Chances of Fanfics Being Made

[CarlManvers2019]

I've talked about this with some guy on another other forum before

He said that the chances of a series getting fanfics depends on how easy it is to consume it for the attention span of the fanfic writer

Much easier to play or watch a series than it is to read a book or comic or manga

But if that were the case, I'd be seeing more fanfics based on NiER Automata

Worm has large numbers of fanfics to the point it's even got a whole sub-thread or separation on Spacebattles. But to begin with, it is VERY long a read. It may have to do with how on average nobody really ever read the original Worm and just read fanfics loosely based on Worm.

Baki and Kengan Asura received animations relatively recently, both series were pretty good, sure there was horrifying CGI but it would have brought attention.....and yet I barely see any new fanfics for either, let alone crossovers

What's the key to being fanfic worthy? Is it the "big setting" with multiple characters to bash and piss on for a power fantasy of optionally the "Humanity Fuck Yeah!!!" sort?

If so, Dresden Files deserves more love....though that would be pretty disrespectful to the original series.....also DF's just a book series still and last Live-Action TV Show was more than a decade ago and VERY loosely based on the books from what I know

 

[Laskar]

What's the key to being fanfic worthy? Is it the "big setting" with multiple characters to bash and piss on for a power fantasy of optionally the "Humanity Fuck Yeah!!!" sort?

If so, Dresden Files deserves more love....though that would be pretty disrespectful to the original series.....also DF's just a book series still and last Live-Action TV Show was more than a decade ago and VERY loosely based on the books from what I know

Fanfic exists to fix what the creators didn't get right in the first place. To inspire a lot of fanfiction, a primary source needs to be compelling and well-written enough to draw people in, but flawed enough to make people want to do it better.

Worm is a good example because all of the viewpoint characters are sympathetic, but the author is a misanthrope and that bled into his writing. Taylor Hebert could never win a meaningful victory after the first Endbringer fight. Every time she won, the villain was one step ahead, or her allies betrayed her, or the victory was somehow made in spite of her own decisions. That sucks all of the satisfaction out of the story, and people want to fix it.

Dresden Files, on the other hand, isn't broken. It has problems but not in a way that makes people want to change things wholesale. At best, people want to write the continued adventures of Harry Dresden, but that's not what drives most people to reading or writing fanfic.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Fanfic exists to fix what the creators didn't get right in the first place. To inspire a lot of fanfiction, a primary source needs to be compelling and well-written enough to draw people in, but flawed enough to make people want to do it better.

Worm is a good example because all of the viewpoint characters are sympathetic, but the author is a misanthrope and that bled into his writing. Taylor Hebert could never win a meaningful victory after the first Endbringer fight. Every time she won, the villain was one step ahead, or her allies betrayed her, or the victory was somehow made in spite of her own decisions. That sucks all of the satisfaction out of the story, and people want to fix it.

Dresden Files, on the other hand, isn't broken. It has problems but not in a way that makes people want to change things wholesale. At best, people want to write the continued adventures of Harry Dresden, but that's not what drives most people to reading or writing fanfic.

You mean Harry’s life doesn’t suck?

What about the other Harry who is frankly overrated and uses a little stick, ya know, Harry Potter? Lots of fanfics there, of the bashing type admittedly

The In-Name-Only Phenomena looks to be something more for edgelords than anybody else

 

[Laskar]

You mean Harry’s life doesn’t suck?

No, Harry's life sucks, but he and his friends and allies are doing the best that they can, and the world reflects that. They can win meaningful victories and make the world better one step at a time.

Harry Potter is a more flawed story because of the contrivances used to get the plot going and to resolve the plot when it's done. Harry has to be shacked up with the Dursleys because *mumblemumble* and it looks like Dumbledore doesn't care about the abuse that gets heaped on Harry when he goes home, but really he has to stay with relatives to renew a protective ward that his mother placed on him just in case Voldemort comes back and just in case nobody else can stop him.

It's not great writing, and people feel like they can do better. Same goes for a number of other flaws in the books.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

No, Harry's life sucks, but he and his friends and allies are doing the best that they can, and the world reflects that. They can win meaningful victories and make the world better one step at a time.

Harry Potter is a more flawed story because of the contrivances used to get the plot going and to resolve the plot when it's done. Harry has to be shacked up with the Dursleys because *mumblemumble* and it looks like Dumbledore doesn't care about the abuse that gets heaped on Harry when he goes home, but really he has to stay with relatives to renew a protective ward that his mother placed on him just in case Voldemort comes back and just in case nobody else can stop him.

It's not great writing, and people feel like they can do better. Same goes for a number of other flaws in the books.

Yeah, I can sorta get the Power Fantasy & Bashing sort of fad for Harry Potter in hindsight

Though, not sure about the NINO or Naruto In Name Only’s that have NOTHING to do with Naruto to begin with other than the name for the MC with almost nothing even backstory or ability or even appearance wise to do with the original Naruto

 

[Free-Stater 101]

No, Harry's life sucks, but he and his friends and allies are doing the best that they can, and the world reflects that. They can win meaningful victories and make the world better one step at a time.

Harry Potter is a more flawed story because of the contrivances used to get the plot going and to resolve the plot when it's done. Harry has to be shacked up with the Dursleys because *mumblemumble* and it looks like Dumbledore doesn't care about the abuse that gets heaped on Harry when he goes home, but really he has to stay with relatives to renew a protective ward that his mother placed on him just in case Voldemort comes back and just in case nobody else can stop him.

It's not great writing, and people feel like they can do better. Same goes for a number of other flaws in the books.

