i'm gonna state my stance on this first just so you know, like.
well, i think kpop fanfiction is amazing.
*specifically kpop fanfiction. i'll explain why*
a lot of kpop fanfics are definitely original fiction, and most is fairly good quality. there is a looooot of predictable, average stuff out there (not pointing the finger at anyone, it's more like, heteronormative stereotypes and beautiful rich people who feel no pain ending up together in a happy family...or badly drawn characters, plots not well thought out etc anyway...) but the majority of what i've read has been a) enjoyable and b)worthy of my time. and some of what i've read has been simply extraordinary. like publish-worthy. IMO. the creativity and dedication of this fandom literally never fails to hit me right there. *slaps chest* ;_;
so there's like two or three different opinions on fanfiction, the first is "wtf is fanfiction? why has it happened? wtf is wrong with you? who is one directions? what is a rustin hieber?"
the second is more like "yeah, fanfiction's alright. do what you want even if it is weird."
and the third is "i love fanfic. (some, the good stuff, with ships/scenarios/themes i like)"
and all the opinions we get to hear about fanfiction make the presumption that this is fanfiction about an already developed character (e.g. star wars, lotr) or about a celebrity (e.g. 1d, kickthestickz). none of the discussion about fanfiction even mentions (surprise, surprise) let alone includes kpop fanfiction.
so i'll tell you why it's kpop fanfictions and not say, doctor who fanfiction that tops all the rest.
- characters/idols. most other fandoms rely on already developed/created characters or scenarios. like, i'm not saying it's bad or unworthy of people's time to read other fanfics. but in kpop, the knowledge of a developed character is limited at best (which is why a lot of fanfics fall short and are quite weak in the character side because they rely on the presumption that you, the reader, have the same presumption and understand of that idol in the same way they do, if you get me?)
- scenarios. because of the nature of the thing (the western/outside of asia world being very far from korea) there is no storylines scenarios already there, there's no battle of hogwarts - actually, there's no hogwarts at all for a start. besides the fact that most kpop fanfiction takes place in korea (because that's where we're familiar seeing the idols) there's little or no other thing for us to draw reference from.
- plot. similar to scenarios. we have no plots to go on. a lot of plots are predictable (that doesn't make them bad, just not as good as they could be). a lot of plots are borrowed and warped from other fanfic writers, or other stories (some fics are completely open about this; absolute chanyeol being the best example. she was always 100% honest about the story being a re-telling) but that's the same of anywhere. no art is new. it's all recycled ideas. it's how you choose to tell it and what you choose to do with that content that inspires you that makes it different. it bugs me when people (and society in general) looks down on fanart and while i understand that a lot of fanart is just a recreation of a person/character with little or no artistic direction (i mean, just a simple portrait of someones face has a whole different meaning than a painting with a narrative or symbolism) are we gonna start calling anyone who's ever used biblical stories a fanartist? what about ancient greek/roman myths in art? are we gonna start bashing the masters because they didn't come up with the original inspiration behind their paintings? michelangelo? da vinci?? caravaggiooo????
- relationships. most kpop fanfiction is romantic/sexually driven (i don't mean it's all smut
i wishi just mean that it's geared towards romantic and non romantic relationships. this *may* be because i guess *a lot* of kpop fanfiction is written by girls and women and - whether this is genetic or not - girls/women tend to focus on relationships and people, which is another reason why men dominate media which is concerned with machines or objects as opposed to people and relationships and feeeeeelings (MOFFAT!)) but yeah my point is that beyond a few hinted-at ships kpop relationships are almost entirely invented by the creativity of the fandom. in harrypotter fanfiction there's already established relationships; harry/hermy draco/harry harry/mrs weasley...they all have relationships and interactions prior to the writer getting inspired to write about these characters.
basically all this gives a writer very little to go on, but if so how are so many of us are inspired big time by kpop? a lot of that is the fandom, the experience of the community; places like tumblr, lj and aff where kpop fans share and read and love and hate.
there's trends in fiction, the demand for fluff angst or smut are good examples, and the popularity of supernatural themes more recently. these trends are a reaction to what's popularity in society as a whole. and packaging it with fluff/angst gives the reader a general idea about how the fic will make you feel. i'm probably not the only person that often has trouble categorising...it's like "this is drama, but also fluffy sometimes i guess? and also smut...?? idk". but the fluff/angst/smut thing is our way, in the kpop fandom of saying to each other "you'll like this". it's like our way of communicating, another element of sub-cultural language codes. :D
but on the whole you don't have to look too far to find something that's nice to read and makes you feel a bit better. add that to the fact that there are some really really talented writers out there that perhaps are made to feel like they are worth less, or should be taken less seriously because they write about kpop. i say no! don't take yourself less seriously, it only makes other people think it's okay to underestimate you!
i often read people saying things like "i own the story but not the characters" and i think, yeah, you don't own the name oh sehun. if you tried to publish a story about oh sehun, an angsty noodle-like youth you wouldn't be allowed. legally. because yehet. but on the other hand. if you've written all the little bits of that character you've called oh sehun, changing the name of the person (call him whatever u want) is all that would be needed. just change the names to bella and edward or smth. lmfao. jk, but you see what i'm getting at, an original character is an original character. none of us know sehun enough to write about HIM, so what we write is made up, a made up sehun, and therefore the property of your mind.
---sehun is the creative jumping platform from which to jump off and flail down the skydive of creation---
TL;DR conclusion; the kpop fanfic community pretty much creates everything themselves. yes, there's retelling of same old stories (love triangles, boyxgirl cliches, unrequited love etc *rolls eyes*) but there's a lot of that in published fiction as well. don't group kpop fanfiction with fanfiction in general. kpop isn't made up of established "characters", plots and backgrounds. kpop is a face for writers and creators to make up their own characters. yes, the characters are almost always taken from elements of that idols personality. but, if you take a chanyeol character from two different fics they will (if they're written well) be completely different, two people in their own right. kpop fiction is kinda like writing a story but when you post it instead of it just being words you include actors that you'd like the viewer to imagine. a lot of writers write with a specific person in mind (never mind what the disclaimers say...) because it's just plain exhausting and often counterproductive to make up new people when you're creativity is sparked by someone who already exists. i'm not saying steal other peoples creations. or steal anyone's identity for your story. i'm saying the creative process in any fan-oriented creation/art is pretty much the same as anything else that's a response to the outside world. that's what creators and artists do. we respond.
0 comments:
Post a Comment