The Reputation of Fanfic
Even articles and videos defending fanfiction as a medium tend to be apologetic, and the people involved cringe and waffle about admitting they read, or worse, write fanfiction.
When most people first think of fanfiction, they tend to first think of it being a terribly-written, cringy self-insert by a 12-year-old girl, or porn. Or both.
(Thanks My Immortal.)
Since that’s what people think fanfic is, let’s talk about it.
SELF-INSERT
Self-insert fanfiction, where either an idealized version of the author or a blank that the reader can fill in with themselves is a main character in the story. Usually, the self-insert is in a relationship with a canon character who dotes on them, has lots of sex with them, and/or comforts them after they are traumatized.
To deny that this sort of fanfiction exists would be a lie. However, it’s not actually very common. On AO3, it might make up roughly 15% of the seven million posted works (as of the end of 2020).
Additionally, if being a self-insert piece disqualifies a work from being literature, then Dante’s Inferno needs to go.
** see the post that made that popular knowledge or the article “11 Classics That Are Secretly Fanfiction”
A more small-time version of self-insert can even be positive, when what is being inserted is something like an author’s experience with mental health or a sexual/gender orientation that is lacking representation elsewhere.
PORN
Okay, admittedly there are a lot more sexually explicit fanfics than self-insert ones. (Though there are also many that would be rated G to PG-13.)
However, I posit that this is actually a good thing, especially when discussing the topic of trauma.
Fanfiction being a very sex-positive space opens the door for stories about sexual assault, consent, queer relationships, and all manner of other important sexual topics that don’t get much space in more mainstream media.