Fanfiction: The Fandom Factor

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Okay, to start us off, I don't know if the title of this makes sense, but it's the best I could come up with and it's practically an alleritation. Now on to the topic.

Years ago, someone, somwhere, wrote something about fandom that I have really taken to heart, especially in these past few months. What they said was something along the lines of: when you write a fanfiction, it should only be able to be used in that fandom.

Meaning, you shouldn't be able to change the names and the places and call it a new story and have it still making sense. Again, recently I've really thought a lot about this, and I've tried to show that in most of my work (drabbles and the like not included).

Now, I think it could be anything that separates your piece from another fandom. CL is easy because you have Lyoko. Going further than that, you have different characters which is you keep in character shouldn't translate to other characters of other fandoms. I tend to use the plot point of Odd and Aelita being "cousins" to my advantage in several stories, as well as how she doesn't really "exist."

So, what do you guys think of this? Agree? Disagree? Have any comments? What do you do to keep your fanfiction being unique to it's fandom?

[Soul Jelly]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I think there's a certain brand of A/U in the CL fandom that doesn't need to be tied into Lyoko so much, but it depends largely on the characterisation and other circumstances being the same, e.g. Naru's fic "How to Mix Business with Pleasure" which has Yumi working as Ulrich's secretary (this is based on what very little I've read of said fic so apologies if I'm wrong Naru).

But even then, there's something that ties it back to Code Lyoko (the personalities of YxU and some background features), which is why it work as a CL fanfiction.

For me, I try to base plot points around features of Lyoko and the supercomputer, or write stories based on events in certain episodes/canon events. e.g. the central theme in the first arc of The Princess and the Genius is that of Jér being on Earth and Aelita on Lyoko.

[Stella Luce 333]

One the one hand, the fun of writng fan fics is to try & have the plot work with the chartrs/settng/plot of the fandm. On the othr hand, I once wrote a fic that was a CL versn of Cindrlla which was a lot of fun...

I guss that makes me netrel...?

[Atlas]

How much you change the premise is entirely up to you.

What matters the most is that your readers still enjoy and can connect to your story.

I mean, we let Twilight get away with it and vampires.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

I'm not saying you can't change plot, location, or anything of that sort. Heck, you can change the character! I'm saying that at each fanfiction has to have at least one key point that sets it aside so you can't change names and be able to post the story in Zelda, or Harry Potter, or Glee. I've read stories that don't have that differentiating factor, I've written stories without it too. There's one thing when it's OF, but the point of FF is to take something and tweak it, not write a new one.

[Guest]

Okay, to start us off, I don't know if the title of this makes sense, but it's the best I could come up with and it's practically an alleritation. Now on to the topic.

Years ago, someone, somwhere, wrote something about fandom that I have really taken to heart, especially in these past few months. What they said was something along the lines of: when you write a fanfiction, it should only be able to be used in that fandom.

Meaning, you shouldn't be able to change the names and the places and call it a new story and have it still making sense. Again, recently I've really thought a lot about this, and I've tried to show that in most of my work (drabbles and the like not included).

Now, I think it could be anything that separates your piece from another fandom. CL is easy because you have Lyoko. Going further than that, you have different characters which is you keep in character shouldn't translate to other characters of other fandoms. I tend to use the plot point of Odd and Aelita being "cousins" to my advantage in several stories, as well as how she doesn't really "exist."

So, what do you guys think of this? Agree? Disagree? Have any comments? What do you do to keep your fanfiction being unique to it's fandom?

There's a difference between can and should. I have read many stories that can fit other fandoms if you were to rename the characters. That doesn't mean those fics are bad or even not original. It just means that the moral of the story didn't have to be closely connected to CL in order to be understood. It means that if I knew nothing about CL, I would still be able to fully get it.

But when that "someone somewhere" said that it should only be able to be used in the fandom you have written it for, (s)he meant that everything you write has to be tightly connected to the fandom that it makes no sense or lacks something when put in another place. You browse the CL archive to read CL related stories. One-shots and drabbles can be interpreted in many ways, but all the time you're reading, you should be able to tell where you are and what fandom is this story from. Your stories have to contain elements of CL.

For me, I don't think you "should" do that all the time. I don't believe it's better than when your writing can be put in another fandom and still be understood. But it depends on what you're writing. Obviously long stories with actual plots can't be understood in other fandoms. What about one-shots and drabbles though? Love, death, hope, suspense...etc are found in almost all fandoms. If I wrote about Odd injured badly and having a near death experience (no Xana), I can copy the exact thing to a HP fandom and they would get it. Because my story wasn't about Xana, Lyoko or the CL universe. It was about death and how such experience can affect one's life. I agree that it's a great thing to have your stories connected to the fandom one way or another, but it's not a "should" or must, it's simply what you choose to write for.

[naruto'sramengirl]

Take bits of what Jelly said and bits of what Legend said, and you have my opinion. Jelly is right when it comes to characterization. If the characters are a lot like the characters from whatever the fanfic is based on, you can get away with it. Instead of Lyoko beinga digital world, it is planet. Xana isn't an AI. He's actually an alien from the planet Lyoko, and Franz was an astronaut that discovered the planet and the alien, Xana. Now you could change Lyoko to Vilgaxia. Change Xana to Vilgax. And Franz to Max and now you have a Ben 10 fanfic. And that's just by coincidence (yes, I did make this situation up, but I have used the whole Lyoko as a planet idea, it just dawned on me that it could easily be changed for another story).

And thank's Jelly, I was thinking about my fanfic and how it would relate to the fandom. It's harder for that story because I pretty much have characterization backing me up. If that failed, well then that sucks.

Now taking what Legend said into account, at the end of the day, it shouldn't be expected to be done in a way where changing the names and what not makes it fit another story. It's just you writing a fanfic based off of (no matter how loosely) whatever show, book, etc. that you like.

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