100 Ways In Which Fanfiction Has Enriched My Life (And Yours As Well)

This is my first "100" list. It is currently "an ever expanding list." Updates will appear at the top.

So what is fanfiction? Well, it's fiction written by fans set in the worlds of movies and books, using the characters therein.

Wikipedia says: "Fan fiction (alternatively referred to as fanfiction, fanfic, FF, or fic) is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator."

I have never hidden my personal views that fanfiction is no big deal. Creators of books, movies, and television shows should be somewhat flattered that someone loves their character or world so much that they want to linger there a while longer. But not all copyright holders are created equal, so depending on how cool someone is with the idea of fanfic, your mileage may vary.

That being said, I will not be including links to any particular fanfic stories or naming any names. This is just a generalized list. So sit back and enjoy. And even if you don't read fanfic or have never even come across it before in your life, you might be surprised by just how much of an impact it has had on you and the things you love.

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95. I never would have heard of the Evil Overlord List.
Just how lame would my life be if I'd never heard of the Evil Overlord List? Probably very lame.

And where did I hear about it from? Austin Powers, baby. Scott Evil being a jerk in an "Austin Powers/X-files" crossover fanfic that made me laugh my head off. That was a character that totally needed a spin-off. (That selfsame story also firmly cemented my love for Seth Green.)

96. I probably wouldn't have read so many "Batman" comics.
Understand, I am a Batman fan. It's just that there were times in my life when I just didn't feel the need to keep up with the comic. Then one of my favorite fanfic authors would post a story and there would be so much canon back story breadcrumbed around that I'd have to read the comics to catch up. 

97. Buffy the Vampire Slayer wouldn't have been nearly as good.
Public knowledge has it that several of the other writers for the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" were discovered through their fanfiction writing.

98. I would never have watched "Sherlock."
I just kind of fell in love with the fanon version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson that I was introduced to by the "Sherlock" fandom. They were such amazingly engaging people that I had to meet the characters they were sourced from.

99. I would never have read "Harry Potter" if it weren't for fanfiction.
It was because I started reading fanfic that I got interested in "Harry Potter." The books were okay, but not really my thing. But I still bought and read every one so that I could figure out what was going on in my favorite fanfic stories.

J.K Rowling can thank fanfic for her getting some of my precious money.

100. Some of my favorite books wouldn't even exist today.
The history of fanfiction is actually a longer and richer one than most people know. Stories like "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Beowulf" are all fanfiction. The current stories are the rewritten, changed versions of someone's original work. The illustrations are basically fanart.

Plus a lot of my favorite authors started out writing fanfic. They expanded to create their own worlds and characters, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Some books even started out as fanfic, except the characters outgrew the confines of their fandoms or were so totally OOC that the author had to finally admit that yes, this is a totally original character I'm working with. From that point that original character creates the world they live in and it is no longer a fanfic, but original fic (and thus, more socially acceptable.)

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Suggestions are welcome, rudeness is not. This list is completely in fun. Don't take life so seriously. You'll never get out of it alive.