Outside of my art, I’m a reader. I love books and fanfiction alike, though I’ll admit I probably read more fanfiction these days than anything else.
It takes a lot for me to get invested in a completely new series, world, or cast of characters. But fanfiction is different.
There’s something fascinating about seeing worlds and characters that already exist — ones people may already know and love — shift and grow beyond their original stories. Whether it comes from books, movies, television, games, or something else entirely, fanfiction takes familiar foundations and asks a simple question:
What if things had gone differently?
And sometimes, that one small change transforms everything.
A villain can become a misunderstood hero or an anti-hero.
The wise mentor may turn out to have deeper motives hidden beneath their gentle exterior.
The quiet side character with hidden depth can become the greatest underdog in the story.
Even the hero can crack under pressure and walk away from everything they once stood for.
I love art of all kinds — beautiful paintings, creative oddities, visual design, and more — but writing feels like a different level of art to me.
And I don’t mean just novels. Storytelling exists in books, film scripts, television, theater, games, and so many other visual forms. At the core of all of them is still the same challenge: building characters, emotion, conflict, and connection in a way that keeps people invested.
Using words to build a visual, an atmosphere, and a story for the reader requires an understanding of both people and society. A writer has to describe enough to pull the reader in while also leaving space for imagination to fill in the gaps. There’s a balance to it. Too little detail and the world feels empty. Too much and it becomes overwhelming.
And unlike a painting or a single image, stories ask people to stay.
Writers have to capture attention at the beginning, but they also have to hold onto it over time. They have to make readers care about the people they’re reading about — sometimes for hundreds of pages or, in visual forms, dozens of episodes over an extended period of time.
And honestly, especially now, people rarely stick with something they feel is wasting their time. Attention has to be caught and then continuously held. That takes an incredible amount of skill when you’re working in long-form storytelling.
I think that’s part of why fanfiction fascinates me so much. You get to see how different people approach that challenge while working from the same foundation, or how they can interpret the exact same story in completely different ways from other readers.
It reminds me a little of classroom discussions about books in high school. Everyone could read the exact same story and still walk away with completely different interpretations of the characters, themes, or even the meaning of certain scenes. Sometimes people noticed details or motivations I had never even considered, and other times I saw things completely differently from everyone else.
Sometimes I don’t even know the original fandom when I start reading. I’ve actually discovered some incredible books and shows that way. The writing or concept pulls me in first, and eventually curiosity wins out and I end up searching for the original source material.
And honestly, I don’t think creators intentionally plan for every possible interpretation people come up with. It’s just human nature to see multiple possibilities in every situation.
Stories are full of crossroads.
In the original version, the characters take one path and follow it to the end. But fans who become deeply attached to a story often start asking:
What would happen if they chose differently?
And usually, there isn’t just one alternate answer.
One changed decision can create an entirely new story because every decision changes the people around it. If two characters never meet, then they never influence each other. That means different choices, different relationships, and eventually entirely different versions of themselves.
And honestly, what even makes a decision good or bad sometimes?
Outside of obvious moral failings, people usually only understand whether a choice was right or wrong after they’ve lived through the consequences and reflected on them. In a way, that’s what fanfiction writers are doing too — testing possibilities and following those consequences to see where the story leads.
To me, fanfiction is its own form of creative practice.
Taking an existing world and building something new within it still requires imagination, character understanding, emotional depth, pacing, dialogue, and storytelling instincts. In many ways, it feels like writers practicing and developing their own voice while working with an established foundation.
And honestly, some of the best stories I’ve ever read have come from amateurs experimenting with characters from someone else’s work.
Alternate realities.
Multiverse theories.
Different endings.
Characters surviving when they originally died.
Entire worlds reshaped by one changed moment.
Not every story works, of course. Sometimes I stop reading halfway through. But the ones I truly connect with are stories I come back to again and again over the years.
All of this said, I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. I’ve literally gotten in trouble at school for reading during class more than once.
Over the years, both reading and dabbling in writing myself have given me a lot of thoughts about storytelling, character writing, and the psychology behind fiction.
And honestly… my family has probably been listening to my rants about these topics for years.
Things like:
- hero vs villain dynamics
- why female characters are so often written without backbone
- “messages from the dead” somehow becoming prophetic
- and so many more
So there’s a good chance some of those thoughts will eventually become blog posts too.
At the end of the day, I think that’s why I love storytelling so much. Every reader sees something different, and every writer imagines a different path forward.
