General Fanfiction Fandom Poll

[shadowkat]

Here's the thing about posting polls - if you screw up, you can't go back and edit them.
So, keep that in mind when you read this. The other problem with polls, hence the reason I don't do them that often - is they are sort of pointless if no-one does it or only 10 people do it. And well, I always leave something out.

The reason I'm posting this - is I've been reading fanfic off and on again. Hunting for something to scratch an itch, haven't quite found it. So got curious about how others write and read it. What inspires them. What kinks turn them on. I left out the negative crap. Also chose not to ask about ships, because I don't have enough ticky boxes to list all the possible ships in every show that my flist writes about. You'd need 50-60 ticky boxes. So did this as a more general poll - with the hopes it will include everyone. And yes, I know, I left Supernatural off the ticky boxes at the end, but I ran out of ticky boxes - so if you're show or book or whatever isn't listed, feel free to mark other and mention in comments.

Also if you take the poll and know of any fanfics in your area of fandom you want to or would like to recommend - either do it in the comments or just link to an entry in your journal. They can be one's you have written.

[*RPF fic has a bad rep, which is odd considering how much of it has actually been published. Joyce Carol Oats published RPF on Norma Jean. The person does, normally have to be dead for it to be published. But the film Shakespeare in Love is technically RPF fic.]

ETA on Sunday, 9:40 am: Whoops! Apparently I don't know the definition of "bullet-proof" kinks and should have just put "kinks". My bad, guys and gals! Ignore the bullet-proof and just put whatever kinks you have. Crappy writing turns me off of stuff as well. What I meant was kinks that turn you on in fanfic.

[Poll #1453790]

Comments

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Oh, fanfic. Been reading it since I was very, very young.

I have very few "bulletproof" kinks, though time travel and memory loss are two of them. Also, fluff...though that wasn't on the list. :) I typically do like angst, but I didn't choose it because I do have to be in the right mood for it. So it's not a sure bet for me.

But, yeah. My fanfic history goes back to Trek. I wrote Trek parodies when I was much, much younger. Then meandered through various anime, B5, HP, DW (classic), then finally the Buffyverse. I'm pretty much monogamous to Buffy right now, though. I have a long, long list of fics to-read, and it's difficult enough finding time to get through that. I couldn't imagine doing it for multiple fandoms.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hee. Thanks for the response.

After I posted my poll last night, I read your post on SurveyFail and found myself laughing. Outsiders just don't understand fanfic or fandom, heck I'm not sure I understand it or my own involvement in it - which has been going on for about six or seven years now. I've always written fanfic in my head or written bits and pieces here and there, but I didn't know others wrote it and actually shared it. I always kept the fact that I did it to myself. Didn't discover others did it too or that I could read what they wrote until roughly 2001. Then I found out that people write fanfic about pretty much everything - there are teletubby and sesame street fanfics, there are fanfics about baseball and football players (RPF's), there are fanfics about Jane Eyre, Dragon Riders of Pern, and Shakespeare. It blew my mind but in a good way. I'd written or told myself stories about Kimba the White Lion, Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, Escape from Witch Mountain, Battle of the Planets (anime), The Monkees, Star Wars, BattleStar Galatica or Indiana Jones as a child. But I kept it to myself. No one knew. And mostly they were stories I told myself - didn't write down or if I did, they were in my private journals.

The internet - I think - has changed a lot of that. We can now post or share these stories. We can play.

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Don't know how helpful my answers are since I've *read* in many, many fandoms, and across all genres/relationships, though I haven't *written* as widely.

Also, while I do have specific "kinks"/tropes I *prefer* in my fanfic, if the writing is crap then there's a good chance I'll back button out of there. The only exceptions are probably the very rare pairings/fandoms where pretty much all of it is crap, and you have no choice. (So basically I didn't choose any of the kinks you listed, because none of them are *truly* bullet-proof, not if the writing is god-awful.)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I screwed up on the kinks bit - what I meant was turn-ons or what makes you read a fanfic, not what will make you ignore crappy writing. There are a lot of fanfics out there for example that fit my kinks, but I can't read because the writing is bad.

