Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk. -- Henry Jenkins
Fan fiction, or fanfiction, or fanfic for short, is derivative fiction based on settings, situations and characters in popular TV shows or books. It is written by fans of said shows and books, purely for their own enjoyment and not for profit. It resides in a legal gray area - sometimes criticised, sometimes appreciated and frequently just tolerated or ignored by the corporate entities who own the official rights.
While most fanfic is godawful crap, some of it is considered by many to be better than the original work on which it is based. To save you the trouble of sifting through the garbage yourself, I have compiled a list of the good stuff. My current fandom is Harry Potter, so that's mostly what's here, but I will try to remember any Star Trek fanfic that I particularly enjoyed reading the many, many years ago that I was a drooling DS9? fangirl.
Vocabulary
Before you descend into the nether pits, you may find the following brief vocabulary guide helpful - I have selected some basic terms that apply to all fandoms:
- AU - short for alternate universe. A story which deviates significantly from canon. Or occasionally a story set in a parallel universe mentioned in canon (as in Star Trek).
- Canon - the Real World as described by the official source material of the fandom. So, for example, the events of the four Harry Potter books in the HP fandom, or all the Star Trek movies and series episodes in ST fandom (the spin-off novels are not considered part of canon!).
- Fanon - events and concepts used so frequently in a fandom's fanfiction that they begin to be taken for granted as much as canon.
- Gen - short, I suspect, for general. Or possibly generic. Usually a piece of fanfiction written in a tone and style similar to that of the original work - with as little outrageous extrapolation as possible, especially concerning the sex lives of the characters. This term is also occasionally used as a synonym for het, that is, a story that is not slash.
- Het - short for heterosexual. A story which features a romantic relationship between two characters of the opposite sex. Opposite of slash.
- Mary Sue - an original character, often the main focus of the story, who is quite obviously an idealised representation of the author. Usually extremely beautiful, super-intelligent, multi-talented, and destined to save the world. Hogs the limelight, and either shags or is secretly related to all the author's favourite canon characters.
- Ship - short for relationship; refers to a romantic connection between two characters in a piece of fanfiction. Also pairing. Some fandoms are split into distinct camps by fervent loyalty towards various contradictory combinations. The intensity of the disagreements varies from gentle ribbing to all-out flame-wars.
- Slash - a story which features a romantic relationship between two characters of the same sex. Also the genre of fanfiction consisting of such stories. The name is derived from the slash placed between the abbreviations of character names which denotes a romantic pairing between these characters in fanfiction. Apparently the first fanfiction ever was predominantly Kirk/Spock, hence the adoption of the term for homosexual pairings in particular.
Other people who read this (uh, Mike, I guess), feel free to add anything else you think should be here.
Harry Potter
An excellent (and amusing) guide to this fandom is The Tough Guide to Harry Potter. And here's The Ultimate Harry Potter Cliche Catalogue.
Fiction Alley
The HP fanfic archive that I frequent is Fiction Alley. It is subdivided into four fiction categories - Schnoogle (novel-length fiction), The Dark Arts (dark and morbid fiction), Astronomy Tower (romantic schlock and smut), and Riddikulus (humour). Spot the reviewer's bias. Here are some recommended authors:
Other large sites of note
Author sites
- Liz Barr
- A.J. Hall
- Didodikali - two cute illustrated fics here
- Yahtzee, previously mentioned by DrMikenstein? in the Buffy/Angel section below, also writes HP fic! Well, two so far. But they're good. The site is under construction; at the moment the HP section is a directory listing and cannot yet be navigated to.
Specific stories (outside Fiction Alley)
Some of this fanfic contains bizarre smut. I will not bother to put up specific warnings, because you're all big people and you can stop reading if you don't like it. This way it'll be more fun and surprising.
Favourite characters: Snape (mmm, Snape); also have a soft spot for certain varieties of Fanon Draco. Ship of choice: not fussy; I'll read anything that's well-written. And has an actual plot.
Lord of the Rings
Wow, it's time to dust the cobwebs off this section. Here is a Cool Thing I Found Today:
- Who knackered Aragorn's Catamite? by earthspot - a slightly satirical political murder mystery set in the Fourth Age, fifty years after the fall of Sauron. Highly entertaining and impeccably written.
Older stuff
- The Extremely Secret Diaries by Cassandra Claire - the All Your Base of last year's fandom. A partial set of sequels can be found in her original journal.
- Two nicely crafted short stories that make fun of Mary Sueism:
- The Tenth Rider by Dark River - as has been pondered before, if there is a tenth member of the fellowship, then it stands to reason that there must be a tenth Nazgul...
