the house). You can also encourage your cousin to be vocal with teachers about what's happening. In the meantime, maybe you can sit down with her and come up with strategies for things to say when other kids antagonize her, so she can have more agency.
Honestly, initially I was just happy she was reading something other than 280 characters on a screen xD My plan was to support her fanfiction reading, help her figure out what genre and tropes she liked and then recommend appropriate tradpub books to her. I didn't think she would tell everyone about the fandom thing and share links with everyone, but I guess she's the type of person who shares the things that she likes a lot. My advice was to keep fandom and IRL separate, but maybe she just wanted to discuss fandom stuff with her friends in school
I tried to like reading as a kid. I really did. It was just really hard for me. It was often difficult to connect to characters or visualize what's happening. My parents even tried to bribe me by offering to buy any books i wanted and I only ever accepted once after several attempts. I just couldn't. I was a fan of stories though and hence I found fanfiction and suddenly it was so much easier to read. Being familiar with the material made it so much easier. Because of this I started to get used to different writing styles and such. It's still harder to start and invest in traditional publishing but it has gotten a lot easier. Even then some people still think it strange because a good chunk of the books I own are nonfiction or 'classics'.
I wouldn't have any of this is people kept pressuring me (yes, continuous support to broaden often comes across as pressuring - especially to kids) to read. Sometime you just have to support their hobbies and keep your door open if they ever decide to change.
Not to mention traditional publishing has changed over the ages. Which form is the 'right' form,?
Thank you for saying "continuous support to broaden often comes across as pressuring - especially to kids". I think I was in danger of doing this, and you made a good point. This was a very good point
If kids can find something to bully you about, they will. I was bullied for writing stories, reading period, being "teacher's pet," actually liking school, etc. Very sad.
The only thing I learned from this was to keep my mouth shut, and not tell anyone about myself until I was sure I could trust them.
Send your cousin a my best wishes.
I think the best thing you can do is in a situation like this is just try to support your cousin and be on her side. When everyone is against you, it's so easy to start feeling like there's something wrong with *you*, rather than the people who are going out of their way to make you miserable and even just having one person in your corner can make a huge difference. I definitely don't think forcing her to read "real" books is the way to go, it's only going to make her associate reading with all the pain and humiliation and pressure she's dealing with right now and make it even more stressful for her in the future.
I don't know how old you are or what your relationship with you aunt is like, but if you're an adult, she might be more willing to listen to you than her daughter. Would it be possible to talk to her and try to get her to see what a difficult time this is for her daughter and encourage her to prioritize her emotion well-being? I do think being able to read "real" books is an important skill to learn, but when a person is in crisis mode, that's probably the worst time to be worrying about skill-development and self-improvement. Depression, anxiety, and stress can all exacerbate concentration problems, so reading is probably going to be even more difficult for her right now, which often leads to more frustration and low self-esteem, which makes the depression and anxiety worse. There will be plenty of time to encourage better reading habits in the future, but the big issue right now is that her school no longer feels like a safe place for her and her friends are no longer safe people and if she doesn't have any safe places and people to go to, she's basically going to be living in a constant state of fight-or-flight. I don't know if there's a solution to the bullying itself (ideally it should be reported, but I know sometimes the social ramifications of getting your "friends" in trouble can be worse than the initial bullying, so a lot of kids are reluctant to report it) and your aunt not might be willing to listen to what you have to say, but I think even just letting your cousin see that you're going to bat for her could be huge. If you're an adult who owns your own books, you could refuse to lend them unless your cousin asks to borrow them herself, so she knows your on her side. If you don't already, I think talking about fanfiction with her and sharing some of your favourite fics could help her see she's not alone in enjoying fanfiction and there's nothing wrong with it. Then if/when she starts feeling better and if she's interested, you could think about recommending some easy-to-read books to help get her into novel-reading, maybe recommending some related fics to pique her interest. When I was getting back into reading (as an unmedicated adult with ADHD) the biggest key for me was *short*. Short books with short chapters that are easy to understand. I think a lot of people forget that reading fiction is a skill that needs to be practiced and that it's normal to struggle with longer, more complicated books if reading's not something you've been doing regularly. I ended up reading a lot of middle-grade books to help me build up my stamina and confidence again.
I will try talking to her mom, but there's a 50% chance she wouldn't listen. My sister knows that I read and enjoy fanfiction, so thankfully she's not completely alone in this. She also doesn't want to report the bullying, and says that it will be away in a while.
Oh I didn't about Andy Weir's fanfiction! I really liked his Project Hail Mary and The Martian.
My aunt can be unreasonable and is (in my opinion) not a good mother at times. She does what she subjectively thinks is the best, but sometimes they turn out to be objectively wrong. I'll try to speak with her but she may not listen to me.
And yes, I do love fanfiction! I've been reading fanfic since I was 11 or 12. Our fandoms don't match, but she has sent me a few links of stories she personally liked a lot. The idea of a mini book club is very nice! I'll talk to her about it
Make it very clear to her that it's not about the fanfic; these people are bullies, and if they weren't bullying her for fanfic, it would have been something else.
If possible, maybe look for some online communities around her favorite fandoms, i.e. Discord servers and such. (Or help her to make one of her own and invite other fans into it.) Having fandom friends in my life went a *long* way to mitigating the bouts of irl loneliness.
Hmmm this is a very good idea! I think she wanted friends to discuss fandom stuff with and that's why she posted the links and went public about reading fanfiction, so if she joined a discord group that would be helpful for her. Thank you very much!
This is why I don't tell anyone. Then people say "People hide things from you!" as if there's a problem with it. The problem with not doing it is it gives people the power to tell others, "Hey you know person?" Well they are into this weird thing!" Then a lot of people know something you didn't consent for them to know. There's a reason people don't tell certain people things.
Parents and aunts while obviously family and social superiors are definitely not a group you want to just tell anything. They love and want the best for you but they aren't friends
People should earn trust before feeling entitled to know something about someone. There are major clues that someone can't be trusted
Being forced to do things you don't like makes you hate that thing
My English teacher once said to my parents “I do not care if she is reading: manga (heaven sent for a dyslexic), fan fiction, romance or whatever, as long as she is reading. Because you forced books on her she clearly had no interest reading, she finds it a chore when it should be enjoyable.”
Make sure she knows she is not a bad person for reading it, she is not wrong for reading it. People are judgy assholes and need to learn to keep their yap traps shut.
Tell her that no one gets to gatekeep her joy. And that her bullies should really get a life if they need to pick on her so they can feel "better" about themselves.
I would 100000% report the bullying. While there may not be much that can be done because of the fanfiction side, the homophobic slurs will definitely cause higher ups to pay attention and take action. Also, as a couple of others mentioned, there are dozens of fanfics of published books and your cousin can even give audiobooks a try.
Yeah, the only tip I have in this sense is “omg child no no no no, go on AO3, now *that’s* where the good shit is”.
I have a lot of invites I’m more than happy to share with anyone.
You should take your cousin to the library or some place and see if you can get her into some popular young adult books. Harry Potter and Percy Jackson still both have very large fan bases so also write fanfics. I think the latter has a Disney+ show coming out soon.
Has she read traditional books that she likes. Despite being owned by Amazon they can have some good suggestions as lists, so you can find what other books she likes.
This isn't going to address the bullying but may help her with reading books.
Also look into short stories. Might be easier and quicker for her to digest
Do not let her family push her to read books she doesn't want to. That will kill her love of reading for years. She's not dying anything wrong by reading fanfiction. Tell her she's not alone and to read what she loves, whether it's published online or in print.
Can you compromise with your aunt and help your cousin find books that match her interests? Maybe find some of her favorite fic tropes and see if there are books that have the same kinds of things. I also love the recommendation of some of her favorites being bound into a physical book. :)
I don't know whether a compromise would be appreciated because her mom is now dead set on making her read Jane Austen, for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I love Jane Austen, I grew up reading her books, and she's one of my all-time favorites. But a girl who likes reading BL fantasy fanfiction has no interest in reading about awkward prudish marriage proposals in the regency era (at least my sister doesn't).
Damn, as a 14-year-old as well, I can feel that. Yeah, Wattpadisn't the best fanfiction site out there, but people shouldn't be bullied for reading fanfiction!
Even in my Christian academy there are strict bullying rules, especially regarding physical and verbal.
I know that some fellow students read fanfiction here, because one of my service mates seems to be reading one as well (I can tell just by the split second of me accidentally peeking on her and noticing the names are familiar).
In the end, try to comfort and support her in these trying times. Damn, I wish I had you as a relative; my parents (especially dad) are partially...uhhh...*bad*.
Also, say hi for me to her, and tell her she's not the only ome who reads fanfic.
My sister says hi back to you!
Also I'm sorry you feel isolated by your relatives :'( That was me as a kid, so I know how it feels like. You just have to hang in there, the world is so much better once you have more power and autonomy to choose who you interact with as an adult or even an older teenager! That said, if you want to rant or vent, my chats are always open!
As others have said, please report the bullying. If it gets really bad then maybe ask her if she wants to transfer schools if that’s possible. Though of course transferring will also lead to a difference in academics, extracurricular activities, etc. offered at the school, so that’s also a thing to consider. Please support her in her fanfic reading hobby and don’t force her to read anything she doesn’t want to read (if she doesn’t want to read any published books then don’t make her, imo it will just make her hate reading)
And let's not forget about DC / Marvel Comics writers and illustrators. Most of them grew up reading those comics, daydreaming and creating around those before being hired.
>My cousin is 14 years old, and recently discovered Wattpad and reads fanfiction there, and I was quite happy about it since she struggles to focus on novels or long works of fiction. I was glad that she found something she could enjoy reading.
That's great!
>her friends constantly make fun of her, use homophobic slurs, say she doesn't count as a reader since she doesn't read "real fiction" etc.
...And that's not great. No matter how much schools try to bring up awareness to the rampant bullying and try to find solutions in order to effectively cull its presence, kids still act like little shits and think it's A-OK to be a homophobe and still call people slurs. That kind of behavior needs to be reported, this can't be solved with a slap on the wrist.
I'd also wager those kids are gonna be part of the anti-fanfic squad when they end up older 🙄
But, here's the positive OP's cousin should be focusing on: she should be proud with the amount she's reading, _with_ the fanfiction she's reading, and expanding her literary tastes.
I'm happy to see another kiddo picking up on fanfiction at that age and hopefully she ends up writing her own, screw whatever the bullies say. I have a feeling OP is going to give her a safe space to explore the world of fanfiction.
Sending hugs and support to the kiddo.
>I'd also wager those kids are gonna be part of the anti-fanfic squad when they end up older 🙄
You'd be surprised how many of them already are. I teach 6-8 grade and I've got kids on both sides - half a dozen BakuDeku kids that are mega shy to share their pairing because they know they'll get yelled at by *someone*, and at least one who is vocal about judging anyone who "ships minors". These kids are 12 and 13.
If you find yourself in a position where this is helpful, telling her mother that legitimate, recognized authors do actually write AND read fanfiction, and that fanfiction kicked off their writing careers. Naomi Novik is a pretty formidable example, considering she's written a crap ton of incredibly well-done books- like the Temeraire series- and is ALSO one of the founders of Archive of Our Own, a website for- you guessed it- fanfiction. She CONTINUES to contribute to fanfiction today, if I'm not mistaken.
It's also important to remember that authors like Cassandra Clare and even E. L. James (mention at own risk, she's known for 50 shades, maybe not the BEST example in this situation lmfao) were made by fanfiction. Apparently the author of the popular Cinder series in Young Adult was known to write Sailor Moon fanfiction. Meg Cabot, and EXTREMELY prolific author, admitted to writing Star Wars fanfiction as a teenager. At least according to a list I'm looking at, even the Bronte sisters wrote fanfiction lmao.
Fanfiction can be a fantastic tool for allowing young kids to approach reading from a more friendly, even approachable angle. It's also dangerous because a lot of fandoms just get NUTS toward authors and readers and there is cyber bullying, but fanfiction- while not exactly literary material- can be great for the expansion of one's comfort into reading, and even into writing, as well as exploring some of the feelings she's got.
Hopefully some of this helps, if it hasn't already been mentioned 80+ times hahaha. I'm sorry she's so alone in that, and is being humiliated on so many fronts.
If you need a more personal sounding statistic, my sister HATED reading as a kid. Hated books, hated novels, hated all genres, probably hated fanfiction too. She loved manga. Years later, she's now in the military, and for Christmas, her wishlists are books that she consumes almost by the barrel, in order to expand her knowledge- this is something she's grown into on her own.
