Imagine that frustrating moment when the plot of a story takes a turn you wish it hadn’t. Now, you have a few options as to what you could do: 1. Curse out the author or screenwriter, 2. Write them a fuming letter detailing how the story should have ended, 3. Read some fan-fiction that offers you satisfying closure or 4) All of the above. Personally, I am quite fond of option number four.

To put it simply, fan-fiction answers questions ranging from “What if that character didn’t die?” or “What if these two characters fell in love?” to “What if this character was a woman?” or “What would happen if I add a new character to the story?” Fan-fiction can help you revisit your favorite stories and possibly end them the way you wanted them to. But not all fan-fiction is perfect.

I like to categorize them into three types: confusing/crazy, manageable and realistic.

The confusing/crazy stories are those which are either so poorly written you have no clue what’s going on or are so wild they both disturb and amuse you at the same time. Believe me, around 50 to 60 percent of the fan-fiction stories you run across will be a part of this category. Not only will they be full of galling grammatical errors that will make you want to face-palm, but also have a great chance of providing utterly, frustratingly inaccurate depictions of the voices and personalities of your favorite characters. They really make you question life.

Manageable stories are just that, manageable. They do have several obvious mistakes in spelling and grammar, but you survive. Why? Well, you manage to overlook those errors because the plot and characters of the story are accurate, intriguing and or satisfying. These are not perfect narratives, but they are certainly less frustrating to read.

Finally, we have the realistic stories. These are the precious four leaf clovers of fan-fiction. Their writing mechanics are flawless, characters are portrayed perfectly and the plot is engaging as well as easily believable. You don’t have to worry about your favorite character magically turning into a woman or suddenly speaking like a cliché teenager. However, realistic stories are extremely difficult to find. So difficult that in the four years I have been reading fan-fiction, I have only found three completely realistic as well as compelling stories that have changed my perspective on their original narratives.

So, where can you find those manageable and realistic fan-fictions?

No matter what fan-fiction website you visit, there will always be those weird and sometimes frustrating stories. But the best websites, which I have found to be full of well-written stories, are (in order): Archive of Our Own, Quotev and the Literature section of DeviantArt.

Whether you are looking for closure, inspiration or simply wish to kill some time, reading fan-fiction can be a rewarding experience. Just be prepared to see your favorite characters in some... interesting situations.