Rachel Kersey

What is the history of this?

Where did this start?

I would say last century, there were people who were writing zines, for example, very popularly Star Trek among them.

But those were very specific as to one fandom.

People were writing fan fiction about particular characters in one world.

And that tradition passed forward to various websites and online newsletters that, again,

carry on my wayward soul

Let's see what these characters could do or what happens if we put these beloved characters from different worlds together and have them meet with one another.

And so that brings us to the modern day with Archive of Our Own, which I would say is kind of the big powerhouse archival player these days and certainly where I look for fanfic when I read it.

Archive of Our Own is a website where people can post and read fan-created transformative works.

And it is organized in such a way that it's clear it was created by librarians, right?

You can certainly search by fandom, by character.

You could also search by kind of story you want to hear or a trope that you're interested in.

You...

would be amazed at just how extensive the archives are on Archive of Our Own.

What are they?

Noelle?

The big one, like the kahuna that became the juggernaut, would be Fifty Shades of Grey.

Which was actually Twilight fan fiction.

Fifty Shades of Grey completely changed the game.