“People mostly write and read very character driven, specific ship focused fic, because what most people want out of fanfiction is to focus on the romance between characters they’re not getting in canon so they can soak in the vibes.”
Yes, absolutely. And thank hell for all the authors who write character-driven, ship focused fic for us to soak in the vibes to.
But also…
thank hell for all the authors who write angst, whump, and hurt no comfort, for us to luxuriate in blorbo’s hurt and pain and cry or cackle.
thank hell for all the authors who write cheating, love triangles and affairs for us to consume large quantities of popcorn to and yell ‘oh no, they didn’t’.
thank hell for all the authors who write case fic, mission fic, and intricate, plot-driven stories to replicate the feel of canon, when canon has stopped or gone wrong.
thank hell for all the authors who write ‘fix it’ fics when canon has betrayed us with bad vibes, plot holes and deaths.
thank hell for all the authors who write poly ships when what we need is just for everyone to get along and screw instead of screw up.
thank hell for all the authors who write gen fic when we’re not interested in romance.
thank hell for all the authors in fandom, and all the wonderful, different kinds of fanfiction they write for us.
Thank the writers who write that thing that makes me pause and realize I didn’t know I needed that in my life.
and because of how continuity works (or doesn’t) on the Disc, it is simultaneously true that Vetinari is the way he is because of Vimes’ influence and that he was already like that before Vimes ever time-traveled
because the Vimes who time-traveled is a product of a universe where John Keel was the actual John Keel and Vetinari was who Vetinari is, without John Keel having been Vimes, and yet the Vetinari who is clearly has the John Keel who was Vimes as a formative influence
which serves to 1) be really existentially distressing if you think about it too hard and 2) reinforce the theme of how all the little details of history matter so much but even the ones that ‘make a difference’ don’t necessarily actually make any difference.
Present Vetinari, observing a hijink: this better not have awakened anything in me
