Friends
When I first found out that we were going to be researching ten different pieces of fan fiction before writing our own, I immediately thought of the show Friends and looked up a couple of pieces of fanfiction based on this series. The first one I found actually horrified me and I would go as far as saying that it tore apart many of the fantasies I had of what would happen to Rachel/Ross after the show finished, or what could have happened if Rachel never got off the plane. This fanfiction in particular, entitled "Don't You Know Me?" focuses on Rachel and her new life in Paris. In this fanfiction, Rachel doesn't see her friends, family or even her daughter for more than four years. Like I said before, this horrified me. As a major Friends fan, I know that the character of Rachel would never abandon her friends like that. She would certainly never abandon her daughter either, so much to the point that the poor girl doesn't even know who she is! I think that as a writer, you can take certain liberties and write basically whatever you want to make the story your own, but when basing your story on such a well known show, it goes without saying that the characters should somewhat resemble those that we know and love from onscreen! The "Rachel" in this story lacked any of the personality attributes from the show - I'll be the first to say that in the show, Rachel could be a right b-i-t-c-h, but she would always look out for her friends in their time of need and never turn her back on them. Glee
This fanfic is based on the Rachel Berry/Sam Evans (Samchel) pairing from the show Glee. From the moment I started reading it I was hooked thanks to the writer's excellent ability at "tapping" into the characters' inner ramblings and I thought they got their personalities just right. In this fanfic, Rachel goes to Finn and Quinn's wedding and meets up with Sam, the guy she knew least from Glee club at high school. Having watched this show from the beginning, I had honestly never thought of this pair being together so I thought the writer definitely had an interesting point of view. The writer did a great job of bringing these two very different characters together in a story that wasn't too long or too short.
Twilight Saga
The first thing I noticed about this fanfiction was how close the writer's style was to that of Stephanie Meyer's (the original author of the Twilight Saga). In fact, had I not known it was a fanfiction, I could have been forgiven for thinking it was the fifth installment in the Saga! I thought the writer did such a good job that throughout the story, I had to keep reminding myself that it was just a fanfiction and that it was not written by Stephanie Meyer. The story focuses on a now thirteen year old Renesmee who has started to develop a crush on Jacob. Anyone who knows the Saga will be screaming for joy as we know Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee. (I for one have always wondered whether Renesmee would have feelings towards Jacob in the end.) She is going through a tough time at the moment, in fact she is pretty much suicidal at this point, as the Volturi want her, Edward, Bella and Alice to go to Italy and join the guard due to their "abilities". I was a little bit disappointed to see that this fanfiction is not yet finished (as of 15/03/11) and only has a prologue and a first chapter. I'll check back on it in a few months and see if the writer has added any more chapters, as it was actually really good.Mamma Mia
My Donna is a fanfiction based on Donna and Sam from the movie Mamma Mia. It's a very romantic story and seems to show that Donna and Sam are wasting no time making up for the 20 years they were apart. The writer uses really descriptive words that relate to the beautiful night sky they are under such as "He takes a deep breath and turns to me, a glimmer all too similar to the starlight dancing in his eyes" and "I can see how he smiles. His profile radiates like the quarter moon above." I think this is a good technique because it helps us imagine the environment they are in (one of the best things about the Mamma Mia movie was the film locations - amazing) but it is also very romantic and shows how much Donna loves Sam.
Something I really like in this story is the way the writer used actual ABBA lyrics to back up what was being said as well as using songs by Janis Joplin to re-iterate and demonstrate what is happening in the story.
I would classify this piece of fanfiction in the romance genre. To me, it was a gripping, moving piece and shows how two people can truly love each other even after such a long time and distance.
Coronation Street
A Sophie and Sian fanfiction
Something I liked about this fanfiction straight away was the way the author used first person and basically made the characters speak like normal people. These two girls seemed real which made for easy reading, although one thing I will say is that at times, she waffled on a bit, for example when Sian was trying to decide which music to listen to on her iPod at the gym, she stated that she was going to listen to Glee, and then said "What? Don't look at me like that, I like Glee, who doesn't! They actually make pretty good work out tunes! And heellllooooo Brittana! Anyway… " I just thought this made her character seem a little bit immature.
As I said about another fanfiction, I liked the way the writer used song lyrics to back up what was going on and to show how the characters were feeling. It is definitely an interesting point of view coming from song lyrics. This fanfiction is probably not everyone's cup of tea, focusing on the lesbian relationship between Sophie and Sian.
The story is set up in a way that each alternative chapter is from the other girl's point of view, which I think made this fanfiction a little repetitive near the end, but once you got to the new content it was humourous, cute and made me feel really happy that this young couple had found each other.
This fanfiction is about Bruce, the great white vegetarian shark from Finding Nemo, and his adventure to Atlantica, the kingdom of the ocean, where he went to find help for his beloved Great Barrier Reef. This was the first "cross-over" fanfiction that I had read. I thought a cross-over between Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid was a really great idea for a story and something I wouldn't have thought of. Because the writer used first person to write this story, I was really able to go into Bruce's psyche and see how he felt and overall, it was quite an emotional read. In fact, you could compare the Bruce in this story to a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, that's how strong his temptations towards eating fish were, but he also had his other demons. There was so much character development in this story and I felt like we really got to know Bruce and got to experience a sort of 90s era Disney through the characters of Ariél and Flounder, which gave me a sense of nostalgia. The story was quite long, but I think it needed to be that way to really make you understand the characters and what's going on.
