Why do we love and live for fanfiction?

Was there ever a time when you were so frustrated with the ending of a certain film or a TV series you’re invested in? Because, same.

For the record, I never start an incomplete TV series. I always wait for the final episode to air before I start anything. So maybe it’s my fault for binge-watching all three seasons of “Atypical” without even searching if season 3 was the finale yet (spoiler: it wasn’t). And to make things worse, the fourth and final season won’t be released until 2021. Truly a test for my impatient nature.

So for the first time in my life, I found myself scrolling through a Tumblr account of fanfic recos. I’ve actually already read not just one or two, but five Atypical stories so far—and NGL, I had many realizations while exploring the fanfic world.

First of all, I kinda regret not doing this sooner. It isn’t as weird as everyone said it was. Sure, there are stories that will make us feel secondhand embarrassment just from reading the first two sentences. But there are also thousands of masterpieces waiting to be discovered. We just have to be patient when looking for it.

Second, we all have our own preferences and not every TV writer can live up to it. That’s exactly the purpose of fanfic—to give us the narrative we think we deserve (especially when a TV writer kills our fave character).

Third and last, it’s an escape from reality. Quarantine gives us so many things to worry about and reading fanfic stories is a good way to divert our attention. It transports us to a world we can only imagine.

In conclusion, not all heroes wear capes. Some are at home writing stories and creating whole new worlds for us. Hats off to fanfic writers out there!

Originally published in Shopmag Online

Header photo courtesy of Aliis Sinisalu on Unsplash