Laugh hard, run fast. Be kind.

Adam Scott recreates the iconic “Do you think a depressed person could make this?” meme from Parks and Recreation with a Mark S(cout) figurine from Severance | August 16, 2025

And with the retirement of my literary persona, I should like to formally introduce myself. Previous wallflower, current columnist, observer, wielder of a quill. Nobody unique, and yet, I have my moments. And hopefully, dear reader, you will stay on to enjoy them with me as we begin this next part of our journey.

Yours Truly, Penelope Bridgerton.

Okay, we’re about to get real deep here. Ready?

This immediately made me think of that Doctor Who quote, “Never trust a hug. It’s just a way to hide your face.” 

Jesper often gets used as the comic relief and uses humor to deflect quite a bit. Even here, he makes a joke about “of course you’ll miss me.” He wants to let Inej know that it’s okay she’s leaving, that she doesn’t have to worry about him or Kaz, he’ll take care of them. 

But the second she can’t see him, his face betrays him. And the second she leaves, he starts to sob. Quietly, so she won’t hear and turn back. Because he knows that this is something she needs to do, and he knows how much it will hurt her to see how much it’s hurting him. It so beautifully portrays their relationship because yes, he’s Inej’s family, but she’s his too. 

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.