Weekly Fic Discussion

[lachrymosy]

(Bi)Weekly Fic Discussion

Welcome back to our (now every other) Weekly Fic Discussion post!

This post can be used for any kind of fic discussion you want, but there are also a few prompt questions each week. You can reply to all of them, one of them, or none of them if you have something else you want to talk about!

Feel free to post WIP snippets, ask others' opinion on characterization, share a clip that has broken your brain, etc.!

This week's prompt questions:

• What was the first Kpop fandom you read/wrote for?


• Tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote (any fandom).

Comments

[lachrymosy]

The first Kpop fandom I ever wrote for (and read for, as far as I can remember) was the Wonder Girls. I can't actually remember the first fic I read but I do remember the first fic I wrote, which was mostly a genfic about the unpleasant side of idol life, so... nothing has changed in my RPF interests haha.

I remember the very first fic I ever posted was a Harry/Hermione fic about the final battle or something, maybe right before or after book 5 came out? That fic is lost to time and the depths of fanfiction.net, assuming I didn't delete it, though I bet I did. I suspect that technically the first fic I wrote was some handwritten Mary Sue OC-insert Harry Potter fic, like textbook Mary Sue with changing eye colors, unreasonable amounts of power, thinly veiled wish fulfillment, etc. Looking back on it, it was super fun haha. Handwritten Mary Sue fic really has its purpose!

[celli]

I love a good Mary Sue. :)

This is the second reference to Wonder Girls I've read today - I wonder if that's a sign and I should fire up Spotify!

[lachrymosy]

You definitely should! Their album tracks are really so amazing... justice for the Wonder Girls discography :(

[andersenmom]

Oh, yeah, mary Sue. I had a lot of those, too, but I wrote most of them before there was an internet or anything, so at the time I had no idea what I was doing or what it was called. Glad to have finally found my people. Yay RPF writers!

[lachrymosy]

Something in the young writer must just spontaneously manifest a Mary Sue haha! Honestly, Mary Sues may not necessarily lead to great literary insight but they were absolutely fun to write!

[andersenmom]

I maintain that Mary Sue is definitely something everyone starts with, because it's what we know, and thus... I really think she's a step in the process.

[blackcatofmisery]

For as much as Mary Sues are trash-talked, I think they are simply fun. What's greater than this weird, all-powerful and adored character? It's sort of a way to create our ideal self or work through our own feelings, and while I don't sit and read the many stories with such depictions, I have a weird affection for them?

=^..^=~

[lachrymosy]

I agree! I remember when I first was getting into fanfiction, there were whole blogs that solely existed to trash talk people's Mary Sues, Mystery Science Theater style. At the time I remember thinking they were quite funny but in retrospect why did people want to make fun of young writers having fun?

I think eventually the world of the Mary Sue just gets less interesting because it is false, it is a fantasy, but... you know, sometimes I want to be the Mary Sue of my life story even now. I'm glad there's been a reevaluation of Mary Sues hehe

[blackcatofmisery]

Those blogs sound awful. Breaking things down methodically is one thing, but blatant trash-talking helps nothing and no one. Happily, you recognize the negative impact now. A sign of growth, like lovely literary flower~

My fortune cookie take is that there's a time and a place for things, even Mary Sues. Your time may not match up with others', and vice versa, and that is just a part of art and life. I love seeing threads on Tumblr and wherever that defend "cringe" like Mary Sues, because they are important.

[bookishdagger]

mary sue fic was so popular for a reason!! wish fulfillment doesn't always have to be a bad thing

[lachrymosy]

Agreed! Tbh a lot of idol group member x original character and Y/N fic is still essentially Mary Sue fic... and while I don't read it myself, I do love that for them haha.

[nagi_schwarz]

Every fic you write is practice, and also isn’t it nice to be able to look back and know you’ve grown as a writer?