[ SECRET POST #2713 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2713 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 084 secrets from Secret Submission Post #388.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly though, if you are looking for a fic featuring 'POC character' and/or 'POC's point of view", you either a) already have a character and fandom in mind and can just go to those tags OR b) are looking for a story in which the POV character being of color actually has a point, as specified in the secret. So I don't really see how superfluously tagging a story with 'POC' will help in either case.

[(Anonymous)]

Nope, sometimes I just want a story with a main character who is Japanese or Native American or whatever. I'll read fic for fandoms I'm not in when I'm in the mood for a certain thing and can't find it in my own.

I can see how people would get annoyed by it, but honestly I've got no problem with it. Easier it is for me to search these things out when I want it, the happier I am.

[(Anonymous)]

Really? I can understand reading fic for fandoms you're not in... but if you're so unfamiliar with the canon as to not even know anything about a character except, apparently, their ethnicity (via the tags), why even read fanfic of that canon? Why not just pick up some original story featuring a POC protagonist instead?

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, exactly. Borrow a Sherman Alexie book from the library or something.

[beverlykatz]

Yessss Sherman Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is still one of my favorite books, and I'm not exactly in the target age range.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Why not just pick up some original story featuring a POC protagonist instead?

Fanfic tends to have a very different "feel" than original fic, though. Partly because fanfic authors don't need to establish the setting or the characters, and so their fic is typically heavy on action and dialogue and very light on description. Partly because many common fanfic tropes aren't at all common in original fic. And partly because fanfic has a sort of cumulative effect that really isn't comparable to anything in original fic (other than tie-in novels, which are basically published fanfic) with the possible exception of series that can satisfyingly be read out of order, e.g. Discworld or the Vorkosigan Saga. (And there aren't that many series of that type out there, and even fewer if you're only considering series with PoC protagonists.)

[(Anonymous)]

I do the same thing. As a POC myself, sometimes I want to read a story where the main character looks like me. Most of my fandoms are all or mostly white so I also use those particular tags as a way to find new fandoms with a more diverse cast. I may not actually join the fandom, but I may find an interesting story to read

To the anon above: it's very difficult to find an original story with a POC as the protagonist. There simply aren't that many out there, esp. on AO3 (believe me, I've looked). In the publishing world, books with non-white protagonists are a hard sell because, even in 2014, it's still widely believed that the "mainstream" audience can't relate to an Asian/Black/Hispanic/etc character. Same thing applies to other media as well

[(Anonymous)]

Basically all of this.

And while I realize that fanfic's characterizations of characters can be pretty far off from the source material, if I like the character enough then I will check out the source material.

Sometimes I just want to read about people like me. I don't see what is so odd about that.