Emo Culture and Fandom
| Synonyms: | emocore, emo pop, |
| See also: | scene, punk, bandom, Emo Trinity |
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Emo was a subculture that arose in the early 2000s, and has been called the last real youth subculture.[1] Fanworks featuring elements of emo culture are often an expression of the culture, rather than a depiction, as many of them were created by emo fans.
Some emo fans entered Bandom and created RPF fanworks featuring members of popular emo bands. The three/four most popular bands featured in fanworks are referred to as the Emo Trinity or Emo Quartet.
Fanworks featuring elements of emo culture also appeared in other fandoms. Some of these works are dismissed as badfic for their regular inclusion of Mary Sue style characters, who stand in opposition to Normies. Fanfiction and fanart created at this time display a preoccupation with the emo/goth style aesthetic. There were also many song fics featuring songs lyrics from emo bands. Fanworks may also include depictions of, or references to, self-harm.
The term Emo still appears in fic tags and is often used to identify an emotionally expressive character.
Definition
Emo is a
- diverse rock music genre derived from punk and post-hardcore. It is known by its emotional expressiveness.
- subculture, fashion, and fandom birthed from this music.
- fan of emo music, fashion, or culture.t
- person who is sad or emotionally expressive.
What was Emo?
[Brief description of the look, music and preoccupations of Emo will go here]
Impact on Fandom
Bandom
Bandom refers to the RPF fandom associated with popular bands in the mid-00s. As RPF has been banned on Fanfiction.net many fans in Bandom turned to posting their works on Livejournal or Quizilla.
The base of most of the stories were that the self-insert character was around the same age or maybe a little younger than the band member involved and they usually went on tour with them at some point. I also remember a lot of AU’s, especially FOB, where they were vampires because of that “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"” video.[2]
Fanfiction
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There was a considerable amount of emo fanfic on the site Quizilla. Many of these works were in the form of quizzes, where the reader could answer/react to move onto the next chapter. The next chapter was often the same regardless of reader response.[3] Many of these works were reader-inserts, a style of writing that has been banned on Fanfiction.net since 2005. The second person perspective suited the quiz format and Seven Minutes in Heaven was a popular story trope.
Fanart
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Modern Usage of the Term
Emo is still used as a descriptive term in fandom spaces. A fic may be tagged Emo!Character, telling readers that the named character is emotional within the fic.
Outside fanfic writing communities, the term Emo is also used to deride or parody characters, implying that they are moody, whiney or overly emotional. For example, the Emo Kylo Ren twitter account, which simultaneously parodies emos and the Star Wars antagonist.[4]
In 2006, the term Emoporn was coined to describe fics that have an intense emotional climax. Although this term appears to be a smoosh derived from the phrase Emotional Porn, and it's name is unassociated with the Emo culture.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie. A well known fic which is either a parody, or an example of the types of works created by emo fans (2006)
Archives & Fannish Links
References
- ^ emo was the last true subculture, 07 July 2015
- ^ Comment by u/queen-sleepy-bear on /r/fanfiction thread, Do you remember Quzilla?, 2019.
- ^ Comment by u/tripod_cat, on /r/fanfiction thread, Do you remember Quzilla?, 2019.
- ^ Emo Kylo Ren is your new favourite Star Wars parody account, Buzzfeed article, Dec 2015.