Let’s be honest: fan fiction is the internet’s wild, untamed jungle—a place where Harry Potter can fall in love with Draco Malfoy, Sherlock Holmes can solve crimes with Pikachu, and absolutely no one is safe from an unexpected vampire transformation or being human trafficked by their mother to a boyband. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if your favourite characters had a midlife crisis, swapped bodies, or just decided to open a bakery together (because why not?), fan fiction has already answered that question. Twice. 

Welcome to the world where copyright law goes to take a nap and the only limit is the author’s ability to maintain a regular uploading schedule. Here, plot holes are portals to new universes, and grammar is more of a suggestion than a rule. So, prepare to dive into the glorious chaos that is fan fiction—a place where everyone is a writer, every ship can sail, and nothing is ever, ever canon. 

Much with every other fan experience, we can give thanks to Star Trek for being the inventor of the modern fanfiction. Star Trek fans would make and distribute fanzines including their own stories of the universe and characters in the show, showcasing alternative realities or potential futures of the beloved storyworld. 

One of the more famous fanfic pipelines is the 9/11 to 50 Shades of Gray. Insane, I know, but this series of events is true. Allow me to explain: a young boy name Gerard Way witnessed 9/11 and to help cope with the trauma, created a band with some friends. Thus, My Chemical Romance was formed. Stephany Meyer is quite the fangirl and drew many influences when creating her #1 New York Times Best Selling novel, Twilight. Meyer created Edward Cullen as a combination of Jane Eyre character Rochester, and Sense and Sensibility character Ferrars. Tonal and structural formatting was inspired by bands such as Muse and none other than My Chemical Romance. In the year 2009, E.L. James took to FanFiction.net to write a fan fiction about the beloved saga and later adapted Edward and Bella to be Christan and Ana in the trilogy now titled 50 Shades of Grey. 

After this mind fuck, I could take the time to introduce more well known and accepted fanfictions, like the Harry Potter Marauder’s fan fiction All the Young Dudes. But I hold far too much power, therefore am going to introduce you to some of the fanfic’s I’ve had the… privilege (?) of reading. 

In the dark days of winter 2021, One Direction fans were blessed with a story longer than The Twilight Saga combined. Duplicity is a famous mafia x One Direction fanfic which saw Harry Styles as some mafia boss falling in love with our innocent O/C (original character) Aven. I’m going to spend the next 100 words describing the plot of this masterpiece in the hopes that some of my One Direction girlies will read her: Aven is an aspiring photographer and is hired by the punk-rock band Duplicity (One Direction). As she begins touring with this famous band, she starts to see some irrational behaviour and series of events which cannot be coincidences. BOOM, Duplicity is just a front for the four men to be able to conduct criminal activity (robbing banks, you know, standard mafia stuff) without being linked to them. Of course, Aven falls in love with bad boy, heart throb, Harry styles in a forbidden love, ‘shouldn’t be together but can’t help it’ type story.  

A fandom that has been blown out of the water by fanfiction is… Harry Potter. Because the creator of the original series has proven herself unworthy of the publicity, fans have created a new space for fans and creators to highlight what we love most about the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Whether you’re a fan of the golden trio, the Malfoy’s or the characters that came before the known generation, fanfics have been written to broaden the scopes and creativity of the OG 7 part series. The Marauders have particularly taken off as a sub-fandom of Harry Potter. All the Young Dudes was the founding father of Marauders fanfiction which grew into seeing our three favourite Gryffindors (you will never be forgiven Wormtail) in all different identities and paths of life. 

If you ever want to read a story based on your favourite celebrity, story, show, band, you can. Fan fiction widens how we as fans see our favourite things. Any alternative reality can come true with the art of words in fanfiction. And with successful fics such as After and Point Pleasant you can truly go places with fanfiction. Even if writing success isn’t your goal, it opens doors to friendships and spaces in your favourite fandoms. WRITE FANFICTION!!!