So about two years ago I wrote a Reylo fanfic which is totally terato, but back then I didn’t know what teratophilia was and why I was into fantastic horned creatures and all. Lol.
Trigger warning for impregnation and a bit of blood.
***
Rey clenched her fingers on the flower bouquet, dipping her head to smell them, lilies and purple lilac brushed her nose as she inhaled their scent. It was almost time.
She felt as if it was only yesterday when she met him the first time. Running through the woods with her friends, playing a game, she tried not to get caught. Looking for a good place to hide, she reached a spring breaking from a huge rock, covered in little white flowers.
Beside it, there was a man, covered in black up to his neck, sitting, looking at the water. It was a stranger, Rey never saw him before. Surely, she would remember such a face. Beautiful profile, prominent nose and plump lips. He raised his head, covered in luscious locks of raven hair, reaching his shoulders. His eyes, dark, but somehow warm in the afternoon sun, met hers, and Rey found herself under a spell. He reached out to her and she took a step forward, unsure, but unable to refuse him.
I like how fanfiction culture decided to drop all pretense about self-insert oc characters hooking up with canon characters and just leaned into “character x reader” stories. These were just non-existent in my early FF days, we’re talking 15+ years ago, and they’re everywhere now. I appreciate it, chase your bliss dears
GOD I WISH I HAD THAT SPINE OF STEEL
WHY DID YOU LEAVE OUT THE BEST PART, THIS IS A LEGEND
Of course the monster-/robotfuckers are the pioneers of this trend.😉
But seriously, why does fandom look down on self insert fics? I’ve seen fan fiction treated like the ultimate sacred form of (female) self expression but as soon as a fic is narrated in second person it’s like no, we don’t do THAT because THAT is a disgrace to all serious fic writers.
I think it’s the purest and most honest form of fiction because yes, of course I want to be the one who has adventures and love interests and special powers. I can admit that, can YOU? YOU don’t even need to be a Mary Sue to want that.
Aren’t fictional characters (often) supposed to be identified with? If YOU’re already identifying why not take the last step and imagine (a version) of YOURSELF interacting with the characters YOU love?
I think the disdain for self insert fics stems either from limiting and restricting YOURSELF or from a strange kind of jealousy. After all it must be hard to read one half of YOUR OTP paired with *reader*. THAT can’t be right!!!! They aren’t supposed to be with YOU. But in all seriousness, YOU already know what’s that called. That’s right: good old hypocrisy.
A second person narration works fine in most cases. A skilled writer can shape YOU into a unique and distinct character. It’s like role playing but only in your mind.
That said second person narration is definitely not my favourite point of view but I prefer it to a first person narrator which is, let’s be honest, just another technique to enable YOU to insert YOURSELF into a story. First person is used most often in YA. It takes skill to write in first person and at the same time creating an interesting character in whose head YOU feel comfortable. Unfortunately more often than not YOU will end up within the confining mind of a boring, self-absorbed teen drama queen (or any other shitty character depending on genre). No, thanks.
I’ll take the freedom of a self-indulgent YOU any time over failed attempts of making the feelings of a lifeless character more immediate by forcing me, the reader, into a too small mind via first person narrative.
I’m gonna self insert myself now into one of my headcannons about some OCs that live in my mind. 😉
My first experiences with fandom happened through fan fiction as well although I’m just a reader.
I’m no creator in general. Apart from probably not being particularly talented or creative I am certainly not disciplined enough to art/write my ideas and headcacons into existence. I have the deepest respect for people who labour over their work and their only payment sometimes being likes and kudos.
This blog is the first time for me participating in fandom at all and it took me a while to give up lurking and put some effort into my fandom experience.
I hardly had any idea of fandom in general before TFA but fan fiction has helped me for a long time enhancing or fixing unsatisfying canon material like Star Trek (Spock was my first crush as a little girl and I still have a thing for him, Sarek and Amanda came later, also Klingons…), Riddick (Riddick!), Babylon 5 (my nerd love Lennier), Legend (ahem, red guy confused my little child self in ways I’d comprehend a little later in life…), Predator (they are hot, no?), etc.
Labyrinth was certainly a milestone for the development of my tastes in media. This movie was with me my whole life. First I loved it as a child, after years I rediscovered it as a teenager where it sparked a lot of confusing and not entirely unpleasant feelings and a yearning for something I couldn’t quite comprehend. The last time I got really obsessed with Labyrinth was in my late 20’s / early 30s and this time I knew exactly what it did to me and how to scratch that itch. Fan fiction provided. I have read obscene amounts of my (now) second favourite hero/villain pairing. Reylo is of course my top OTP now. 😉
When I watched TFA the first time I thought I might combust because it seemed that for the first time a true hero/ villain pairing might become canon in mainstream media. Yes, there are other instances but mostly cutesy/comedic stuff geared towards younger children like Megamind or Strange Magic. Never something epic like Star Wars. In a way the ST is my ultimate fix-it fic for my decades long Labyrinth suffering if that makes any sense. Probably not. Anyway it made me me so incredibly happy that I would see this happening in Star Wars which was another formative experience for me as a child.
Monsters and Villains 