I think my favorite genre of fanfiction is when the author says something like "this was meant to be 3 chapters but it's actually going to be 5" in the notes at the end of a chapter and you can look up at the chapter count and it's like 15 or something

I honestly and truly believe all good AUs should be a little “”””ooc”””” in the sense that good characterisation involves understanding that changes a characters backstory and circumstances will have an effect on how they respond to the world around them

Good characterisation isn’t about creating a perfect 1:1 canon replica it’s about understanding why a character is different in your work and about grounding the changes you do deliberately choose to make in canon character traits

do you ever read a fic and think “if this weren’t a fanfic it’d have the same cultural impact as brokeback mountain”? I do, and it drives me fucking insane to think about all the fanfictions that could’ve changed art but didn’t because they’re not actual published novels with their own tv or movie adaptations

well. this wasn't on my 2021 bingo card

crossover event

on fanfic & emotional continuity

Writing and reading fanfic is a masterclass in characterisation. 

Consider: in order to successfully write two different “versions” of the same character - let alone ten, or fifty, or a hundred - you have to make an informed judgement about their core personality traits, distinguishing between the results of nature and nurture, and decide how best to replicate those conditions in a new narrative context. The character you produce has to be recognisably congruent with the canonical version, yet distinct enough to fit within a different - perhaps wildly so - story. And you physically can’t accomplish this if the character in question is poorly understood, or viewed as a stereotype, or one-dimensional. Yes, you can still produce the fic, but chances are, if your interest in or knowledge of the character(s) is that shallow, you’re not going to bother in the first place. 

Because ficwriters care about nuance, and they especially care about continuity - not just literal continuity, in the sense of corroborating established facts, but the far more important (and yet more frequently neglected) emotional continuity. Too often in film and TV canons in particular, emotional continuity is mistakenly viewed as a synonym for static characterisation, and therefore held anathema: if the character(s) don’t change, then where’s the story? But emotional continuity isn’t anti-change; it’s pro-context. It means showing how the character gets from Point A to Point B as an actual journey, not just dumping them in a new location and yelling Because Reasons! while moving on to the next development. Emotional continuity requires a close reading, not just of the letter of the canon, but its spirit - the beats between the dialogue; the implications never overtly stated, but which must logically occur off-screen. As such, emotional continuity is often the first casualty of canonical forward momentum: when each new TV season demands the creation of a new challenge for the protagonists, regardless of where and how we left them last, then dealing with the consequences of what’s already happened is automatically put on the backburner.

Fanfic does not do this. 

Fanfic embraces the gaps in the narrative, the gracenotes in characterisation that the original story glosses, forgets or simply doesn’t find time for. That’s not all it does, of course, but in the context of learning how to write characters, it’s vital, because it teaches ficwriters - and fic readers - the difference between rich and cardboard characters. A rich character is one whose original incarnation is detailed enough that, in order to put them in fanfic, the writer has to consider which elements of their personality are integral to their existence, which clash irreparably with the new setting, and which can be modified to fit, to say nothing of how this adapted version works with other similarly adapted characters. A cardboard character, by contrast, boasts so few original or distinct attributes that the ficwriter has to invent them almost out of whole cloth. Note, please, that attributes are not necessarily synonymous with details in this context: we might know a character’s favourite song and their number of siblings, but if this information gives us no actual insight into them as a person, then it’s only window-dressing. By the same token, we might know very few concrete facts about a character, but still have an incredibly well-developed sense of their personhood on the basis of their actions. 

The fact that ficwriters en masse - or even the same ficwriter in different AUs - can produce multiple contradictory yet still fundamentally believable incarnations of the same person is a testament to their understanding of characterisation, emotional continuity and narrative. 

