This is not a particularly thoughtful post, but it's very sincere

[rusty_halo]

So, I'm sitting here at work, catching up on what I missed over the weekend, and I'm thinking about what I'm going to do tonight. I'm going to stop at Angelica's (yummy vegan restaurant) for takeout, and then I'm going to curl up in front of my computer and catch up on fic. This just strikes me as such a ... satisfying? pleasant? perfect? ... way to spend an evening.

And it occurs to me how very much I love fanfic. I am so glad that I discovered it. I'm the kind of person who cries when she finishes reading a book, not because the story is sad, but because it's over. When I read something, I get so utterly immersed in that world and I *hate* to leave it. But with fanfic, it's never really over. There's always more, an endless supply; there is no end, just a million alternate universes that span into infinity. It's like The Neverending Story come to life. (Okay, I get that there's a finite end somewhere, that theoretically it's possible to collect every fanfic involving Spike and that would be it, but realistically there's no way one person could ever do that, and even if you did there would be more coming every day.)

I love reading other people's interpretations of the characters and situations. I love seeing all these other ways that the story *could* have gone. I don't buy that there is One True Version of the story; it's all fiction and every person's imagined version is just as real as the "official" version to me.

I love that there are so many amazingly talented writers in the fanfic world. I love that, at its best, it's a community of shared ideas and communication, and that it's a community of people who are so passionately inspired by the subject that they write without any expectation of compensation. I love that it's a community of writers who are constantly working to improve their skills and to learn more about their craft, and that writers are encouraged to try new things, explore new ideas, expand their skills, reach new heights. I love that it's a community where people support each other and help improve each other's work. And I love that it's a community where you can build real, meaningful relationships that endure way beyond the world of fandom.

I was just sitting here thinking about this and I'm in awe over how cool it is.

Comments

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

If I sit down to think about the net and everything it's done for and to the world, I have this tendency to go 'wow' and then babble. Making friends with people I would have had no chance, ever, of knowing, is one of the nicest benefits.

It _is_ cool. We're lucky.

[dettiot.livejournal.com]

I so love fic. I've read more fic than real books over the last two years, and sometimes, I can't help feeling that the fanfic is better than the "real" stuff. Because there's nothing better than being able to immerse yourself in a world. With a "real" book, it's so finite; it only lasts for so long, and that's it. Whereas with fanfic, you finish one story, and then you can go read another. And another. And another . . .

I just love knowing that I can dive into this big wide world of fanfic, and I only have to come back when "reality" makes me.

[snoopygirll.livejournal.com]

Lovely thoughts and well put. My best: Damn fine place, glad to be here.

I love your site Laura. Always popping back there to check the latest stories. Always guaranteed something good.

I'll be round. :-)

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

I more or less just wanted to say "I completely agree." Honestly, for me, fanfic has more or less surpassed the show as my primary source of entertainment. Heck, I even suffer withdrawal when I can't read any! Fanfic rocks! And your site has been about the best thing to happen to Spike fanfic ever. So, yay you too!

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) Although I think that the best thing to happen to Spike fanfic is the fact that so many brilliant people are writing it (yourself included).

Fanfic has definitely surpassed the show for me. I talk about fic more than the show now, and I re-read fic more than I re-watch episodes (in fact, I don't think I've rewatched an episode since the end of "Beneath You").

To be honest, if it wasn't for fandom, I would have definitely stopped watching either after "As You Were" or after "Grave." Not even out of spite, but just because those episodes made me stop caring about the show. Riley's return made me ill, and then when Spike got the soul the story I loved (soulless Spike) was over. But then how could I stop watching when there was all this great fanfic and discussion and interesting people to talk to? I'm really in it for the fandom now, much more so than for the show.