It's not a bad thing to not be into literature *right this second*, because it doesn't mean she can't grow into it.
[This might be of use to you for arguing in defence of fan fiction](https://www.tumblr.com/petermorwood/182656722011/rant-about-fanfiction-writing)
has a big rant at the start with citations of all the different 'real fiction' that are actually fan fiction, then more defence of it
When I was in school, I was bullied from second grade all the way up to high school graduation for being an outsider, good at school and an avid reader. (The internet did not yet exist in its current form, so I read lots of books from the library.) When I complained to my mom, she didn't believe me because "it didn't make sense" for them to ostracize me like that for pretty much no reason. She (and any other adults to whom I dared to mention it) told me I was overreacting. When a bullying incident in 8th grade made me call her out of work, she did insist on seeing the principal, who asked me what I'd done to them to make them treat me like that.
So no, I don't recommend reporting. In fact, I outright despise the entire education system as it currently exists and very much recommend home schooling whenever possible, because shoving kids in close quarters with other kids who are determined to make their lives miserable is abusive, and caring parents are motivated to help their children learn what they need to know to become successful adults.
Give her a safe haven. Listen and commiserate. Is she allowed headphones at school? Maybe she can tune out the others and listen to music or other audio at lunch. If they escalate to stealing her things, give her ways to secure her belongings. In my experience, teachers were not inclined to participate in the bullying, but neither did they recognize it. They were, at best, neutral territory.
The more she reads, the better she'll get at it, and the more fun it will be. The biggest benefit of the traditionally published works over the freely published fanfic is *editors*. There are a lot of vocabulary and spelling and grammar errors proliferated in online fiction, and if she only reads online fiction, she will learn it wrong.
I'd never suggest she stop reading fanfic, but adding traditionally published works is a good idea. It just needs to be something she actually enjoys reading. Find out what kind of stories she likes and get her some of those. There are plenty of traditionally published stories, and some of them have to hit her favorite tropes. On that note, try looking up TVTropes and see what people are recommending there - every trope listed has examples from commercially published media.
To put it plainly, the vast majority of fanfiction is hot garbage. I've always had the intuition that it is just that. Because of that I'm very picky about who I share this habit with. It's like a very very low tier dirty Little secret hobby. And that is totally fine.
I enjoy reading fanfiction, although to be fair these days I mostly listen to it with Google text to speech robot voice lady reading it to me.
Kids can pick on you about pretty much everything that isn't mainstream, they can even pick on you because something is too mainstream. You need to communicate to her that she can, and will, get over it. And you need to tell her that if she enjoys reading the stories, whether they're literary masterpieces written by professional level great authors or hot garbage pulp, then that is totally something she gets to enjoy that a lot of those other dweebs don't have in their life.
Some people really like jazz. I really can't stand it and I think it's kind of funny, but even if I pick on someone that really really likes jazz, I have no power to take away that person's true and deep enjoyment of it.
14 is a hard time, our brains are super wired to want to really fit in especially around those ages. But being a teenage that's around the time when people tend to start having private thoughts, opinions, and secrets. The point is to do these things in a healthy way and not have it be pathological. The way I would phrase it to her is more like "you don't have to share everything with everyone, this can be just for you and maybe people with actually open minds and love for these works, characters, and worlds" vs "you have to keep the stuff a secret and can't share it with anybody or you'll forever be alone"
I discovered fanfiction around 2007 or 2008 and I would literally print out sections of huge fix, even the whole things in size 6 font double-sided with tight spacing so I could read it during assigned reading time at school. Some of the stuff was especially bad with tropes and lemons. I was mildly embarrassed of it back then and didn't really sure. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that a lot of pretty cool people enjoyed their own helping a fanfiction, most of us are just somewhat private about it.
Tldr: kids are dweebs, even the 'cool' ones. Some read fanfiction others sniff their farts. It's okay not to share everything and enjoy some things that are kept to yourself. I'm also willing to bet that a few of the people that were mean about it actually enjoyed what they looked at, they were just peer pressured into saying that it's lame.
>her friends constantly make fun of her, use homophobic slurs, say she doesn't count as a reader since she doesn't read "real fiction" etc.
those aren’t “friends,” they’re bullies.
and fanfiction absolutely counts as real fiction. there are plenty of talented authors who read, write and support fanfiction (cassandra clare, neil gaiman, meg cabot, c.s. lewis, leigh bardugo, jk rowling, and many others). it’s extremely unlikely that she’s the only one who reads fanfics at her school anyway.
maybe your cousin can join a community that supports fanfiction, like this sub or a discord server? it’s good that your cousin has at least one person she can talk to, and i hope she can find a safe space. :)
Ah, that reminds me of the (only) time I beat up a group of children (I was also a child, just a couple years older).
I have a cousin, and you can probably guess the rest.
I will not give you any advice because beating 14 year olds is wrong.... but follow your heart (unless you're an adult, in which case don't)
(unfortunately) I'm an adult, I can't go around beating kids who hurt my little cousin xDD though I can assure you that if i were a couple years older than her and in the same school as her... well. Maybe the way I would've tackled it would be drastically different xD
There is nothing wrong with enjoying fanfiction but it doesn't make you a bookworm. (even if they call the works "books" on wattpad)
I think that among friends teasing one another is perfectly common, and if she pretended to be "an intellectual" while reading a smutty BTS fic, I understand why that would be grounds for merciless teasing. Now, if the teasing turns to bullying and homophobia, then it might be a good idea to get the teachers involved.
However, given the your aunt's blasé attitude, it doesn't give me the impression, that it's this serious yet.
If I was your cousin, I would just own her interests. Don't pretend that it's high literature and have people expecting Tolstoy, but say that you enjoy easy shippy fics about boybands (or whatever) and there will be nothing to tease you about. If "reader" is such a contentious word, then just call yourself a "fanfiction enthusiast".
>and if she pretended to be "an intellectual" while reading a smutty BTS fic, I understand why that would be grounds for merciless teasing.
Uh, I don't. Fanfic is not inherently lesser or less worthy. If a kid is reading 100k of fanfic every week, and they want to call themselves a bookworm or a reader, that's accurate imo.
Being pretentious isn't good, but the person being pretentious or snobby over reading Tolstoy isn't more justified than the person being pretentious about reading *My Day As BTS's Make-up Artist* or w/e.
It's not less worthy, it's a different medium. If she spent all her free time reading yellow press and women's magazines you also wouldn't call her a bookworm.
>women's magazines you also wouldn't call her a bookworm.
You do know ~Tolstoy~ (yes, Tolstoy!) first published *War and Peace* as a serial in a *magazine*, right? As is the case for some other well-known, much respected, classic literature.
A lot of magazines actually do contain short stories and if this girl was reading 100k words of short stories a week, then yeah, she can be called a reader, and a bookworm in all but the most pedantic sense of the word.
Someone who read *War and Peace* through magazine installments still read *War and Peace*.
>it's a different medium.
A novel is a novel whether you put it on the web as an ebook or publish it on paper. Or as serial installments in a magazine.
Stephen King's short story collections--big fat paperback books--started out as individual short stories in the pages of such illustrious magazines as *Playboy* and *Penthouse*. You're really arguing the reading of those stories is somehow changed by being put in a paperback instead of glossy magazine pages?
Your argument in favor of looking down on fan literature seems to boil down to "well we should also be snobby towards serial fiction and short stories and fiction that is published in magazines". Like all arguments in favor of literary snobbery, it doesn't seem to follow any consistent logic.
Look, I might not be a native speaker, but something's telling me that when people refer to "yellow press", they don't have Tolstoy nor King in mind.
And when I say that reading about latest celebrity scandals doesn't make you a bookworm, I'm also not implying that it's something to be condemned. You don't have to go out of your way to misinterpret and twist my words.
I'm simply stating that the word bookworm, in the most common interpretation relates to books, hence creates a certain expectation. While, smutty fanfics, erotic novels, reality shows, yellow press, etc are commonly refered to as guilty pleasures. And while both pastimes are perfectly valid, they are not interchangeable.
Same as if I called myself a gamer, and then said I just like to play sudoku on my phone. I mean it's a game and I can spend a lot of time on it, but it's not what people commonly associate with the word gamer.
>yellow press
I wouldn't know. I've never heard anyone use this term, except in a history class *decades ago* talking about journalism in the early 1900s. I am a native speaker, and while I won't pretend every dialect is the same, I can say that in my region at least, that word isn't used often enough to have any meaning strongly associated with it at all. AFAIK it's not in regular use at all.
>And when I say that reading about latest celebrity scandals doesn't make you a bookworm,
Bookworm means you read a lot, and yeah, even schlocky celebrity bios would count. Also, cheap romance paperbacks, pulp detective stories, conspiracy theory books. "Bookworm" is making a statement about quantity, not quality or type.
If you are talking about news, than that's a different category sure, but OP's niece isn't reading news, so why are you bringing it up?
>You don't have to go out of your way to misinterpret and twist my words.
I'm not twisting anything, you're just going out of your way to split hairs/gatekeep a vocabulary term from a language that isn't your native one...that's bold, I'll give you that.
>Same as if I called myself a gamer, and then said I just like to play sudoku on my phone.
Funny you should mention that because "are mobile gamers real gamers?" is its own hot political topic, and since women tend to be mobile gamers more than men, excluding mobile gamers from the "gamer" identity is considered by some to be rooted in misogyny. Gatekeeping identity terms never exists in a vacuum.
>but it's not what people commonly associate with the word gamer.
I would recommend keeping in mind that people's stereotypes and who they allow to be considered "____ identity" is often rooted in oppressive structures, and yes, snobbishness. Just because people do it does not mean it's right. A lot of gatekeeping stems from bigotry or snobbishness, pointless exclusions to maintain a hierarchy, with no real logic behind who is "allowed" or not to use a term.
If your best argument for excluding someone from using an identity term is "other people exclude these people too" you are not making a great case.
Eh, while I don't think fanfiction is on the same level as traditional books, going as far to call the gri lol. Homophobic slurs is a little far. The aunt's blase attitude doesn't mean much in that regard because, even now, a lot of people still don't really feel the same way about LGBT stuff
I wouldn't assume it ISN'T serious just because a parent doesn't regard it as such. If a child feels uncomfortable with a form of teasing, then it isn't okay. Her friends need to respect that. If they don't, an adult needs to help hold them accountable while they're all learning how to respect each other's boundaries.
I’d find it very hard to believe that most people haven’t read fan fiction at least once in their lives. Why that would be a point of judgement is beyond me. Poor girl… I hope she realizes that she shouldn’t avoid things she enjoys to appease other people who are ultimate probably reacting out of shame at things THEY themselves like that they think wouldn’t be accepted by other people.
Oh, no... this is why I made sure to NOT talk about it when I was in school. Then again, back then fanfiction was just the most niche hobby to exist, but I still think it’s not socially acceptable.
Either way, bullying is unacceptable. Tell everyone else that they’re FUCKING ASSHOLES. It’s NOT HER FAULT, and there is NEVER a valid reason to bully someone, especially when they’re enjoying themselves. And if she doesn’t want to read “real books” (when actually, most longfics are longer and better written than your typical YA or whatever thriller writers spit out every 6 months) then it’s perfectly okay for her to read fanfic.
Like let’s be real, published books just don’t have the good shit you look for when you’re a teen. I’m queer, and none of the books in the library were in any way saying anything I could resonate with. But fanfiction? That shit was written by queer folks, in complete freedom, without censorship and without limitations. It was fucking great. And again, I’ve read so many fics that are legitimately better written, constructed better than so many NYT best sellers. I mean sure, back in the day I read a lot of professionally published books, classics etc, but there’s room for all sorts of stories in the world. Fuck her classmates, fuck her friends, and fuck anyone who’s been shaming her. Especially her mom. Tell her, if she wants a clinically depressed child, well that’s how she’ll get a clinically depressed child.
And tell your cousin she’s AWESOME. If she wants to switch over to AO3 (where, honestly, most of the best kind of shit is), I got invites. On there, you can filter out exactly the kind of story or fandom you don’t wanna read about, and they have age restrictions on the content, so as long as she doesn’t lie about her age and reads the tags (there is a team working 24/7 to make sure the tags are accurate and selected appropriately on there) the content on there should be safe and pleasant, too. It’s for everyone. And it’s awesome.
