Fanfiction: The Essence of Fandoms and Ship Culture

I've always been, and always will be, a fangirl at heart. When characters from books, shows, movies—or even idols in real life—live in our heads rent-free, creativity is bound to spark sooner or later. But what do you do when you want to talk about them, and no one around you is as obsessed as you are? You turn to random strangers on the internet. And honestly? That keeps the fandom alive way longer than the books, shows, or movies ever could.

Like most fans, I’ve had my fair share of disappointments—terrible endings, wasted potential, characters tossed aside like they never mattered. And when that happens, I do what any self-respecting fangirl would do: I dive into fanfiction. Because if canon won’t give us what we want, there’s always a fic out there that will. What fuels these stories? Character chemistry, a fanfic writer with the passion of a hundred suns, extra time on their hands, and, of course, an internet connection.

Honestly, I don’t even remember how I first stumbled upon fanfiction. It was sometime before social media took over, but I started reading on FanFiction.net. My first fandom? Probably Inuyasha or Naruto—all I know is that it kept our landline busy. This was back in the dial-up era, when connecting to the internet felt like it took 500 years, and story tagging was an absolute mess. To this day, I still haven’t forgiven that one author who decided to kill off the entire Inuyasha cast one by one toward the end.

Over time, I jumped around different platforms—LiveJournal, Asianfanfics, Tumblr, Wattpad—and now, I mostly read on AO3. My reasons for reading have evolved over the years. Sometimes, I just want a character to have a single good day after suffering through five whole books. Other times, I think side characters deserve more love, but since they're side characters, they barely get any plot. And then there are days when I’m just curious about how their dynamics would play out in an alternate universe.

But here’s the thing—fanfiction isn’t just about fixing stories or indulging in “what ifs.” It’s the essence of fandoms. Canon gives us a framework, but fandom is what breathes life into it. Fans take the characters, worlds, and relationships and make them their own, expanding stories in ways the original creators never could. That’s why some fandoms stay active years after a series ends—because as long as fans are still creating, the story never really stops. Merch from various fandoms is still profitable even years or decades after the initial book and/or movie release because fics keep the fandom alive.

And let’s be real, shipping culture wouldn’t be what it is without fanfiction. Sometimes, canon gets it wrong. Other times, two characters have so much chemistry, but the writers refuse to see it. And then there are the pairings that make absolutely no sense but somehow work in a fic. Whether it’s rewriting bad romance arcs, giving a ship the moments it deserved, or throwing them into an entirely new setting, fanfiction is where ships truly thrive.

I once read that we go back to fanfiction because there’s comfort in it. We already know the characters, so we don’t have to learn a whole new world or get attached to a brand-new cast. We just want more stories with the ones we love. And honestly? I couldn't agree more. Over the years, I’ve fallen into so many fandom rabbit holes—Harry Potter, MXTX-verse, Merlin, Hannibal, Sherlock Holmes-to name a few. Some I stayed in for years, some I just passed through, but fanfiction was always the constant.