it’s still so surreal to me when people talk about fanfic in public, because, like. fanfic used to be this huge taboo can of worms you just did not open because oh boy, fending off a lawsuit for your 2k pwp star trek slash fic was a whole circle of hell you did not want to unseal. The First Rule Of Fanfic Is You Do Not Talk About Fanfic was an unwritten code you followed to the letter for fear of potentially landing not only yourself, but everyone in your online community circle, in court for your “‘crimes”’. people copied legal statements longer than the fic they were writing into the disclaimers they placed at the top of every chapter of their work. discussing the mere concept of fanfiction with anyone involved in the source material was unheard of. and now there are panels at cons discussing it, creators and actors read fic about their own characters (and some even write it too!), people post dramatic readings on youtube, books that started out as fanfiction are published and go on to become international bestsellers…we’ve come a long way you guys.