Conclusions

Analysis of the data collected from the ACOTAR fandom has revealed several insights as to how canon influences fandom. Based on a minor character’s popularity over main ones, it was found that characters without a canonical ending lead to popularity in fanfiction due to creators having freedom to write about the character in the way they want and in the relationships they want with the possibility that it could still be canonical. This was supported by Azriels position on the Gephi web as he was the most popular in relationships, but also had the largest number of connections on the web. The Azriel specific timeline also supported this theory by revealing a correlation between source content release and Azriel’s popularity over the main character Feyre. It is an example of readers receiving small bits of information about Azriel with the release of each novel, but there is still enough mystery around him that he is being written about more than the main characters of any of these novels. More research is needed to be certain that the lack of canonical ending for his character caused Azriel's popularity in the fandom, but there is strong evidence to support that it is possible. In the future, when the book is released where Azriel is the main character, it would be expected that his popularity would peak for a short time before dwindling to the same level as the other characters with a written canonical ending.

It was also found that the A Court of Thorns and Roses fandom is more canonical than most with a very small number of Alternate Universe fics in comparison to the popularity of the tag on AO3. This supports the idea that canonical stories are more popular in some fandoms due to their familiarity to the reader and the desire to read more content similar to the novels. The close reading example also provides evidence to support this theory as the most popular fanfic in the fandom is a point of view switch for the entire second book. The comments also revealed what readers of the fandom are looking for as seen by the praise of canonicity and the comfort readers found in the familiarity with the content of this fic.

These two principles that a minor character can rise in popularity due to the lack of a canonical ending and that canonical stories are more popular in some fandoms due to their comforting role to the reader, should be further analyzed within other fandoms and as the ACOTAR series continues to grow. They are not proved to be certainly true, but there is compelling evidence of their truth in the ACOTAR fandom alone. It was shown that canon, or the lack of a canonical ending does influence what and who fanfiction authors are writing about. If these principles were discovered to be true in other fandoms, it would reveal more about how canon influences fanworks. It could also be used to predict what aspects are needed in a fic to make it popular in a fandom. Considering these two principles in the context of the practice of writing fanfiction as a whole might allow for a better understanding of what type of content readers and fanfiction authors are creating and reading as canon continues to develop.