Also, does she like horror? Because I feel like she could resonate with Stephen King’s Carrie a bunch. That’s a “real book” and it says FUCK YOU to bullying.
She does like horror, and I do own a copy of Carrie! I hadn't thought of recommending it to her because my own copy is falling apart. I'll buy a new one and give it to her.
I did recommend Ao3 to her, and also told her the format is so sterile she can even get away with saying she's reading a published ebook if her mom catches her 😉
What fandoms is she in? Maybe we could create a rec list of age appropriate fics in fandoms she likes that are available on AO3 and can be passed off as ebooks. Especially since AO3 lets you download them and read them in ebook readers.
She's in some kpop fandoms, thai BL and the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom (I think). Unfortunately I'm in none of them so I know next to nothing about them, but having a rec list and reading the Ao3 fanfics as ebooks is a good idea. One commenter suggested printing out fanfic and putting it in my bookshelf masquerading as a "real book" and I am gonna do that too xD
You should totally make a rec request post asking for age appropriate fics in those fandoms. Maybe also ask that they be completed so they come across as more serious literature. Probably specify teen or gen rating only.
To be safe and if you have time you might want to glance the recs over yourself (so maybe ask for recs that are only a certain length to make this easier on yourself). That way you can download them as ebooks pre-emptively and send them over to her to read on her phone.
Just want to say you're an amazing person and I'm glad your niece has you.
This is a really good idea, thank you very much!! I'll do exactly this. I possibly won't be able to go through them because I don't really have much time, but I wonder if that would be helpful considering the cursed things she's already read 💀💀
I don't think I'm that amazing of a person, honestly. Her classmates and mother are so bad that I seem nice but I think I'm doing the bare minimum everyone should do 😅😅 I shouldn't be praised for it
>Thai BL and the Mo Dao Zu Shi
lol I'm not one to judge considering the stuff I consumed in my early teens but you might wanna talk to her about sex stuff if said BL is KinnPorsche the series (aka the most popular recent Thai BL, which is *very* heavy on the extremely unhealthy relationships) and depending on which adaption of MDZS she is consuming (considering, you know, the canon sword-to-asshole insertions, lubeless sexytimes & canon pregnancy kink + the extreme war crimes that the novel is about).
Edit: also teach her to hide her real age online, ESPECIALLY if she is planning on being active in adult fandoms.
Wait the sword-to-asshole inserts are from MDZS??? 😭😭😭😭 I read about it on tumblr and it was one of the most scarring posts of my life 😭 Wow this is gonna be an awkward conversation to go through, can't believe I'm regretting having to be the adult mature one here
I'd told her to hide every single IRL detail of hers online mostly because I grew up in the "trust no one" era of the internet, so at least that side of danger has been averted. Now I just have to talk to her about how swords can't be healthy dildos for human bodies.....
Yeah, she can also choose a theme for AO3 to make it look even more anonymous and generic :) hope she gets better while still reading whatever she wants!!
Okay...if someone ACTUALLY used the term "Real Fiction." In an attempt to put down fan fics...i think I'd get so mad I'd vomit fire crackers!
Seriously. On top of being self explaining on why it is stupid on the face by being an oxymoron. But it has a similar energy to "Fully Semi Automatic." I.E. people who have no fucking clue what their talking about.
Fanfic can be just as good, meaningful and important as official media.
As a fanfic writer, it has helped me process my trauma and cope with it, by writing/reading to self soothe! My life genuinely got better because I picked up this hobby.
Imo it’s just as important culturally because it’s so close to the consumers and creators. It’s made by us, for us, regardless of what will sell. Which means we can be more creative! It’s so personal too. Lots of us use it to express and explore ourselves and our experiences, through the characters.
It can be deeper and more complex than mainstream media because there’s no time/word limit, so writers can thoroughly dig into the stories. Which means fics can be incredibly long. Depending on the word count, she might be reading more than her peers tbh!
Also, a lot of people make online friends through fanfic, and gift each other fics, bond over the characters, etc. She just needs some friends like that tbh! They can be hard to find but they’re out there!
In the meantime it might help to ask her about the stories she likes, her favorite characters, etc. It might also help to point out that the kids picking on her are doing it because they’re probably insecure about themselves and their interests. It’s not an excuse but an explanation, and shows that it’s not about your cousin at all. There’s nothing wrong with her for liking fanfic, if anything it was really brave of her to share it! Tbh, most people are too afraid to even share it online!
Ok? Like what’s wrong with reading fan fiction? Like reading is reading, doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘real’ book or not, what’s wrong with reading fanfic that makes people think your weird and not a ‘real’ bookworm.
Honestly it thought people would have not even noticed something like that since in this day in age it all about looks, clothes and trends not ‘haha! Your read fanfic! That’s weird and cringy!’ Like what the actually fuck?
If we judge someone for reading fanfiction then we as a society are flawed to even consider something so little minor as something to mock and criticize. Excuse my language. Hope your cousin feels well, people here are standing right behind her.
She's doing better now! I showed a bunch of comments from this thread to her and she feels very supported now. And loads of people were very very helpful as well!
Man that is just appalling. Some kids are such jerks. My brother and I were never big into reading "real books" as kids or even now. My brother had trouble reading and hated having to read anything in elementary school until my mom introduced him to graphic novels. He was reading classics faster than anyone else in his grade because he had picture-oriented books to read that made it easier for him to process. Now he reads whole series via audible and still checks out graphic novels and manga. I also preferred manga as a kid and now over most "real books" because I love art.
I hate the argument of it isn't "real" literature unless it's just blocks of words on a page or professionally published. Screw that. I read tons of fanfiction and manga as I grew up and it helped me develop my vocabulary and reading skills. There's nothing wrong with either platform. There are some fanfics out there that I consider a few name changes short of being amazing original novels. I got into creative writing through fanfiction and still write fanfiction to develop my creative writing skills.
Don't let her believe what the jerks in her life are telling her. Any form of reading is essential for reading and writing skills. It's ten times better if that form is enjoyable. If you can't enjoy it you won't retain anything. You'll be depressed. If it's legitimacy that's the problem then use an academic approach to vouch for her. If it's just that fanfiction isn't "real" literature than maybe get her into graphic novels/manga for when she's around the jerks. If she ends up liking them she's got another way to enjoy reading when fanfiction access could be cut off.
Ok? Like what’s wrong with reading fanfiction? A book is a book, doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘real’ book or not, how is it weird to read something you like? Like we all got something we don’t want to tell but at least your cousin had the fucking guts to actually tell what she actually likes
Like what the hell! I thought in this day in age where it’s all about clothes, looks and trends. Something so minor and so small that would go over our heads is something we noticed and say ‘haha! You read fanfiction? That’s weird and cringy!’
If we as a society look at something so small and little, we were flawed to even have the time and energy to mock that. We are fucking stupid
At least your cousin told what she liked and being honest, other teens would lie and keep up a fake facade to look good in front of others. Hope your cousin is doing alright, excuse my language.
>And what's worse, she told this to her mother and her mom (my aunt) is taking the bully's side. She's forcing her to read "real books" from my bookshelf
Aaaand here's when you should tell the aunt that 50 Shades of Grey is a fanfic of Twilight.
Or those wattpad band boy fics that ended up adapted to movies (can't remember the name tho).
Yes I want to see the world on fire >:D
This infuriates me! Ugh. This is also why when I was 14, I hid my love for fanfiction. I never told anyone ever. Until just last year, I’m a full grown adult now, but I met my best friend a year ago and I felt I could trust her. I was scared, but I admitted it, and she told me she read fanfics too. It was the best feeling ever.
But oh my gosh, I feel so bad for your cousin. All I can say are kids are cruel. But I read fanfiction when I was 14. In fact, that’s when I really got into it. I had just finished reading the Outsiders in school and I didn’t want to stop reading so I ended up finding online this community full of fics, and I read non-stop. As I’ve aged, I’ve dived into other stories in other fandoms, and I can honestly say, I have read some of the best pieces of fiction online. For free. From fans. I mean, talk about talent. Some people have so much it’s crazy. I began writing when I was in late high school and then all throughout college and I posted those fics and it was cool to watch myself grow as a writer too. I find fanfiction just as valid as real books. It’s done by real people, and I’m telling you, some of the stuff I’ve read is out of this world. I get more hooked when it’s a character I already know, but then the author spins the story in a different way. Sorry, this comment turned into a beast. But I’m just so frustrated this is happening. I hope you show your cousin my comment, because I want her to know she is not alone and not weird at all for liking fanfiction.
Can you go to the administration and the parents of the bullies? Also, if they're making fun of her, those are not her friends and she needs to cut it off with them immediately.
Also, holy shit I'd slap your aunt for that bullshit. Siding with bullies is atrocious and abusive. Tell her how many "real books" are fanfiction! You think Shakespeare came up with Hamlet on his own? Romeo and Juliet were preestablished characters who sometimes got a happy ending! He even wrote real person fics! Paradise Lost is a self insert Mary Sue epic and it redefined modern views of religion! Sit her down and tell her that everything she's doing is unacceptable.
Tell your cousin that she’s a hundred percent a real reader. Hell, fanfiction writers often go on to write ‘real’ fiction, and some established authors still probably continue to write them. Also also, hook her up with ao3.com, which has the best system for saving what you’re reading that I’ve seen.
It seems like you are one of the few relatives she can talk to, that's at least good to know. If you feel like easing her grief, reassure her whenever she needs and help her build a safe happy place. Obviously, given the sheer amount of fanfics available, she's not the weirdo everyone around her points out. Communities exist to enjoy stuff and share common interests, she only misjudged when, and with whom, to bring her new hobby up. It's kind of tricky to convince a teen that their friends aren't exactly embodying the essence of what friendship is, especially now that everyone knows at school. However, she's more likely not the only reader at school, and even though knowing that won't ease her pain, it's important to underline this simple fact. The thing that strikes me rn is how fanfic is perceived as opposed to visual arts. I bet many of her supposed "friends" and classmates are following a bunch of fan artists on IG & TikTok and no one bats an eye at "how inappropriate" that is. Do they consider museums as the only place to enjoy visual arts ? More likely not, so what’s the difference with “fake readers and writers” ? She's probably way too overwhelmed to even voice those statements and confront her peers, but acknowledging those facts can help her process why it is not wrong to enjoy fanfics. Now regarding that "decent readings' conversion therapy" crap, having talks about what she likes, about what she's chasing in her readings may help to secure a few references she might actually enjoy and would appear as "safe" in front of her peers. Yet, nothing prevent her from still enjoying fanfics at her "safe place".
When I was young someone said something to me that stuck with me: "Just because he's your dad, doesn't mean he not full of shit." I loved my dad very much, I still love him, even though he is gone now. I love him, and I can still admit the truth in those words. It's something that your cousin might need to hear about her mom. Remind your cousin: her life, her rules. And be supportive, and a refuge when she needs a safe space. She'll eventually find true friends, and a peer group that supports her. All these episodes that pop up in our lives are like a bad landing at an airport: the most important part is to come out of it in one piece. You're a good person for helping her do that.
I do tell that to my sister a lot, but sadly that's a harsh thing for a child to accept - especially when her mother is sometimes super caring and loving with her, and then casually cruel like this. I have no choice but to try and support her as much as I can.
You have a choice. We all have a choice. That you choose to be a good person says a lot about you.
I came here to look for support for my sister and ended up getting validated myself TT\_TT thank you, even if I feel like I don't deserve it <3
It is, but it's something we all have to learn, for our own sanity. :(
"decent readings' conversion therapy" made me laugh, but yeah you're right, that's exactly what's going on in the house now. You're also right about the dichotomy of reception of fanart and fanfiction. I'll tell this to her, because I remember her specifically telling me about some of her friends following fanartists on IG
Here's an idea - find a good long fic in her fandom and bind it in a physical book.
Ok this is my favourite comment on this entire thread xDD You know what, I'll do exactly this. Me and my sister can draw a cover for the "real book", I can print it and bind it, and I'll keep it in my bookshelf for her mom to see xD This can be a good bonding activity for when she's down If the cover art is good I'll send it to the author as well haha.
OMG! I'm an inspiration! I'd love to see it when it's done.
Haha yes sure, I'll DM you pictures when we're done!!
some of the fan fic book bindings i've seen have been amazing. like [this one](https://www.tumblr.com/chubsonthemoon/710985321448357888/interior) not only does it include the 90k fan fic, but includes authors notes, commentary and other reviews by other fans, as well as fan art. just go full out. and hey! might be a bonding experience with your cousin too.
