Welcome back to “an original fiction writer tries to understand fanfiction” part two. If you recall from my last article, I’ve spent six or so years of my life dedicating my written word to original stories until a few months ago, when I decided to post a “Legend of Korra” fanfic. Said fanfic ended up becoming very popular. In order to understand why I was getting such a positive and overwhelming response for this story, I posted the question “why do you read/write fanfiction” tacked onto two chapters of my fic and gathered the responses. Last week, I discussed how many people, including myself, read/wrote fanfiction in order to improve their English and/or writing skills.

The second profound response I got was from users grateful for fanfiction because of how it tackles LGBT representation.

SEE ALSO: In Defense of Fanfiction: Part 1

A user under the name of "Anonymous" described how “fan fiction's really what crushed my heteronormativity goggles. There's so much diversity in the writing and the characters and the situations they find themselves in, and I've read so many things I could just never find in my library or the book store.” It got more personal as another username-less anonymous poster told me:

“Honestly, as a queer girl growing up when there was very little depiction of any queer media, fanfiction really did open my eyes to a lot of possibilities and the knowledge that I wasn't alone. Mainstream media has improved dramatically in recent years but even 10 years ago there was hardly anything for non-heteros. I never realized the full extent of this until I came out to my straight friends as a teenager. Some of my (really lovely and supportive) friends had honestly never read any stories involving gay people, never saw any shows with gay people, and never met any gay people. They just knew so little. I would have been in a similar basket if I hadn't gone looking for fanfiction and found all these stories.”

Other users such as "mick3y92" expounded upon this idea of representation, saying that:

“The published works with lgbt characters is often limited and they almost never have fantasy stories. Even when you think you've found something you just end up being queer-baited and it's not actually giving you representation. With fanfiction, I can literally find lesbian stories in just about every fandom. I don't have to read into subtext to find a character that represents me, they just blatantly show it.”

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This, to me, is one of the strongest arguments for fanfiction, and it goes so much deeper than the queer representation itself. If you know anything about fanfiction, it’s that it’s infamous for “shipping,” or the act of placing two or more characters within a story into a romantic pairing together. These ships, as they’re called, are often represented with portmanteaus similar to celebrity couple names and often amass large, passionate fan bases who will express their love for any couple through fanart, fanfiction, and other postings.

Fanfiction sites are often where “crack” couples find their traction, in which smaller fractions of a fandom as a whole will begin to ship two characters who seem a random or unusual romantic pairing, but write their relationship as anything but ridiculous. From these crack ships come many of the most famous gay or lesbian pairings and their subsequent stories. The only trouble with these pairings, besides the brushes with homophobia, is the stigma surrounding fanfiction from those who consider it “less than” pieces of writing, more a young, amateur writer’s typo-ridden fantasy than a legitimate narrative.  And they will brush this legitimate queer representation under the rug.

What that stigma in effect hides, therefore, is something very progressive that even mainstream media hasn’t caught onto yet. The “Legend of Korra” franchise recently made history in December 2014 when the creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino confirmed that the last shot of the series, of protagonist Korra and Asami holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes as light engulfed them, was in fact meant to imply that the two began a romantic relationship.

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"Korrasami," therefore, became the first canonically bi couple in American children's animation history. While this accomplishment should in no way be undermined, the fact is that Korrasami began as a crack pairing back in 2012-13, with its supporters growing as the third and fourth season were underway. Korrasami fanfiction has now exploded onto fanfiction sites as writers try to imagine what happened after the scene faded to end credits, but for every post-season-four finale fic, there are just as many pre-confirmed Korrasami fanfics written by fans who had nothing more than their own faith in the pairing. There have been no confirmed gay characters in the franchise, yet one could find any combination of male/male ships as well as various other female/female ships within the realm of fanfiction, giving readers like those who read my story representation they so crave.

And, not only that, but these stories, written with the ever-so-rare queer romance as its main focus, are often really good. Fanfics can run for the word count of the typical novel (50k) or longer, and read with every bit of plot, character, and structure of a published novel.

Which, as it turned out, is exactly what I’m currently writing with my own fanfiction: an over-80,000 word lesbian romance.

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t unconsciously swept into this representation phenomenon. When I began writing my "Kuvira" fic, I wanted to expound upon an emotionally intimate moment the villainess and Korra shared in the finale, and even when I started expanding the story, I never intended for the characters to stray from their canon sexualities (namely, that Korra was bi, and Kuvira had a (very submissive and physically inferior) fiancé).

However, at least three of the 10 or so reviews I’d get per chapter would beg me to put Korra and Kuvira into a relationship and make the fic “Korvira,” pointing out examples of how naturally the pairing could form with what I’d set out. I resisted for a long time; I loved Korrasami as a couple and didn’t want the focus to shift from a single-character driven narrative to a romantic one. But, the fans kept hammering, and my own planning in the fic started to go towards this elusive Korvira. When I looked over outlines, it suddenly seemed like the only reasonable plot to follow. 

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So, there I was, becoming the “captain of the ship.” As much as Korrasami has now become a mainstream ship, other queer ships, such as Korvira, were still in their infancy, and there were very few fics to satisfy those who wanted to explore the pairing in a fleshed out, multi-chapter piece of writing. Then, there was me, this college kid who had a bit too much admiration for villains and who could write a lot, and I can honestly say that through my sweeps through Korvira fanfiction, I’m the only novel-length non-AU fic for the pairing out there. And, for a lot of kids and adults who like this pairing, that means something. Without intending it, I now sit here hammering out one of the most carefully plotted, character and emotion-sensitive love stories I’ve ever written. And it’s my first lesbian love story to boot. 

If not for fanfiction, I’d be hammering out another male/female romantic crime novel, but instead, I’m writing a serious lesbian romance, and I think that’s kind of insane. Coming from someone who doesn’t read fanfiction on a regular basis, the impact this phenomenon has had on me is almost unbelievable. I’ve never felt like I’ve made as much of an impact as I have with this piece, and it’s even given me the courage to write more diverse romantic pairings in my original fiction. 

So, there is it: I am a lesbian fanfiction author, and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by it. If anything, writers should be happy to say they write stories for people who don’t necessarily have stories written about people like them. 

Contact Staff Reporter Carlyn Greenwald here and follow her on Twitter here.