No, Harry's life sucks, but he and his friends and allies are doing the best that they can, and the world reflects that. They can win meaningful victories and make the world better one step at a time.

Harry Potter is a more flawed story because of the contrivances used to get the plot going and to resolve the plot when it's done. Harry has to be shacked up with the Dursleys because *mumblemumble* and it looks like Dumbledore doesn't care about the abuse that gets heaped on Harry when he goes home, but really he has to stay with relatives to renew a protective ward that his mother placed on him just in case Voldemort comes back and just in case nobody else can stop him.

It's not great writing, and people feel like they can do better. Same goes for a number of other flaws in the books.

A little off topic but have you read Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin Chapter 1: HP&POS 1: The Meeting Begins, a harry potter fanfic | FanFiction It's a realistic take on Harry Potter and Subvert's almost every trope their is.

On the topic of writing, it varies, Writing a self insert iw devastatingly easier than most other's forms because you know perfectly how you yourself as a protagonist would do something in a given situation and provided you have good grammer skills with unique flair for detail anybody can make a good SI.

The best writer's are those who operate wheels within wheels and know what they are doing.

 

[Bear Ribs]

In my opinion there's three factors that go into a fanfic-able piece of work.

There's a sweet spot a work has to be in where it's well crafted enough to excite the imagination, but flawed enough to leave room for an author to think they can improve on it. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan is an example of a fic that wasn't really flawed enough to leave that space, it was fairly tightly narrated and though it produced a huge internet sensation and a lot of buzz, it didn't generate much fanfic because there were precious few What-Ifs and no alternate powers to be had from it.

There's also an issue of "roominess." By that I mean, is there space for events besides the ones in canon to happen? Is there space for original characters, original events? F'rex the famous story 12 Angry Men has no room for them. The entire story is contained in the jury deliberation chamber and nothing else matters. There's not a lot of room for what-ifs and no additional characters can be added given the structure of the story.

There's also the factor of how long people consume a given franchise. Simply put once it's done, many writers will move on to the next franchise to consume and quit being interested in last week's exciting thing. Having considered the Shipgirl Franchises, I suspect this is why Kancolle is far more popular than Arpeggio of Blue Steel even though Arpeggio has more impressive battles, greater powers, and more actions. Kancolle being a gacha game, it keeps getting played on and on while Arpeggio was over in 12 episodes of anime.

These factors, I'm convinced, are the reason for the massive amounts of Fanfic behind Naruto, Harry Potter, and Worm. All three have interesting, original worlds with loads of room for OCs. All three have rather gaping plot holes everywhere that leave room for a lot of what-ifs, fix fics, and alternate powers. And just as important, all three went on for ages meaning there were large amounts of time for people to be writing while consuming before the franchises ended and writers moved on to other things. The lengthy age factor also means writers who were kids or tweenies when they started grew up during the time the work was still being produced and gained a new perspective, I think this fueled a lot of debate and fanfic production as people looked back on their old works and memories with new eyes.

 

[Firebat]

What's the key to being fanfic worthy? Is it the "big setting" with multiple characters to bash and piss on for a power fantasy of optionally the "Humanity Fuck Yeah!!!" sort?

You need popularity, you need expansive sandbox, you need hooks and you need shipping.
But mostly shipping.

As an example, let's take Harry Potter fanfiction and Battlestar Galactica (2003).

Popularity of original work is self-explanatory.

Expansive sandbox implies a certain room for fanfiction to be written. Harry Potter can go here and there, he can change his milieu, he can tap into various established magic practices. There is a number of established locations to visit, groups to join etc. BSG is pretty much barren in that regard. There is no real world outside Galactica, barely any organizations etc. There is just one ship and a bunch of Cylons. Not much to do, really. As BSG fanfic writer, you are basically strangled.

Hooks - it might sound counter-intuitive, but along with expansive sandbox you need extra hooks to set the rails, so to speak. A great deal of fanfiction is written following some general canon plot with a twist/change of perspective. Fanfiction that flies completely free of established plot is harder to write. Again, Harry Potter has more of that.

Shipping. Shipping is the key. Shipping is love, shipping is life. Shipping is most of fanfiction. The more appealing you can make ships or potential ships, the more chances you have for a fanfic writer to pick it up. Harry Potter fanfiction without Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Snape, Draco/Hermione would be but a fraction of its current number.
Ditto for BSG - most fanfiction is written about either Old Adama with his sexy old man voice charming his way into President's heart or handsome officer Young Adama trolling his way into Starbuck's pants. Cut those two out and you drop 90% of written fanfiction.

 

[Free-Stater 101]

SNIP

First of all, welcome to the community, people who make post here are always welcome. Second, you make good point's about all why some fandoms attract more genres than others.

I will add that it also boils down to other factor's as well. Are their many interesting side characters? Are their any interesting plot holes that need filling in? Was the fandom itself ever popular even if the media itself was fantastic or was not?

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Shipping. Shipping is the key. Shipping is love, shipping is life. Shipping is most of fanfiction. The more appealing you can make ships or potential ships, the more chances you have for a fanfic writer to pick it up. Harry Potter fanfiction without Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Snape, Draco/Hermione would be but a fraction of its current number.
Ditto for BSG - most fanfiction is written about either Old Adama with his sexy old man voice charming his way into President's heart or handsome officer Young Adama trolling his way into Starbuck's pants. Cut those two out and you drop 90% of written fanfiction.

Don’t forget harems

People REALLY like replacing Issei with an edgy “serious” douchebag MC who STILL becomes a Harem King with Harem Polls even

That said, I think the Fanon that there are “Only 3 Factions” has died down due to the new DxD seasons having come out