Initially, I had assumed I would write up some thoughts on each era of hanfic, but the more I’ve thought about that, the more I realize I don’t have that much to say without getting repetitive. Instead, I decided to just sum up the whole thing with a few thoughts connecting all the ninety five stories I’ve read. So click on the link to read it all.

Overall, I’ve been fairly impressed with a lot of these stories. Considering the fact that many of these authors were young and probably had little idea what they were doing, many of them managed to write some really great stories. I’ve added several of these to my favorites list. The fact that many of these came from my Hall of Fame list and other lists of award nominees, recommendations, etc probably accounts for why so many of them were so good, but I found a few lesser known gems, too.

That said, I found that when the stories weren’t so great, it was for one of two reasons. Either the writing was fairly solid, but the plot had problems… or the plot had potential that it didn’t live up to thanks to poor writing and storytelling. It’s so sad to see a unique plot fall apart when I can’t relate to the characters or have to spend too much time stumbling over grammatical errors to ever connect to the story. When authors manage to get both of these right, though, the results are really good.

Not surprisingly, a lot of these early stories were written by young authors. The better ones, for the most part, were both by older authors and didn’t focus on romance — or, if they did, it was a more mature sort of romance. I feel a bit judgmental saying that, but after all, I know what my writing was like when I was 14, too, and I can definitely say that I’m better now than I was then. If some of these young fans were still writing (and I wish most of them were, or were at least still in the fandom), I’m sure they would be producing some great stories now.

It’s bittersweet, really, to look at the things these early fans predicted for the boys’ future. Things like teen pregnancy, young parenthood, and even starting their own record label are… well, pretty accurate. I’d hope that even the fans who predicted that the boys would still be on top of the world would be happy to see them making their way as indie artists now. The more cynical predictions just make me sad to read, even though I’m really glad those didn’t come true.

Skipping ahead now… when it comes to cest stories, those are mostly what I’ve read for the past few years, so there weren’t a great deal for me to “discover” for these reviews. The few older ones (Underneath era) that I did review surprised me with how non-explicit they were. I know there was a lot of smut back in the day, because I read it, but these Zaylor stories (the first to wear that moniker) are all rather chaste. I suspect that was an attempt to seem more legitimate, by focusing more on the plot than the sex, or maybe the authors were just squeamish about writing sex. Maybe both.

Another random thing I noticed — love triangles are massively popular! Not only that, but love triangles involving a girl torn between Taylor and Zac. Something like a dozen of these stories feature that dynamic, with more than a few of those involving the girl cheating on Taylor with Zac. That particular plot seems to come to the forefront in 2000, no doubt spurred on by Zac suddenly reappearing all grown up and gorgeous.

I’m sure there are other trends I could talk about here, but that’s the one that sticks out the most. As I hinted above, teen sex and pregnancy are pretty popular topics, as are stories that deal with drug abuse. Some of these are melodramatic, while others are really powerful and touching. It all goes back to what I said about plotting ability vs. writing ability.

Annnnnd I think I’ve rambled enough now! To sum this first year up, here are my top 12 and 24 lists. First, a top 12 for each era and then my top 24 out of all these stories and series (counting sequels and all, that makes ninety five stories). It was hard to weigh these stories against each other and I could probably still fiddle with these lists when my mood changes, but here they are for now.

MON Era
1. Zac Says Tay Still Wets The Bed, I Ain’t No Angel, and My Little Blonde Friend by Nick
2. Walls and Roads by Sheryl and Karen
3. Tale of Three Brothers, Maybe Tomorrow and Sessions at East 51st by Jenn
4. Glint of Heaven and Just One of Those Things by Llama
5. For What It’s Worth by Kris
6. Red Candy by Shortcake Cunningham
7. Your Own Kind by Myra
8. Hit So Hard by Lisa
9. Weeping Willow by Rene S.
10. Blond Over Blue by Montana
11. You Are My Hope by Jenny
12. Nothin’ But The Best by Zac D.