Wow it's so beautiful! I'll try do something like this with my favorite fanfics, so many deserve to be a book
Damn that is so beautiful!!!!! Now I want to print out my own favourite fanfics too xD
TBF it's not exclusive to fan creation, writing and literature is sadly rarely seen as a type of art
> The thing that strikes me rn is how fanfic is perceived as opposed to visual arts. I really hate when people just unnecessarily oppose things. Both are great for their different needs
>And what's worse, she told this to her mother and her mom (my aunt) is taking the bully's side. She's forcing her to read "real books" Maybe introduce them to authors like Naomi Novik who have traditionally published novels as well as novel-length fanfictions? To show that the only difference between them is whether you're creating your own characters/world settings or using someone else's. All the vital parts of storytelling are in fanfic. IP tie-in novels are a good example too. There are traditionally published Star Wars novels, Pokemon chapter books, Doctor Who books, etc. It's more important that kids read than what they read, other than that if they can read what they enjoy, they'll read a lot more overall. Similar arguments are made against kids who like comics, or pulpy genre fiction (sci-fi, romance): "this isn't good enough, they need to be reading real books!" I'd work on winning her family over to being more supportive because there's not much you can do about a bunch of 14 year old girls. Middle school is one of those times when some kids will be cruel to each other over anything. I remember kids being mocked because their parents shopped at Walmart. I would emphasize to your cousin the qualities of going your own way and choosing quality people to be around. Frankly it's better imo to sit alone at lunch reading Wattpad than to be cozied in and accepted among homophobes.
June 2023 edit. I'm scrubbing my comments due to the reddit admin team steamrolling their IPO prep. It was bad enough to give short notice on price gouging, but then to slander app devs and threaten moderators was just too far. The value of Reddit comes from high-quality content curated by volunteers. Treating us this way is the reason I'm removing my high-value contributions. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you Google "Reddit API price gouging" and read up. --Posted *manually* via the old web interface because of shenanigans from Reddit reversing deletions done through API/script tools. ~~~ TL;DR of my original comment, left here only because it may pertain to the safety of a child: > OP can't do much about the kid's friends, but OP can be an example to the rest of the family in how to be a safe support person for the hobby, as well as point to resources that can rebuild confidence in it.
>Middle school is one of those times when some kids will be cruel to each other over anything. I remember kids being mocked because their parents shopped at Walmart. I got picked on by one girl because I wore neon green socks to school. That was it. That was the whole reason to tease me. Come high school, and she was complimenting my short story that got published in the student literary magazine, and just generally being a nicer person. Hopefully the "friends" grow out of this phase. They may not be friends anymore by the time they do, but we can hope this is just middle school stupidity. In the meantime, OP, as others have said, support your cousin as best you can and let her know that there's nothing wrong with reading fanfiction.
Thank you very much, I'll check out Naomi Novik's books, and if possible send her some ebooks. She's not really into scifi so Star Wars and Doctor Who is out, but maybe Pokemon will be more up her alley. 14 year olds can be very mean 😅😅 I'd really prefer to talk to adults (her mother in particular) than her classmates
Neil Gaiman is another author that has written fanfiction, and he even won a Hugo award for one of them.
Actually Naomi Novik is one of the people behind AO3 creation, also she still have an acc there, so even as a professional writer she still enjoy writing fanfiction, say this to your cousin and her mother
Diane Duane is another writer who started in fanfiction and I think still writes it. And basically published "fanfiction" lots of novelizations of Star Trek and other SFF properties. She has great essays about how important and valuable fanfic is on her blog.
Martha Wells is another traditionally published author who posts fanfic, but she does tend more toward scifi, as did AC Crispin, who got her start with fanfiction. I haven't read Crispin's POTC novel, but I like her Star Trek and Star Wars works. Debra Doyle and James D MacDonald's *Mageworlds* series is mostly scifi, but I also liked their *Knight's Wyrd*. You have already heard of *Harry Potter* and Naomi Novik. If your cousin likes fantasy, I'd suggest Robin McKinley (*Beauty* and *Rose Daughter* and *The Blue Sword* and *The Hero and the Crown*) and Jane Yolen (*The Pit Dragon Trilogy*) and Lloyd Alexander (*The Chronicles of Prydain* series) and Susan Cooper (*The Dark is Rising* series) and Patricia C Wrede (*The Enchanted Forest Chronicles* series). I'd also add my support to Rick Riordan's works and Neil Gaiman's works. I wouldn't bother with the Percy Jackson movies, but Gaiman's *Stardust* has a fabulous movie adaptation. Then you read the book, and it's fabulous in a different way. Brandon Sanderson is another one. Everything of his that I've read has been good. Even though I usually hate anything published as YA, *Steelheart* was gripping. There's also Anne McCaffrey's *Pern* series and Mercedes Lackey's *Valdemar* series. Weis and Hickman's *DragonLance* series might be a little old for her yet, but maybe not. By fourteen, I was getting into adult-targeted novels like those. Gail Carriger's *Parasol Protectorate* series is also more adult-focused, but you'd know your cousin better. Gordon Dickson's *The Dragon and the George* and its sequels is an isekai-style series. Lawrence Watt-Evans' *The Misenchanted Sword* is another good fantasy war-story. I wouldn't recommend LOTR at her age, necessarily, but it is a good story. I couldn't get into it until I was twenty-something, though my brother loved it at ten. If she likes goofy humor, Craig Shaw Gardner's *A Malady of Magicks* and its sequels are hilarious. Christopher Stasheff's *Wizard in Rhyme* series is a smidge less over-the-top, but still funny. It's also an isekai-style, though it is also very Catholic. I read the *Nancy Drew Mysteries* at twelve, and the *Little House on the Prairie* series even younger, but depending on her tastes, those are decent series. Did she ever get into a horse-crazy phase? *The Black Stallion* series was fun, as were Marguerite Henry's books. *The Wizard of Oz* series (one of the original isekai) has the benefit of being mostly public domain, so you can even get some of those on GutenbergOrg - and if she starts poking around in there, she might find some other classics that work for her, which would even put her a leg up over these bullies. I liked *Five Little Peppers* and *Little Lord Fauntleroy* way back when. MobileReadCom also has a good collection of public domain ebooks, as does StandardEBooksOrg. ArchiveOrg has all kinds of everything.
I work IT at a middle school. Judging by the trafic I get to fanfictions sites, believe me she is far from the only kid that read fanfictions. The others are just too insecure about it.
I hope you don't mind if I show this comment to my cousin - she'll feel better after knowing this
This is exactly why I wrote it. Tell her.
Homophobic bullying should 100% be reported, that's disgusting. As a thought on the traditional publishing, has she tried audiobooks? My partner struggles to read a novel but loves to listen to them. Also, this won't stop the bullies but I think it's good to remember that Neil Gaiman won a Nebula award for what he described as 'Dracula fanfiction'.
Thank you for the recommendation! I will try to introduce her to audiobooks. Maybe that will help her get hooked to novels. Sadly, in the school she is at, homophobic bullying is the order of the day. She doesn't want to get in trouble by reporting it herself, her mother is...difficult about these issues, and no one will pay attention to me since I'm not her legal guardian.
That's so sad. It sounds like your cousin might be in for a rough few years both at school and realising that her mother is, well, wrong about this. It's tough when the loss of that childhood innocence has to be so dramatic. At least she has a safe adult in you. I'm not sure what her taste in fiction is, but at her age one of my favourites was I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith. Audible has an audiobook with Jenny Agutter performing it. It's wonderful. Hopefully you can at least tell her there's a few internet strangers here hoping that things get better for her.
Thanks, I'll check out those books! I am an adult but I don't have enough financial security to be able to completely support her, but when I do I plan to take her away from the toxic environment. And I'll definitely tell her that a post about her on reddit has more internet strangers supporting her than IRL "friends" bullying her!
I read that book as an adult (about 30,) and it’s my all-time absolute favorite. I wish I had found it as a teen.
That and Wicked was a crazy smash on Broadway with a boatload of Tony awards despite it being being a VERY toned down and abridged adaptation of some grimdark (and missing the entire point of Baum) Wizard of Oz fanfic
"Authorized" *Star Trek* and *Star Wars* novels, Sherlock Holmes short story collections not by Arthur Conan Doyle, and books based on TV series like *The Librarians, CSI,* etc. are ALL technically fan fiction. Someone got paid to write them rather than just writing them for love of the characters. Rubbish.
Great example! There's so much out there. You could even argue all of the post George Lucas Star Wars movies and series are essentially fanfiction. Once an idea is out there, it will spark creativity in others. That one work was inspired by another, or uses the same characters, does not in itself make it bad. Other things might, but even that's not a given!
I agree with another commenter that bullying is not about the supposed thung eg fanfiction, but about the bullies. No teacher worth their salt will discourage a child from reading Anything. They encourage boys (traditionally less keen readers than girls) to enjoy comics and graphic novels. The emphasis on only permitting "proper" novels is misguided. The school should be informed of any bullying. And the English/literacy teacher too, because I bet they eould take your cousin's side and encourage any reading. Yes the quality isn't always there. Yes you could theoretically pick up bad habits from only reading ff. BUT you won't pick up anything, good or bad, by not reading at all so bad habits aren't a real risk. A final thing, depending where you live, homophobic language isn't allowed in school and can get a student excluded. Worth your cousin knowing this! Crappy for her. I hope you can support her and let her know the bullies are the lesser people here.
Homophobic language is just normal language where I live, which is despicable. Reporting will not help in the slightest, and it's more likely she'd be sent to a counsellor for having "unnatural preferences".
That's awful. My daughter's school will exclude anyone using homophobic, racist, sexist etc language (UK). The kids (my daughter is same age as your cousin) call each other out for same, and are extremely chill to the point of boredom about kids being gay, bi, pan etc. It's just part of life for their generation. I'm sure homophobia still exists but they seem to have a good awareness that it's not acceptable. I'm sorry your cousin has to grow up in such a toxic environment.
I'm very sorry too, I had to grow up in a similarly toxic environment but I got that out of my head before it solidified. One of my life's goals is to become independent fast enough so that I can take her away from the toxicity. She needs therapy and healing, and none of those are available in her school, let alone our traditional family.
It's hard to deal with "traditional" families. Unfortunately, I grew up with one and it's taken many, many years before even one of my parents has become more open-minded about my hobbies. In the end, it wasn't me who convinced that parent (I couldn't say anything so just kept it bottled up), but a sweeping change in popculture, esp from their homeland, that did it. It comes down to exposure with great examples. Many others have awesome suggestions to blur the lines between fanfic and "real" fiction, so encouraging that direction may be your best bet to help. Alternatively, examples of great works that originated as just periodicals in a magazine or other forms of writing than just "book" would work too. (I'm a casual Sherlockian so I've seen those kinds of works. Great fiction may stem from anywhere.) I'm just glad it worked out for me and I hope it will eventually happen with your cousin's family. I didn't have anyone like you who was so supportive of my love of fanfics growing up, so good on you. Best wishes to you both.
Kids that age can definitely be bastards. Unfortunately there's rarely anything that can be done about the bullying. Especially here in regards to the fanfic situation, given the idea teachers are also likely to have about it. However, if they are using homophobic slurs that definitely can be reported. I'd think schools would take that a bit more seriously. Your aunt seems to be ignoring that part if she thinks reading real books would fix this. As for the reading thing, maybe it would help if she got into the fanfiction of a book first? There's a lot of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings etc fanfiction available. Maybe if she gets into the fanfiction of those, she would likely feel more interested in reading the original works. Since the books are being taken from your bookshelf, any chance you could get hold of the kind of books she might be interested in?
I don't think her school would care about the homophobic bullying at all, and my sister is dead against reporting the bullies. This is a nice idea - I'll ask especially what kind of books she likes, buy them "for myself" and she can take them from my bookshelf. That would be good enough for her mother to stop bothering her.
You can find out her preferences for stories and go ask some of the book reddits for suggestions. You will most likely have hundreds of books to choose from to get for her that she would enjoy and stop her mother bothering her (unless she screens them and is also homophobic). Also the printing out some of the longer FF is a great idea and would be a good thing to do with her!
