Okay, kids, we're going to talk about one of the most rabid entities on the internet. If you go on Tumblr, it's there, if you google certain words, it's there, if you check my recents in my browser, it's there. I'm talking about fanfiction. If you know what fan-fiction is, then you really know. If you don't, I'll try to explain. Fanfiction is basically when fans of a certain famous concept or person-- i.e. One Direction, Harry Potter, the Avengers, Supernatural-- write their own fiction using characters or story lines that have already been established. For example, someone may take the plot of the new Marvel Civil War movie and then write what they think happened after. Or before. Or whatever they want. If someone is writing about a famous person whom they do not know, they write about him/her based on what they think he/she would be like. A lot of the time, fanfiction is love stories. Writers will either write a story about two characters from a given franchise getting together, or create an original character that the fictional character/celebrity in question falls in love with. The author may even leave the other person in the relationship ambiguous so the reader can imagine it's them. Yupp.

Fanfiction is strange most of the time. I'm not saying that it's not. I'm also not saying that it's the most high-brow of all the forms of writing--absolutely not. Many times the themes are strange and twisted. Sometimes they make absolutely no sense. (One of the things fanfiction writers do is write AU fanfiction, meaning the same characters/humans that already exist as we know them exist in an alternate universe that the author shapes. These can either be the best or the worst showings of fanfiction.) It also has a reputation for being wildly erotic. (Fifty Shades of Grey started out as a Twilight fanfic...)

While fanfiction can indeed be all of these things, particularly erotic, if the reader so chooses (usually you can filter what rating you want to read), some of it is actually really really good. Hear me out-- fanfiction, if nothing else, gives the world a chance to read the writing of authors we would not otherwise get to hear from. While the leg-work of creating characters is already done for them, many times these authors weave intricate and fascinating story lines that make you think about concepts you've already heard in different ways. Once you get the hang of navigating through the ocean of fanfic, you can actually start to find some pretty good ones. Some of the fanfiction I've recently read has had me far more invested than any published books I've read in the past few months. I've found authors that are indeed good enough to become published. I actually have a list of those who write my favorite things, but when asked who my favorite author is in class, I doubt saying 'ohcaptainmycaptain' (a screen name for one of my fave writers) would suffice.

While fanfics can be as short as 500 words, some of them are well over the lengths of a typical young adult book. That's right-- some of these people are writing books over here. And they're fantastic. These people, who may have various goals in life but just love to write, are getting to show off what they've got without the dedication of writing something for common publication. They can also work at their own pace, updating their stories whenever they have time. I'm not saying that writing fanfiction is the same (merit-wise or otherwise) as writing a book for publication. These people are not doing what J.K. Rowling or J.D. Salinger did-- not even close. However, some of them are writing really gripping content that's an absolute joy to read. (Most are not, but once you find the good ones, it's totally worth it.)

I'll leave you with a few navigation tips before I go. If you want to find the best of the best, I would google whatever topic you want to read about followed by the words 'fic recs'. For example: 'Steve Rogers Fic Recs'. (No I've totally never done that. What are you talking about?) This will lead you to blogs where avid fanfic readers have complied their favorite works, along with a description of each. This weeds out most of the crap right away.

Also, consider what fandom you're sifting through. What I mean is this: One Direction has several younger fans, right? That means that a lot of really young girls are attempting to write about them. While I encourage the youths, their writing is not the best, so One Direction fanfiction is usually a beast to sort through. Good fics are few and far-between. This doesn't mean they don't exist, but you have to dig. On the other hand, the Marvel fans (I'm trying not to stereotype but I'm failing) are usually a little bit older, a bit more well-read, and may or may not have been nerds in high school. Because of this, much of the fanfiction dealing with the Marvel cinematic universe is really good. It's much easier to find publishing-quality work. Most of my favorite works are from this universe, simply because I know several writers that are top-notch in this category.

I'm not saying you should go out and read fanfics. If you have no interest in them, you probably shouldn't. I'm just saying that (sometimes) there's more to them than meets the eye. You can find some really great pieces of writing that would have otherwise never seen the light of day, which is pretty awesome. (Thanks, internet.) Will you still encounter some weird and creepy content? It's not fanfic if you don't. But if you're ever bored and want to read about Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes in the 40's, fanfiction has your back.