Fanfiction is supposed to be fun... Right?

[arenee1999]

Ok, so I know this topic has been discussed to death by everybody but it still makes me livid when I see it....

Why do people feel the need to rake an author through the coals because of the pairing of a fic or because the author had the audacity to change canon? I mean isn't that what fanfiction is for? I can understand not liking a certain pairing, but just because you don't like it or understand how it could possibly work doesn't mean other people can't. That's the beauty of fanfiction, we can all read what we like. Pairings are almost always noted before you start reading, so if it's one you don't like or refuse to try then don't read it. Why read something you know you're going to hate just so you can toss a bucket of vitriol at the author and the readers that are interested in the story? It's a waste of your time and theirs. I'm sure there are plenty of other things you could be reading instead.

Of course nowadays I shake my head and sigh over people that refuse to read something they've never tried. Way back when I first started reading fic I was the same way. I have since found that it's better to not limit myself. Quite a lot of the things I swore I'd never read have actually become some of my favorite tropes/kinks/plots/pairings. Now I'm willing to give anything a try once to see if I really don't like it or can't read it before I run the other way. I'm not talking about people that can't read things due to trauma in their own lives, I mean those that are unwilling to try something because it is different.

/controversial topic

Comments

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Everybody has different tastes. I've been accused of writing a Blake/ Avon without a warning when it was a pure gen story with no implied relationship. However the reader read it differently and insisted it was a Blake/Avon fic which was a pairing they hated.

It is true that no one ever reads the same story. We all see things through our own mind's eye.

[arenee1999]

But that's exactly my point, everyone has different tastes and we're allowed our different tastes. We shouldn't be vilified for writing or reading something we like just because someone else doesn't.

B7 fandom is an unfortunate mess. I adore the series and love reading the fic but the fandom never moved past the way fics were published in 'zines. There are a lot of writers that refuse to use a proper fic header or give any information aside from the title of the fic (if indeed the is a title) and that just serves to create unneeded tension. Plus, when headers are used the fandom has created their own way of categorizing stories that makes no sense to those of us from other fandoms. Which is why I pulled away from the fandom, the Drama was just too much to deal with.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

My point was more, it doesn't matter what you label your fic, someone else is going to read it differently.

I don't write so much Blake's 7 fic at the moment either. Though what does amuse me is the fact that everyone expects you to have a particular head canon. I don't, I like to play with a genre and don't usually have anything fixed.

[arenee1999]

Very true. I've often seen authors write a fic as friendship/bromance only to have readers insist it is slash.

I think part of it is that B7 fandom is so small that everyone expects us to see it the same way they do. I've often wondered if we're all even watching the same show. Some of the things I've heard said about why one of the characters acts a certain way just flabbergast me as I tend to view the scenes in a completely different way. While I think having a head canon is fine, I don't like to let it limit my imagination of what's possible within the framework of the show, and that goes for any fandom. Sometimes it's even fun to completely twist the main framework and see what happens. ;p

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Because some things never change?

[arenee1999]

*sigh* Ain't that the truth!

I suppose it doesn't help that the average age of fandom keeps getting younger.