Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion fan fiction -- a viable alternative?

Lots of great ideas in this thread. I've been wanting to try writing some Legion fanfic (plus art tie in) for awhile now, but time just hasn't been on my side.

From a reader's standpoint, trying to squeeze stories and comments into the forum structure here just doesn't seem conducive to an ideal reading experience (especially for longer fiction). I just took a look at the AO3 link, and at first glance I really like that UI where you drill down to the story and then can link through to see comments if desired.

So maybe utilizing a site like AO3 that would also allow image linking to host the fanfic and then linking and cross promoting to that site from here, the LW FB page, etc would be one way to go and get more eyes exposed to the stories, etc.

A valid point! It's sometimes not easy to know if you're characterization is actually off-putting to fans of the character(s) you are writing, without some mid-story feedback, and enthusiastic / appreciative feedback always warms the heart and fires me up to write more!

For me, writing is fun, even if no one reads it at all, but I can sure see that for people who have many other things they could be devoting their time and energy towards that are more rewarding to them / they enjoy more than writing, banging out an entire story without any sort of encouragement could be low on their list of things to do!

Clemo48,
its good to know you do read the bits but i hope your do start commenting. I can speak for myself when i say, i know how hard it is to jump into a Era your unfamiliar with and read it. But i've found that not only are the authors here willing to explain who or what something is if you ask but personally we love it. it allows us to talk about our favorite eras of the Legion.

also a lot of us have been doing work to add roll calls to our post and notations about when things may have taken place to help with that.

but also and yet again I speak for myself when i say I love fresh pair of eyes that don't know my era, because if you comment and don't know something it allows me to rethink my storyline a bit to make it more reader friendly.

hope you continue to read and enjoy the Bits.

Lots of good insights and helpful links here!



this can be your Legion World heroic alter ego!

I definitely subscribe to the "post/update as you go along" school of thought too. Multi-parters can be very long - my own fic, for example, has evolved into a three part act that brings the Reboot-era Legion back home by If I had waited until finishing (and I'm not done yet!) before posting I would never have gotten this far. Sometimes the story evolves because of comments and discussions. For example, I consult with Omni and Reboot for story/plot directions, and to ensure I don't contradict Reboot continuity/established characterization.

I echo what others have said about feedback on threads. I've found that hearing what people liked in a story I'm writing lets me know what elements works better than others and emphasize those aspects more. It also gives me encouragement to keep writing since I know someone is enjoying the work.

That is a good point actually! With my writing I generally know where the plot's going to go and that doesn't really change, but I have changed which characters I focus on or which elements of the story get more exploration based on feedback....I am actually in the process of rewriting my next instalment now after finding out that a particular character confrontation is turning out to be more popular than I had anticipated.

tldr; feedback is good, don't be scared to give it!

The issue of non- familiarity with specific eras is interesting, at least from the reader's standpoint. For example, I have zero knowledge of the postboot Legion (my LSH history is contemporaneous reading of Silver Age, 35 year gap, rediscovery through 3boot trades, Levitz final run). I have recently started reading Invisible Brainiac's excellent work which features many Legionnaires I have never heard of (and others with funny names) so I don't know how they're "supposed" to act. It doesn't matter. IB writes so well that for me this is the "official" version. In fact, my lack of familiarity may even be an advantage as I can simply enjoy the story. Of course, from the perspective of a writer that's a whole different thing; but as a freshly minted Fanfic Fanboy all I can do is cheer on those creative souls providing such first class entertainment. Any boot will do!

Wow, thank you for the kind words Sean Retconnery! It fills me with pride to know that my work is actually your first introduction to the Postboot Legion. I'm also very happy to hear that you are enjoying my work even without any background knowledge on these folks.

Thank you for the positive feedback. You made my day

I agree that background knowledge shouldn't really be an impediment....it's just like a real comic, once you start reading enough of it you pick up on who's who and the worldbuilding that's been done etc. Some of my favourite characters from the fanfics I am following are homemade characters (or alternate versions of characters) anyway, and I think omni mentioned earlier that a lot of us have taken to writing up roll calls and plot notes to help avoid people getting too lost as well

Its the statement that you are unfamiliar with 'how they are supposed to act' that is one of the main problems that an author has to contend with for any body of Legion fan fiction.

As an author, one must either assume that your readers are already familiar with the characters, which can be a problem for those who aren't, or expand your work to include expository references to the character(s) and history. The latter can then present a problem for those readers who are familiar with the characters, who might be inclined to skip ahead of the exposition.

It's a double-edged sword for authors.

With all of that in mind, I'm considering throwing my hat into the fan-fiction ring (metaphorically speaking, of course) with regards to some Legion fan fiction and have a question for all of the possible readers:

Do you think that it would helpful to include a header or disclaimer at the beginning of each chapter in order to let readers know which 'flavor' of Legion the story tells? Or should the fan-fiction section be expanded and organized along the lines of 'Prime era', 'Reboot era', 'Threeboot era', 'other', etc?

I think a header or disclaimer would do for now (and maybe indicate the era in the thread title). Maybe if/when we have more people writing, we can start organizing by sub forum.

I agree with Ibby.

Personally I think this has been overthought, just write and post it and let the reader work it out or ask questions. But then I'm of a "kill them all and let God sort them out" kind of persuasion

Enjoy yourself creating a universe George, it's great fun to do!

I missed replying to this earlier. I'm not familiar with either Interlac or the APA's though. It IS tempting, especially after all the encouragement I've gotten here.

Ibby, Interlac has a Facebook page that anyone can join. If you think they may be interested in your work, you should definitely post there. Here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/interlacapa/

Thanks Stalgie, I will check it out! Although I will have to think about it, I am pretty comfy being anonymous with my work.