--- title: How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction description: If you keep up with the news, you've been reading Washington, D.C. fan fiction for years. canonical: https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-21T18:21:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:20.279Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction og:description: A year of magical thinking. og:url: https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47984c5fd31ee5a6/69888bd52dce01298e9e846f/u-s-capitol-night-washingon-dc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3072 og:image:height: 1728 og:image:alt: U.S. Capitol at Night og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction twitter:description: A year of magical thinking. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47984c5fd31ee5a6/69888bd52dce01298e9e846f/u-s-capitol-night-washingon-dc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1286e26e-ef18-404d-a371-4119c548700a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | Subscribers | Open rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | 540,000 | 45.6% | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 430,000 | 50.7% | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | 240,000 | 54.1% | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 40,000 | 31.7% | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | 85,000 | 37.0% | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | 40,000 | 34.2% | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | 25,000 | 28.6% | Source: TIME, August 2026. Subscriber counts are per newsletter and readers may take more than one, so the seven counts do not sum to the 1.1 million+ unique newsletter audience. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Highest open rate | 54.1%, Health Matters | TIME, August 2026 | | Largest list | 540,000, The Brief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1286e26e-ef18-404d-a371-4119c548700a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=1286e26e-ef18-404d-a371-4119c548700a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 21, 2016 6:21 PM UTC  U.S. Capitol at Night U.S. Capitol at Night Fuse/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 21, 2016 6:21 PM UTC Fan fiction went mainstream in 2012\. That was the year that a _Twilight_ fan’s stories about Edward and Bella were given new names to avoid copyright issues and published as the immensely popular _Fifty Shades of Grey_. Washington, D.C. fan fiction is about to have a similar breakout year. Like its counterparts in literature, D.C. fanfic uses a familiar cast of characters (Donald Trump, John Kasich, Paul Ryan) and traditional settings (swing states, the Electoral College, the House of Representatives) to create whole new plots that often stretch plausibility. Instead of online fan forums, though, it’s shared in newspapers and talk shows. If you keep up with the news, you’ve been reading D.C. fanfic for years. It’s there in the newspaper columnist’s about “the speech that I would give as president.” Or on the Sunday show when the pundit explains how a losing candidate could turn everything around with a new tax policy. Or on Twitter when the political journalist throws out some crazy constitutional scenario. (Here are just a few examples: [Al Gore should run for president](http://www.vox.com/2015/3/16/8220537/al-gore-president-2016). [Barack Obama should be Hillary Clinton’s running mate](https://newrepublic.com/article/121533/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-vice-president). [Ben Carson can win the presidency](http://theweek.com/articles/578818/how-ben-carson-win-presidency). [Obama should nominate Elizabeth Warren to the Supreme Court](http://www.slate.com/articles/news%5Fand%5Fpolitics/jurisprudence/2016/02/the%5Fcase%5Ffor%5Fnominating%5Felizabeth%5Fwarren%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fsupreme%5Fcourt.html). [Marco Rubio should pick John Kasich as his running mate](http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/the-case-for-rubio-kasich/?%5Fr=1). [Paul Ryan could become the Republican nominee at a contested convention](http://www.rollcall.com/hawkings/hill-solution-gop-ends-brokered-convention/).) But in 2016, it’s getting harder to tell the fanfic from the sober analysis. After all, even the most ardent fanfic aficionados would not have penned a scenario where a reality TV star becomes the Republican front-runner as a contested convention becomes a major possibility. That said, there have been some outlandish storylines floated over the past few months, and not just from pundits. In many cases, that amounted to what psychologists call “magical thinking.” After all, it’s one thing for a pundit to throw around an outlandish scenario. It’s another thing entirely to spend time and money trying to make it happen. Here’s a small selection: • Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, best known for his efforts on gun control and soda taxes, [could run a successful third-party campaign](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/why-michael-bloomberg-didnt-run-220408) for president as a centrist against two other New Yorkers. • House Speaker Paul Ryan could be [drafted into running for president](http://time.com/4263238/paul-ryan-presidential-nomination-contested-convention/) by a million-dollar effort led by the [former ambassador to Finland](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/11/committee-to-draft-paul-ryan-for-president-shuts-down/) and a couple of political consultants based in New York. • Ohio Gov. John Kasich [could win the Republican nomination](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/john-kasich-contested-convention-insiders-220946) at a contested convention despite coming in a distant third in delegates and only winning his home state in the primary so far. • Real estate mogul Donald Trump, who [began his campaign](http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/) by arguing that many Mexican immigrants are rapists and [is viewed unfavorably by eight in 10 Hispanic voters](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2016/02/25/poll-trumps-negatives-among-hispanics-rise-worst-in-gop-field/), [could win the Latino vote](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-i-will-win-latino-vote-n388696) in November. • Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose two presidential campaigns ended ignominiously, or former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who is being treated for cancer, [could run as a third-party candidate.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party.html?hp=&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT%5Fnav=top-news&login=email) These scenarios are all possible, in the sense that your basketball coach tells you that anything is possible when your team is losing by 50 points at halftime. And in a topsy turvy year where a two-term swing-state governor with $100 million to burn flames out before a real-estate-mogul-turned-reality-TV star, it’s tempting to think that anything can happen. But while fanfic might sell well, D.C. fanfic is almost certainly still just poorly written fiction—even in a year like this one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/"},"headline":"How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction","datePublished":"2016-03-21T18:21:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:20.279Z","description":"If you keep up with the news, you've been reading Washington, D.C. fan fiction for years.","url":"https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Barack Obama","Sen. Marco Rubio","Paul Ryan","Donald Trump","john kasich","Al Gore","elizabeth warren","Dr. Benjamin S. Carson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47984c5fd31ee5a6/69888bd52dce01298e9e846f/u-s-capitol-night-washingon-dc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47984c5fd31ee5a6/69888bd52dce01298e9e846f/u-s-capitol-night-washingon-dc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Capitol at Night","caption":"U.S. Capitol at Night","creditText":"Fuse/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4265924/washington-dc-fan-fiction-fanfic-pundits-predictions/","name":"How Washington, D.C., Became the Capital of Fan Fiction"}}]}] ```