Long before fanfiction entered mainstream pop culture through movies like After (2019), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and The Love Hypothesis (set for release in 2026), it was the internet’s best-kept secret.
Concealed behind anonymous usernames and late-night AO3 tabs, millions of writers and readers quietly built enormous online communities.
Filling the Representation Gap
In recent years, novels and shows like Heated Rivalry have gained major online popularity for centring LGBTQ+ relationships, reflecting the broader demand for representation that fanfiction spaces have been embracing long before traditional media.
Cathryn Ramdass, 25, from New York, felt this representation was what drew her to fanfiction during middle school.
“When I was growing up, it was harder to be yourself without being judged, which is why many people tend to gather in online fandom spaces,” Cathryn says.
“There was a lack of queer representation in the media, so writing gay fanfics of my favourite characters filled that gap.”
Cathryn was navigating her identity at the time, so reimagining these established universes provided a vital sanctuary.
“When I was younger, I was a closeted bisexual, and writing queer fanfiction was my gateway to wanting to create my own original stories. I was using my characters to explore my own self-discoveries,” she says.
Fanfic writer Lily Walker, 19, echoes Cathryn’s thoughts on how the medium serves marginalised communities.
She says: “In fanfic bases, I’ve noticed that gay couples are very popular.
“You don’t really see many straight cisgender people, so I think a lot of it is to get representation that they didn’t get in the original piece of media.”
Practising Without the Pressure
Beyond the sense of representation and community, fandom platforms act as an excellent training ground for young amateur writers to practice their writing skills without excessive fear of judgment. In fanfiction, they can explore different writing styles, tease out new ideas and try their hand at different tropes without a commercial deadline breathing down their neck.
Writing in Vogue in February, author Alexandra Romanoff explained that writing fanfiction taught her the foundations of storytelling. Finding her feet in fanfiction has since led her to publish five books and build a successful career as a novelist.
She said, “I didn’t know it then, but immersing myself in this kind of fan fiction was also teaching me the standard beats of Western story structure.”
Lily started reading fanfiction on Wattpad at 11, and at 18, she started writing her first fic on AO3. She also found fanfiction gave her an accessible way into creative writing.
“I just wanted to practice my writing. I thought it would be a good way to gauge how people would react to my work, and in the end, the response was great; it has about 18,000 views,” she says.
Fanfiction is crafted out of passion rather than profit, offering something traditional publishing cannot: instant connection. Writers can simply upload a single chapter at midnight and wake up to hundreds of comments from readers who are equally passionate about and obsessed with the characters they love. Without corporate publishers, deadlines or profit motives, fanfiction communities are built almost entirely on reciprocity. Writers share their stories for free, and in return, readers offer encouragement and thoughtful feedback, fostering authentic friendships.
Traditional Backlash – Flatter or Appropriation?
Fanfiction has historically been accused of being “cringe” or badly written. Online, in particular, fanfiction is often reduced to stereotypes about obsessive fandom behaviour, poorly written romance plots or teenage girls hiding behind anonymous usernames. Much of fanfiction’s stigma can be tied to the demographics associated with it: teenage girls and queer audiences whose interests have been dismissed as foolish or insignificant online.
Subsequently, a profound creative divide between online fandoms and traditional authors and publishers has blossomed. Some authors view the practice not as creative evolution, but as an infringement of boundaries and copyright.
Kasey Safford, author of The Amulet of Undying, understands this defensive position from the industry. Although acknowledging that imitation is the highest form of flattery, Kasey maintains some ethical reservations.
”Fanfiction, in my eyes, is imitation,” Kasey says,
“My first impression would be flattery; however, I would still reserve the belief that fanfiction is piggybacking off of someone else’s creative work and fanbase for personal gain.”
Kasey also backs the stereotype that fanfiction has a reputation for being poorly written.
“Many people may stumble across a poorly-executed fanfiction piece and assume that the original work is just as poor,” She says.
Writers and readers within the fandom argue that this perspective misses the community’s entire point.
“Fanfiction can be broken down into ‘fan’ and ‘fiction’, which is fiction for fans,” Cathryn counters.
“As long as people can separate what is published from what is personal, that’s fine. Fanfiction is meant for fun, like a hobby.”
Hollywood’s new obsession
Whether traditionalists accept it or not, the lines between corporate publishing and digital fanfiction spaces are blurring. Mainstream publishers and Hollywood scouts are no longer looking down on fanfiction; instead, they are actively embracing it, searching for the next major hits.
The Love Hypothesis, written by Ali Hazelwood, famously began as a Star Wars fanfiction about Rey and Kylo Ren. It was titled “Head over Feet ” and published on AO3. The book, retitled and the characters renamed, was published officially in 2021 as Hazelwood’s debut novel.
Now set for a film adaptation in late 2026, the novel reflects how mainstream media is increasingly embracing fanfiction writers and fandom culture.
The adaptation announcement also highlighted how interconnected fandom culture can be. Fans quickly pointed out that actor Tom Bateman, cast as Adam, is married to Daisy Ridley, the actress of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Online, readers expressed their excitement at the coincidence, describing it as the kind of “full circle” moment fandom communities thrive on, demonstrating how emotionally invested audiences become with the stories they follow from birth on AO3 or Wattpad.
Ridley and Bateman found this unlikely coincidence rather amusing, and in a 2023 interview with Collider, Ridley said,“Thank you, whoever wrote The Love Hypothesis. Wow. So cool.”
Whilst many fans are relieved to finally see fanfiction get the recognition it deserves, there is the underlying concern that mainstream attention and profit-driven publishing could strip fanfiction of the qualities that made it unique in the first place.
What remains vital to the community is the freedom to experiment freely under an anonymous username, write without commercial deadlines and build online families around a shared passion.
“It’s nice to have the stories available for free and written by everyday people,” Lily says. “It would be a shame to have it profited off and lose the free aspect of it.”
With box-office records and bestseller lists increasingly dominated by authors who started in fanfiction, many fans are left conflicted, balancing the desire to finally have their community taken seriously with the need to protect the core values that made them feel safe in the first place.