Fans of famous novels, movies, and TV shows have been writing "fanfiction" for decades, essentially creating their own new stories and plot variations using their favourite characters from them. However, because those characters are subject to copyright, fanfiction cannot be legally published for profit. In ye olden days, even free copies of fanfics had a limited audience because there was no easy or viable way to circulate or distribute them on a large scale.
But then the internet was invented.
Fanfiction EXPLODED.
Although men write fanfiction too, of course, the vast majority of it is written by women, particularly if the fanfic focuses on relationships (friendly, romantic, or sexual) between favourite characters. This is true even where the relationship is between two male characters. And so arose the phenomenon of M/M (male/male) fanfiction about characters who, in their original source material, are actually or ostensibly straight but in fanfics are recast as gay/bi.
Women fanfic authors have become extremely adept at writing gay male sexual romances. The ins-and-outs (so to speak) of gay male sex are no longer a mystery to anyone with access to porn videos. And women are as observant as anyone else. But what makes M/M fanfics more than "simply porn" is their equal and invested emphasis on exploring deep emotional issues and complex love stories between the characters. "The female gaze" is brought to bear on these characters and situations. Women have been socialized since birth to focus on the analysis and understanding of emotions and relationships. This has even been called a "critical survival skill" for us. In any event, women authors bring the full force of this ability to fanfiction.
Fictionalized M/M relationships are also attractive to women, I believe, because of the absence of gender issues between the two males involved. Gender issues between men and women are always and inevitably present in any heterosexual relationship. Many women like to explore what it would be like to relate to someone without those particular issues skewing intimacy and roles. M/M fanfiction offers that freedom to explore.
Heated Rivalry is very much in the M/M fanfiction tradition. It is absolutely rife with standard, favourite tropes of the genre, all of which have their own specialized terminology, references or abbreviations. One such trope is precisely . . . wait for it . . . The Hockey AU! (AU means "Alternate Universe"). And yes, I've personally read quite a few hockey AU fanfics involving Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes on skates, LOL.
Speaking of my Captain America/Winter Soldier fanfiction obsession, Heated Rivalry actually has its very own Steve/Bucky connection!
I'll tell you about it tomorrow in this post's Part 3 finale.
37 comments:
Have you seen "Rings of Power"? I am watching it now. I suppose it could also be considered the same way, it is based on the characters created by Tolkien. The writers that were hired to write the script were big fans.They met with the producers speaking Elvish, ( or Elfish, sorry never can remember how to spell Tolkien's words!) Anyway, its very good, and the music is great too.I must do a post about it!
@ Kay G. -- I haven't seen it yet but it is on my "to watch" list. Yes, it's the same phenomenon as fanfiction but here the Tolkien Estate gave permission for the commercial series to be made. Tolkien's characters are very popular in unauthorized fanfiction too!
This is fascinating. I never gave much though to the “whys” of so many women writing m/m romances, including erotica.
Winter soldier, he's a cutie that one. Then I saw the TV show back when we had had that service (we rotate streaming services), and I saw he had shorter hair and at first I was like meh but then I watched and he can pull off short or longer hair. That's one cutie.
...our son did this while in high school many years ago.
I have heard about all the hoppla have not seen it. But I agree about your observations on why females write this better.
@ The Happy Whisk -- Personally I prefer a longer-haired Winter Soldier but yes, he is a cutie.
I've never delved into fan fiction before ... perhaps I should.
Once again, women kick ass!
If course women do it better! One thing I treasure about my friendships with gay men is that there's no sexual tension. It's just friendship, no eventual agenda on their part. My friendships with straight men are usually broken up by their female partners, who are often very uneasy about it. They rarely grasp that I have zero personal interest in "their" men.
I’m a heretic about this: I think the characters are what an author made them, and they exist only in the original book. Coicidence about the male-male couple: I’m reading a book about the Renaissance, hence, Michaelangelo.
I had an intern one summer, who was paying her way through law school, writing science fiction romance novels, she has like a dozen of them on Amazon.
This is the best explanation of why M/M erotica / romance / porn written by women is sought after, why women are better at it than men.
