"That fan fiction often concerns sexual situations between two well-known characters" I guess that depends on your definition of 'often'? Destinationtoast who does fandom stats across multiple sites (AO3, Wattpad, FF.net) has covered the ratings' prevalence over many years and the majority of fic is not rated explicit or mature. But if you just mean sexual situations that are not necessarily explicit, then sure, because romance is overwhelmingly represented.
You might also be interested to know that AO3 demographic surveys show heterosexual as the third most represented sexuality--below bi/pan and asexual. I don't think the Reddit stats are wrong, but I think the discrepancy just shows the different user bases, perhaps? Always interesting to ponder.
Sure, but physical books sold in bookstores where everyone can see and fanfics on the Internet are not the same in terms of explicit material - I can't see many people being bold enough to show the book they're buying to the cashier.
Looking at some fandoms on AO3 - Danganronpa has 1/8 = 12,5% fics rated explicit, Ace Attorney 5/37 ~ 14%, Undertale 9/63 ~ 14% again.
However, the rest (around 83%) is a lot, it's split between many genres listed. I guess I just didn't think romance dominated gen & teen fics so much.
I wrote my BA honors paper on fan fiction in 2005. My take was it’s a way for fans to have analytical discussions about (and fun with) canon. It’s fun to see there’s been actual research on it. Thanks for the post, and the questions about fandom has been commodified!
Interesting. Great piece! I would add two items to the conversation: 1) The Amazon series "The Rings of Power" is fan fiction, albeit atrociously bad fan-fiction. It bears all the superficial iconography of Tolkien's universe, but none of its moral and philosophical depth. 2) Dungeons and Dragons and all its descendant role-playing games deserve to be considered a form of fan fiction. Your chart showing the overwhelming female + LGBTQ tilt in fan-fiction fandom looks a lot more level when you include D&D in the category, as I think it should be.
"That fan fiction often concerns sexual situations between two well-known characters" I guess that depends on your definition of 'often'? Destinationtoast who does fandom stats across multiple sites (AO3, Wattpad, FF.net) has covered the ratings' prevalence over many years and the majority of fic is not rated explicit or mature. But if you just mean sexual situations that are not necessarily explicit, then sure, because romance is overwhelmingly represented.
You might also be interested to know that AO3 demographic surveys show heterosexual as the third most represented sexuality--below bi/pan and asexual. I don't think the Reddit stats are wrong, but I think the discrepancy just shows the different user bases, perhaps? Always interesting to ponder.
(will post to notes so I can share the graphs!)
I got a comment on AO3 today, good timing lol
I didn't expect romance to be so high up in the favorite genres chart when smut was also an option. I guess people are less horny than I thought...
50 Shades of Grey was fan fiction.
Romance remains the top selling genre of all fiction.
Sure, but physical books sold in bookstores where everyone can see and fanfics on the Internet are not the same in terms of explicit material - I can't see many people being bold enough to show the book they're buying to the cashier.
Looking at some fandoms on AO3 - Danganronpa has 1/8 = 12,5% fics rated explicit, Ace Attorney 5/37 ~ 14%, Undertale 9/63 ~ 14% again.
However, the rest (around 83%) is a lot, it's split between many genres listed. I guess I just didn't think romance dominated gen & teen fics so much.
I wrote my BA honors paper on fan fiction in 2005. My take was it’s a way for fans to have analytical discussions about (and fun with) canon. It’s fun to see there’s been actual research on it. Thanks for the post, and the questions about fandom has been commodified!
Had no idea fan fiction evolved out of copyright law. Those lawyers actually created something great!
Interesting. Great piece! I would add two items to the conversation: 1) The Amazon series "The Rings of Power" is fan fiction, albeit atrociously bad fan-fiction. It bears all the superficial iconography of Tolkien's universe, but none of its moral and philosophical depth. 2) Dungeons and Dragons and all its descendant role-playing games deserve to be considered a form of fan fiction. Your chart showing the overwhelming female + LGBTQ tilt in fan-fiction fandom looks a lot more level when you include D&D in the category, as I think it should be.
Love the idea of the Aeneid as fan fiction 🙂