So I was reading this rumination on fanfic and I was thinking about something @involuntaryorange once talked to me about, about fanfic being its own genre, and something about this way of thinking really rocked my world? Because for a long time I have thought like a lawyer, and I have defined fanfiction as “fiction using characters that originated elsewhere,” or something like that. And now I feel like…fanfiction has nothing to do with using other people’s characters, it’s just a character-driven *genre* that is so character-driven that it can be more effective to use other people’s characters because then we can really get the impact of the storyteller’s message but I feel like it could also be not using other people’s characters, just a more character-driven story. Like, I feel like my original stuff–the novellas I have up on AO3, the draft I just finished–are probably really fanfiction, even though they’re original, because they’re hitting fanfic beats. And my frustration with getting original stuff published has been, all along, that I’m calling it a genre it really isn’t. 

And this is why many people who discover fic stop reading other stuff. Once you find the genre you prefer, you tend to read a lot in that genre. Some people love mysteries, some people love high-fantasy. Saying you love “fic” really means you love this character-driven genre. 

So when I hear people be dismissive of fic I used to think, Are they just not reading the good fic? Maybe I need to put the good fic in front of them? But I think it turns out that fanfiction is a genre that is so entirely character-focused that it actually feels weird and different, because most of our fiction is not that character-focused. 

It turns out, when I think about it, I am simply a character-based consumer of pop culture. I will read and watch almost anything but the stuff that’s going to stick with me is because I fall for a particular character. This is why once a show falters and disagrees with my view of the character, I can’t just, like, push past it, because the show *was* the character for me. 

Right now my big thing is the Juno Steel stories, and I know that they’re doing all this genre stuff and they have mysteries and there’s sci-fi and meanwhile I’m just like, “Okay, whatever, I don’t care about that, JUNO STEEL IS THE BEST AND I WANT TO JUST ROLL AROUND IN HIS SARCASTIC, HILARIOUS, EMOTIONALLY PINING HEAD.” That is the fanfiction-genre fan in me coming out. Someone looking for sci-fi might not care about that, but I’m the type of consumer (and I think most fic-people are) who will spend a week focusing on what one throwaway line might reveal about a character’s state of mind. That’s why so many fics *focus* on those one throwaway lines. That’s what we’re thinking about. 

And this is what makes coffee shop AUs so amazing. Like, you take some characters and you stick them in a coffee shop. That’s it. And yet I love every single one of them. Because the focus is entirely on the characters. There is no plot. The plot is they get coffee every day and fall in love. That’s the entire plot. And that’s the perfect fanfic plot. Fanfic plots are almost always like that. Almost always references to other things that clue you in to where the story is going. Think of “friends to lovers” or “enemies to lovers” or “fake relationship,” and you’re like, “Yes. I love those. Give me those,” and you know it’s going to be the same plot, but that’s okay, you’re not reading for the plot. It’s like that Tumblr post that goes around that’s like, “Me starting a fake relationship fic: Ooooh, do you think they’ll fall in love for real????” But you’re not reading for the suspense. Fic frees you up from having to spend effort thinking about the plot. Fic gives your brain space to focus entirely on the characters. And, especially in an age of plot-twist-heavy pop culture, that almost feels like a luxury. “Come in. Spend a little time in this character’s head. SPEND HOURS OF YOUR LIFE READING SO MANY STORIES ABOUT THIS CHARACTER’S HEAD. Until you know them like a friend. Until you know them so well that you miss them when you’re not hanging out with them.” 

When that is your story, when the characters become like your friends, it makes sense that you’re freed from plot. It’s like how many people don’t really have a “plot” to hanging out with their friends. There’s this huge obsession with plot, but lives don’t have plots. Lives just happen. We try to shape them into plots later, but that’s just this organizational fiction we’re imposing. Plot doesn’t have to be the raison d’etre of all story-telling, and fic reminds us of that. 

Idk, this was a lot of random rambling but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. 