Outside of my art, I’m a reader. I love books and fanfiction alike, though I’ll admit I probably read more fanfiction these days than anything else.
It takes a lot for me to get invested in a completely new series, world, or cast of characters. But fanfiction is different.
There’s something fascinating about seeing worlds and characters that already exist — ones people may already know and love — shift and grow beyond their original stories. Whether it comes from books, movies, television, games, or something else entirely, fanfiction takes familiar foundations and asks a simple question:
What if things had gone differently?
And sometimes, that one small change transforms everything.
A villain can become a misunderstood hero or an anti-hero.
The wise mentor may turn out to have deeper motives hidden beneath their gentle exterior.
The quiet side character with hidden depth can become the greatest underdog in the story.
Even the hero can crack under pressure and walk away from everything they once stood for.
I love art of all kinds — beautiful paintings, creative oddities, visual design, and more — but writing feels like a different level of art to me.
And I don’t mean just novels. Storytelling exists in books, film scripts, television, theater, games, and so many other visual forms. At the core of all of them is still the same challenge: building characters, emotion, conflict, and connection in a way that keeps people invested.
Using words to build a visual, an atmosphere, and a story for the reader requires an understanding of both people and society. A writer has to describe enough to pull the reader in while also leaving space for imagination to fill in the gaps. There’s a balance to it. Too little detail and the world feels empty. Too much and it becomes overwhelming.
And unlike a painting or a single image, stories ask people to stay.
Writers have to capture attention at the beginning, but they also have to hold onto it over time. They have to make readers care about the people they’re reading about — sometimes for hundreds of pages or, in visual forms, dozens of episodes over an extended period of time.
And honestly, especially now, people rarely stick with something they feel is wasting their time. Attention has to be caught and then continuously held. That takes an incredible amount of skill when you’re working in long-form storytelling.
I think that’s part of why fanfiction fascinates me so much. You get to see how different people approach that challenge while working from the same foundation, or how they can interpret the exact same story in completely different ways from other readers.
It reminds me a little of classroom discussions about books in high school. Everyone could read the exact same story and still walk away with completely different interpretations of the characters, themes, or even the meaning of certain scenes. Sometimes people noticed details or motivations I had never even considered, and other times I saw things completely differently from everyone else.
Sometimes I don’t even know the original fandom when I start reading. I’ve actually discovered some incredible books and shows that way. The writing or concept pulls me in first, and eventually curiosity wins out and I end up searching for the original source material.
And honestly, I don’t think creators intentionally plan for every possible interpretation people come up with. It’s just human nature to see multiple possibilities in every situation.
Stories are full of crossroads.
In the original version, the characters take one path and follow it to the end. But fans who become deeply attached to a story often start asking:
What would happen if they chose differently?
And usually, there isn’t just one alternate answer.
One changed decision can create an entirely new story because every decision changes the people around it. If two characters never meet, then they never influence each other. That means different choices, different relationships, and eventually entirely different versions of themselves.
And honestly, what even makes a decision good or bad sometimes?
Outside of obvious moral failings, people usually only understand whether a choice was right or wrong after they’ve lived through the consequences and reflected on them. In a way, that’s what fanfiction writers are doing too — testing possibilities and following those consequences to see where the story leads.
To me, fanfiction is its own form of creative practice.
Taking an existing world and building something new within it still requires imagination, character understanding, emotional depth, pacing, dialogue, and storytelling instincts. In many ways, it feels like writers practicing and developing their own voice while working with an established foundation.
And honestly, some of the best stories I’ve ever read have come from amateurs experimenting with characters from someone else’s work.
Alternate realities.
Multiverse theories.
Different endings.
Characters surviving when they originally died.
Entire worlds reshaped by one changed moment.
Not every story works, of course. Sometimes I stop reading halfway through. But the ones I truly connect with are stories I come back to again and again over the years.
All of this said, I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. I’ve literally gotten in trouble at school for reading during class more than once.
Over the years, both reading and dabbling in writing myself have given me a lot of thoughts about storytelling, character writing, and the psychology behind fiction.
And honestly… my family has probably been listening to my rants about these topics for years.
Things like:
- hero vs villain dynamics
- why female characters are so often written without backbone
- “messages from the dead” somehow becoming prophetic
- and so many more
So there’s a good chance some of those thoughts will eventually become blog posts too.
At the end of the day, I think that’s why I love storytelling so much. Every reader sees something different, and every writer imagines a different path forward.
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