hidden talents
I currently have exactly two real-life friends who know about my addiction to Twilight fanfiction. One of those friends refuses to read Twilight but reads fic for other fandoms; the other friend is who got me into Twilight but is a 3rd grade teacher and so doesn't have any time for fanfic reading right now.
Other than the two of them? It's my dirty little secret.
Over the years, I've had more friends who read and write fanfic. One of my favorite fandom memories was when I was watching the third Harry Potter movie in the dorm room of a friend, and as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin embraced for the first time in so long in the Shack, I couldn't help but let out an excited, "I ship them." She freaked-- turns out, she and another friend ran a moderately popular SB/RL website. (In fact, I think all of the friends with whom I've discovered a mutual love of fanfiction turned out to be SB/RL shippers.)
It's like a secret religion, like we're a persecuted race, hiding and whispering. There should be some kind of fanfiction shibboleth, some way to let others know that you, too, are an addict.
I'm bringing this up because tonight I had this conversation with my roommate, while watching Grey's Anatomy:
ROOMMATE: Izzie should tell Derek, who can't tell Meredith because of doctor/patient confidentiality. Then Meredith should get angry and break up with him and he should leave the show. Then she should follow him off. Then it can just be Little Grey's Anatomy.
ME: For serious.
ROOMMATE: We should write our own episode. Like, "this is how it should be, writers."
ME: Dude, that's called fanfiction.
ROOMMATE: No, that's how TV writers get work-- they write mock episodes of shows they want to work on.
ME: Well, it's also called fanfiction, and people do it on the internet every day.
ROOMMATE: Oh. Really? That's kind of sad.
It's sad when we do it for free, for fun, but it's not when TV writers do it for their portfolio? Okay, I get the difference. And I have a hard time resenting the implicaiton that reading and writing fanfiction is a little bit sad-- if I wasn't at least a little ashamed, wouldn't I have told her that I take part in it? But still. Hush, Roommate. Don't spoil my fun.
But seriously. We need a shibboleth.
Other than the two of them? It's my dirty little secret.
Over the years, I've had more friends who read and write fanfic. One of my favorite fandom memories was when I was watching the third Harry Potter movie in the dorm room of a friend, and as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin embraced for the first time in so long in the Shack, I couldn't help but let out an excited, "I ship them." She freaked-- turns out, she and another friend ran a moderately popular SB/RL website. (In fact, I think all of the friends with whom I've discovered a mutual love of fanfiction turned out to be SB/RL shippers.)
It's like a secret religion, like we're a persecuted race, hiding and whispering. There should be some kind of fanfiction shibboleth, some way to let others know that you, too, are an addict.
I'm bringing this up because tonight I had this conversation with my roommate, while watching Grey's Anatomy:
ROOMMATE: Izzie should tell Derek, who can't tell Meredith because of doctor/patient confidentiality. Then Meredith should get angry and break up with him and he should leave the show. Then she should follow him off. Then it can just be Little Grey's Anatomy.
ME: For serious.
ROOMMATE: We should write our own episode. Like, "this is how it should be, writers."
ME: Dude, that's called fanfiction.
ROOMMATE: No, that's how TV writers get work-- they write mock episodes of shows they want to work on.
ME: Well, it's also called fanfiction, and people do it on the internet every day.
ROOMMATE: Oh. Really? That's kind of sad.
It's sad when we do it for free, for fun, but it's not when TV writers do it for their portfolio? Okay, I get the difference. And I have a hard time resenting the implicaiton that reading and writing fanfiction is a little bit sad-- if I wasn't at least a little ashamed, wouldn't I have told her that I take part in it? But still. Hush, Roommate. Don't spoil my fun.
But seriously. We need a shibboleth.