Noel King

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Rachel Kersey, as freelance reporter, covers books, writes about fan fiction.

What is fan fiction?

Explain what Archive of Our Own is.

Okay, so Noelle King, 2026.

I have no idea, even a few weeks ago, that any of this exists.

But you would say, Noelle, even if you don't know what any of this is, it is being mainstreamed.

It has been mainstreamed into culture now.

You are actually consuming things that started out as fan fiction.

So it seems clear to me, based on what you're saying, that writers of fan fiction and the work itself are being taken more seriously than they were, I don't know, 20 years ago, right?

Mm-hmm.

Why?

Why do you think that is?

Is it just because, hey, some of this writing is pretty darn good?

Let's take it seriously.

Rachel Curzius is a freelance reporter.

Coming up, what does all this mean for fanfic as an art and as a community?