Rewriting stories the way you want

It is very probable that, at some point or another, you might have read a book or seen a TV series or a movie where a scene takes place that makes you sigh or angry, and then you would wish to be able to catch whoever wrote those scenes and say "Damnit! This scene is complete nonsense! Change it or I'll tear you a new one!" and everything else that goes with it, or maybe you had an idea that would change things around a lot. Of course, it might also be possible that you could think how your favorite characters would work out somewhere else, how new characters would change things after being introduced to the story, or even that you would like to cross your favorite characters' paths with that of characters from other works.

If you have, then it is quite possible that you may have already joined the world of fanfiction, or, at least, that you are ready for it.

Why am I talking about fanfiction when this is a blog about alternative history? Well, basically, it is because, if you think about it carefully, alternative history is but fanfiction of history, written by either professional writers or amateurs. Also, in many occasions fanfiction includes several elements of alternative history, so, from that point of view, fanfiction is as deserving of being studied as alternative history.

The history of fanfiction is almost as ancient as the history of literature - obviously, there have always been people that have wanted to put their own artistic touch to any work they found - and the Homeric sagas or Aesop's fables are just a few of the works "affected" by this phenomenon. In modern literature, works like El Lazarillo de Tormes or Don Quixote have also gone through the same - remember Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, whom I already mentioned when I wrote about the Battle of Lepanto and who wrote an apocryphal sequel to Cervantes' work, which Cervantes answered with his own - and the same happened with works like Alice in Wonderland or Sherlock Holmes' adventures.

At the beginning, the term fanfiction was used to talk about science-fiction stories written by fans for fanzines (fan-magazines), but around the 60s and 70s the idea of developing new stories based on already existing cultural works began to expand, among them Star Trek, considered the first universe to have a serious fanfiction following. The one thing that sparked the explosion of fanfiction was the Internet, as fans were able to communicate and share ideas, and literature, comics and other audiovisual entertainment joined. Normally, the Internet webpages where these stories were written in were quite specific about the topic it was written about or the background, but in 1998 the website FanFiction.net, open to all past, present and future fandoms, was created, and the number of fanfiction grew like a weed - certain statistics say that a third of the books that are on the Internet are actually fanfiction. And, although they are not many, some fanfiction authors have been able to become professional writers: for example, Judith Rumelt, better known as Cassandra Clare thanks to her saga The Mortal Instruments, was previously a fanfiction author known for "The Draco Trilogy" (based on Harry Potter, and with Draco Malfoy as one of the main characters) and "The Very Secret Diaries" (with The Lord of the Rings as the background).

This phenomenon also made an impression in Japan between the 60s and the 70s thanks to the dōjinshi, independently-published manga that, in many cases, were also based on already-existing manga. Much like in the case of fanfiction, several dōjinshi writers and artists managed to become professional manga authors.

Currently, if we pay attention to what FanFiction.net tells us, the universe that more fanfictions have been written about is Harry Potter, with more than 685,000 existing stories, some as short as about 100 words (what is called a drabble) and others that are much longer than the seven Harry Potter books put together. The next in popularity are the anime Naruto with about 362,000 stories, and Twilight with 216,000. While some authors have welcomed, and even embraced, the idea of fanfiction, others have rejected this idea wholeheartedly: for example, Anne Rice, the author of Interview with the Vampire, even said that she was willing to sue anyone that tried to write fanfiction of her works, even if it was not for profit.

Of course, the quality of these stories can vary. In the side of infamy, there are "works" that not only are bad, but that they seem to be bad on purpose, full of ortographic errors, plot holes the size of ocean liners, characters that behave in completely irrational ways in comparison to the canon characters... in summary, complete massacres of the originals that should have never seen the light of day. Meanwhile, on the side of light, there are works that are pure art, with well written and developed story lines, characters that change in natural and credible ways, wonderful descriptions of everything that is going on... things that, in different circumstances, could have become best-sellers or blockbuster films.

Another interesting element of fanfiction is the possibility of easily making crossovers (interaction between character of different universes), and if they are well written they feel as if they were other books. This, of course, depends on which universes are being mixed, but, still, a good combination with a good development of how the universes are actually related, can make reading a very entertaining and interesting thing to do.

One thing I have to admit is that I really like fanfiction. Nowadays, I am following several of them - I read on my free time, of course - and awaiting their next chapter, and some of them are incredibly good. I have also tried my hand in the art of writing some of them, and the readers (those that deign to say anything, of course) normally answer that they liked them. It does not look like much, but it feels quite good to know there are people who like what I write *ahemahem*.

Some stories I have read and are specially good:

• The Wizard in the Shadows (Harry Potter/The Lord of the Rings crossover): after defeating Voldemort, Harry begins to feel the pressure of being Magical Britain's great hero, and asks Dumbledore's portrait to help him. Dumbledore suggests him to travel to a small town known as Bree, calm and tranquil, but some time after arriving he becomes involved in the intrigues of this new world and later joins a group formed by four hobbits, two humans, an elf, a dwarf and a wizard in a mission to destroy the only thing that keeps the most terrible of Dark Lords alive... (yes, Harry Potter joins the Fellowship of the Ring, and it is worth the time).
• Child of the Storm (Harry Potter/Marvel's The Avengers crossover): when he appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of New Mexico, this was not the first time Thor lived on Earth. Once, he had been incarnated in a British wizard known as James Potter to learn humility, and when Voldemort attacked the Potters he did not die: instead, he returned to Asgard, and his memories of his life as James had to be blocked. Twelve years later, when Harry Potter falls from his broom due to the Dementors, his desperate call for help makes Thor recover his memories, and he returns to the world to save the son he did not know he had. From there, events begin to interweave, with Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) allying with HYDRA in its war against SHIELD, and beginning a war between worlds that could put everyone in danger.
• Ned Stark Lives (A Song of Ice and Fire): when Eddard Stark is taken in front of Baelor's Sept to confess his "treason" towards Robert and Joffrey, it turns out that the latter is ill, so he is unable to order the execution of Lord Stark. Ned is sent towards the wall, accompanied by his disguised daughter, while the War of the Five Kings rages around them. However, things change a lot, as Eddard remaining alive makes the North retire from the war much earlier, allowing them to better recover their lands after the Ironmen attack, while other problems surge and make things complicate themselves with time.
• Emperor (Harry Potter): an interesting case of a mix of alternative history that later becomes fanfiction. When Robert Schuman is unable to convince the European governments to start the Coal and Steel Economic Community (the European Union's ancestor), the continent remains divided, only kept in peace thanks to North American and British pressure. The United Kingdom is more militarized than normal, while Germany remains divided for longer and France is the main European power. When Voldemort attacks the Potters, they manage to draw him into a trap and destroy him, but, having lost their wands and now defenseless, they decide to run away for the continent to avoid being manipulated by Dumbledore. When, years later, Harry asks his parents why they are relocating so much, and his parents tell him what is going on, Harry decides to win the power he needs so that neither him nor his family will have to continue running awy. The result is that history has changed a lot, including several wars that take a hold of Europe, particularly after magic is accidentally revealed to the world, while Harry manages to point to the highest echelons of power...

Any story can be interesting if well treated, and become a work of art in the hands of particularly any person. The first obstacle is, of course, knowing what you are going to write about.

See you next Friday!