“fanfiction has nothing to do with using other people’s characters, it’s just a character-driven *genre* that is so character-driven that it can be more effective to use other people’s characters”

yes!!!! I feel like I knew this on some level but I’ve never explicitly thought about it that way. this feels right, yep. Mainstream fiction often seems very dry to me and I think this is why - it tends to skip right over stuff that would be a huge plot arc in a fanfic, if not an entire fanfic in itself. And I’m like, “hey, wait, go back to that. Why are you skipping that? Where’s the story?” But now I think maybe people who don’t like fanfiction are going like, “why is there an entire fanfic about something that could have happened offscreen? Is anything interesting ever going to happen here? Where’s the story?”

i’ve often thought about how interesting it would be to write a novel about a group of characters in a particular genre, like high fantasy— and then instead of a sequel, the next book takes those characters into steampunk or space opera or goth western, and plays out another genre’s plot. over the course of three or four books you could see what worlds cause which characters to bloom or wither or be twisted into evil or to rise to glory, which circumstances suit which character best. it would be the literary equivalent of monet’s series works, to make a new painting of the same subject in different lights. 

And this is why many people who discover fic stop reading other stuff. Once you find the genre you prefer, you tend to read a lot in that genre. Some people love mysteries, some people love high-fantasy. Saying you love “fic” really means you love this character-driven genre.

I’m late to this party, but… this really makes me feel better about my own fic writing. I’m terrible at coming up with plots; all my fics are basically just the characters talking, thinking, and feeling. But it turns out that doesn’t mean I’m a bad writer; I’m just a very pure exponent of the character-driven fic genre.

I have re-blogged this before. I will do so again.

^^^

Ao3 writers are the strongest Avengers

A little PSA for people who use AO3…

Gen refers to fic that is not focused on romance. If your fic is not a romance fic, please give it this tag.

Other refers to fic that is focused on romance, but is not specifically male/female, male/male, or female/female (like an OT3 (ship involving 3 people), a ship involving characters that are not male or female, etc). IT IS NOT FOR PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS. IT IS FOR ROMANTIC ONES. please for the love of all that is holy do not tag your family-relationship-centered fics as “other” you are going to give people a HEART ATTACK.

“Character/Character” is for romantic pairs. “Character & Character” is for platonic relationships like friendship, family, etc. Please do not tag family-centered or adult-and-minor-centered platonic character relationships as character/character for the love of all that is holy

The E rating is for smut and literally nothing else (unless you have other unusual reasons to rate it E–I’ve seen people apply it to non-smut fics as a deterrent to keep minors away from it, but keep in mind it’ll make it so people who are trying to avoid smut will not find your fic). Your fic that has a lot of graphic violence but no sexual content does not need an E rating.

The M rating is for fics that would basically be rated R if they were movies, and may contain graphic violence, some sexual content, and generally more serious subject matter than you would typically show a teenager. However, if your fic is almost entirely smut, please just give it an E rating.

Also, when you post a fic, you WILL want to give it a rating, or else AO3 will assume you’re probably posting smut and will warn everybody who clicks on your fic that it may contain adult content. If you don’t want that on your fic that contains no adult content at all, please just give it the proper rating instead of not rating it at all.

this post brought to you by PLEASE LEARN HOW THE TAGGING SYSTEM ON THIS WEBSITE WORKS YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE EVERYONE A HEART ATTACK

ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING I FORGOT TO MENTION!

“Creator Chose Not to Archive Warnings” means that at least one or more of the archive warnings (that is, “Major Character Death,” “Graphic Depictions of Violence,” “Rape/Non-Con,” or “Underage”) DOES apply to your story, and you’re choosing not to say which one it is. If you select this option, AO3 will put a warning on the fic that potential readers have to click through.

“No Archive Warnings Apply” means that none of the aforementioned archive warnings apply to your fic.

THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. IF YOUR FIC DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING MAJOR THAT NEEDS TO BE WARNED FOR, PLEASE SELECT “NO ARCHIVE WARNINGS APPLY.”

every day i am percieved™️

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate--neurochemical signaling (I hope I'm using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)...people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady "return on investment"--and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don't have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual "low batteries" in that regard.

that doesn't mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value--only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low "upfront cost.” which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers--they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that--combined with the shorter average length of fics--means that fan fics very quickly start "rewarding" the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that's not a bad thing! and maybe it's something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I'm glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love--the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail.

you ever read a gay fanfic and you can just FEEL how straight the author is

i see posts sometimes that say things like “wouldn’t it be cool if ao3 would recommend you fics similar to the one you just read?” or “wouldn’t it be cool if ao3 had a function similar to spotify wrapped that showed you your fic reading habits over the year?” etc. and while on one hand, yes, i can see how these functions might be neat & fun & helpful, i think the fact that ao3 *doesn’t* do any of these typical media website things is actually utterly spectacular

like, i enjoy looking at my spotify wrapped as much as the next person, but when you start to think about that, it is honestly pretty horrifying that spotify collects & stores all this data about its users & can produce it at a moment’s notice.  and netflix is not recommending you shows because it actually cares that you watch something you enjoy.  it’s recommending them because in the digital age, attention is money & every website is fighting for as much of yours as it can get.

the fact that a website hosting as much media as ao3 doesn’t try to analyze or predict or manipulate your content consumption in any way is truly an oasis in a landscape where user data is the most valuable commodity around.  ao3 gives all of the agency to its users & i don’t think we realize just how rare that is.  you go looking for the content you want.  you sort and filter based on your preferences.  you subscribe to the story or author updates you’d like to see.  so on and so forth.  nothing is recommended for you.  no algorithm is trying to maximize the time you spend on the website.  you engage with it completely on your own terms.  and given the way most media websites choose to operate, that is nothing short of a miracle.

one of my absolute favorite things about fanfiction is the the way it just “i will take this shamelessly self-indulgent/ridiculous as absolute crack concept and i will treat it seriously.”

because my god it lets you explore those really insane contrived ideas, or the ones that 14 year old you would have sighed about but been embarrassed by, but in a way that really examines it all, lets it have depth and nuance, lets you turn it over at every angle to find the surprises and the touching moments and the painful parts and the ways it both is and isn’t silly or exactly what you want it to be.

it takes all those ideas and just lets them have dignity.

fanfiction will let you write or read about two dudes accidentally raising a baby while running their coffee shop which one of them uses as a front for their assassin side gig all while they slowly fall in love, or about a woman who is just like you and so many like you, even in the embarrassing, not-cute-quirky ways, who survives an apocalypse and has to do so at the side of the actor she loved so much but would never have looked twice at her before the end of the world.

and it lets you do all that while plumbing the emotional, moral, philosophical depths, and the ways the dream holds up and where it wrinkles, how you can let realism in, but not in a way that ruins the fantasy, instead only enhancing it.

mainstream literature and published genre fiction has been doing a lot of this kind of thing for straight, white, cis men for a long, long time now, and it has strongly boxed out everyone else and fostered a culture that ridiculed anyone else for wanting to have that for themselves.

but fanfiction lets us all have that, and it doesn’t ask us to present it with a wince, with a shy mumble; it never asks us to be embarrassed by what we love or what we want.

just take it seriously, fanfiction offers. because you deserve to.

Preach.

the Magnus Archives science fiction au we deserve:

l’espoir fait vivre

i wrote some jon&reader for @agnesmontague but you can read it too uwu

[…] In the end, the eyes of the Archivist are only those of a tired man. They do feel incredibly sharp, like pins sticking a butterfly’s wings to a corkboard as your psyche is exposed bare to his interest - but it lasts only for a moment. He decides you aren’t a threat, and his gaze is blunt with exhaustion as he tilts his head in greeting.

“There isn’t much left here, I’m afraid,” he says, voice made rough with disuse.

“I know,” you answer quickly. “I came to see you.”

[read more on ao3]

hot, scary vampire lady, gripping my wrists tightly and pushing me till my back hits the wall, her fangs lightly grazing my exposed neck: scared yet?

me: how many times do i have to tell you? you have me exactly right where i want to be