lou 🍂

i write sometimes — stvrchaser

[stvrchaserr]

every once in a while i become obsessed with something new and make sure to bother everyone about it. this is one of those moments.

[veeaziel]

every day i am percieved™️

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.

[attackofjak]

I feel understood 🥰

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

a bunch of people have reblogged this with the default “i feel called out” reaction….and i know when we say that we mean it tongue-in-cheek….but this comment sorta blew my mind & shifted my perspective up and to the left a little thank you♥

[zadabug98]

The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3

[stvrchaserr]

it’s so refreshing to find people who have so much passion for what they do — people who always try their best even when they don’t need to. thanks for showing me that there’s still some things worth enjoying.

[stvrchaserr]

ARE MY FEELINGS ROMANTIC OR PLATONIC??

[torydarixs]

i've only known jack wolfe for 30 minutes but if anything happens to him, i'll kill everyone and then myself

[stvrchaserr]

i’m so glad so many people are FINALLY getting into eternals bc my soul literally ascended from my body the first time i watched that film in theaters and it deserves all the appreciation

[divineandmajesticinone]

Barry Keoghan as Druig ETERNALS (2021) | dir. Chloé Zhao

[sakura-haruka]

#Don’t touch her boyfriend

[stvrchaserr]

most satisfying moment in cinematic history if you ask me

[amazingspidermans]

me and who 

[ladybug-ladybug-flyawayhome-dea]

We love her, tho

[hadleyfrasergender]

‘i can fix her’ boyfriend and ‘i can make him worse’ girlfriend

[friendly-neighborhood-wizard]

matt murdock’s secret identity is being held together by like three rubber bands and a broken paperclip at this point

[imadetheline]

Matt Murdock and friends + text posts (and other stuff) pt7 (masterlist)

[stvrchaserr]

new year, new me… except nothing much has changed. i still severely suffer from my hyperfixations. on that note, just discovered matt murdock and now he’s the center of my universe

[stvrchaserr]

watched encanto this morning and, let me tell you, i have never cried so hard over an animated film. that shit had me bawling my eyes out and projecting generational trauma within the first thirty minutes (by which I’d been crying for ten minutes straight)

[stvrchaserr]

regulus black???

[stvrchaserr]

the shawn hunter, fred weasley, sirius black pipeline