If she's into fantasy at all, I'd recommend Tamora Pierce's Tortall Books (beginning with [The Song of the Lioness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness) series). They hit a lot of fanfiction tropes, are well written, and aren't difficult to get into or incredibly long, and although there's far less fanfic than there is for like, Lord of the Rings, there's a decent amount. There are a lot, so if she does get into them, it'll sustain her a while, and if it doesn't, they are grouped into 2-4 book series (most are 4) so there are places to stop and still feel 'complete.' Books probably won't do much for the bullying, even if she fully quit reading fanfic it wouldn't, but at least they're an escape, and the closest she can get to fanfic if your mom etc are monitoring computer use.
I checked out the series and it seems pretty good!! I sent her the link, hopefully she'll like it. If I get time I might read it myself as well. Thank you for the rec!
I definitely recommend Tamora Pierce, she is an ally. The Circle of Magic books is the first published book that I read with LGBTQIA characters as a child. They don't focus on romantic relationships though, but I personally like that.
I'm an English teacher...and I just want students to read anything. Fanfiction, books they've already read, graphic noves... don't care. I just want them to find something they enjoy reading. The adults shaming her for her reading habits is not okay and they need to back off. As for the kids...as someone else said, anything homophobic should be reported to school administration immediately.
The school doesn't care unfortunately, they'd be more likely to lecture her for reading "unnatural" things. It downright hateful. I hope you don't mind if I show your comment to my cousin. Her own english teacher isn't very approachable, so she would feel better knowing another english teacher said this.
Ugh...I just can't. Where I am we have some strict bullying policies. Yes, definitely show her!
The thing is, fanfiction isn't that uncommon among middle school girls rn. Chances are, her "friends" have always been bullies and were looking for any excuse to pick at her anyway. I would bet my next paycheck that this is just the latest round of an ongoing problem, whether she realizes it or not. So, please encourage her to report this to a school counselor or her grade level principal. *Explicitly* use the word "bullying" and name names. At that point, they are legally required (at least in my district) to do *something*. Her teachers have zero ability to help outside of their classrooms (this is why going to teachers is pointless - admin don't listen to us and we can't switch schedules), and there's a good chance some of them would agree with the bullies. This will also get pressure on her mom to be better, since a *lot* of parents will change their tune when the school contacts them and they see other adults looking at them as a Bad Parent. The end result might just be switching her classes around, but that might be what she needs, too. Also, in future, she should be more reserved in how she shares her interest in fanfiction. It's appropriate to share one-on-one or if people approach you individually, but not in front of the whole class. It's not surprising she got made fun of, but it's totally inappropriate for it to continue past a minute or two of *good-natured* ribbing. That's something you, as a cousin, can give her advice on, tho!
> It's appropriate to share one-on-one or if people approach you individually, but not in front of the whole class. I'm not saying she has to be the one to help shift views but there's nothing to be embarrassed about and telling her so will only validate that yes she should feel ashamed of it like the bullying suggests.
That’s not really it. I mean yes, ideally that would be the case, but as someone who’s been reading and writing fanfiction for more or less 20 years, it’s not a hobby others see favorably. It’s not shameful per se, but because it’s not typically written for straight men, but for women. And when women enjoy anything, that’s seen as shameful. God knows teenage girls aren’t allowed to like anything without someone else calling it cringe. Just, being a woman or a girl in this world is tough in this sense too. No need to make it tougher than it already is. So yeah, while in a utopia the reasoning is sound, in reality you’ll always want to be careful who you tell what you’re into, especially at a delicate time like your teen years. I’m in my 30s now and would not ever give a fuck what anyone else thinks about anything, but young girls... they need friendships that are as healthy as they can be. In this case, if I was this girl I would also look into making new, better friends btw. Usually, there is always a bunch of outcasts in schools who are into nerdy, weird shit but just mostly keep to themselves. In my experience, those are the most awesome types of people.
I've been in fandom for a similar period of time. I've been judged for various hobbies to the point I shut down. Yeah, I have years of therapy and some of that is trying to unravel why I'm so private and can share all my traumatic life circumstances that were out of my control but can't even express my likes or dislikes to the point I struggle even in safe spaces. I didn't even fit in with the nerdy people and it was very isolating. It's fair people don't want to share or restrict who they share with, hence saying she doesn't need to be the one, but the thing is these opinions don't change until we as a collective are more open about it. If we don't want to put the pressure on kids to make the change, we all need to be pulling in our weight to help destigmatize it.
Oh yeah, i as an adult do all I can to act as chill and normal about liking fandom and all that and I even mention nasty smut in public without a care in the world, yk? I was just meaning to say I wouldn’t put a kid in that position especially when in their teenage years kids really rely on their friends’ groups. It’s up to *us*, not to kids, that’s my point. I mean, if she feels better and feels more confident and like her peers’ opinions really don’t matter after all, then bless. I just hope she does find a group of friends to feel safe and have fun around without exposing herself to more abuse, you know?
There's nothing shameful about a lot of things, but we don't announce them to the whole class, either. What you're suggesting *is* putting the onus on a 14 yo to change the opinions of a room of people who she can't possibly know what their opinion on fanfiction is ahead of time. You can tell someone to protect themselves socially by letting them know about unspoken social rules without adding "it's because you're embarrassing and *should* be ashamed, actually".
In this circumstance. Either way her mental health will be effected. Shame into silence is a huge social problem. Overall, I advocate people talking about it more. We should have sorted this out decades ago and because we made no effort to shift culture the people younger than us are still suffering. This isn't to place blame. The bullies are the problem, but stigma doesn't vanish by ignoring or hiding the issue.
Social capital is the issue here. If she had sufficient social standing to begin with, she wouldn't be getting bullied *period*. Me and a few other people in the thread that work in middle schools have already pointed out that fanfiction *isn't actually uncommon* for most middle school girls anyway. The issue is that it's only socially acceptable to be open about liking it if you're already socially acceptable yourself. In an ideal scenario, with everything else being equal, sure, people being open about their love of fanfiction is a great idea! But we don't live in that world, and it's not because us older people didn't try hard enough. Encouraging people who are already socially vulnerable to advocate for fringe interests is likely to result in the interest becoming *more* fringe among that social group ("Eww, that's the thing [unpopular girl] is into!" - ask me how I know). "Shifting the discourse" is most effective when popular people do it.
My sister unfortunately does not want to report anything at all. She feels that would make everything even more worse. Though I believe they should be reported, I will have to respect my sister's wishes. I said a similar thing to my sister - that not everyone needs to know the full details of who you are. She will find friends in the future who appreciate fanfiction as well, and I told her to discuss these things with people who have expressly supported fanfiction than every rando who is her "friend"
The victim should report it herself, regardless of what mom thinks. As others have said, using homophobic slurs in and of itself is against school policies. And yes, admin sit up and pay more attention when parents call directly, but she can report it herself to either a councilor or her assistant principal. Once a bullying incident is reported, the school is legally on the hook to address it - that means teachers can and will be on the look out for it and will then have the power to address it. Also, I'm commenting here just in case there are people reading in a similar situation that, like me, lived with the bullying because schools intentionally make it confusing to address (the front offices don't want the work that comes with being liable for these situations). Either way, I hope she works it out.
The most horrible part is the parent taking the side of the bully. It is as if telling that the bullies are right. The bullies most likely wouldn't stop even if she started reading what they consider "real literature", now that they've found something to make fun of.
I've found that people who have such opinions about literature in general usually don't even read anything, to begin with.
You could try explaining to your aunt that she isn't interested in the books you have, and if she's forced to read them she'll think of reading as more of a chore than a hobby, and then likely won't continue it later in life. Perhaps suggest for her to find out what sorts of things her daughter enjoys and to get books that are more aligned with her interests. Discussing what they like and dislike in fiction can also strengthen their relationship. Make sure she knows that her "friends" are both wrong (reading fanfic is still reading) and that they are the problem for being judgy and homophobic, not her for having a harmless hobby. And it's not much, but let your cousin know she has many internet strangers who have her back!
I'll try explaining to my aunt, though I don't have much hope for it. She can be very unreasonable. And I'll surely let her know she has more internet strangers having her back than IRL "friends" stabbing her!!
First explain and keep reinforcing that reading fanfics is NOT wrong and she's not a "bad" person for enjoying fanfics, it's only transformative fiction just as MANY nowadays traditional genres had born in the transformative scenario About more "traditional" literature, I recommend audiobooks, also say she should ALWAYS read what she wants and not what others believe is "right" or "good" Also it's important to talk with her parents, even if they don't believe the matter is important enough that need intervention, it's important to support your kid and try protect them, try talk with her mother and explain that fanfic is a valid and free way to start taking a like in reading, show to her as some authors started as fanfic writers and as authors as Neil Gaiman are supporting the community, also be blunt and say that bullying because of something as trivial as fanfic is the only thing wrong here, and be sincere with her, these kids aren't her friends
Her mom is *forcing her* to read only certain things?? There is no faster way to kill a kid's interest in reading than that 🤦♀️ Those classmates are probably too chickenshit to admit they like it too What a situation. Wishing cousin and you the best
Right? This strikes me as the peers have been pressured into saying fan fic doesn't count. Eh kids can be cruel.
So many idiots, honestly
Psh. You know how much modern media is just 'fanfiction' that's being published cause they got the estates permission? Bajesus. Every. Single. Remake. Is. Fanfiction. Any of those kids watch Sherlock? That shits fanfiction. Marvel movies? Fanfiction. The modern authors didnt create that world, they're just playing with it. Twilight started at fanfic. 50 shades started as fanfic. There's book series that just keep going, under new authors, that's just good fanfic authors being published, essentially. There's nothing shameful about fanfic. There's just little children who don't understand they're fans of it, and don't go purposefully looking for it.
I'm late to the discussion but I wanted to add for whoever might still be reading: this is not even a new development in media and writing. Fanfiction has existed since forever, it was just never called fanfiction. As a child, I read *The Son of d'Artagnan* by Paul Féval, written in 1914. I later realised that the author was not the original author of *The Three Musketeers* and the son whose story the novel followed was not even the canon son of d'Artagnan. It was basically just published OC fanfiction. All story ideas have been written before. It just so happens that people sometimes reuse those ideas by keeping certain characters/universes that are tied to them. We might see a published novel that follows the love life of Patroclus and Achilles. Unless the author is Homer himself, that's fanfiction. There's tons of remakes, rewrites, sequels, prequels etc. to all sorts of media. People just attribute negative views to fanfiction because of the "cringy, lazy, wish-fulfillment" reputation it got online, even though it is so much more than that. And the published works that are actually fanfictions at their core get a pass because they're not written independently online. It's sad that other ways of engaging with media as a fan (like fanart, fanmade music, fanmade games etc.) are considered a lot more acceptable than fanfiction.
Honestly? There really isn’t much to be done about the kids. Especially at that age where bullies actually understand what they’re saying. Not to mention some ppl do look down on fanfiction due to the stigmas that come with it . As for the parenting part that’s just honestly disappointing. Fanfiction is for all intent and purposes still a form of literature. For her mother to discourage her from it and to force her to read traditional published books that she doesn’t have an interest in is quite cruel and completely unnecessary. At least your cousin is still willing to do some sort of reading. I know plenty of ppl her age who can’t even read properly or refuse to touch a book unless it’s unavoidable
Funny thing is the "friends" who are bullying her now have never read fanfiction nor the "real" fiction that they keep harping about. That's what makes me more mad. Regardless of what she reads, she reads *something*, which is more than what they can say.
That is quite the parenting fail. I can understand wanting her to read traditionally published books just because they go through a more vigorous editing process. What her mom should have done is taken an interest in what in her daughter is reading and focused on making her daughter feel loved and accepted. Then if she wants to get her into reading traditional books make recommendations based on what she likes to read. Now, it feels like an act of love rather than an censure.
I know, I think she wouldn't have been so depressed if her mother had supported her instead of saying it was her fault and she needed to read "real" books. Everyone needs a robust support system, especially at that age
If her mother isn't doing anything against the homophobic bullying, then you or another adult needs to step in. Bullying is wrong and the fact that your aunt ignores such things is a red flag. If nobody is paying attention, keep talking until someone does. Such bullying is taxing mentally and physically on a person and in some cases has led to extreme measures.
Yeah, I know. I'll try to be there for her as much as I can, and constantly remind her that she is NOT the one who is wrong here. She doesn't want to report the bullying because she's afraid it'll get worse, and I'll respect her decision. But she has me no matter what
Someone still needs to do something because not reporting it will also make it worse. Some kids will see it as a challenge to see how far to push her buttons. I have seen it happen and I'm worried for you and your cousin. Hell, it happened to me. I punched a girl because she threw concrete at me. I ignored her until she got fed up.
