Fanfiction

One of my favorite creative outlets, my guiltiest pleasures, and some of the only pieces of literature I'll enjoy all come from one site. Archive of Our Own, more commonly known as AO3 is the most popular fanfiction site next to Wattpad, I'd guess, (but Wattpad is really full of ads and stuff so AO3 is arguably way better.) Ever since early middle school, fanfiction has always been something that interested me. I used have a Pokemon fanfic with over 20 chapters that I'd write in my notes app, I once wrote an entire fanfiction about two boys in my class because they were pissing me off, and I wrote Harry Potter Self-Insert Fanfiction once. Was it horribly written and embarrassing? Yes. But I loved to write and I treasured every story I wrote. Fast Forward to the present. I got my invitation to join AO3 in December of 2025, and I have been both reading and writing many fanfictions ever since. I think fanfiction in general is still considered a bit "weird" or "embarrassing" by those that aren't in the space. Like, why would I read an entire 20k word fanfiction about two girls that interacted once in a show falling desperately in love only to both die tragically when I could be reading a physical book like everyone else? I think the answer is simple. Engagement. 

In order to read a new book, I need to learn about the world and the characters and grow attached to them before I could care about them being a couple. But with fanfiction, the characters involved are already known and I already have an incredibly obsessive, one-sided relationship with them. I don't need to worry about not liking them or not knowing them, I already love them and can get straight into the romance plot. 

I think the other thing I enjoy about fanfiction is that most of it is just written for the love and joy of writing. There's no publishers, money, or advertising involved, and there's no pressure for everything to be perfect, you just start a new fic and write. I love this about fanfics because it feels very raw and real. I'm not going to care as much about two random book characters breaking up as I'll care about Hatsune Miku cussing out the president. It's funny, and Hatsune Miku is in it, which guarantees my enjoyment. 

So that's my little rant for the day. Fanfiction is cool!! 

Sorry I kinda forgot to blog for awhile, I wasn't sure what to talk about. Do you read fanfiction? If so, do you prefer the super angsty sad fics or the super fluffy romantic ones? I personally prefer the latter because I love shipping :> 

Thank you for reading if you're still here, have a super amazing day, buh byeeez