Tolkien's work begins to enter the public domain in 2037.... If I live long enough, it would be fun to see where these characters are taken.
@ Mae Travels -- I love Michelangelo and his art! I've had a real thing for him ever since I was an adolescent!
Another one for women.
Well said and bang on, thanks for this.
I read non fiction only, but in my younger days, such as when I was in my 20's, I read some romance novels.
Thank you so much for sharing, Debra, and Bugs Bunny made me smile.
Hello Debra, I have heard that there are gay Japanese comics that are mostly purchased by adolescent girls (I don't know if these are written or drawn by men or women*). Perhaps this phenomenon is similar to what Boud alluded to above--the girls feel comfortable because they get to have crushes without even having to think about real physical intimacy and what that would mean.
--Jim
*Google's AI summary (which we know never lies) assures me that these stories are indeed created by women.
I've read a variety of fanfic. Some is good, some is rubbish, some is amazing... just like all writing! Your explainer of women's take on M/M porn is spot on!
@ Parnassus (Jim) -- Yes, that's right -- those novels, manga, etc are known by the term "Yaoi" or "Boys' Love" and are written by Japanese & Asian women for a female audience. Yaoi features homoerotic romance between original male characters, as opposed to western fanfiction which involves pre-existing characters from novels, TV and movies. I always think of Yaoi as being similar to those staggeringly popular K-pop boy bands.
@ e -- Yes, the quality does vary, doesn't it! But the ones which become "Fandom Classics" are usually pretty outstanding, both in the quality of their writing and the depth of their insight into the characters.
Two of my daughters and I discussed this very topic at lunch today. I'm not sure we had any true epiphanies but we did laugh a few times.
Each to their own but I've never been a fan of M/M. Now F/F I could watch all day. And wouldn't F/Me/F be nice.
Some of my best friends are gay men...No pressure
I read very little so I can't comment on all the choices.. Maybe it's time to start!
Yes. Yes! YES!
I LOOOOOOOVE M/M romance/smut. Love it. It's the best of both worlds and you are right: women are the main purveyors of M/M novels. I discovered fanfic in the early days of Tumblr (when it was hawt to be Tumblr famous, hun, I WAS it) and have not looked back.
I think you are right on the 'why' so many women write M/M romance. I'm still pissed that there's so very few gay male authors that are able to make me shiver in my bloomers the way so many female authors can, though.
And now I'm having the whole Captain America/ Bucky porn crave.
XOXO
Wow. Thank you. It'd been cold here but I just scanned your "Heated Rivalry" post. Now that's heat.
I caught and appreciate "the ins and outs (so to speak)..."
I also very much appreciate your info and perspective on the m/m fanfiction matter.
Interesting. I know next to nothing about fanfiction. I didn't even realize it's that popular. I look forward to your next post.
Love,
Janie
Writers are my jam, all types, all genres, always.
"understanding of emotions and relationshps" isn't part of my make up, I fail miserably at "reading" people and feel awkward in groups where the girls are all nattering about boyfriends and feelings.
I kind of figured it was majority women writing fan fiction :) Looking forward to reading your Part 3!
Well, Debra, this is starting to come together. I have always thought that those K-pop band members look like they are made out of plastic, and so represent some kind of transition from Barbie and Ken dolls. --Jim
There is a notion of fan fiction in a lot of "proper" fiction. I know Istarted writing crime stories when I started desperating to see a sequel to Omerta, la loi du silence. When the disappointing movie came, I had already written a couple of stories heavily influenced by the tv series.
@ Guillaume -- Good for you for writing your own stories! That's how a lot of people get started in fanfiction writing and reading -- they just love the original stories/movie/tv show so much!
I love m/m romance for the very reasons you stated. Also any queer roms really. I just love the paradigm switch away from boy/girl. Alexis Hall, KJ Charles and Jackie Keswick are faves.
Wow ~ a whole new world out there. Why am I wasting my time trying to understand philosophy? 😂
My exposure to fan fiction is all related to Star Trek, there's literally tons of it on the internet.
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