one of the Anonymous Sudan/AO3 fics that someone wrote in response to the DDOS attack

Dear god I love fandom.

I still struggle to explain fanfiction to my IRL male friend cousin. He just does not understand the impulse to create work that isn’t for publishing. He is a DEEP fan of things, and knows so much about really obscure things like the Blondie comic strip,as well as the general Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.

Like, he understands the impulse to transform something (like, say additional Sherlock Holmes or Wide Sargasso Sea). He understands the impulse to write original fiction for your own pleasure never to be published. He has utter bafflement at the idea of good fanfic, or really funny weird fanfic, or what anyone could possibly get out of writing or reading it.

I showed him this and he is just baffled that someone who is a good writer would spend time on something like this…

If I had to summarize, I'd say mine is like doing impressions, except in writing. Imitations are very much a part of what writers do starting out anyway.

I showed him this and he is just baffled that someone who is a good writer would spend time on something like this…

You could show him the legendary Anthony Bourdain goes to Narnia story?

I think of fic as where I get to go a different way than the canon did (or at least that canon showed). Not necessarily to fix it, but to explore: how did they get rid of the body? What if so-and-so had an abortion? What if SG-1 didn't close the Stargate in time and the alien invasion succeeded? How would the characters react and the plot consequences change? It also gives me the chance to really investigate some of the characters, to try to understand them better.

It's pretty rare that genre media will show the most catastrophic outcomes, right? But you can do that in fic, and get really into the emotional stakes for the characters and the readers. Or you can go the other way and give absolutely everyone a happy ending, which is also generally not the outcome from a tv show or other media. (Witness Star Wars, in which the heroes of the first trilogy end up having everything fall apart in the sequel trilogy!)

My engagement with fandom isn't purely affirmational: I get to dig into the logical inconsistencies and examine them and explain them or fix them. Why did Aslan wait 100 years to help overthrow the White Witch, and how did the Beavers get a sewing machine? Where did Tumnus get tea and toast during 100 years of winter?

I don't write much anymore, but that's some of what drives me to do so. But also: engaging with the fannish community is SUCH a big part of it for many of us.

I'm in it as much for the "Shepard turns into ketchup and McKay into green peas" madness as anything. And I'm not sure I could explain that to anyone not in fandom. Also, am I no longer in the unhinged sections of fandom, or is no one writing stuff like SGA AU McKay (unicorn)/Shep (rainbow) fic anymore?

Would anyone be interested in betaing another Good Omens story for me? I have two out of three chapters written (about 4500 words) and some vague ideas for the third, but would like to post the first two relatively soon. Nothing explicit yet but the story is headed in that direction in chapter 3.

Kate, I'd love to.

Thank you, juliana! I'll send it to you now.

People are really beginning to connect with my "Grosse Pointe" sequel. I wrote it about the pandemic, just because of the combination of being very bored and upset. At the time, though, I wondered if it was a mistake, but at least in fanfiction, writing something that just *you* like, is, you know, a good enough reason.(Also, it really gave me permission to crib from George Pelecanos more than he'd ever expect someone from the Southwest would.) Funny that it took years for people to catch up, though.

Kind of makes me feel proud, or at least that I wasn't wrong that there was an emotional payoff, there. If you'd like to read it, it's here. [link] ETA: link