Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2020: Week 7
On June 14, 2010, gatorgrrrl posted a story called Caught Between the Earth and Sky to the Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang Challenge! Livejournal community. The fanfic quickly became notorious as "The J2 Haiti Fic" because it used the real world event of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and its aftermath as a premise. The story is an Alternate Universe fanfiction centering on J2, the popular real-person slash pairing of actors Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki from the show Supernatural.
As is the practice for the challenge, the community post linked to a story Master Post on the author's Livejournal, and to an art post on the artist's journal. The art manips for the story were created by mementis.
Discussion about the story quickly spread in fandom beyond the community and J2/Supernatural RPF spaces. It received strong and widespread criticism for racism based on its characterizations and use of Haiti as a backdrop for a romance between white men, and ignited discussions around topics including white privilege, racial stereotyping and the portrayal of POC in fanworks, fandom racism, dogpiling and abuse, and whether intent matters when discussing the harmful impact of a fanwork.