Bemoaning the lack of longevity in recent fanficdoms.

[timepiececlock]

I spent an embarrassing amount of time last night and today reading epic Draco/Hermione fics from this fan awards list. "Valentine Encounter" (scroll down) was pretty good, and now I'm in the middle of a DISTURBINGLY LONG epic fic "Draco: Phoenix Rising." For the record, my weakness for Draco/Hermione fic is purely fanon-based, and completely separate from my canon character interpretations.

Sometimes I look at the fandom popularity of Harry Potter, and I want to cry. It's just not fair. When every other fandom has been overrun by the drabble trend for the last 5 years, HP fandom chugs along at a happy pace with an absolutely revolting amount of epic chapter fics. Seriously! Do you KNOW how many epic Draco/Hermione fics are out there? A LOT. And that's for an unconventional and non-canon pairing. That's not even looking at the epic fics for canon het pairings, or the amount written for slash pairings.

All that talent! It makes me want to weep, because what I wouldn't give to read a 150,000 word, 40 chapter epic written for Princess Tutu, or Fruits Basket, or The Twelve Kingdoms, or any other quality series, tv or flm or anime. There are some very popular fandoms, like ATLA or Doctor Who, that have a fair number of long fics....but still NOTHING like what you get for HP fandom. Honestly, the only fandoms I'm familiar with right now that come even close to matching the number of long fics in HP are LOTR and Naruto. This didn't used to be the case... when I originally got into fandom, with 90s anime and then with Jossverse and Highlander and X Files, epics weren't just a special luxury, they were outright common.

I've never been able to complete an epic fic, always being stuck with short fics, one-shots, and ficlets. But now I'm sad that other people aren't even trying, because drabbles are so popular and easy.

Comments

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

Draco/Hermione? I DO NOT KNOW IF WE CAN EVER SPEAK AGAIN. *flails*

Drabbles are only easy if you're doing them wrong. *is such a drabble snob*

I completed my first 50K fanfic ever about a month ago, but it is unfortunately not for Avatar. I think when S3 is over I'll go back and work on Experiment, or maybe even write that "Mai is a psychic" fanfic. I'm just not good enough with overarching plots--I'm better at anchoring one-shots within a pre-existing plot, rather than trying to come up with that plot myself. Plus I've been a little guilted into feeling as if, if I'm going to spend that much time on something, maybe it should be something original.

*is in awe of people who can write long fics*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

OH BUT WE CAN. DON'T DENY ME MY PETTY VICES. I SAID IT WASN'T CANON-REFLECTIVE. WHICH, FOR THE RECORD, IS THAT I OFFICIALLY SHIP HARRY/LUNA, AND THAT'S IT. I DON'T *SHIP* DRACO AND HERMIONE... I NEITHER EXPECT NOR EVEN WANT THEIR CANON SELVES TO GET TOGETHER.

THERE JUST HAPPENS TO BE SOME REALLY GREAT FIC OUT THERE ABOUT THEM. LIKE The God Of the Lost, WHICH IS THE BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE EPIC HP FIC I'VE READ. EVER. AND HARDLY ROMANTIC, MORE LIKE VERY-STRAINED-FRIENDSHIP MIXED WITH DRAMATIC INTER-HOUSE WARS (VERY LITERALLY, THE SCHOOL DESCENDS INTO GANG WAR) AND A HORROR FILM PLOTLINE THAT, FRANKLY, SOMETIMES FRIGHTENED ME. VERY FEW FICS EXIST THAT CAN FRIGHTEN ME.


I would love to read any epic fics you write; I'd forgotten about the Mai-is-psychic plotline. A kind of Avatarverse Cassandra, if I remember from our discussions.

I am also in awe of people who can write long fics. I've never done more than 14,000 in a story. I have outlined epics before... I have a detailed outline for an epic Cowboy Bebop fic, everything from major characters, major themes, foreshadowing, chapter titles, and the main events of each chapter... all of it outlined from beginning to end. I just haven't written it yet. I've got similar fics for a few other fandoms. I just don't have the willpower to keep up with something for that long.

I guess I should try to set aside regular time for writing every day, huh? That would be the mature thing to do.





Plus I've been a little guilted into feeling as if, if I'm going to spend that much time on something, maybe it should be something original.

That's... stupid! I mean, yeah if you want to write original stuff more power to you, but if you want to write epic ATLA fic, DO NOT LET GUILT STOP YOU. Seriously, no one would blame you for writing something like that... they'd compliment you.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

WELL I GUESS I READ...UH...DRACO/GINNY. WHICH I KINDA WANTED TO HAPPEN IN CANON UNTIL DEATHLY HALLOWS, WHEN DRACO STAYED A WIMP. MY CONSOLATION WAS THAT THE MALFOY FAMILY REALLY LOVED EACH OTHER. (REALLY! THEY ALL DID! EVEN LUCIUS! SO CUTE!)

one of these days...but yeah, I think that was the basic idea. And I kinda watch the episodes with an eye to it (and it would make her actions in "Daydreams and Nightmares" so much more poignant if she knows she's going to lose him).

I run into the problem of once I've outlined it, I don't feel a need to write it anymore. The story's there, it's done; writing the minute details is no fun.

hahahahaha yeah right. XD

[saxon-dogs.livejournal.com]

Hee, reading that makes me reminiscent for my first couple years in fandom, when epics seemed to outnumber one-shots. Those were the days for reading, man!

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

This post is composed entirely of truth.

When I first got into FMA fandom, I was all, "okay, now where's the fic I have to scroll down to finish?" I thought it was just the fandom, but maybe it was because I was fresh out of Harry Potter. (I'm not counting my brief time with Fruits Basket fandom, because that whole experience was just kind of depressing. Still haven't found a fandom to match Fruits Basket for lack of intelligence.)

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Personally I've had some disappointing experiences with writing long fic vs drabbles. For example, this fic I worked on for MONTHS and was SUPER LONG (for me) and all plotted out has gotten maybe a fifth of the reviews for some short thing I threw together in half an hour and uploaded on a whim.

It just... it really depresses you when that happens, and makes you kind of disillusioned too.