#i wish i'd done more writing and art when i still had energy and motivation. now i have practically nothing to show for it.

[wiltingdecay]

i feel like shit

[corvidcrybaby]

On Y/N Fanfiction

so like as somebody who is still pretty new to the realm of fanfiction writing i decided to return to it by tackling a Y/N fic and doing so was honestly a very illuminating and rewarding writing experience if only because it shed a ton of light on the common issues with this form of fanfiction

as an academic thespian, interactive media and fiction has always fascinated me and Y/N fanfiction represents such a unique blending of elements that i honestly think some of the avant-garde playwrights would find very interesting. because like. okay. what is the goal of a Y/N fic? immersion and wish fulfillment, right? all fanfic is wish fulfillment somehow but then so is most art in general but that's neither here nor there - the fact one is meant to insert their actual name or a name of an OC makes it a unique level of collaboration between the writer and their audience.

and the general issue i find with many Y/N fics is that they simply do not capitalize on what makes Y/N fics potentially very engaging. the potential for meta commentary is boundless, yet if it's ever done, it's ham-fisted and very "winks at the audience" ish.

i find that the Y/N fics I respond best to often take what I call the Video Game Approach - the reader is viewing the world through a character's eyes of their own design, but video games are still built around certain concrete facts or assumptions that the player character would have. the biggest thing is that video game PC's are established in their setting, and have reasons to be there, which many Y/N fics simply lack.

thus, the challenge becomes, how can someone create an experience in a fic that is grounded enough to match the energy of an average person being part of the story they're inserted into (assuming that's what the reader and writer wants), while still fitting the scenario?

for my part, though she is no longer a Y/N character (there are meta commentary reasons for this that will become apparent as my current fic, Lesions of a Different Kind continues but shush, spoilers), in the Y/N fic I wrote for Hellsing, I opted to make the POV character a regular-ass Hellsing trooper. the reason being, this gives the rest of the cast a reason to be familiar with and have some modicum of care and respect for the reader insert character, while still decidedly grounding us in reality by having her be a grown-ass adult with her own opinions, agency, motivations and worries that a reasonable (if zany/neurodivergent) grown human woman might grapple with in a "supernatural paramilitary agency" setting. she's capable of fighting and holding her own just as anyone might - to take a page from the Halo Combat Evolved manual where they describe the Marines, "they're the best of the best of the best - but they're only human." she's used to her job fighting the undead, but it never stops being unnerving and "what the fuck is my job, dude, like, actually" - which I think any sane adult would question nonstop in a setting like this. I drew from the Wild Geese for inspiration, big time, and wondered what it would be like if one of them was followed more closely besides Pip as comic relief, etc.

That, I think, produced an interesting effect. I'd still like to fiddle around with Y/N fic more in the future and see what someone can do with it when you really put your nose to the grindstone and try to create something off the beaten path, because that's where i think the magic lies.

IDK fam my adderall kicked in for the day and i'm procrastinating studying for a work exam i just had to vomit this forth make of it what you will, i'm just a mad rambling scholar muttering to herself in the corner of a theatre building.