Actually your answers are helpful. I was curious to see how many people read across the fandoms or other fandoms represented.

I've read across fandoms - not a lot, but I have read in other fandoms. For example - I read your House fanfic - which was quite good. But as far as writing goes? I have written much fanfic or rather, I have not posted much fanfic. Written quite a bit in my head - but not quite the same thing. And wrote quite a bit when I was in my teens, but I didn't know there were fan communities you could share it with back then. The internet truly has changed things in that regard.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm kinda surprised at how I generally don't have that many kinks that I'm always looking for. I hope this was helpful!


Fanfic written/read in - (Other) Lord of the Rings

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

well I think I'm the oddity in your flist: I did try reading some BtVS fan fic, back in the hey day... but most of it annoyed me. And I tried even harder to find Firefly stories I would enjoy because I loved and missed those characters so much, but most of those annoyed me even more (occasionally I would find an isolated short story to be well done, but those were so rare that I finally gave up completely).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Trust me, you aren't an oddity. Lots of people on my flist don't write or read fanfic. They are ignoring the poll, they also ignore my buffy metas for the most part. LOL!

Fanfic really is no different than fanart or vidding. I prefer fanfic to fanart. I have done both - I once painted all the X-men characters for example.

I think the fanfic you may have wanted is character study fic - and there are some good writers of character study/gen fic out there - selenak seems to specialize in it.
My brief excursions into fanfic fit more into that category.

[rahirah]

I have no bulletproof kinks. There's nothing I love so much that crappy writing won't turn me off of it.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Your icon just made me laugh like a loon. Captain Jack *so* approves!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I screwed up on that category - shouldn't have put "bullet-proof". Sorry about that. Have done an ETA above to explain.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I don't really have kinks– I agree with rahirah about vrappy writing being a turn off no matter how much I like the topic– and I rarely read fanfiction now but I used to read a lot of Spuffy fic so I answered your poll.

BTW Oates' Blonde was a good book.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That's the name of Oat's book - thank you. Can never remember what it was called.

People give fanfic a bad rap - but a lot of the books that I've seen published lately are "fanfic". Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is fanfic. Blonde - is fanfic. I'm guessing they don't realize it is fanfic?

(shrugs)

I screwed up regarding the kinks. I won't stick with a fanfic if I think it is written poorly. I won't stick with a book if if I think it is written poorly - that was why I couldn't read the Twilight novels.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Bullet-proof kinks--I don't really have any outside of erotic fanfic. I'll read any fic that looks interesting.

I've written for Highlander and a few other older fandoms and read for an awful lot of different fandoms.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I forgot Highlander, which is a shame, because it has a lot of fanfic writers and readers. Needed more ticky boxes. ;-)

Thanks for the response.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

My fandoms in addition to those listed - Discworld, Lord of the Rings, Ringworld, and (my main one after the Buffyverse) Forgotten Realms. Plus scores of others that I dabble in.

You have Firefly and Dollhouse as your non-Buffy Whedon 'verses but I hate both of them with a deep and abiding passion (the Firefly actors also being Caleb, Captain Hammer, Jasmine, Marcus Hamilton, and Adria is a bit of a downer, it means that I see Serenity as crewed by the biggest bunch of scum in the universe); my non-BtVS/AtS Whedon fandom is Dr Horrible's Singalong Blog.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sorry, forgot to add Dr. Horrible. It's probably because it was my least favorite of Whedon's works. ;-)

I considered just doing a ticky box for all Whedon, because was running low on ticky boxes, but I know there are people who only do Buffy and nothing else. And only do Angel and nothing else. There are just not enough ticky boxes to cover everyone...hee.

[caliente-uk.livejournal.com]

The main fandom I read fic in is BtVS, but I do occasionally dabble in Torchwood and Supernatural fic - and most recently I've been reading True Blood fic.

