Confused About Tumblr

My first ever fanfic, based on the concept for this precious artwork by @stardustasincocaine and written for the 2023 @carryon-reverse-bang, is now live! It's a 5+1 of sorts, and all (short) chapters are live now.

➡️ Known on AO3 ⬅️

I had never read any fanfiction prior to the gap between Wayward Son and Any Way the Wind Blows (that cliffhanger took me by complete surprise and I NEEDED something to tide me over). Before long I also joined the Carry On Discord. I've continued being involved with the fandom since.

I'm now writing my first fanfiction (for CORB), and because I want it to be canon compliant, I need (want, of course, too!) to reread canon for the first time in a couple years. I was very nervous about what my reading experience would be like after a steady years-long diet of fandom. I've never experienced a book this way before! I have been deep in the world of a book before, but only in my own head, guarding my imaginings like a dragon's hoard, never exploring with other people.

To my great pleasure, I'm finding that fandom has dramatically elevated my canon reading experience. I'm reading much more slowly, pondering sentences, cherishing them. I'm getting deeply into each character's head in a way I hadn't before reading many fanfics that explored different perspectives and possibilities with a variety of writing styles. I'm thinking about how people who write metas on Tumblr would interpret a tiny detail. I'm imagining events with far more vivid detail thanks to so much exposure to incredible fanart.

Lines that I flew right past previously are hitting me so hard now: Simon's nightmares about the dragon he killed burning up from the inside. How he says you need to ease into something good so the shock of it doesn't overwhelm you. Penny's description of Simon when she sees him again.