Die Hard

Fandom
Name:	Die Hard
Abbreviation(s):	DH; LFoDH [Live Free or Die Hard] & DH4 for fourth film
Creator:	various
Date(s):	1988-2007
Medium:	series of Films
Country of Origin:	USA
External Links:	on imdb: Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard / Die Hard 4.0
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The first Die Hard film (Die Hard) was released in 1988, with three subsequent sequels occurring in 1990, 1995 and 2007 respectively. Only the most recent, Live Free or Die Hard (known as Die Hard 4.0 outside the USA), has acquired a real fannish presence. The films star Bruce Willis as John McClane, a New York cop thrown into a series of terrorist situations and forced to fight his way out and save the day with little help from the authorities, often by pulling unlikely and impressive action stunts. The first film was both a commercial and critical success, with its sequels cementing its cult status (see: Die Hard series on Wikipedia).

Die Hard 4 Fandom

The release of the fourth Die Hard film in 2007 was followed by the emergence of a small but enthusiastic community of Die Hard fans on LiveJournal. Many fans wrote slash fanfiction about the two main characters in Live Free or Die Hard, John McClane and younger hacker Matthew Farrell (Justin Long), who formed a traditional buddy pair with considerable homoerotic subtext (acknowledged even by the actors themselves).

On LiveJournal, the main hub for the Die Hard fandom is the slash community hard4brains, which (as of August 2008) has over 450 watchers. Much of the slash fanfiction concerns Matt Farrell/John McClane, and in the first year following the release of the film, is largely constructed of stories set immediately subsequent to the events of the film. In 2010, sexy_right, a community for "fests/exchanges/whatever works!" held its first prompt fest for the McClane/Farrell pairing.

Mid-2008, Small Fandom Big Bang included several Die Hard John/Matt stories, a number of which explored further narrative tropes such as AU and crossovers. Even with those stories, Die Hard is still a small fandom, easily making the cut for Yuletide 2008. In a way, for many fans, Die Hard fics became an important part of Yuletide.

I absolutely love Yuletide for this reason alone that it give us Die Hard Matt/John fic every year!

Yuletide wouldn't be complete if there wasn't at least one Die Hard fic XD

Many fans make use of the Masterlist of Die Hard fiction maintained by Viciouscats, from which it is possible to see how the balance of slash, gen and het fit within the fandom. Most fanfiction linked from the masterlist is housed on LiveJournal.

There is also a small collection of Die Hard fanfiction on FanFiction.Net (just over 40 stories as of August 2008).

Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Fanfiction

• Calling All Cops and Autobots, a crossover with Iron Man, by megyal (2008). John and Matt both end up working together for the government... on robotic suits, of all things.
• That Guy and The One Where He Tells Lucy... by harlequin (2008). McClane stays out of Matt and Lucy's way until he's sure it's over - and then visits Matt to see if his reaction to the younger man might prove mutual.
• Pre-Existing Condition by Helenish (2017). “Anyway, he’s staying with me for a while,” John says. “My place got firebombed,” Matt says, reflexively.
• Pictures Say It Best by florahart (2021). John is putting together a bed. Matt is helping. Ish.

Fannish Links

• Die Hard works at AO3
• Die Hard works at FFN
• Die Hard recs at Het Reccers