"He was surprised to find it wasn’t just bravado. There was an anger boiling in him now he hadn’t felt since before the crash: not the weary contempt on which he’d strung his nights of exile, the shambling, dumb resentment that had filled his pan like static, a clouded haze of cheap beer in green glass bottles and red pills popped from plastic blisters and shot glasses brimming with clear liquid, trash spilt in damp back alleys and the sour tang of vomit in his nose. Seeing Aradia, dead and solemn and alone, had shaken something free: a memory of rage, at least. It was an old rage, quick and fierce, and he hugged it to him like hot coffee on a winter morning.
All of this was code, and he broke code."
"ring rign the phone went as davee got ot of bed. he pickiced it up and it wuz his fav pokemon professor OAK! 'hey oak howz it going" dave asked. very god dave" oka replied. it is time for u to come get a pokermon now dave so get 2 my lab quickl!"
THE FANFIC READER'S MANIFESTO
I recognize that 97% of fan fiction is trash.
I recognize that 2% of fan fiction will make you lose faith in humanity.
I make no apology for my actions.
Fanfiction has significant stigma attached to it: this is for good reason. Most people describe their fanfction experiences as horrible, if not traumatizing, and have stopped after reading a single piece. My fanfiction experience can described as an exercise in bone-headed determination.
The truth is that I got into reading fan fiction when I was pretty young, and my standards were pretty low. This is probably the only reason I was able to continue; the quality of most fanfic is indeed what you might expect it to be. Really, really, bad. Not ironically bad, as Fernadium Birmingwatt might intend, but just unreadably awful.
Finding fan fiction isn't like finding original fiction. There are no aggregate reviews to help you make your decision. There are no established authorities on fanfic that rank, collect, and recommend fan fiction, such as Goodreads or even Amazon does for fiction.
Finding fanfcition is a high-risk, high-reward process, and a more intimately personal one. Recommendations are always spread word of mouth online, via individuals. There is no Kirkus Book Review or New York Times bestseller's list to look to. Instead, there are three main sites for fan fiction: Archive of Our Own, generally known for a higher quality of work, Fanfiction.net, the original fanfcition site with he greatest quantity , and Wattpad.
(Short rant: Wattpad is trash. There is nothing worth reading on Wattpad, or if there is, it is very, very well hidden. Sturgeon's Law (most of everything is trash, but some stuff is good) simply does not apply. I am sorry. I usually do not present such strong opinions, but no self-respecting fanfic writer is writing on Wattpad, a cesspool of One Direction and various TV fanfic. Take the notorious fanfic, After, a One Direction fanfic. Horrifyingly, it was tapped to become a movie by the Hollywood Talent Association. It's bad. Really, really bad.)
But once in while, you discover a gem of fan fiction. A true sparkling piece worthy of canon, with spot-on characterization and impeccable style. The thrill of finding one is the only reason I trawl through walls of atrocious prose. I know very few such stories; I can count them with one hand.
Considering good fanfic's rarity, is reading fanfic worth it, after all? The answer is yes. The question, unfortunately, is continuously ambiguous. Which retina will you sacrifice? What unspeakable acts will Hedwig engage in? What apostrophes will be slain? What characters, ruined? What dialogue, mangled? What endings, left unfinished?
(If you're interested in Uni's relationship with fanfiction, here's an old Online Gargoyle article on the subject.
http://www.uni.illinois.edu/og/features/2014/05/its-truth-fanfictions-presence-gr)
All of this was code, and he broke code."
-The Vienna Game, by paraTactician
"ring rign the phone went as davee got ot of bed. he pickiced it up and it wuz his fav pokemon professor OAK! 'hey oak howz it going" dave asked. very god dave" oka replied. it is time for u to come get a pokermon now dave so get 2 my lab quickl!"
-DAVE STDIDER POKEMON TRANER, XxXCascadaerXxX
THE FANFIC READER'S MANIFESTO
I recognize that 97% of fan fiction is trash.
I recognize that 2% of fan fiction will make you lose faith in humanity.
I make no apology for my actions.
====================================
Fanfiction has significant stigma attached to it: this is for good reason. Most people describe their fanfction experiences as horrible, if not traumatizing, and have stopped after reading a single piece. My fanfiction experience can described as an exercise in bone-headed determination.
The truth is that I got into reading fan fiction when I was pretty young, and my standards were pretty low. This is probably the only reason I was able to continue; the quality of most fanfic is indeed what you might expect it to be. Really, really, bad. Not ironically bad, as Fernadium Birmingwatt might intend, but just unreadably awful.
Finding fan fiction isn't like finding original fiction. There are no aggregate reviews to help you make your decision. There are no established authorities on fanfic that rank, collect, and recommend fan fiction, such as Goodreads or even Amazon does for fiction.
Finding fanfcition is a high-risk, high-reward process, and a more intimately personal one. Recommendations are always spread word of mouth online, via individuals. There is no Kirkus Book Review or New York Times bestseller's list to look to. Instead, there are three main sites for fan fiction: Archive of Our Own, generally known for a higher quality of work, Fanfiction.net, the original fanfcition site with he greatest quantity , and Wattpad.
(Short rant: Wattpad is trash. There is nothing worth reading on Wattpad, or if there is, it is very, very well hidden. Sturgeon's Law (most of everything is trash, but some stuff is good) simply does not apply. I am sorry. I usually do not present such strong opinions, but no self-respecting fanfic writer is writing on Wattpad, a cesspool of One Direction and various TV fanfic. Take the notorious fanfic, After, a One Direction fanfic. Horrifyingly, it was tapped to become a movie by the Hollywood Talent Association. It's bad. Really, really bad.)
But once in while, you discover a gem of fan fiction. A true sparkling piece worthy of canon, with spot-on characterization and impeccable style. The thrill of finding one is the only reason I trawl through walls of atrocious prose. I know very few such stories; I can count them with one hand.
Considering good fanfic's rarity, is reading fanfic worth it, after all? The answer is yes. The question, unfortunately, is continuously ambiguous. Which retina will you sacrifice? What unspeakable acts will Hedwig engage in? What apostrophes will be slain? What characters, ruined? What dialogue, mangled? What endings, left unfinished?
(If you're interested in Uni's relationship with fanfiction, here's an old Online Gargoyle article on the subject.
http://www.uni.illinois.edu/og/features/2014/05/its-truth-fanfictions-presence-gr)
