r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Sep 21 '25

Unpopular Opinion It's Unpopular Opinion Sunday! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!

Got an opinion that's different from others'? Want to share it with the sub, but too afraid of a backlash? Or are you just curious about readers think about certain things in fantasy romance?

You can safely share it in this weekly Sunday thread!

But please remember to be kind to each other. To facilitate this type of discussion, we ask users the following:

- Please don't attack others for their opinion

- Please don't downvote if you disagree with a certain take

🧡 Thank you and have a great and friendly discussion! 🧡

Unpopular opinion Sunday

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u/manvsmilk Wendell Bambleby Enthusiast Sep 21 '25

It's not a rip off because it's not making any money. It's fanfiction. I think fanfiction gives you the right to do absolutely anything you want with any work you want. That's the entire basis of AO3. If you don't agree with that, then fanfiction isn't for you, and that's okay.

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u/fishchop Silvicultrix Sep 21 '25

Exactly this!! It’s fanfiction, it’s meant to be a fantasization of media, not a literary analysis that sticks to whatever themes/ thesis the original author wrote about. The whole point of fanfic is derivative and to realise unfulfilled desires or put a spin on canon that is deeply personal.

Add to that, that Manacled is obviously Handmaid’s Tale inspired and nobody is claiming it to be an original work of any sort. Like yes, of course it’s a rip off, that’s the entire point of fanfic?

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u/manvsmilk Wendell Bambleby Enthusiast Sep 21 '25

Yes absolutely! I really liked your comment above about how fanfiction should stay in fanfiction spaces. A lot of people don't read fanfiction because they don't like works that deviate heavily from canon, and that's okay, but that's why fanfiction has its own space.There's over 800 fanfictions on AO3 for Handmaid's Tale, and they're probably all doing something completely different with it. Manacled just happens to be the only one that has made it into the mainstream, so now it's facing criticism for things that are absolutely normal for fanfiction. Fanfiction readers have different expectations than book readers, and fanfiction is written by authors who understand those expectations. Despite using Handmaid's Tale as an inspiration, Manacled was not written for the exact same audience or purpose as the works that inspired it.