Because I've mostly stuck to original fiction and hanging out with fans of things in the real world, I've only recently discovered internet fanfiction. Note to all who have never read fanfiction: Never read a fanfiction "to see how bad it really is". If you like good writing and adore the things you are a fan of dearly, looking at bad fanfiction on purpose will screw with your opinions of fandom and writing in general. I give this warning on a "been there, done that" basis. The only time I would ever suggest looking at a bad fanfiction would be for the sake of parody or critiquing.
That being said, here are a few of the good Harry Potter fanfictions I have read. Most were recommended by the brave souls who trawl through the fanfiction on fanfiction.net, but I found a few on my own. (If you want to find good fanfiction on your own, my advice would be to find a good fan-author, look at his or her favorites list, and read the ones on the fan-author's favorites list that interest you. Typically, a good fanfiction writer reads and likes good fanfiction.)
- The Hogwarts Fanfiction Academy: The basis of this fanfiction is that bad fanfiction writers are sent to Hogwarts in order to learn how to write good fanfiction. The genre is parody and the story is quite hilarious, in my own opinion. The idea is based off another fanfiction that I've read, but it's not from the same fandom, so I won't go into that at the moment. I really liked the plot of this one because it was written right before the fifth Harry Potter book was published, right around the time I decided to read Harry Potter. It helps if you know a little bit about the concept of Mary Sues, but I think the story will explain them pretty well if you don't know much about that concept.
- A Mary Sue Alphabet: Again, this fanfiction poem involves the concept of Mary Sues. This time, I would recommend that you at least read the Wikipedia article on it and know a little bit about bad Harry Potter fanfiction. Perhaps a brief introduction to the community of Pottersues might help as well. Even so, the rhyming is contagious and funny.
- Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness: DAYD is more mature and darker than the previous two fanfictions I've recommended. It is rated "M" for gore and language, but I think my status as a Redwall fan helped that to not bother me as much. (I know Redwall is a children's series, but I think most fans will agree that there is a lot of gore in those books. If you're fine with gore and some bad language, then this is perfectly fine to read.) Once you begin reading this, you won't be able to stop. The plot (Spoiler Alert for people who have not read all of the Harry Potter books!) of the story is to tell readers of what probably went on in Hogwarts while Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on the run. Personally, I think this is a pretty good idea of what happened. The only problem I have with this fiction is that I think the author goes a bit overboard with the tragic stuff of the fanfiction, but it's a good read if you're fine with a dark, dramatic story.
- Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past: Beautiful. That's what I use to describe this fanfiction. Like DAYD, it's dark. The difference is, this fanfiction is not based on the original books the entire way. This story is based on the first six books, then spins off into an Alternate Universe. Plot: "The war is over. Too bad no one is left to celebrate. Harry makes a desperate plan to go back in time, even though it means returning Voldemort to life. Now an 11 year old Harry with 30 year old memories is starting Hogwarts. Can he get it right?" The reason why I think this story is so beautiful is because the author, S'TarKan, uses his knowledge of pyschology to write the characters. Because of this, the characters are realistic and understandable and... There's not really a good description out there of what this does. You'll notice the difference between pyschology-influenced writing and normal writing after you read this, believe me. It changed the way I created characters.
- Once Upon a Freakin' Time: Time to bring back the funny fanfiction! There really isn't much of a plot in this one, but it is sure to make anyone laugh. The author of this one truly knows how to write humor in a way so that it tickles everyone's funny bone. Evadne, the authoress, also wrote a spinoff of this fanfiction, called So You've Decided to Be Evil. If you're in need of a pick-me-up, just read a chapter of one of Evadne's humorous fanfictions. Most of them aren't very long and can work as short stories on their own.
I might make more lists like these, but not at the moment.
About Me
- Lydia
- I am known by many names on the internet, but for the sake of anonymity, I am known as Lydia.
0 comments:
Post a Comment