Fanfiction: Correcting Creative Blind Spots

Archive Of Our Own was nominated for a Hugo under the Best Related Work category. More context can be found in this article.

Fanfiction like any media form (Books, TV, Movies, Audio Dramas ....) is a quality mixed bag. There is some stereotypically very very poorly written fanfiction and there is some absolutely amazing fanfiction.

While it has been pointed out that creators have a wide range of responses to fanfiction, at its best fanfiction allows for an intense written conversation between creators and fans which can highlight and correct the intentional and unintentional lived experience blind spots of creators.

Some "lived experience blind spots" include:

"We have always been here" blind spots:

• The erasure of women, minorities, LGBTQA+ ... from stories or their token roles in those stories.  
• The erasure of life experiences different from the author. Just because an author did not see a group, did not look for a group, or does not belong to that group, does not mean that the group was not there all alone.

"You are not alone" blind spots:

• A missing understanding that representing other lived experience can help individual not feel so alone.
• That other lived experiences have their own unique set of challenges
• I have read some amazing fanfiction around topics such as how would being transgender affect spiderman's relationship to being an avenger.
• Personally, I always love good ace/aro fanfiction, seeing other aces out there and seeing what ace/aro relationships can look like.

"Mental Health" blind spots:

• A lack of exploring mental health impacts on characters.
• This is a category that I find fanfiction can do a wonderful job with. 
• Exploring explicitly stated cannon mental health issues 
• Such as how in the first avenger movie Bruce Banner mentions in passing that he tried to die by suicide but Hulk would not let him. Fanfiction explores this from Banner's point of view, and Hulk's point of view, and Iron Man's point of view, the long term effects on Banner, where is Banner mentally today ...
• Exploring implied/assumed mental health issues
• Issues of trauma, PTSD, panic attacks, self-sacrifice, Anxiety, Depression, family issues, abuse, ....
• Using characters to help others learn that there is a name for their experience
• If you feel x way or are experiencing y you should reach out because others such as a therapist or other trusted adult can help
• It is ok to feel x even fill in the character feels this way too
• It is ok to get the help you need, watch this superhero do it

Fanfiction allows for the exploration of historical blind spots. This is important because these blind spots prevent people from seeing that that are important and their experience matters and that they are not alone. Not alone no matter their identity or culture or state of mental health. Uplifting and encouraging others seems like a good use of story.