CHENNAI: For a moment, dear reader, forget the usual charming prince swooping in to save his damsel in (never-ending) distress, and their starry-eyed happy-ever-after ending. Instead, imagine a world where Luna Lovegood is the ‘The Girl Who Lived’, the tension between Arulmozhivarman and Vandhiyathevan from Ponniyn Selvan evolves into tooth-rotting love, or a voiceless Ariel ditches Prince Eric and embarks on a journey around the multiverse through wormholes. This alternate world teeming with stories is within reach — fanfiction, while dubbed “unserious” or “unliterary”, contains re-imagined plotlines and offers a chance to write and re-write sidelined characters (in extension, communities) into mainstream work.
During an interview, writer Toni Morrison said, “‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” In this spirit, repositories like Archive of Our Own (AO3), and sites like Wattpad, FanFiction.Net, and Quotev open up spaces for readers, especially women and queer people to do just that – read and write freely.
In a world where fiction is often heteronormative, pop culture offers tokenistic queer characters, and being part of the LGBTQIA+ community is still taboo in some countries and crime in others, fanfiction offers potential space for those who yearn to write about desire and build more inclusive worlds. The online fandom world does not require writers to have an established name, multitudes of degrees, or money. Unlike the rigorous publishing world, amateur, anonymous writers can weave their narratives, explore their identities and writing.
Of queer awakenings and safe spaces
Modern-day fanfiction, as we know it, traces its roots to the 1960s and 70s, with zines following popular slash (queer) re-telling of Star Trek, pairing Captain James Kirk and Spock. Cut to now, fandom spaces pair characters together like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, maybe an Indian Harry Potter and trans Draco Malfoy or even, Telugu blockbuster RRR’s Bheem and Rama. “Fanfic started with radical possibilities…Personally, fanfiction was where I first encountered a lot of stories where people talked about mental illnesses, sex, etc. Where else will you find 10k words minimum written on two people negotiating a safe sexual lifestyle with 100% open communication and understanding?” explains Brandon, a Kolkata-based student.
For 25-year-old Maya, fanfiction was a point of “queer awakening” and she stumbled upon AO3 (what she calls the “mecca for fanfiction”). “I did not have any awareness of anything LGBTQIA+ before. In my teens, or even growing up, it was a taboo in a lot of families... I realised that I was not very heterosexual. It took a couple of years to come to terms with it. The first time I read fanfiction was after I watched Call Me By Your Name. I thought I need more of the characters. Also, it was this thing depicted on screen that matched my life, how I felt, and I wanted to be seen,” explains the media professional from the city, adding that it was a safe and educational space.
Over two-and-a-half years, Maya wrote a whopping 36 fanfics, exploring her sexuality and also her writing. “I came to the realisation I was demisexual because I read a lot of fiction about it. It was a fantastic way to figure it out writing because there’s one thing about fandoms they will never drag you down for like, a turn of phrase or like a wonky sentence, bad grammar. The AO3 comments section is one of the happiest places on Earth. It’s just so much validation. I wanted to write my own story, but with characters that existed, and it was I had no expectations, but then a lot of people responded positively,” she says.
Much like Maya, Kerala-based Yuu, a student, found himself sifting through stories on rock band Black Veil Brides, as a 15-year-old. A decade later, he says that creating and consuming fanfiction has helped him understand gender identity and sexuality. “I wouldn’t be as comfortable with my trans identity had it not been for a fanfic I read. Fanfiction allowed me to safely explore my transness in ways no other medium did. In a sense, engaging in fanfictions gave me access to terminology,” he adds.
While the offline world continues to be violent for young queer people, the fandom space comes with the territory of access to a larger, relatable community. Growing up in the conservative South Indian backdrop, the online world provides a space for Yuu and Maya to mingle with more open users and make friends. “I discovered a safe space for me — this entire community of people online who wrote because they liked writing and because they wanted to see their experiences, needs, and everything mirrored in a story,” adds Maya.
Re-writing fiction as a protest
From moving past the canon and creating crossovers, say Barbie and Oppenheimer meeting in a story, or resurrecting Shakespeare, the fanfiction world is a playground with endless possibilities. Often, it acts as a protest — for instance, many fans who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community began writing more Harry Potter fanfiction after the series’ writer JK Rowling came under fire a few years ago for her views on transpersons.
As Yuu explains, often fix-it-fics or canon divergence aid in turning “bigoted and harrowing works” into something more welcoming with “none of JK Rowling’s trans-exclusionary views taped to it.” He adds, “Hogwarts is from the mind of a virulent transphobe. Choosing to rewrite the story and make it more welcoming of trans identities is a wish fulfilment. For instance, Supernatural has a lot of queerphobia and queerbaiting, but Supernatural also had one of the biggest fanfiction communities.”
With each re-telling, re-claiming, and re-imagining of mainstream works, the universe of fanfiction grows ravenously and steadily. Yet, there is always a place for new readers and writers, searching for stories beyond the norm or simply, themselves. As Yuu says, “Fanfiction is a love letter at the end of the day to the work and you as a reader of the work.”
Sid (they/them)
As a kid questioning my sexuality, I came across one which shipped Ash and Brock (from Pokemon) as a couple…Reading fanfiction made me feel like my feelings at the time were validated. I don’t remember much beyond that. (It provides) comfort and grounded in a safe space.
Shifa (she/her)
I love fandom spaces. As everyone shares the same interests as you, it feels like a safe space, free from judgment.