#fanfic isn't always about FIXING things it's about the media being fanfic'ed having BREATHING ROOM for the characters

[mittensmorgul]

YES. THIS.

Supernatural was great at leaving us fanfiction gaps and understanding that the audience only saw about 42 minutes a week, about 17 hours a YEAR of these guys lives. they deliberately left us spaces to remember the 364 days a year of their lives that we weren't shown. They don't stop existing in those gaps to pick up the story again right where it left off. A good canon for transformative works is one that references the gaps without trying to fill them in for us. THOSE are the spaces where fanfic can truly flourish.

writing out of spite to fix canon atrocities will only get you so far with fanfic. a robust fanfic economy flourishes in the spaces between The Plot.

John Rogers, co-creator + executive producer: "Look, if we told you Eliot's entire timeline or Nate's entire timeline, you wouldn’t be able to have then have enough flexibility to fold that timeline in with Supernatural in your fanfics because they'd be no space for that. The space we leave is the space for you to write your slash! That's super important for us to do! We do that for you, people! The fans appreciate the empty space we leave so you can write your Buffy, Supernatural, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Leverage crossovers."

Geoffrey Thorne, co-producer + writer of this episode: "But don't do any Doctor Who ones because…"

John: "You're writing those."

Geoffrey: "Just don't do it."

Chris Downey, co-creator + executive producer: "You've staked those out?"

John: "He's staked those out."

— Leverage 10 Podcast: 512 The White Rabbit Job

*Kung Fu Monkey blog: LEVERAGE #205 "The Three Days of the Hunter Job" Post-game (August 24, 2009) for the original "I think fanfic is the sign of a healthy show" short essay