Does anyone remember fanfiction from like 2001 to 2004 tho?
-wacky, highly out of character ‘sleepovers’ with the villains of the series
-not bothering to research the culture the series originated from (we live in Japan but for some reason we’re celebrating a westernized version of Christmas?)
-sugar highs??? the entire cast has eaten sugar and now randomness ensues!!1!
-really surreal oneshots taking a completely illogical idea to the highest possible level played completely for laughs (re: maybe Harry was so good at flying because He Was A Broom All Along)
-user guides for characters (as if they’re adoptable robots)
-disclaimer at the beginning of the story, end of the story,
used as page breaks in the middle of the story I DO NOT OWN THIS PLEASE
DON’T SUE I’M DIRT POOR-author’s notes at the beginning of the story, end of
the story, used as page breaks in the middle of the story, LOL I WROTE
THIS AT ONE IN THE MORNING PLEASE REVIEW-nutshell/condensed retellings of the series, again usually humorous
-AUs where everything except the main character’s names are completely different that have no real connections to the series (High School AUs are EVERYWHERE)
-The writer’s favourite character isn’t dead and the rest of the cast questions it once and then never mentions it again
-the writer talking to the characters in script form before the story actually starts
I don’t think I had Internet in 2001
I had. The fic of that era IS bonkers.
Though high school AUs are still everywhere.
I first read fanfic in 2005 and it was still like this.
The idea of reading fanfic in 2001 is so wild to me, I was six
I wrote a few of those kinds of fics back in that era. Fanfiction.net was the very first website I was allowed to go on with zero monitoring from parents and I’m 96.7% sure it put me on the path to the horrible person I am today.
And the Fake Married Trope rides immortal.
I’m telling you, you’ve never known true fandom meth until you’ve read your first fake-married-villains-high-on-sugar-sleep-over-au fic at 1am, and enjoyed it.
Now I feel old. I was reading fanfic on the internet in 1987. Trust me, rec.arts.** was definitely all about this stuff.
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