I remember the fic that turned me...

The year was 1998, I was 19 years old, and obsessed with Dawson's Creek. My first laptop--a little Toshiba for school--was as heavy as a brick. Instead of schlepping it to class or lugging it around the city, it stayed in my tiny apartment, on my bed. On a 56k modem connection, I surfed the (then-novel) internet with fascination, until one day, I found "Popcorn".

"Popcorn", by Kate Andrews, was the gold standard of Dawson's Creek fanfic. It had solid writing, smart dialog, and a simple, but engaging, plot. It successfully juggled love triangles, UST, and smut. It was well-portioned, each chapter giving enough to both satisfy and entice. Most importantly, it gave the hearts of the characters deserving redemption where the real show jumped the shark.

In the ten years that followed, I chased that first high through the only shows that held my interest. The West Wing gave me masterpieces by Candle Beck and Luna. Prison Break gave delicious naughties by Nika and Claire de Lune.

In February, a friend recommended The Twilight Series the night before I headed out on a month-long vacation. On her recommendation, I picked up Twilight at SFO. I was already so into it by the time I landed in Detroit, that I picked up New Moon at DTW. By the time my plane landed in Amsterdam some hours later, I was halfway through Twilight and knew I would blaze through New Moon. I paid a pretty Euro at AMS to own Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I went on to finish all four in two weeks' time.

I know I'm not the only one who hated Stephenie Meyer's endings. IMO, the books jumped the shark somewhere during New Moon. After the lame honeymoon on Isle Esme and the vampire battle that didn't happen in Breaking Dawn, I ran--not walked--to find the fanfic.

So now I'm back to feeding my habit, my addiction strengthened by the quality of the drug. I invite you who are as far gone as I am to share your funnies, your recs, and tales of shameless addiction!

Green Puma (The Original Fic Fiend)