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Hanson

Name(s): Hanson
Scope/Focus:
Date(s): 1997-present
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Contents

Hanson consist of three brothers -- Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson -- from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The band performed their first concert in 1992 and recorded two independent records before signing with Mercury Records and recording 1997's Middle of Nowhere. They achieved great commercial success with this album and the single MMMBop. The band suffered from the merger that moved them from Mercury Records to Island Def Jam, and in 2003 formed their own company, 3CG Records.

History

This fandom developed in the days before LiveJournal and FanFiction.Net. Most of the early fan sites, art and fiction was located on free websites, often through hosting services such as Geocities and Angelfire. Although much of the fandom has migrated to LiveJournal in recent years, many fans do still host their own stories on private websites. The Hanson fandom was at its largest from 1997 to 2000, and has gradually declined in size since then. The boys' marriages (Taylor in 2002, Zac and Isaac in 2006) also put a strain on the fandom and influenced the type of stories that were written.

Terminology

Slash Fiction

Incestuous pairings are quite popular in this fandom, the most popular being Zac/Taylor, more often abbreviated to Zaylor. In recent years, there has been much contention between "het" and "cest" fans. Cest fans are more likely to embrace LiveJournal and their stories are largely flocked.

In the past, crossovers which paired the boys with members of The Moffatts were quite popular. Among these stories, Scott/Taylor was the most popular pairing, with Zac/Dave coming in second. Zac/Bob was also quite popular (primarly because both are drummers). If paired at all, Isaac was usually paired with Clint.German popstars Gil and Tal Ofarim, who had recorded with The Moffatts, occasionally made their way into stories, with Taylor/Gil and Zac/Tal being popular pairings.

Taylor/Eminem is a pairing made popular largely due to Ahestele's stories. Taylor is also often paired with Alex Greenwald of the band Phantom Planet, due to their rumored relationship. Zac's friendship with Carrick Moore Gerrety of the band Everybody Else, close friends of Hanson, has lead to the two of them being paired together as well.

Het and Gen Fiction

Like most popstars, early hanfic (especially stories written by female fans) featured het plotlines pairing the boys with OFCs. Unlike other fandoms, such as popslash, het has remained popular in hanfic.

Pairings with other female celebrities are quite rare, despite rumored relationships with M2M and Michelle Branch. Few, if any, stories featured their real life girlfriends prior to Taylor's marriage.

Gen is not incredibly popular within this fandom; most stories contain some amount of romance. Typical gen stories might focus on some sort of drama or angst within the band. Other genres are explored within gen stories, as well. Historical AU, horror, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, comedy (sometimes bordering on crackfic) and others have been represented in hanfic. Of these, horror and supernatural themes are quite popular and have, in the past, had websites devoted entirely to such stories -- such as the now defunct Yellow Walkie Talkie/Taylight Zone.

Notable Stories

  • Bed of Lies by Brittney. Written after Taylor's shotgun wedding, this story is written from the point of view of a girl whose one night stand with Taylor leads to a fake wedding to save face. The story and its sequel, Happily Ever After Doesn't Exist, show the growth of their relationship in the face of stalking, death threats and attempts on their lives.
  • Devil Angel by Aspen. The first story to slash Taylor and Scott Moffatt. Spawned a fandom unto itself, thanks to the Devil Angel E-group. The author encouraged her fans to write "lost chapters" which explored various sexual reationships within the story. Some also attempted to finish the story, which remains incomplete to this day.
  • Embers by Ahestele. A crossover which slashed Taylor with Eminem, in an alternate universe where the two are figure skaters.
  • I'm Not A Playa I Just Crush A Lot by Amber. One of the first mainstream stories to feature explicit (and occasionally non-consensual) sexual content. The story is quite infamous for its controversial portrayal of Taylor.
  • Myra's Stories. This author wrote a number of popular series and stand alone stories, many of which featured quite adult content for their time. One of the stories has been converted into original fic and published. [1]
  • On My Own by Akimbie. One of the earliest stories to feature Taylor and Zac in an incestous relationship, written by an author who had previously established herself by writing het. Brought slash and incest into the mainstream fandom.
  • The Story In Your Eyes by Taylor Quest. One of the first stories by a gay male author to achieve popularity among female fans. The series is still in progress, making it the longest running hanfic to date.
  • Tulsa 71432 by Sarah, Laurie and Melissa. Written as a parody of teen soap operas, Tulsa 71432 was one of the earliest fics to achieve widespread popularity. It was given a rather poor review in a newspaper article about Hanson's online fandom [2]. The name is obviously a reference to the tv show Beverly Hills 90210.
  • Zac Says Tay Still Wets The Bed by Nick. One of few gen fics to be widely popular, this story mixes comedy and adventure in a plot involving a highjacked airplane which Hanson happens to be on. Two sequels, I Ain't No Angel and My Little Blonde Friend were also written.

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Colorblind by Myra J., a hanfic with the serial numbers filed off and published as original fic
  2. ↑ transcript of the original Tulsa World article on Hanson fanfic, along with comments by an author
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