I watched Starship Troopers tonight.

fanfiction is fucking fascinating. i never understood it as a kid, all i ever heard about it were basically just jokes. like self insert fanfics about one direction trafficking tween girls. i didn’t really get why some people were so passionate about it.

and to a degree, i think the medium is still really messy. for every gem i find i scroll past dozens and dozens of fics that look like crap. sometimes i’ll start reading one and instantly know that it’s not even worth my time. sometimes i’ll read one and really enjoy it, despite the writing being just ok or even not particularly good, cuz the concept is good and authors are doing it for free and for fun. then sometimes i’ll start reading one and truly have no idea just what i’m getting into, cuz the writing will end up being better than a lot of professional work literally for no reason.

like, the one i’m reading right now. it’s a college au about sam and sebastian from stardew, and it takes a fair amount of liberties regarding characterization. the sam and sebastian in this fic are not the same sam and sebastian from the source material. i mean, you can see the influence, sam is still an extroverted sunshine boy and seb is still a moody and broody emo who gets high to escape the crushing reality of reality. but the devil’s in the details, like i truly do not buy that the stardew valley game sam is as emotionally intelligent as the sam in this fic. also like, their interests are completely original, for better or for worse.

but like… it’s so hard to give a shit cuz it’s so good. like this could be a published book if you swapped out the names and references to the game, and i know that’s been done before and it’s usually bad but this would be a genuinely fantastic book cuz the plot points are so juicy. like i’ve been gagged by this fic so many times, it’s fucking insane. the pacing is immaculate, and the drama that’s unfolded is actually so juicy. also, i’m realizing that i haven’t seen a lot of stories about college and this one fucking gets it. i’m sure there are a lot of tropes being utilized here that i’m not familiar with cuz i haven’t read another college au but as a current undergrad i see myself in so much of this fic.

anyway. i don’t need to be convinced that oh yeah by the way fanfiction can in fact have artistic value. i am pro derivative artwork, i think there’s so much to gain out of expanding on the work of others. but sometimes i do still get so surprised and caught off guard by just how extreme this can become.