[liliaeth]

Hmm, I've been reading and writing fanfic for over ten years now. My first fandom was Highlander and everything came out of that. My main bulletproof kink is the combination and comparison of something supernatural/non human... with real life

Like, I don't care about two regular human chars getting domestic, but when one of the chars is a vampire, immortal, angel,... then I do get interested. (though I'll make an exception for Sam and Dean Winchester, because their life is so weird to begin with, that to put them in a normal life clashes because of their previous experiences. And it's that clash that interests me more than the actual normal life.

I have no interest in seeing a good char, like say Buffy getting a crush on an evil char, aka early Spike. But when Spike fell in love with Buffy and started to change to become better for her, that instantly hit my kinks. Because I'm more interested in seeing the world improve than I am in seeing it go to hell.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Re: fandoms - I wrote a ficlet about Dr. Horrible (in Russian) so I clicked on "other Whedon shows".

As to kinks - I adore stories with a "what if" premise. Stories that change one element of the canon and adapt everything else to that change.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, forgot to put Dr. Horrible in there. Completely spaced on that one.

Also forgot the "what -if" kink - which happens to be one of my major kinks as well. Thanks for the response.

[kerry-220.livejournal.com]

I won't say much, because I don't write so there's a level I can't reach within these discussions.

However, I just wanted to say that one of the reasons I've become so fond of fan fiction is the 'art for art's sake' passion behind it.

As for kinks, sometimes it's easier to say what you hate than what you prefer (I'll read anything if the premise is good). It's difficult to get past lazy, thoughtless writing. I think a writer needs to know their canon ('Hang on, that's not possible because...' ruins a story)and I despise character assassination - especially for the purpose of elevating the heroes. They're heroes guys! They can do it on merit.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You and I appear to have some of the same turn-offs in regards to fanfic. I can't tolerate character assassination or grudge fic. Although I completely understand why people do it - it is a good way of venting/working out issues.

Oh, this poll was for both readers and writers. I'm curious about both. But I get what you are saying, I haven't written enough fic to really discuss the writing of it.

And the reason you stated for being fond of fan fiction more or less nailed it for me - "art for art's sake". I agree with that. In fanfiction - people are playing, there is no commerical intent, no desire for money or wealth, just pure play. They are playing with ideas, working out issues, indulging in personal fantasies, or just working on becoming better writers. It is interactive and it is fun. In some ways it is more fun than say writing a novel and getting paid for it.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

I had a phase of reading big long-form fanfics like Necessary Evil and Herself's Bittersweets around the time Buffy S6/7 was on but as the fic diverged from the series and I preferred the series I more or less stopped and switched to fluff and high school AUs before stopping all all together after geting my own LJ. I think part of that may have been being finally able to participate in the meta and vid sides of fandom whereas writing stories is something that's always completely terrified me. But I have been following a few TSCC fics recently. halcyon_shifthas a WIP called "Out on the Wire" (http://halcyon-shift.livejournal.com/tag/verse:+out+on+the+wire).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec.

I realized after posting last night that I forgot to list TSCC as one of the fandoms...course I did run out of ticky boxes.;-)

I am sort of the same way in regards to writing fanfic...don't get me wrong, I love writing stories, but posting fanfic that I've written has always been hard for me. For some reason it's easier to post essays or meta, than it is fic. It is very weird.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

I didn't respond to "kinks". I think I take your meaning that you want to know what sort of fic I will always look for, but "kink" just has seems a bit too strong for what I would consider interesting themes. :)
I'm pretty much only interested in reading in BtVS/AtS and Torchwood (minimally). And those are the only ones I write in. I've read in a couple other fandoms here and there when I have some reason to - have read a little in Harry Potter (often crossovers) and a bit on Dr. Who, which I might pursue a bit more.
Within my fandoms, I'm now reading a lot of gen-type fics, not because I'm tired of my pairing (Spuffy), but because the writing seems to be better there a good bit of the time. As far as themes go, I'm more interested in how well written and believable the fic is (and how much I enjoy it) than I am in any particular theme. For every theme I can say I don't like and wouldn't seek out, I can think of at least one or more that I've read and liked in that area. Ditto for themes I like. I will always give a look to something where Spike and Buffy are forced to rely on each other somewhere/somehow and develop a relationship during that time; but I'll stop reading in a heartbeat if the characterizations isn't good, the mechanics are bad or the writing is boring or overdone.
In my tags you will find my "Slay Me" Awards, which I give out from time to time when something really knocks my socks off for some reason. You could consider them recs. :)

[yourlibrarian]

Also adding SPN to the list.