- An Orc's Tale by Second of Seventeen - the elf Legolas seeks sanctuary among Sauron's forces - what is the ancient evil that pursues him?
DrMikenstein? - Thought I'd add to the fanfiction lists, since I also confess to trawling those murky waters. Not like anyone has to guess which fandom I frequent...
Buffy and Angel
There's no denying that 98% of all fanfic is crap. But here's some of the 2% of Buffy/Angel fic which is worth a peek. There are a few isolated groups of authors who can actually write worth a damn - here they are.
- Yahtzee - Quite possibly one of the best writers on the Net in any fandom, she's written comprehensively in both fandoms. The major reason for her success is her ability to write action, humour and horror simultaneously, much like the series. Her most well-known work is "Phoenix Burning" - a short novel written after the Season 5 Buffy finale, looking at an alternate way Buffy could have returned.
Available at: http://www.thechicagoloop.net/yahtzee/
- Rheanna - Rheanna is basically the Yahtzee of Angel fanfic(and bizarrely, of Stargate fanfic, too.) She used to have a highly-cool monochrome site, but it's been revamped (no pun intended) and now looks...kinda crap. The writing's still excellent, though.
Available at: http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/ruthhanna/index.htm
- Avatar - The Dark Slayer series. One of the most interesting series of fanfic around, because of its take on the whole supernatural mythology of the Buffy/Angel world, combined with striking writing and a gift for creating dramatic tension. The series was begun after season 2 of Buffy ended. Angel was in hell, Buffy had run away...oh, the good ol' angst. The series creates a vast supernatural world outside Sunnydale, and combines science fiction elements with the supernatural to create a fascinating world. A truly epic series.
Available at: http://members.aol.com/avatar236/DarkSlayerMenu.html
- Doyle Investigations - I freely and absolutely declare my bias here. I'm one of the three primary writers for this series, so I'm contractually obligated to tell you it's fabulous. We've won some awards though, so other people think so, too. ;-)
Doyle Investigations is a pretty ambitious project - a full fanfic-based spinoff series, episodes and all. It's set in the "Wishverse" created by Cordelia in the Buffy Season 3 episode "The Wish" - a world in which Buffy, Angel, Xander and Willow are all quite, quite dead. It's the story of what happens in the world that's left behind, a much darker world than the normal one (since the Hellmouth is open and all). Doyle, Wesley and Faith form an unlikely team to combat evil in Los Angeles, complete with their own rivalries and quirks. It's interesting because it takes a group of characters who had no real connection (Doyle never even met Faith or Wes before he died in canon) and considers the way they might develop in a darker LA. Currently, we're working on episodes 9 and 10, though we've planned plotlines all the way in Season 2.
END SHAMELESS PLUG HERE
Available at: http://www.envy.nu/wishverse/doyleinvestigations.html
- Halo Awards - The Halo Awards are one of a variety of Buffy/Angel fanfic award sites. Unfortunately, most similar sites are run purely on voting for fanfic, so winners tend to be chosen on popularity, not talent. Halo's different because it actually has a panel of extremely-brutal judges who choose winners. As a result, it provides an excellent resource for fanfic which you can guarantee is going to be good. Even better, you can even streamline your choices by finding winners within specific catagories. So if you feel like a particularly style or mood of story, Halo can find you the best of that type very easily.
Available at: http://ficgoddess.com/halo/index.htm
Star Trek
I promised some Star Trek, and here it is - three glorious seasons of Star Trek: Door Repair Guy, still online after almost a decade. This spin-off series was written in 1994 by Douglas A. Mc Leod. It is humourous, but has a complex and interesting plot. It begins on the Starship Enterprise, visits Deep Space Nine and, if I recall correctly, has a few episodes set on Voyager.
There are many little in-jokes that only Canadians will understand, but you don't have to be Canadian to enjoy the series. You just have to be a trekkie. :)
Follow Door Repair Guy's adventures as he is transported to an uncharted part of the galaxy, gets funky Borg implants and enters a bizarre alternate universe where everyone is a giant hamster.
And now for some...
Deep Space Nine:
Other people's recommendations
Bad, bad fanfiction
When you've been reading fanfiction for a long time and have come across your share of the appallingly bad, you inevitably begin to wonder just how bad it gets. This is how bad. Warning: Page reacts explosively with beverages.
Ooh, the Star Trek! Go look at the Star Trek. But don't stop there; it's all good!
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