/reader fics

[u/Icy-Specific986]

Not sure how to start this post, so I guess some context might be the way to go.

I like some really niche, small fandoms. Unfortunately that means that my options, especially when it comes to pairings and just overall romance, are often very limited. Because of that, I usually give everything a try, even fics that usually wouldn’t appeal to me.

But one thing I could never really get into are /reader fics (I’m I writing this right? Is there another name for it?). The whole “you did x” and “you held y’s hand” kind of thing never sort of clicked with me, because it feels like I’m being personally and directly addressed by the author and… that’s just sorta weird?

But like I said, by my own sins (aka liking tiny fandoms) I’m running out of reading material. So I’m just wondering if maybe I’m reading and/or interpreting /reader fics wrong? Like, is there some sort of “mentality” or “view” that you have to have to properly enjoy them?

And just to be clear, I’m not complaining about /reader fics or anything like that. I genuinely want to try to read them, but I never quite manage to because of the reasons above, and want to change that.

Sorry if this post doesn’t make any sense, I could barely make it make sense to myself in my head, much less trying to explain to other people.

[u/desired-misery]

If you don't like them, you don't like them. Plenty of folks do like reader fic.

Sounds like you should go try writing or go find a other fandom to entertain yourself. 

[u/regularirregulate]

i think you kinda just either like them or you don't.

they were my start in fanfiction but i've largely moved on. i'd still love to enjoy them but i am picky to the point of excluding myself unfortunately.

[u/TypicalOddities]

You don't have to like them. They are wish fulfillment to be part of a story. My love for them started with the Choose Your Own Scare books from Goosebumps. If you don't want to be the main character then they aren't for you and that is okay.

[u/Ok-Statement-3328 → u/TypicalOddities]

I’m not OP, but your comment really resonated, and reframed /reader fics for me. For some reason, just like OP, I also really struggle to get into the vibe with most /reader fics. But I did read some of the Goosebumps Choose your own scare books as a kid. And I had no problems with them! I was actually very absorbed and taken in by them.

Maybe there’s something about it being the romance genre (generally), that just squicks out my vibe with /reader? I’ve really never given it any serious thought, but it’s so true. The thought of reading maybe some horror, or adventure, now the idea of /reader seems very reasonable and even exciting!

… I don’t have the type of degree, to be IDing what it is about /reader in romance, that icks me out, personally. Maybe it’s a personal thing. I’ve basically sworn off romance in my personal life (aro). Maybe it’s immersion breaking?

I’d be curious to know though if other people get this? Are there others who wouldn’t read /reader romance, but would read /reader in other genres?

[u/TypicalOddities → u/Ok-Statement-3328]

I totally understand that! There have been times I've even tried to write a romance /Reader fic but it ended up being platonic or having nothing to do with the actual romance because that was more interesting for the story I was trying to tell. But yeah, a majority will be romance as is the nature of the Fandom Beast. I'm glad I was able to help a little though!

[u/Typical_Hat6184]

I think it’s just personal preference? There’s no clear answer to it, just that you don’t like it and some people do.

[u/Overall-Bumblebee84]

Like everyone else is saying you don’t have to like x reader fics. But if you really want to give them a shot, it might help if you think of them more like video games where you “create” the player character but the story and the actions your character takes are already pre determined. You’re not being addressed it’s just your avatar like in games such as bg3

[u/lorehermit]

Have you ever played a game like Baldur’s Gate 3, where you’re referred to in second person but are ostensibly a separate character with their own backstory and motives - not your literal current self? It’s like that. Ideally the author leaves enough blank that you can imagine yourself (or anyone else), but really to me it’s less “it’s literally supposed to be YOU” and more a vehicle for experiencing the story from within and as a part of the story.

[u/SmoopufftheShoopuff → u/lorehermit]

but really to me it’s less “it’s literally supposed to be YOU” and more a vehicle for experiencing the story from within and as a part of the story

I wouldn't mind this kind of readerfic, but there is also a big chunk that's definitely wish-fulfilment that is supposed to be you (or the author's "you" in any case).

I wish there were some way to easily distinguish between the two, but as there isn't, I'll keep avoiding all readerfic. It's a shame, because 2nd person POV actually works really well for me.

[u/lorehermit → u/SmoopufftheShoopuff]

That makes sense! I guess I mostly read longform or slowburn reader inserts, where a certain amount of backstory is necessary even when it’s supposed to be “you” (ie: “you get isekai’d into xyz universe”).

Just due to the nature of slowburns and 100k+ stories, I genuinely can’t think of one I’ve read recently that didn’t have at least a sort of stand in backstory. Like you’re still meant to accept you’re, say, a person that went to college at some point, or lived in a major city, or have had an abusive family, or whatever else might not actually fit your life. I guess I still see that minor differentiation as accepting the vehicle for the story, so to speak.

[u/Skyuni123]

I write xreader very occasionally cause there's not much of it in my fandom and I think it is fun. But you don't have to feel obliged to like it!

[u/Fragrant_Land1233]

As a writer and reader, I don’t enjoy reading /reader fics. I’d much rather read character x character instead. Nothing wrong with /reader, sometimes I will read them and end up liking the story and how the writer wrote y/n into that media’s universe.

I also only write character x character, so that may be another reason lol.

[u/little_euphoria]

I don't like them either. I figure it probably has to do with me being aro. I like romance only when I'm not involved, please keep it far far away from me.

But plenty of people like them and that's not my business. Though I admit I was shocked to find out just how popular they were, I always imagined it's a niche thing but turns out it's not.

[u/dumblittlepuppy01]

Yup that's called personal preferences, you can filter them out. 