TTA Era
1. Falling and Farther In by Sarah
2. The Quiet One by Krystal
3. A Change of Grace by Sheryl
4. Angels Would Fall, More Than A Feeling and Crash Into Me by Morgan
5. If They Knew by Shelby
6. Surrealistic Emotions by Keryn
7. Pretty Much Forever by Jane
8. Listen To Your Heart, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Hanging By A Moment by Bethany
9. Put Your Kingdom Up For Sale by Phyllis Black and Nikki Briefs
10. Choices by Renee Ducharme
11. Unforgivable Sin by Nadine and Candice
12. My Father, Taylor Hanson by Laura Speidell

SETB Era
1. Catapult by Ella
2. Just Another Victim and Once More With Feeling by Krystal
3. Burn by Toona
4. Avery by Ashley
5. Fallen Angel Series by Ashley
6. The Moffson Tapes by Lauryn and Jenn
7. Tiny Dancer by Cate
8. Operation Tulsa Thunder by Adam
9. On My Own and Pretending He’s Beside Me by Akimbie
10. Soundtrack For a Cynical Mind and All The Answers by Cyndi and Kate
11. Shades of Blue by Bethany
12. Someone Special by Becca

Underneath Era
1. Look To The Stars by Leigh and Amy
2. Drunk by Nicky
3. A Man On The Moon by Elisabeth
4. Lucy and Taylor Trilogy by Heather
5. The Divorce by Hazel
6. Oklahoma Living and California Living by Miss Dodger Blue
7. Every Word I Say and Even When You Stay by Tiffany
8. Lost Without Each Other Trilogy by Kerry
9. Trampled Underfoot by Taye
10. Imprisoned by Cassandra
11. Just For Us by Auto
12. You’re Beautiful by Beth

The Walk Era
1. Hate This Place by Alex and Chelsi
2. Color of Love by Rebekah
3. Caution: Wreckage by Alie
4. Duplicate by Jenna
5. Plaything by Laura and Jayde
6. Forgiveness by Amy C.
7. Falling For You Nat and Lauren W
8. Pages of Your Diary by Sammy
9. Music of the Dead by Renee P.
10. Antidote by Renee C.
11. Calm Before The Storm by Celeste
12. Blue Sky by Megara

SIO Era
1. I’m Not Your Anything By Diamond
2. Caught in the Sun by Rebekah
3. If I Don’t Kill Him First by Becca and Nat
4. Fallon by Nat
5. Suitcases and Songs by Diamond
6. Something To Believe In by Alecia
7. Twelve Stops and Home by Aeryn
8. A Guarded Heart by Robyn
9. Changes by Rebekah
10. Lessons of a Laundry Mat Attendant by Mel
11. The Zac/Ivey Chronicles by Sabrina
12. Best Kept Secret by Liz

 

TOP 24
1. Falling and Farther In by Sarah
2. Catapult by Ella
3. The Quiet One by Krystal
4. Look To The Stars by Leigh and Amy
5. Just Another Victim and Once More With Feeling by Krystal
6. Burn by Toona
7. A Change of Grace by Sheryl
8. Zac Says Tay Still Wets The Bed, I Ain’t No Angel, and My Little Blonde Friend by Nick
9. Walls and Roads by Sheryl and Karen
10. Avery by Ashley
11. Drunk by Nicky
12. I’m Not Your Anything by Diamond
13. Hate This Place by Alex and Chelsi
14. Tale of Three Brothers, Maybe Tomorrow and Sessions at East 51st by Jenn
15. Angels Would Fall, More Than A Feeling and Crash Into Me by Morgan
16. A Man On The Moon by Elisabeth
17. Color of Love by Rebekah
18. Lucy and Taylor Trilogy by Heather
19. Glint of Heaven and Just One of Those Things by Llama
20. Caution: Wreckage by Alie
21. Caught In The Sun by Rebekah
22. Duplicate by Jenna
23. If I Don’t Kill Him First by Becca and Nat
24. Fallon by Nat