For your reading pleasure

As should be eminently clear by now, my introduction to fanfiction came about through the pleasure I took in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That has stuck with me for over eighteen years by now, and will doubtless last for quite a while to come. And I’ve enjoyed stories in other fandoms, especially since so many of the Buffyfic writers I followed were less single-minded than I am in their areas of interest, even while my primary allegiance remained fixed on the Sunnydale crew.

My first introduction to non-Buffy fanfic — the first I remember, anyway, and certainly the first I remember enjoying — was “Banging Your Head Against a Red-Haired Brick Wall” (X-Files) by Blair Provence. There have been other really good ones over the years; excellent examples include marylane23’s “Hollywood Makeover” (Veronica Mars) and astolat’s “Queen of Spades” (Casino Royale). Those are single-shots, though, and remembered pleasures, not anything to do with anything that’s still going on …

An exception is Chris Dee’s Cat Tales, a collection of Batman/Catwoman stories. The first one was done in 2001, I first discovered their existence in 2005 (or maybe early ’06), and I’ve been following them since. I won’t say Dee is the ideal ficcer; her depiction of action (e.g., fight scenes) is perfunctory when she bothers at all. The intricacies of emotion in two striking people feeling their way through the pitfalls of a relationship with one another, however, is an unending treat. Her most recent story took so long to complete, and went so long with no evident sign of follow-up, that I was afraid she had run through everything she had to say. (It happens to the best of us. I honestly figured I myself would have been over the urge by now.) Today, however, I checked the site, and a new tale has begun. I heartily recommend that anyone who enjoys Batmania — or even just good, fun writing — go there and start with the first story, then follow your heart.

It’s certainly been worth it for me.