I just realized that I seldom write/read fanfiction of books, and when I do, it's because they've been adapted to multi-media. Like, when I was into the LoTR and Hobbit fandoms, my baseline was the movies. When I got into Hannibal, it was because of the TV show. Harry Potter--the recent video game. Even my most recent story, set in the Song of Ice and Fire, is based on the series.
The only time I've had the book-version in mind, was when I was looking for stories on Arya/Jaqen H'ghar.
Everything else, I imagined the assets and events used in the shows/movies.
It's the same with drawn media. Manga and comic books don't inspire the urge for fanfiction in me, but anime and movies do. I had no interest in reading Marvel fanfiction until the movies came out. I only got interested in fanfiction for Haikyuu, One Punch Man and Chainsaw Man when I saw the anime.
The type of media I tend to write for is video games and the ones I read from are TV shows. I have no idea why, but I just thought it was interesting how certain media can make my brain latch onto the IP more creatively than others.
How about you guys? Any media preferences as well or maybe you have other factors in play?
Like a_mac_and_con, my thing has often been the story's original media. Most often that is comics and games.
The greatest exception to this is the Shin Megami Tensei series and it's many spin offs. I originally got into the games. Didn't touch the original novels for a long time. I eventually got to the first one but. Oh god. The original novels are very painful to read. The kind of pain that makes me wonder how the heck did it get sequels. Why. HOW anyone was inspired to make games based off of them. The main character is no less disgusting than the villain but the narrative is all, "what a cool tragic hero this man is don't you want to be him?" NO.
I forced my way through that first book somehow. It was one of the few times I have ever thought something was so bad but I still couldn't put it down.
You are stronger than me. It should of entered "so bad its funny" but sadly did not become so for me.
It wasn't funny. But my obsession with SMT made me desperate to find something good about it.
I am now extra sorry.
Painful originals are such great sources for better fanworks though :D
I remember when Mass Effect 3's ending came out and all the fan content it inspired due to spite and disappointment: a collective fandom developing their own band-aid solutions to a sub-par ending. It was great! XD
I mean, that is how I approach Pokémon lol.
While not a part of the Mass Effect fandom, my heart went out to them. What a joke for a series to sell itself on how choices mattered for YEARS before dropping that.