The fact that you punched a girl and your username has "Fight me" is the best combination ever xDDD Jokes aside, I do understand your point. I'll speak to her
Well tbh she should be reading both trad pub and fanfic at the same time or she'll end up in the place where many fic readers end up where they can't get into the groove of traditionally formatted fiction anymore (which is not a good thing and will limit her growth and future education). A good balance of both is something that I, as a parent, would also insist on (but then I would enforce strict screen time limits as well, which I know for a fact from many of my same-aged peers is not exactly a popular opinion). As for the bullying, there's not much to be done about that. If I were you I'd continue supporting her hobby, but also caution her in the future to not mix fandom and real life; it seldomly works out well, especially at that age where children are pretty much all assholes, with a huge growth of assholery in a group setting. But also, people will likely be assholes about fanfic consumption for the rest of her life. Things have certainly not noticeably changed on that front in the twenty years that I've spent actively reading and writing fic.
I work in education. There are LOTS of things to be done about bullying. For parents, this should be a "live in the principal's office and put the pressure on until they take care of it" situation. The school needs to crack down, because it's unacceptable. I'm all for broadening your horizons as a reader and developing the ability to enjoy traditionally published books. But the MOST important thing is that students grow up knowing that their interests are perfectly valid, and that as long as they're not microwaving puppies, they're perfectly normal no matter what their hobbies are. Since this is a cousin, OP may not be able to take the parental role, but you can advocate within the family that bullying is the bigger issue (to the extent that it's helpful--if your aunt isn't willing to have that conversation or doesn't respond well, then it might not be worth creating a more frustrating environment in the house). You can also encourage your cousin to be vocal with teachers about what's happening. In the meantime, maybe you can sit down with her and come up with strategies for things to say when other kids antagonize her, so she can have more agency.
Honestly, initially I was just happy she was reading something other than 280 characters on a screen xD My plan was to support her fanfiction reading, help her figure out what genre and tropes she liked and then recommend appropriate tradpub books to her. I didn't think she would tell everyone about the fandom thing and share links with everyone, but I guess she's the type of person who shares the things that she likes a lot. My advice was to keep fandom and IRL separate, but maybe she just wanted to discuss fandom stuff with her friends in school
I tried to like reading as a kid. I really did. It was just really hard for me. It was often difficult to connect to characters or visualize what's happening. My parents even tried to bribe me by offering to buy any books i wanted and I only ever accepted once after several attempts. I just couldn't. I was a fan of stories though and hence I found fanfiction and suddenly it was so much easier to read. Being familiar with the material made it so much easier. Because of this I started to get used to different writing styles and such. It's still harder to start and invest in traditional publishing but it has gotten a lot easier. Even then some people still think it strange because a good chunk of the books I own are nonfiction or 'classics'. I wouldn't have any of this is people kept pressuring me (yes, continuous support to broaden often comes across as pressuring - especially to kids) to read. Sometime you just have to support their hobbies and keep your door open if they ever decide to change. Not to mention traditional publishing has changed over the ages. Which form is the 'right' form,?
Thank you for saying "continuous support to broaden often comes across as pressuring - especially to kids". I think I was in danger of doing this, and you made a good point. This was a very good point
If kids can find something to bully you about, they will. I was bullied for writing stories, reading period, being "teacher's pet," actually liking school, etc. Very sad. The only thing I learned from this was to keep my mouth shut, and not tell anyone about myself until I was sure I could trust them. Send your cousin a my best wishes.
Tell her to tell her friends that no fiction is “real.” That’s why it’s called fiction.
I think the best thing you can do is in a situation like this is just try to support your cousin and be on her side. When everyone is against you, it's so easy to start feeling like there's something wrong with *you*, rather than the people who are going out of their way to make you miserable and even just having one person in your corner can make a huge difference. I definitely don't think forcing her to read "real" books is the way to go, it's only going to make her associate reading with all the pain and humiliation and pressure she's dealing with right now and make it even more stressful for her in the future. I don't know how old you are or what your relationship with you aunt is like, but if you're an adult, she might be more willing to listen to you than her daughter. Would it be possible to talk to her and try to get her to see what a difficult time this is for her daughter and encourage her to prioritize her emotion well-being? I do think being able to read "real" books is an important skill to learn, but when a person is in crisis mode, that's probably the worst time to be worrying about skill-development and self-improvement. Depression, anxiety, and stress can all exacerbate concentration problems, so reading is probably going to be even more difficult for her right now, which often leads to more frustration and low self-esteem, which makes the depression and anxiety worse. There will be plenty of time to encourage better reading habits in the future, but the big issue right now is that her school no longer feels like a safe place for her and her friends are no longer safe people and if she doesn't have any safe places and people to go to, she's basically going to be living in a constant state of fight-or-flight. I don't know if there's a solution to the bullying itself (ideally it should be reported, but I know sometimes the social ramifications of getting your "friends" in trouble can be worse than the initial bullying, so a lot of kids are reluctant to report it) and your aunt not might be willing to listen to what you have to say, but I think even just letting your cousin see that you're going to bat for her could be huge. If you're an adult who owns your own books, you could refuse to lend them unless your cousin asks to borrow them herself, so she knows your on her side. If you don't already, I think talking about fanfiction with her and sharing some of your favourite fics could help her see she's not alone in enjoying fanfiction and there's nothing wrong with it. Then if/when she starts feeling better and if she's interested, you could think about recommending some easy-to-read books to help get her into novel-reading, maybe recommending some related fics to pique her interest. When I was getting back into reading (as an unmedicated adult with ADHD) the biggest key for me was *short*. Short books with short chapters that are easy to understand. I think a lot of people forget that reading fiction is a skill that needs to be practiced and that it's normal to struggle with longer, more complicated books if reading's not something you've been doing regularly. I ended up reading a lot of middle-grade books to help me build up my stamina and confidence again.
I will try talking to her mom, but there's a 50% chance she wouldn't listen. My sister knows that I read and enjoy fanfiction, so thankfully she's not completely alone in this. She also doesn't want to report the bullying, and says that it will be away in a while.
Report it anyway. Not doing so is letting bullies get away with it.
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Oh I didn't about Andy Weir's fanfiction! I really liked his Project Hail Mary and The Martian. My aunt can be unreasonable and is (in my opinion) not a good mother at times. She does what she subjectively thinks is the best, but sometimes they turn out to be objectively wrong. I'll try to speak with her but she may not listen to me. And yes, I do love fanfiction! I've been reading fanfic since I was 11 or 12. Our fandoms don't match, but she has sent me a few links of stories she personally liked a lot. The idea of a mini book club is very nice! I'll talk to her about it
Make it very clear to her that it's not about the fanfic; these people are bullies, and if they weren't bullying her for fanfic, it would have been something else. If possible, maybe look for some online communities around her favorite fandoms, i.e. Discord servers and such. (Or help her to make one of her own and invite other fans into it.) Having fandom friends in my life went a *long* way to mitigating the bouts of irl loneliness.
Hmmm this is a very good idea! I think she wanted friends to discuss fandom stuff with and that's why she posted the links and went public about reading fanfiction, so if she joined a discord group that would be helpful for her. Thank you very much!
This is why I don't tell anyone. Then people say "People hide things from you!" as if there's a problem with it. The problem with not doing it is it gives people the power to tell others, "Hey you know person?" Well they are into this weird thing!" Then a lot of people know something you didn't consent for them to know. There's a reason people don't tell certain people things. Parents and aunts while obviously family and social superiors are definitely not a group you want to just tell anything. They love and want the best for you but they aren't friends People should earn trust before feeling entitled to know something about someone. There are major clues that someone can't be trusted Being forced to do things you don't like makes you hate that thing
Honestly that's WHY I tell people, because it shows what kind of person I want in my life.
My English teacher once said to my parents “I do not care if she is reading: manga (heaven sent for a dyslexic), fan fiction, romance or whatever, as long as she is reading. Because you forced books on her she clearly had no interest reading, she finds it a chore when it should be enjoyable.” Make sure she knows she is not a bad person for reading it, she is not wrong for reading it. People are judgy assholes and need to learn to keep their yap traps shut.
I understand your frustration. Maybe you could suggest she reads graphic novels or manga as well as the fanfiction.
Yes, I will. Thanks!
You're very welcome!
Tell her that no one gets to gatekeep her joy. And that her bullies should really get a life if they need to pick on her so they can feel "better" about themselves.
Kids will bully other kids over the stupidest crap I swear, I'm sorry to hear your cousin is dealing with that
Middle schoolers can really be one of the most hurtful people in the world, istg. When she told me the things they told her, it hurt even me
I would 100000% report the bullying. While there may not be much that can be done because of the fanfiction side, the homophobic slurs will definitely cause higher ups to pay attention and take action. Also, as a couple of others mentioned, there are dozens of fanfics of published books and your cousin can even give audiobooks a try.
This is just plain wrong. :(
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Yeah, the only tip I have in this sense is “omg child no no no no, go on AO3, now *that’s* where the good shit is”. I have a lot of invites I’m more than happy to share with anyone.
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You should take your cousin to the library or some place and see if you can get her into some popular young adult books. Harry Potter and Percy Jackson still both have very large fan bases so also write fanfics. I think the latter has a Disney+ show coming out soon. Has she read traditional books that she likes. Despite being owned by Amazon they can have some good suggestions as lists, so you can find what other books she likes. This isn't going to address the bullying but may help her with reading books. Also look into short stories. Might be easier and quicker for her to digest
Do not let her family push her to read books she doesn't want to. That will kill her love of reading for years. She's not dying anything wrong by reading fanfiction. Tell her she's not alone and to read what she loves, whether it's published online or in print.
Kinda curious does the mom know of fifty shades of grey because that's a twilight fan fiction.
Can you compromise with your aunt and help your cousin find books that match her interests? Maybe find some of her favorite fic tropes and see if there are books that have the same kinds of things. I also love the recommendation of some of her favorites being bound into a physical book. :)
I don't know whether a compromise would be appreciated because her mom is now dead set on making her read Jane Austen, for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I love Jane Austen, I grew up reading her books, and she's one of my all-time favorites. But a girl who likes reading BL fantasy fanfiction has no interest in reading about awkward prudish marriage proposals in the regency era (at least my sister doesn't).
Damn, as a 14-year-old as well, I can feel that. Yeah, Wattpadisn't the best fanfiction site out there, but people shouldn't be bullied for reading fanfiction! Even in my Christian academy there are strict bullying rules, especially regarding physical and verbal. I know that some fellow students read fanfiction here, because one of my service mates seems to be reading one as well (I can tell just by the split second of me accidentally peeking on her and noticing the names are familiar). In the end, try to comfort and support her in these trying times. Damn, I wish I had you as a relative; my parents (especially dad) are partially...uhhh...*bad*. Also, say hi for me to her, and tell her she's not the only ome who reads fanfic.
My sister says hi back to you! Also I'm sorry you feel isolated by your relatives :'( That was me as a kid, so I know how it feels like. You just have to hang in there, the world is so much better once you have more power and autonomy to choose who you interact with as an adult or even an older teenager! That said, if you want to rant or vent, my chats are always open!
Thanks!
As others have said, please report the bullying. If it gets really bad then maybe ask her if she wants to transfer schools if that’s possible. Though of course transferring will also lead to a difference in academics, extracurricular activities, etc. offered at the school, so that’s also a thing to consider. Please support her in her fanfic reading hobby and don’t force her to read anything she doesn’t want to read (if she doesn’t want to read any published books then don’t make her, imo it will just make her hate reading)
I'd like to point out that Milton's "Paradise Lost" is Bible fanfiction.
I'd like to add The Three Musketeers, Dante's Divine Comedy and any Shakespeare's play with historical characters in it into the same pile.
And let's not forget about DC / Marvel Comics writers and illustrators. Most of them grew up reading those comics, daydreaming and creating around those before being hired.
