OK, CC. Now I
know that we are really twins separated at birth!
For me it's that I'm devoted to Superman. And there is no nice way to say that. Absolutely no way to say that and sound cool. And harder still for a grown woman. I know for certain I am the only mom in the carpool line who kills the time by studying 'the Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel.' And while it isn't in a plain brown wrapper- I am not holding it up for the world to see!
When I found L&C fanfic, and it hasn't been that long ago, I was reading it on the sly. Telling myself I was just curious, and that was all. Whenever my husband would walk through the room, I would close it all down, like it was porn, or something. He was the first one who knew, and he still didn't *know.*
For me, it's creeping around the Graphic Novels aisle at Barnes and Noble, almost always the only female and definitely the only mother-ish looking person perusing the Superman books <g>. This summer, when I bought an "Unofficial Guide to Smallville" paperback, I had to wait until my mom and aunt, whom I was shopping with, were not anywhere near the vicinity when I checked out at the cash stand!
Same thing with my husband - even to this day. Like I said, he doesn't understand any kind of obsession, so I do sometimes feel like I'm looking at verbotin websites.
But I really do agree with Kae - any kind of writing involves putting much of your inner-self out there, and when you are ready to show it to others, you need to be pretty certain they are going to accept you and what you've written. Not that they will love it or have no positive feedback, but at least within the fandom, you don't have to explain your subject matter.
Great topic - perhaps we need to start some kind of LnC Anonymous support group!
L.
