Why I Love Reading Fanfictions (+Some Recs!)

Hello guys! I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now, but never have the chance to do it. With me being in a reading slump, I think there’s no time like the present for me to post it!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you might have seen me talked quite a lot of times that when I’m in a reading slump, I always go to fanfictions to get back to my reading mood. If you’ve ever been in a fandom or well-versed in the pop culture internet, chances are you’ve heard about them. They are very popular as it allows us, the fans, to reimagined characters, situations, and plots to our liking. The most popular places to read them are http://fanfiction.net and https://archiveofourown.org, but you can also found them on wattpad, tumblr, and even deviantArt.

You may hate it or you may love it, but there’s no denying how much it affects the fandom life. In fact, some of the current popular/new media started out as fanfiction: 50 Shades of Gray started out as Twilight fanfiction, while The Mortal Instruments allegedly started out as Harry Potter fanfiction. The latest news I heard, there’s this new movie coming out this year called After than is actually a Harry Styles fanfiction.

So you see, it’s a very very popular reading material.

As you may guess, I personally love them. Yes, there are some messed up fanfictions that just shouldn’t exist (anyone in the 1D fandom ever heard of the Zux fanfic???), but those fanfics aside, I love them. Why, you may ask? Well, let me tell you why…

It helps me when I’m in a reading slump

This is something I realized when I started blogging which caused me to reading more intensely and actually pay attention to reading slump. Maybe because the short formats of the fanfictions (not really, some of them are 50-90 chapters…) combined to the familiarity of coming back to familiar characters and world, but I always found my reading slump going away after reading some fanfictions.

Gives a chance to reimagined the story to our liking

What if Sirius decided to not go after Pettigrew and took Harry instead? Or better, what if James and Lily didn’t die? What if Cap is the one who got captured by Hydra? What if Charles and Erik are normal people that met at college?

These what-ifs are something that definitely us media consumers always think about. And guess what? Fanfiction gives us a platform to reimagined the story and answered all those whatifs! From changing the past, alternate universe, to gender bending the characters, it’s fascinating to see how the story we all love could have so many “alternatives possibilities”. This also includes in bringing back sinking ships!

Imagine what happened during time that are uncovered in the canon

What happened when the avengers are not facing world-class apocalypse? What happened before and after the 7 years of Harry’s Hogwarts time? Again, fanfiction answers these questions and more. You want to read about the marauders, founders, and next gen era? There are stories about them. You want to read about domestic avengers living together in Stark tower or the time when Cap tracking Bucky with Sam? There are stories about them too.

Helps me connect with people in the fandom and see how our minds connect

This is one of the main reasons why I love fanfictions. I can’t tell you how happy I am every time I found stories that fit with how I saw the characters. And how happier it made me everytime I discovered how many people actually have the same ideas and used it for their own stories. Like the fact that Sirius dated both Marlene and Remus. Or how the Avengers lived together in the tower. How Natasha actually bakes and Clint lives in the vent. And how Shuri and Peter bonds over vines. I can’t even tell you how confused I am when I saw the canon media and like “wait… it didn’t happened that way??” It became so hard for me to distinguish what’s canon and what’s fan-made, especially in HP fandom where many things ended up being accepted as canon (Dumbledore and Grindewald, for instance) due to the fact that it is something fans agree about. These of course connects us and made us into such a strong fandom.

Now that you know why I enjoy reading fanfiction, it’s time for some recommendations!

The Marauders Era

You guys know how much I love the marauders, so tumbling into this part of the fandom is a real godsend for me. In this part of the fandom, we believe that Sirius is a shameless womanizer, Marlene McKinnon was Lily’s best friends, the marauders bet on James and Lily, and Sirius smokes.

+ The Life and Times by Jewels5 // 36 chapters, 613,762 words

Hands down my all time favorite fic, but sadly it’s a wip and the author hasn’t updated since 2013 *wails*. It is has the most favorites of all Jily fanfics in fanfiction.net, it even has its on wikia and goodreads page! It also has the BEST summary ever:

She was dramatic. He was dynamic. She was precise. He was impulsive. He was James, and she was Lily, and one day they shared a kiss, but before that they shared many arguments, for he was cocky, and she was sweet, and matters of the heart require time.

Snape being Harry’s Mentor

In this part of the fanfiction readers and writers, it is commonly believed that Snape was abused as a kid and began to sympathize with Harry as the result. They bond, and Snape even became Harry’s mentor in the upcoming battle. It is also commonly accepted that Dumbledore’s priority is for Harry to defeat Voldemort, whether he truly care or manipulative is up for debate for each writers.

+ Reading the Signs by goldencompass // 26 chapters, 50.700 words

Harry is hurt and loses his voice, thus making him unable to perform magic and vulnerable for attack. Snape took care of him.

+ Harry Potter and the Battle of Wills by jocelyn // 51 chapters, 356.457 words

Harry got captured by Voldermort and Snape blew his spy cover to save him. To win the war, the 2 most wanted person by Voldemort must train and strategize together.

+ Harry Potter and the Enemy Within by Theowyn of HPG // 19 chapters, 173.220 words

I can’t believed Voldemort gave up on his and Harry’s mental link that easily and never tried again, so this fic really fits me. This set in the 6th year, where Voldemort’s mental link is getting stronger and as the consequences, Snape has to teach Harry how to close the mental link.

MCU

From domestic! avengers, de-aging fics, to the many ships of Tony and Steve, the fanfictions are as intricate as the cinematic universe. Natasha bakes, Clint lives in the ceiling, Cap gives long lectures and the best disappointed stare, Bruce is a medical doctor, and Thor loves poptarts.

+ This, You Protect by owlet // 33 chapters, 64.326 words

This story sets in the time of helicarrier scene of CA: TWS, where Bucky mission’s resets and he pulled Steve out of the water. What happened next is Bucky being grumpy, constantly in need of caffeine, and befriending some old people while ensuring Steve is save. It’s mainly humor, but also has a great depth to it.

+ The hiccups are no laughing matter by orphan_account // 1 chapter, 1474 words

Normal hiccups maybe cute, but when you’re Tony Stark with an arc reactor in his chest, it became a painful and worrying affair.

+ Steve Rogers vs the media by eden22 // 28 chapters, 24.361 words

Basically a lot of vignettes of Steve adjusting to the 21st century media and technology.

+ United States v. Barnes, 617 F. Supp. 2d 143 (D.D.C. 2015) by fallingvoices and radialarch // 3 chapters, 20.605 words

The Winter Soldier set to stand trial in D.C. after the events of CA:TWS. Told through series of news, interviews, and court documents, this fic feels like watching a true crime story and it’s truly brilliant.

Star Wars

I’m not really in that deep into the Star Wars fandom (I don’t even liked them before Rogue One???) so I can’t say I have any opinions or beliefs on the canon. However, all the stories presented seem to have a high level of angst, so there’s that.

+ Crossroads by nymja // 50 chapters (separated into 3 works), 191.027 words

This fanfic is long, beautiful and painful. Kylo/Rey, sort of canon following? Angst level is through the roof. Started with The Death of Kylo Ren.

+ No one can stop me, not even gravity or nasa by magneticwave // 1 chapter, 8.560 words

Leia finds out she’s pregnant and tried to hide it from everyone. Han finds out and tries his best to marry Leia. Luke wanted nothing more than to be not included in this narrative.

+ Generational Mistakes by owlet // 1 chapter, 17.075 words

Kylo defected, taken in chains. Leia, Rey, and Luke adjusts to his presence.