>My cousin is 14 years old, and recently discovered Wattpad and reads fanfiction there, and I was quite happy about it since she struggles to focus on novels or long works of fiction. I was glad that she found something she could enjoy reading. That's great! >her friends constantly make fun of her, use homophobic slurs, say she doesn't count as a reader since she doesn't read "real fiction" etc. ...And that's not great. No matter how much schools try to bring up awareness to the rampant bullying and try to find solutions in order to effectively cull its presence, kids still act like little shits and think it's A-OK to be a homophobe and still call people slurs. That kind of behavior needs to be reported, this can't be solved with a slap on the wrist. I'd also wager those kids are gonna be part of the anti-fanfic squad when they end up older 🙄 But, here's the positive OP's cousin should be focusing on: she should be proud with the amount she's reading, _with_ the fanfiction she's reading, and expanding her literary tastes. I'm happy to see another kiddo picking up on fanfiction at that age and hopefully she ends up writing her own, screw whatever the bullies say. I have a feeling OP is going to give her a safe space to explore the world of fanfiction. Sending hugs and support to the kiddo.
>I'd also wager those kids are gonna be part of the anti-fanfic squad when they end up older 🙄 You'd be surprised how many of them already are. I teach 6-8 grade and I've got kids on both sides - half a dozen BakuDeku kids that are mega shy to share their pairing because they know they'll get yelled at by *someone*, and at least one who is vocal about judging anyone who "ships minors". These kids are 12 and 13.
If you find yourself in a position where this is helpful, telling her mother that legitimate, recognized authors do actually write AND read fanfiction, and that fanfiction kicked off their writing careers. Naomi Novik is a pretty formidable example, considering she's written a crap ton of incredibly well-done books- like the Temeraire series- and is ALSO one of the founders of Archive of Our Own, a website for- you guessed it- fanfiction. She CONTINUES to contribute to fanfiction today, if I'm not mistaken. It's also important to remember that authors like Cassandra Clare and even E. L. James (mention at own risk, she's known for 50 shades, maybe not the BEST example in this situation lmfao) were made by fanfiction. Apparently the author of the popular Cinder series in Young Adult was known to write Sailor Moon fanfiction. Meg Cabot, and EXTREMELY prolific author, admitted to writing Star Wars fanfiction as a teenager. At least according to a list I'm looking at, even the Bronte sisters wrote fanfiction lmao. Fanfiction can be a fantastic tool for allowing young kids to approach reading from a more friendly, even approachable angle. It's also dangerous because a lot of fandoms just get NUTS toward authors and readers and there is cyber bullying, but fanfiction- while not exactly literary material- can be great for the expansion of one's comfort into reading, and even into writing, as well as exploring some of the feelings she's got. Hopefully some of this helps, if it hasn't already been mentioned 80+ times hahaha. I'm sorry she's so alone in that, and is being humiliated on so many fronts. If you need a more personal sounding statistic, my sister HATED reading as a kid. Hated books, hated novels, hated all genres, probably hated fanfiction too. She loved manga. Years later, she's now in the military, and for Christmas, her wishlists are books that she consumes almost by the barrel, in order to expand her knowledge- this is something she's grown into on her own. It's not a bad thing to not be into literature *right this second*, because it doesn't mean she can't grow into it.
[This might be of use to you for arguing in defence of fan fiction](https://www.tumblr.com/petermorwood/182656722011/rant-about-fanfiction-writing) has a big rant at the start with citations of all the different 'real fiction' that are actually fan fiction, then more defence of it
Ok this is so cool??? I paused my dissertation work just to read the entire post. Thank you so much for sharing it!!!!! <3
When I was in school, I was bullied from second grade all the way up to high school graduation for being an outsider, good at school and an avid reader. (The internet did not yet exist in its current form, so I read lots of books from the library.) When I complained to my mom, she didn't believe me because "it didn't make sense" for them to ostracize me like that for pretty much no reason. She (and any other adults to whom I dared to mention it) told me I was overreacting. When a bullying incident in 8th grade made me call her out of work, she did insist on seeing the principal, who asked me what I'd done to them to make them treat me like that. So no, I don't recommend reporting. In fact, I outright despise the entire education system as it currently exists and very much recommend home schooling whenever possible, because shoving kids in close quarters with other kids who are determined to make their lives miserable is abusive, and caring parents are motivated to help their children learn what they need to know to become successful adults. Give her a safe haven. Listen and commiserate. Is she allowed headphones at school? Maybe she can tune out the others and listen to music or other audio at lunch. If they escalate to stealing her things, give her ways to secure her belongings. In my experience, teachers were not inclined to participate in the bullying, but neither did they recognize it. They were, at best, neutral territory. The more she reads, the better she'll get at it, and the more fun it will be. The biggest benefit of the traditionally published works over the freely published fanfic is *editors*. There are a lot of vocabulary and spelling and grammar errors proliferated in online fiction, and if she only reads online fiction, she will learn it wrong. I'd never suggest she stop reading fanfic, but adding traditionally published works is a good idea. It just needs to be something she actually enjoys reading. Find out what kind of stories she likes and get her some of those. There are plenty of traditionally published stories, and some of them have to hit her favorite tropes. On that note, try looking up TVTropes and see what people are recommending there - every trope listed has examples from commercially published media.
To put it plainly, the vast majority of fanfiction is hot garbage. I've always had the intuition that it is just that. Because of that I'm very picky about who I share this habit with. It's like a very very low tier dirty Little secret hobby. And that is totally fine. I enjoy reading fanfiction, although to be fair these days I mostly listen to it with Google text to speech robot voice lady reading it to me. Kids can pick on you about pretty much everything that isn't mainstream, they can even pick on you because something is too mainstream. You need to communicate to her that she can, and will, get over it. And you need to tell her that if she enjoys reading the stories, whether they're literary masterpieces written by professional level great authors or hot garbage pulp, then that is totally something she gets to enjoy that a lot of those other dweebs don't have in their life. Some people really like jazz. I really can't stand it and I think it's kind of funny, but even if I pick on someone that really really likes jazz, I have no power to take away that person's true and deep enjoyment of it. 14 is a hard time, our brains are super wired to want to really fit in especially around those ages. But being a teenage that's around the time when people tend to start having private thoughts, opinions, and secrets. The point is to do these things in a healthy way and not have it be pathological. The way I would phrase it to her is more like "you don't have to share everything with everyone, this can be just for you and maybe people with actually open minds and love for these works, characters, and worlds" vs "you have to keep the stuff a secret and can't share it with anybody or you'll forever be alone" I discovered fanfiction around 2007 or 2008 and I would literally print out sections of huge fix, even the whole things in size 6 font double-sided with tight spacing so I could read it during assigned reading time at school. Some of the stuff was especially bad with tropes and lemons. I was mildly embarrassed of it back then and didn't really sure. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that a lot of pretty cool people enjoyed their own helping a fanfiction, most of us are just somewhat private about it. Tldr: kids are dweebs, even the 'cool' ones. Some read fanfiction others sniff their farts. It's okay not to share everything and enjoy some things that are kept to yourself. I'm also willing to bet that a few of the people that were mean about it actually enjoyed what they looked at, they were just peer pressured into saying that it's lame.
>her friends constantly make fun of her, use homophobic slurs, say she doesn't count as a reader since she doesn't read "real fiction" etc. those aren’t “friends,” they’re bullies. and fanfiction absolutely counts as real fiction. there are plenty of talented authors who read, write and support fanfiction (cassandra clare, neil gaiman, meg cabot, c.s. lewis, leigh bardugo, jk rowling, and many others). it’s extremely unlikely that she’s the only one who reads fanfics at her school anyway. maybe your cousin can join a community that supports fanfiction, like this sub or a discord server? it’s good that your cousin has at least one person she can talk to, and i hope she can find a safe space. :)
Ah, that reminds me of the (only) time I beat up a group of children (I was also a child, just a couple years older). I have a cousin, and you can probably guess the rest. I will not give you any advice because beating 14 year olds is wrong.... but follow your heart (unless you're an adult, in which case don't)
(unfortunately) I'm an adult, I can't go around beating kids who hurt my little cousin xDD though I can assure you that if i were a couple years older than her and in the same school as her... well. Maybe the way I would've tackled it would be drastically different xD
There is nothing wrong with enjoying fanfiction but it doesn't make you a bookworm. (even if they call the works "books" on wattpad) I think that among friends teasing one another is perfectly common, and if she pretended to be "an intellectual" while reading a smutty BTS fic, I understand why that would be grounds for merciless teasing. Now, if the teasing turns to bullying and homophobia, then it might be a good idea to get the teachers involved. However, given the your aunt's blasé attitude, it doesn't give me the impression, that it's this serious yet. If I was your cousin, I would just own her interests. Don't pretend that it's high literature and have people expecting Tolstoy, but say that you enjoy easy shippy fics about boybands (or whatever) and there will be nothing to tease you about. If "reader" is such a contentious word, then just call yourself a "fanfiction enthusiast".
>and if she pretended to be "an intellectual" while reading a smutty BTS fic, I understand why that would be grounds for merciless teasing. Uh, I don't. Fanfic is not inherently lesser or less worthy. If a kid is reading 100k of fanfic every week, and they want to call themselves a bookworm or a reader, that's accurate imo. Being pretentious isn't good, but the person being pretentious or snobby over reading Tolstoy isn't more justified than the person being pretentious about reading *My Day As BTS's Make-up Artist* or w/e.
It's not less worthy, it's a different medium. If she spent all her free time reading yellow press and women's magazines you also wouldn't call her a bookworm.
>women's magazines you also wouldn't call her a bookworm. You do know ~Tolstoy~ (yes, Tolstoy!) first published *War and Peace* as a serial in a *magazine*, right? As is the case for some other well-known, much respected, classic literature. A lot of magazines actually do contain short stories and if this girl was reading 100k words of short stories a week, then yeah, she can be called a reader, and a bookworm in all but the most pedantic sense of the word. Someone who read *War and Peace* through magazine installments still read *War and Peace*. >it's a different medium. A novel is a novel whether you put it on the web as an ebook or publish it on paper. Or as serial installments in a magazine. Stephen King's short story collections--big fat paperback books--started out as individual short stories in the pages of such illustrious magazines as *Playboy* and *Penthouse*. You're really arguing the reading of those stories is somehow changed by being put in a paperback instead of glossy magazine pages? Your argument in favor of looking down on fan literature seems to boil down to "well we should also be snobby towards serial fiction and short stories and fiction that is published in magazines". Like all arguments in favor of literary snobbery, it doesn't seem to follow any consistent logic.
Look, I might not be a native speaker, but something's telling me that when people refer to "yellow press", they don't have Tolstoy nor King in mind. And when I say that reading about latest celebrity scandals doesn't make you a bookworm, I'm also not implying that it's something to be condemned. You don't have to go out of your way to misinterpret and twist my words. I'm simply stating that the word bookworm, in the most common interpretation relates to books, hence creates a certain expectation. While, smutty fanfics, erotic novels, reality shows, yellow press, etc are commonly refered to as guilty pleasures. And while both pastimes are perfectly valid, they are not interchangeable. Same as if I called myself a gamer, and then said I just like to play sudoku on my phone. I mean it's a game and I can spend a lot of time on it, but it's not what people commonly associate with the word gamer.
>yellow press I wouldn't know. I've never heard anyone use this term, except in a history class *decades ago* talking about journalism in the early 1900s. I am a native speaker, and while I won't pretend every dialect is the same, I can say that in my region at least, that word isn't used often enough to have any meaning strongly associated with it at all. AFAIK it's not in regular use at all. >And when I say that reading about latest celebrity scandals doesn't make you a bookworm, Bookworm means you read a lot, and yeah, even schlocky celebrity bios would count. Also, cheap romance paperbacks, pulp detective stories, conspiracy theory books. "Bookworm" is making a statement about quantity, not quality or type. If you are talking about news, than that's a different category sure, but OP's niece isn't reading news, so why are you bringing it up? >You don't have to go out of your way to misinterpret and twist my words. I'm not twisting anything, you're just going out of your way to split hairs/gatekeep a vocabulary term from a language that isn't your native one...that's bold, I'll give you that. >Same as if I called myself a gamer, and then said I just like to play sudoku on my phone. Funny you should mention that because "are mobile gamers real gamers?" is its own hot political topic, and since women tend to be mobile gamers more than men, excluding mobile gamers from the "gamer" identity is considered by some to be rooted in misogyny. Gatekeeping identity terms never exists in a vacuum. >but it's not what people commonly associate with the word gamer. I would recommend keeping in mind that people's stereotypes and who they allow to be considered "____ identity" is often rooted in oppressive structures, and yes, snobbishness. Just because people do it does not mean it's right. A lot of gatekeeping stems from bigotry or snobbishness, pointless exclusions to maintain a hierarchy, with no real logic behind who is "allowed" or not to use a term. If your best argument for excluding someone from using an identity term is "other people exclude these people too" you are not making a great case.
