Until recently, I used to turn up my nose at the idea of reading or writing fanfiction. However, having recently found my way to pages of fanfiction devoted to the characters of Disney’s , Gravity Falls, I find that I must rethink my old prejudices.

I had expected a lot of puerile, self-indulgent, pornographic slop, but that is not what I found at all. Or at least, not all that I found. There was genuinely a fair amount of truly good writing. Indeed, there were several turns of phrase that impressed me almost to the point of jealousy.

What I saw was that there are people who, not seeing the story they want to read, take up pen and ink, and write it themselves. And there were people who were unwilling to see a favorite story to end, and so took it upon themselves to continue the adventures of beloved characters. And really; working with previously established characters and settings is no different than what professional writers who work on television series and movie franchises do. It also struck me that writing fanfiction is excellent practice for any aspiring author.

Now, if anyone reads my blog with any regularity, they just might have read one or two reviews of a “porn and plot” story called Alfie, by InCase. So you should know that porn is not a genre that I necessarily shy away from. Of course, I do look for stories that have good writing; I am not a huge fan of plain old smut for its own sake—though I certainly wouldn’t presume to judge anyone else who is.

So, one day, as I was surfing around, looking for a new story or comic to read, I came across a porn comic about the misadventures of the characters of the cartoon Gravity Falls. While there were a few elements I found personally distasteful, the characters were extremely well written, the story coherent, and while the porn was the point, the character interactions were so well done, I became interested in the source material. I believe it was Bawdy Falls by Incognitymous.

Eventually, I discovered the cartoon online and watched the first season, in addition to various clips from other seasons. It really was a great show—for a kids’ show, it dealt with surprisingly mature themes and wonderfully adventurous plotlines. And it had the kind of humor that adults could appreciate while watching with the kids. Having grown up with classic Looney Toons, and the Fleischer Brothers’ Studios, the modern style of cartoon design and animation was not entirely to my taste, but the stories were simply wonderful.

I should note here that I am not of that coterie who insist that cartoons are exclusively for children. The medium doesn’t matter to me so much as the spinning of a good story. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman showed me that comics and cartoons could have their place in the world of Literature (with a capital “L”).

At that point, thinking about the characters and their relationships in the porn comic, and having seen their source, I better understood the desire to continue the story of Gravity Falls into the adulthoods of the protagonists. “Come on! Come on! What happens next?!” And that led me to look at the fanfiction—to see the people who loved the story and loved the characters, and who were unwilling to let the story end.

As I noted earlier, there will always be buckets of drivel in this environment; but there will also be many nuggets of gold if you persist, and know where to look. And honestly, I do a grave disservice to those authors by calling the bulk of their work “drivel.” It is merely practice. Fanfiction is a place for aspiring writers and authors to practice, and hone their skills. It is a writer’s training ground, and should be respected as such.

In fact, I now wish I had spent time sharpening my skills in such a place before going on to publish my own books.

And now, the heffalump in the room; PORN. I had thought that most of the people who go looking at fanfiction are actually looking for porn. –Or am I thinking of “slash fiction?” I’m not really up on the trends of the younger crowd these days.

Anyway, there’s porn, and then there’s Porn. There is salacious material out there for the dedicated masturbator of all description and for all kinks. And there is also the material in which the depictions of sex push the plot forward, or serve to facilitate the growth and development of the characters. Or, perhaps merely to give characters we’ve come to know and love some, well, love. I tend to look at it rather like Erotic vs. Agape nudes in classical art.

Most humans are interested in sex. And good thing, too; without that drive, our species would come to rather an abrupt end. And there is also evidence that sex releases hormones and happy brain chemicals that foster emotional bonds between many couples. It’s that physical and emotional intimacy that appeals to me personally. And pornography is only another kind of fantasy, whether one of simple lust, or one of love.

I think that people’s interest in their favorite fictional characters often extends to those characters’ sex lives. People want to see them happy and fulfilled in an intimate relationship, receiving the pleasure that they themselves might want themselves, and that they think their beloved characters deserve.

We become invested in the characters we love, and their relationships with each other, and we have the desire to know all about them, even their most intimate thoughts and feelings. And some of us do more than our share of vicarious living through those characters

You know? Maybe I’m confusing porn with romanticism? Or maybe it’s a combination of romantic and pornographic storytelling? Or maybe…just maybe…

I should stop right here.

(And by the way, that “I’m too old for you” bullshit was only Wendy avoiding her real feelings for Dipper, and she really does love him and he loves her and they’re gonna get married and have kids who are going to be super scientist-lumberjacks solving paranormal forest crimes and even though they’re gonna have to work hard on their relationship like any other couple they are totally going to have a long and happy life together and Mabel is gonna be an awesome aunt and questionable influence on Wendy and Dipper’s kids and Grunkles Stan and Ford are going to homeschool the kids, and Manly Dan will be their, like, phys. ed. coach, and…and…and…and….)