Inspired after reading the Finding Nemo/Little Mermaid cross over, I decided to search for another cross over fanfiction, this time 8 Simple Rules and the Big Bang Theory. I had always wondered why didn't they just call the character of Penny in The Big Bang Theory "Bridget" and carry on her character from 8 Simple Rules. I believe it would have been an easy task and would have given her character more of a back story - both characters have the same kind of personality and Penny is from out of town. This particular fanfiction, Penny's Secret, was a bit far-fetched but had the bones of a good story. It was just unfortunate that the writer decided to write the story with no "fluff", as in it wasn't very descriptive and basically just said what happened. I thought this made the story quite boring and at times, I found myself skimming through it quickly to find some kind of excitement or action, but to no avail. As I said, it had the bones of a good story and with a bit of time and effort put into making it descriptive and captivating, it could be a credible storyline as to why Penny is who she is and why she is living in Pasadena, of all places.
"Live Your Life" is a fanfiction based on the movie "The Hangover". It revolves around the character Phil and how he and one of his "geeky" students hooked up while in Las Vegas for Doug's bachelor party. I felt it was quite "amateur-ish" and very black and white. There was nothing descriptive at all and I didn't think the writer managed to tap into any of the characters, so I felt very disconnected from the whole thing. Throughout the story, I also felt like the writer was infatuated with Phil, continuously describing how "hot" he was, and maybe s/he wished they were the character of Mia.
I know that as soon as people hear that "Khaki" is a Justin Bieber fanfiction, they're going to be flaming like angry towns-people chasing after the dirty green ogre, pitch-forks and guns in hand. But I assure you, before you get all bent out of shape, this story is utterly moving. The writer uses colours as symbols for the different emotions that Justin is feeling. Khaki is his life, his routine, and as a girl called Calissa enters his life, we see all the other colours, colours he didn't even know existed, bursting into his world, "seeping through and draining away [his] khaki." I like how the story is poetic and very descriptive, which makes for easy and enjoyable reading. Even the character of Calissa, basically a bully, had so much depth. I really got to know these characters inside-and-out thanks to the writer's excellent ability. It was so deep and moving that I read it over and over, being able to relate to some of the things Justin was feeling.
The story is set up in a way that each alternative chapter is from the other girl's point of view, which I think made this fanfiction a little repetitive near the end, but once you got to the new content it was humourous, cute and made me feel really happy that this young couple had found each other.
Finding Nemo/The Little Mermaid cross over
This fanfiction is about Bruce, the great white vegetarian shark from Finding Nemo, and his adventure to Atlantica, the kingdom of the ocean, where he went to find help for his beloved Great Barrier Reef. This was the first "cross-over" fanfiction that I had read. I thought a cross-over between Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid was a really great idea for a story and something I wouldn't have thought of. Because the writer used first person to write this story, I was really able to go into Bruce's psyche and see how he felt and overall, it was quite an emotional read. In fact, you could compare the Bruce in this story to a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, that's how strong his temptations towards eating fish were, but he also had his other demons. There was so much character development in this story and I felt like we really got to know Bruce and got to experience a sort of 90s era Disney through the characters of Ariél and Flounder, which gave me a sense of nostalgia. The story was quite long, but I think it needed to be that way to really make you understand the characters and what's going on.8 Simple Rules/Big Bang Theory cross over
Inspired after reading the Finding Nemo/Little Mermaid cross over, I decided to search for another cross over fanfiction, this time 8 Simple Rules and the Big Bang Theory. I had always wondered why didn't they just call the character of Penny in The Big Bang Theory "Bridget" and carry on her character from 8 Simple Rules. I believe it would have been an easy task and would have given her character more of a back story - both characters have the same kind of personality and Penny is from out of town. This particular fanfiction, Penny's Secret, was a bit far-fetched but had the bones of a good story. It was just unfortunate that the writer decided to write the story with no "fluff", as in it wasn't very descriptive and basically just said what happened. I thought this made the story quite boring and at times, I found myself skimming through it quickly to find some kind of excitement or action, but to no avail. As I said, it had the bones of a good story and with a bit of time and effort put into making it descriptive and captivating, it could be a credible storyline as to why Penny is who she is and why she is living in Pasadena, of all places.The Hangover
"Live Your Life" is a fanfiction based on the movie "The Hangover". It revolves around the character Phil and how he and one of his "geeky" students hooked up while in Las Vegas for Doug's bachelor party. I felt it was quite "amateur-ish" and very black and white. There was nothing descriptive at all and I didn't think the writer managed to tap into any of the characters, so I felt very disconnected from the whole thing. Throughout the story, I also felt like the writer was infatuated with Phil, continuously describing how "hot" he was, and maybe s/he wished they were the character of Mia.
Hairspray
This story is about Link, Tracey, Penny and Seaweed. It is centered around the song "Without Love" from the movie soundtrack. What I love about this fanfiction was how they stated everyone's point of view and how they feel about each other. It was very romantic. As I was reading this story, I felt like I could hear the characters from the actual movie, and the writer wrote it in a way that made it seem like I was tapping into their inner thoughts. I like the way it was set out, giving a point of view and then moving into the song lyrics. As I read it, I pictured what would have happened in the movie and then sang along to the words of the song lyrics before continuing to read the actual story.
Justin Bieber Fanfiction
I really like the way you wrote your critics, it was deep and well explained why you liked it or not. I also like the way you feel things from stories like these ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Melba. You're right, I like to explain why I really like or why I really don't like something. Reading has always been a big part of my life. When I was young, I would often escape from my "real life" into the world of books and stories. I enjoyed the opportunity to share the sorts of stories I like and dislike with you and others in our group.
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