The stigma around fanfiction BY ELIZABETH ALEXANDER It’s a familiar cycle–you hear about an interesting new show or book, you dive into its world, and now you’re totally obsessed. Endless thoughts and feelings are running rampant through your mind. Maybe you think two characters would make a cute couple, or maybe all the story’s “what-ifs” are keeping you up at night. This is when many turn to the validating world of fanfiction, which is just what it sounds like–fiction written by and for fans of different pieces of media. Several sites are dedicated to posting it, with the most popular being Archive of Our Own (AO3), Wattpad, and Fanfiction.net. Way too much of my own free time has been spent digging through pages of AO3 uploads on a quest to find the best fics about my favorite pairings. It’s therapeutic and awesome. Yet there is a huge stigma around reading and writing fanfiction. Some of the reasons are valid, but many aren’t. For one, you have to dig through some really rough stories to find the gems. There’s a variety of things wrong with them–poor characterization, childish prose, and/or grammar that would get you an F on any English essay. It’s these bad ones that stick out in the mind and give fanfiction a bad rep. It doesn’t help that some of the most iconic and wellknown fics are known for their awfulness– think the hilarious Harry Potter fic “My Immortal”. And that’s not even mentioning fanfiction’s ties to 50 Shades of Grey. In case you didn’t know, the series originated as a Twilight fic, and when a publishing com-
pany took interest in it, the names were changed. It’s safe to say that 50 Shades has an unfortunate reputation, with most people associating it with creepiness and cringy writing. As a fic reader, I can definitely see why the “50 Shades” effect gives fanfiction a bad name. The thing is, there’s plenty of well-written fics. Stories are supposed to draw you into the world and make you feel things, and there’s so many out there that accomplish just that. Sure, there are a lot of bad fics, but isn’t that the case for
most entertainment? It’s not worth it to discard fanfiction entirely just because of a few bad apples. Another possibility could be the representation issue. Whether it be racial, gender or sexual diversity, people want representation in media. But oftentimes, shows don’t offer those portrayals. This is a big reason why queer ships are so common in fanfiction. In fact, the 10 all-time biggest ships on AO3 are all gay, and of the top 100, just 13 are straight. Additionally, a 2014 fan survey revealed that roughly half of AO3 users are part of the LGBT+ community. These stats make it clear that those users want to see representation of themselves in their fandoms, hence the huge amount of queer ships. What if the tables were turned and the top ships were all straight? Would more people be willing to read it, without fear of judgment? I’d imagine the answer to that is “yes”, and that’s because of society’s underlying homophobia seeping into the stigma against fanfiction. Speaking of judgment, does part of that have to do with the “nerdiness” of fandom? Everyone has that one book or show that they absolutely geek out over, but most people keep that to themselves out of fear of seeming uncool. There’s nothing wrong with that! Really, we should be encouraging people to come out of their shell and embrace their nerdiness. Let people create art about their faves. Don’t judge people for their interests. All in all, the world of fanfiction is a fun one, but it’s not for everyone. However, despite its flaws, fanfiction definitely shouldn’t have such a bad rep.
GRAPHIC BY AL AMUNDSON were just pre, pre, pre prep. We live in a culture that is absolutely obsessed with merely one thing: going to a good college. Now here’s the thing, college sounds really fun. The little snapshots of meeting your roommate, new friends, parties right down the hall, football games bigger than ever before. There is a lot to look forward to. But most people probably aren’t picturing the agony of highschool all over again only this time you are paying for it. Especially for students who have never been good at school and simply have been told they most go to college. It’s just anoth-
er four years of centering your entire life around something you don’t get a whole lot out of. But it’s all worth it right? You emerge shiny and victorious, diploma in hand, ready to take on the world! Right? Well here’s the thing, you’re not. That job you just had to have a diploma for? Things like working as a salesperson, working at a bank, most any job in an office building, you really didn’t need a diploma for that. How do I know? People had been doing these jobs for centuries. Very few people actually went to college except rich socialites with nothing better to do. Many Americans would be better off if they
stopped thinking the cookie cutter college experience was the only experience that mattered.
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