The Internet is a beautiful thing. It allows us to convey ideas with thousands of people almost instantaneously. It lets people explore, share, and abuse their creativity. And for a lot of users, fanfiction is their chosen creative output.

It has almost become a taboo subject, fanfiction. There are no guidelines, no rules, and no limits. I wouldn’t advise anyone under the age of 13 to go exploring on Archive of Our Own. But for mature readers and writers, the freedom that comes along with writing fanfic can allow for beautiful, unexpected stories.

The definition of fanfiction is not solid. Technically, it is a piece of writing based off another person’s work. But with the burst in popularity as of late, it has transformed into a community. There are works based off movies, television shows, book series, music artists, historical figures, and more.

Television hosts and snobby editorial writers may look down on fanfiction as child’s play. But the passion exuded by the writers and response from readers is really what makes fanfic so special. And some of the stories I’ve read have been extremely powerful.

Fanfiction-verse terms for beginning readers

AU = Alternate universe

Shipping = Pairing two characters together in a romantic or platonic way

OC = Original character

OOC = Out of character

A/N = Author’s notes

Drabble = A story that is around 100 words