RPF fic has a bad rep, which is odd considering how much of it has actually been published.

It's the basis of most fiction, period. Even if well known people aren't named, the characters are often based on someone well known or someone the writer knows. Also, it's the basis of writing in all music fandoms for example, and those have been around just as long as the TV fandoms. So it is kind of curious.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

Just today, I realized how many books are on the shelves that are RPF. I went to Barnes and Noble - and found fictional books about Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, William Shakespeare,
and others.

I think people were upset by the erotic fanfic that was being written about the cast members of the Buffy and Angel series. But when I thought about it - people on the discussion board I was on at the time, were writing fanfic about the people on the discussion board. I appeared in two fanfics without anyone asking my permission. Granted it was as shadowkat. And I know I have done it myself in my head. We all do it. And when we write we do it.

I have a friend who is getting a book published that is "real person fanfic" - it is a historical novel entitled Mr. Churchill's Secretary and features Churchill as a main character. That is fanfic. She may not think of it as fanfic - she may think of it as historical. But it is a fanfiction about Churchill. And it really is no different than me writing a story about a character going to a rock concert and say meeting someone based on Rodger Daltrey or someone writing a story about James Marsters for that matter. Except Marsters and Daltrey are still alive and can sue for lible, while Churchill can't.

[next_to_normal]

I don't know if this is unusual or not, but I don't really seem to have kinks when it comes to fanfic. Even considering your ETA, there really aren't any kinks that I would say I actively look for or that would make me read a fic because it features that kink. I mean, time travel or memory loss fics can be interesting, but I'm not going to start reading a fic just because it's about that - I'm much more likely to start reading a fic because it's an author I know and like, or someone that's been recced to me, or if it features a pairing I'm interested in. I did select "angst," although I think of that more as a genre than a kink. But even then, not all angst is created equal - oddly enough, your examples are my least favorite type of angst, so even if a story's labeled "angst," if it's clearly a star-crossed love type of angst, I'm not likely to read it.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Not that unusual. My guess is most people including myself can't always pinpoint what attracts them to a specific writer or story or genre. Is it the writing?
Is it a character? Something that just happens to resonate with you? Or all three? Or none of the above?
Or, as the film director Clint Eastwood once stated when asked why he liked certain stories or films: I just like what I like - feel no need to analyze why.
And he may be right about that.

Mine change with the weather. And the one's I listed were the only ones I could think of off the top of my head. Forgot to put Fluff. But also ran out of ticky boxes. ;-)

I finally found a fanfic that hit that itch or my current kink - which appears to be not so much star-crossed (ie Angel/Buffy or Romeo/Juliet) as - ironic love.

I'll give you the fanfic link and the summary, Buffy is whisked back in time to Victorian England, falls in love with William (pre-vampire), is whisked back, he is beside himself with grief and gets turned by Dru, we follow his progression into Spike, then when Buffy returns from Victorian England to her own time, bewildered, in shock, wishing she was still there,
she comes face to face with him.

My kink? The irony - that all this time Spike has been trying to kill his one and true love but didn't know it. The duality of the characters - the fact that what we see on the surface is not necessarily what is.
(ie. Angel/Angelus, Spike/William, Ripper/Giles...)
And that Buffy thinks Spike is the one person, and in actuality he is someone else... Irony is a huge kink of mine. I love ironic stories.

Here's the link: http://unbridled-b.livejournal.com/25076.html

The writing is rather good. My only quibble so far is with the character depictions of Angelus and Darla, as well as the Spike/Angel relationship. I think Spike and Angelus got along a lot better than the writer seems to think they did. But since it is AU, it doesn't matter all that much.