[u/cc-chct_]

I first read something written in second person, like forever ago, and I remember it sounded weird. it's OK and it's not disrespectful to be startled by it lol

it's just because you're not used to seing "you" in writing without it being directly addressed to you - really you, so it reaaaally feels like a letter. if you stick with it a bit though, you'll gloss over the pronoun like you do most pronouns. (I actually prefer it now, because there's less he and she everywhere)

I haven't read something in first person in a while, so I get a bit shocked by it now, even though it's a classic. it's all a question of habit. so yea if you want to read them, read them, you'll be fine in a few chapters.

also xreaders are vague, usually, so you don't have to imagine it's you. it's kind of half and half on people who read it as if it's happening to them and those who imagine an OC as the main character. I've read some by an author recently who writes them, second person with the you pronouns, but from the POV of the canon character! it was soooooo good, kind of like bending the narrator around while they're describing what happens, I had never seen that before and i had such a good time (unfortunately it was in a niche little place so I can't say more or both the author's ao3 account and my own would be rrly obvious)

[u/Purple_not_pink]

I also gave it a try for the same reasons. As a reader of only third person, it was hard for me to adjust. I can see myself enjoying a few with the right trope perhaps, but not in my current fandom. I learned that I prefer to be a step removed from the characters.

[u/Semiramis738]

I totally get x-reader not being your favorite thing. If I'm into a character, I'll read explicit fics about him with absolutely anyone, including x-reader. But I really prefer canon/OC, where the love interest is better described and is allowed to have a more unique personality. (Especially for villain characters, where the typical reader insert tends to be too nicey-nice.) I never actually imagine myself as the reader, so they usually just seem like a blander, less interesting OC to me.

Like I said, I'll still read them...but I find it sad how much territory they seem to have taken over from OCs. I blame the old stigma against OCs as "Mary Sues." Hopefully this will continue to fade away, and as authors feel freer to write whatever they want, the OCs will come back to reclaim some of their territory.

[u/bittyfish]

Personally I prefer a degree of separation. I don't insert myself into main characters/project myself on them, so reader fic/yume shipping doesn't do anything for me. I also don't really get oc/canon character relationships in general, it doesn't click for me. I'm not sure if you can 'make' yourself like stuff like that. I think it just kind of is or isn't your thing.

[u/EmberRPs]

Honestly, if you are forced to read them just use an OC or another canon character. You don't play BG3 or Dragon Age as yourself, you make a character and explore their world and relating to them. The suspension of disbelief for trying to force a character into a reader fic is lower, it's more immersive (although if you wanted immersion you wouldn't read reader fic) and it feels less jarring when the fic is just uncomfortable.

[u/MrsCognac]

I guess you either like that kind of perspective or you don't.

As an almost exclusive /Reader author; for me, those fics are wish fulfillment. I write them for me first and foremost and just upload whatever I got, in case someone else might enjoy it too. So the "being directly adressed by the author" part is fully intentional. I use them to cope with RL stuff and reread them a lot whenever I'm going through stuff.

[u/TraceyWoo419]

Some people love them. I cringe to death if I try to read them.

I do wonder, if they had been more popular when I was a pre-teen, if I might have liked them at that stage of my life. All we had back then was good old Mary sue self inserts!

[u/Palindr0mic]

It's very much personal preference. I like them, and occasionally write them, but I know a lot of people really don't like them. Personally I like picturing weird and wonderful versions of 'me' in worlds interacting with my favourite characters. It's very much wish fulfilment and I know not everyone is into that, it's a niche thing I guess.

As far as reading them, I usually read from the perspective of "this isn't literally me, this is an AU version from x world". It's easier to ignore anything I wouldn't technically do through that lense (though occasionally I click out when the "reader" is too far removed from anything I can even pretend to relate to). As long as descriptions aren't used I'm good, but your milage will vary

[u/esm3rald]

I read them as if an external narrator is addressing the character (think the TV show You when Joe addresses his obsession of the season but less creepy and disturbing). I don’t really read them as if the story is addressing me personally because for me too that feels very weird.

[u/atomskeater]

A fair amount of people are not really imagining themselves when they read the fics, which might sound odd. But once you think of a readerfic as basically the very close/intimate pov of an oc blank enough that the reader can project most kinds of traits onto them rather than it being mandatory to feel like the story is about you, the person sitting and reading off a screen, it might click better. I don't usually get it when people say they feel like they're being told what to do or mischaracterized by the story, but the fact I don't consider it to be about me might be the difference.

I also just think second person is neat to begin with. I don't think it's weird that a text might acknowledge the reader, and I kinda wish we got more meta and mindfucky readerfics. There was one I read a while ago where the reader character appeared to be an ever-shifting Eldritch abomination to the characters, which is an intert way to think about how the physical features would be changed by every person who reads the fic and imagines something different.

Anyway you don't have to force yourself to like them. Sometimes things just don't click at the time, or ever. If I had started reading them back in middle/high school I might have found them too cringe to read. In fact falling into the Homestuck pit (multimedia webcomic that used 2nd person for narration and has stylings of a cyoa story at the start) probably got me to consider how 2nd person can be an interesting way to tell a story.

[u/Due_Back_9062]

It's called Second Person POV and it's very common in fanfiction across the board because the aim with fan fiction is to put yourself in the experience. The Y/N character or reader character is supposed to be you, that's why they aren't supposed to be very unique or have distinct pyshical attributes.

In traditional writing Second Person is more like a slightly removed first person. It can happen in fiction but often in nonfiction when describing topics the author feels too emotionally close to.