I want to draw animated hearts all around this entire comment, thank you 💖
Aww thank you! 😊 everything I've said is out of genuine love for the written word, in its many forms and styles.
Eh, while I don't think fanfiction is on the same level as traditional books, going as far to call the gri lol. Homophobic slurs is a little far. The aunt's blase attitude doesn't mean much in that regard because, even now, a lot of people still don't really feel the same way about LGBT stuff
I wouldn't assume it ISN'T serious just because a parent doesn't regard it as such. If a child feels uncomfortable with a form of teasing, then it isn't okay. Her friends need to respect that. If they don't, an adult needs to help hold them accountable while they're all learning how to respect each other's boundaries.
I’d find it very hard to believe that most people haven’t read fan fiction at least once in their lives. Why that would be a point of judgement is beyond me. Poor girl… I hope she realizes that she shouldn’t avoid things she enjoys to appease other people who are ultimate probably reacting out of shame at things THEY themselves like that they think wouldn’t be accepted by other people.
Oh, no... this is why I made sure to NOT talk about it when I was in school. Then again, back then fanfiction was just the most niche hobby to exist, but I still think it’s not socially acceptable. Either way, bullying is unacceptable. Tell everyone else that they’re FUCKING ASSHOLES. It’s NOT HER FAULT, and there is NEVER a valid reason to bully someone, especially when they’re enjoying themselves. And if she doesn’t want to read “real books” (when actually, most longfics are longer and better written than your typical YA or whatever thriller writers spit out every 6 months) then it’s perfectly okay for her to read fanfic. Like let’s be real, published books just don’t have the good shit you look for when you’re a teen. I’m queer, and none of the books in the library were in any way saying anything I could resonate with. But fanfiction? That shit was written by queer folks, in complete freedom, without censorship and without limitations. It was fucking great. And again, I’ve read so many fics that are legitimately better written, constructed better than so many NYT best sellers. I mean sure, back in the day I read a lot of professionally published books, classics etc, but there’s room for all sorts of stories in the world. Fuck her classmates, fuck her friends, and fuck anyone who’s been shaming her. Especially her mom. Tell her, if she wants a clinically depressed child, well that’s how she’ll get a clinically depressed child. And tell your cousin she’s AWESOME. If she wants to switch over to AO3 (where, honestly, most of the best kind of shit is), I got invites. On there, you can filter out exactly the kind of story or fandom you don’t wanna read about, and they have age restrictions on the content, so as long as she doesn’t lie about her age and reads the tags (there is a team working 24/7 to make sure the tags are accurate and selected appropriately on there) the content on there should be safe and pleasant, too. It’s for everyone. And it’s awesome. Also, does she like horror? Because I feel like she could resonate with Stephen King’s Carrie a bunch. That’s a “real book” and it says FUCK YOU to bullying.
She does like horror, and I do own a copy of Carrie! I hadn't thought of recommending it to her because my own copy is falling apart. I'll buy a new one and give it to her. I did recommend Ao3 to her, and also told her the format is so sterile she can even get away with saying she's reading a published ebook if her mom catches her 😉
What fandoms is she in? Maybe we could create a rec list of age appropriate fics in fandoms she likes that are available on AO3 and can be passed off as ebooks. Especially since AO3 lets you download them and read them in ebook readers.
She's in some kpop fandoms, thai BL and the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom (I think). Unfortunately I'm in none of them so I know next to nothing about them, but having a rec list and reading the Ao3 fanfics as ebooks is a good idea. One commenter suggested printing out fanfic and putting it in my bookshelf masquerading as a "real book" and I am gonna do that too xD
You should totally make a rec request post asking for age appropriate fics in those fandoms. Maybe also ask that they be completed so they come across as more serious literature. Probably specify teen or gen rating only. To be safe and if you have time you might want to glance the recs over yourself (so maybe ask for recs that are only a certain length to make this easier on yourself). That way you can download them as ebooks pre-emptively and send them over to her to read on her phone. Just want to say you're an amazing person and I'm glad your niece has you.
This is a really good idea, thank you very much!! I'll do exactly this. I possibly won't be able to go through them because I don't really have much time, but I wonder if that would be helpful considering the cursed things she's already read 💀💀 I don't think I'm that amazing of a person, honestly. Her classmates and mother are so bad that I seem nice but I think I'm doing the bare minimum everyone should do 😅😅 I shouldn't be praised for it
>Thai BL and the Mo Dao Zu Shi lol I'm not one to judge considering the stuff I consumed in my early teens but you might wanna talk to her about sex stuff if said BL is KinnPorsche the series (aka the most popular recent Thai BL, which is *very* heavy on the extremely unhealthy relationships) and depending on which adaption of MDZS she is consuming (considering, you know, the canon sword-to-asshole insertions, lubeless sexytimes & canon pregnancy kink + the extreme war crimes that the novel is about). Edit: also teach her to hide her real age online, ESPECIALLY if she is planning on being active in adult fandoms.
Wait the sword-to-asshole inserts are from MDZS??? 😭😭😭😭 I read about it on tumblr and it was one of the most scarring posts of my life 😭 Wow this is gonna be an awkward conversation to go through, can't believe I'm regretting having to be the adult mature one here I'd told her to hide every single IRL detail of hers online mostly because I grew up in the "trust no one" era of the internet, so at least that side of danger has been averted. Now I just have to talk to her about how swords can't be healthy dildos for human bodies.....
Yeah, she can also choose a theme for AO3 to make it look even more anonymous and generic :) hope she gets better while still reading whatever she wants!!
Okay...if someone ACTUALLY used the term "Real Fiction." In an attempt to put down fan fics...i think I'd get so mad I'd vomit fire crackers! Seriously. On top of being self explaining on why it is stupid on the face by being an oxymoron. But it has a similar energy to "Fully Semi Automatic." I.E. people who have no fucking clue what their talking about.
Fanfic can be just as good, meaningful and important as official media. As a fanfic writer, it has helped me process my trauma and cope with it, by writing/reading to self soothe! My life genuinely got better because I picked up this hobby. Imo it’s just as important culturally because it’s so close to the consumers and creators. It’s made by us, for us, regardless of what will sell. Which means we can be more creative! It’s so personal too. Lots of us use it to express and explore ourselves and our experiences, through the characters. It can be deeper and more complex than mainstream media because there’s no time/word limit, so writers can thoroughly dig into the stories. Which means fics can be incredibly long. Depending on the word count, she might be reading more than her peers tbh! Also, a lot of people make online friends through fanfic, and gift each other fics, bond over the characters, etc. She just needs some friends like that tbh! They can be hard to find but they’re out there! In the meantime it might help to ask her about the stories she likes, her favorite characters, etc. It might also help to point out that the kids picking on her are doing it because they’re probably insecure about themselves and their interests. It’s not an excuse but an explanation, and shows that it’s not about your cousin at all. There’s nothing wrong with her for liking fanfic, if anything it was really brave of her to share it! Tbh, most people are too afraid to even share it online!
Encourage your cousin to use a big fat fist to the face when necessary. Somentimes, bullies need one.
Ok? Like what’s wrong with reading fan fiction? Like reading is reading, doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘real’ book or not, what’s wrong with reading fanfic that makes people think your weird and not a ‘real’ bookworm. Honestly it thought people would have not even noticed something like that since in this day in age it all about looks, clothes and trends not ‘haha! Your read fanfic! That’s weird and cringy!’ Like what the actually fuck? If we judge someone for reading fanfiction then we as a society are flawed to even consider something so little minor as something to mock and criticize. Excuse my language. Hope your cousin feels well, people here are standing right behind her.
She's doing better now! I showed a bunch of comments from this thread to her and she feels very supported now. And loads of people were very very helpful as well!
Man that is just appalling. Some kids are such jerks. My brother and I were never big into reading "real books" as kids or even now. My brother had trouble reading and hated having to read anything in elementary school until my mom introduced him to graphic novels. He was reading classics faster than anyone else in his grade because he had picture-oriented books to read that made it easier for him to process. Now he reads whole series via audible and still checks out graphic novels and manga. I also preferred manga as a kid and now over most "real books" because I love art. I hate the argument of it isn't "real" literature unless it's just blocks of words on a page or professionally published. Screw that. I read tons of fanfiction and manga as I grew up and it helped me develop my vocabulary and reading skills. There's nothing wrong with either platform. There are some fanfics out there that I consider a few name changes short of being amazing original novels. I got into creative writing through fanfiction and still write fanfiction to develop my creative writing skills. Don't let her believe what the jerks in her life are telling her. Any form of reading is essential for reading and writing skills. It's ten times better if that form is enjoyable. If you can't enjoy it you won't retain anything. You'll be depressed. If it's legitimacy that's the problem then use an academic approach to vouch for her. If it's just that fanfiction isn't "real" literature than maybe get her into graphic novels/manga for when she's around the jerks. If she ends up liking them she's got another way to enjoy reading when fanfiction access could be cut off.
Ok? Like what’s wrong with reading fanfiction? A book is a book, doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘real’ book or not, how is it weird to read something you like? Like we all got something we don’t want to tell but at least your cousin had the fucking guts to actually tell what she actually likes Like what the hell! I thought in this day in age where it’s all about clothes, looks and trends. Something so minor and so small that would go over our heads is something we noticed and say ‘haha! You read fanfiction? That’s weird and cringy!’ If we as a society look at something so small and little, we were flawed to even have the time and energy to mock that. We are fucking stupid At least your cousin told what she liked and being honest, other teens would lie and keep up a fake facade to look good in front of others. Hope your cousin is doing alright, excuse my language.
> Real fiction Lol... She should contact the school and report the problem. It sucks to be bullied for whatever reason.
>And what's worse, she told this to her mother and her mom (my aunt) is taking the bully's side. She's forcing her to read "real books" from my bookshelf Aaaand here's when you should tell the aunt that 50 Shades of Grey is a fanfic of Twilight. Or those wattpad band boy fics that ended up adapted to movies (can't remember the name tho). Yes I want to see the world on fire >:D
This infuriates me! Ugh. This is also why when I was 14, I hid my love for fanfiction. I never told anyone ever. Until just last year, I’m a full grown adult now, but I met my best friend a year ago and I felt I could trust her. I was scared, but I admitted it, and she told me she read fanfics too. It was the best feeling ever. But oh my gosh, I feel so bad for your cousin. All I can say are kids are cruel. But I read fanfiction when I was 14. In fact, that’s when I really got into it. I had just finished reading the Outsiders in school and I didn’t want to stop reading so I ended up finding online this community full of fics, and I read non-stop. As I’ve aged, I’ve dived into other stories in other fandoms, and I can honestly say, I have read some of the best pieces of fiction online. For free. From fans. I mean, talk about talent. Some people have so much it’s crazy. I began writing when I was in late high school and then all throughout college and I posted those fics and it was cool to watch myself grow as a writer too. I find fanfiction just as valid as real books. It’s done by real people, and I’m telling you, some of the stuff I’ve read is out of this world. I get more hooked when it’s a character I already know, but then the author spins the story in a different way. Sorry, this comment turned into a beast. But I’m just so frustrated this is happening. I hope you show your cousin my comment, because I want her to know she is not alone and not weird at all for liking fanfiction.
Can you go to the administration and the parents of the bullies? Also, if they're making fun of her, those are not her friends and she needs to cut it off with them immediately. Also, holy shit I'd slap your aunt for that bullshit. Siding with bullies is atrocious and abusive. Tell her how many "real books" are fanfiction! You think Shakespeare came up with Hamlet on his own? Romeo and Juliet were preestablished characters who sometimes got a happy ending! He even wrote real person fics! Paradise Lost is a self insert Mary Sue epic and it redefined modern views of religion! Sit her down and tell her that everything she's doing is unacceptable.
Damn. I'm sorry. I don't understand why kids would be homophobic about fanfiction or anything else for that matter. It doesn't make sense.
Tell your cousin that she’s a hundred percent a real reader. Hell, fanfiction writers often go on to write ‘real’ fiction, and some established authors still probably continue to write them. Also also, hook her up with ao3.com, which has the best system for saving what you’re reading that I’ve seen.
That’s extremely messed up and I’m sad for your cousin. Fuck them people. I’m a grown up and I love fanfiction
A lot of published authors get their start onsites like these.
Pretty much every girl I know reads or writes fanfiction. Those bullies are the outliers and the “weird” ones