Personal Style: Two Twenty One

I was inspired by this week's Theme Wednesday post to have a loose theme in all my outfits this week. For example, today there are a few little clues (or big ones, going off the title) that would give you a hint as to what this theme might be.

You know where this is going. I know you do.

I also wanted to dedicate this post to Megan Mae. One of the first times I wore the dress from today's post on the blog, she gave me the best compliment ever on it, and now every time I wear this dress I think of her. She gave me a similar compliment on last week's Theme Wednesday post, and I told her that she was getting a little ahead of herself because that would be this week's theme! (These are clues- either figure it out for yourself or wait until Wednesday to be surprised!)

Dress: Handmade/Me, Docs: Customized, Jacket: DOTS, Scarf/Vanity Fair

Now, on to business.

Recently, I was directed by a friend to a fan website for a TV show that I have been obsessed with. I think this friend was trying to cheer me up (January has been a hard month) so she thought I would like this site. The site was super fun and I loved it, and through it found another website dedicated to fan fiction.

If you don't know, fan fiction are stories fans write about fictional characters (usually books, TV, movies, or comics). A lot of these do have somewhat erotic themes and usually involve what is known as slash (two male characters being together). So I was on tumblr and someone reblogged a quote where someone blamed slash fan fiction and fan girls for a show getting cancelled (which, it actually hadn't been anyway). I got really irritated. It also didn't help that the site I'd just found had free ePub downloads of some of the stories and when my boyfriend asked why I was practically glued to my nook, and I told him, he laughed at me. He thought I should be reading "real books" instead of fan stories about TV shows that would never have any real impact on the plot. But these are real books. Not all of them. Some of them are plotless  and those are my least favorite, but some of these are really good and if they weren't about characters own by someone else, I would very definitely buy some of them.

So between my boyfriend teasing me, and that stranger's quote on the internet, I got a little defensive about my current obsession with fan fictions. You see, when I was in my early teens, I was addicted to fan fiction. I loved to read it, but I also wrote a lot of it. I loved to think of stories based on characters from my favorite TV shows and movies - Dark Shadows, The Thirteenth Year, The Tenth Kingdom. Fan fiction was a way I kept myself entertained and really practiced my writing skills. And this is where fan fiction became important to me-

Fan fiction is kind of a freedom for a lot of writers. There is no pressure- these aren't your characters, so they can say and do anything you want them to because you don't own them. Also, fan fiction is a way of inserting yourself into a story and creating your own adventure with characters you know and love. And those two freedoms, and realizing that those freedoms are what I liked about fanfiction, helped me as a writer. Once I realized those two things, I started using them in my own work. Once I realized I really could write anything, even write myself into the story if I wanted to, I think it opened something for me. So fanfics, while they aren't for everyone and I understand that, are actually really good writing exercises. And they help people. And they connect people, too.

I just had to get that out. I've been holding it in for a few weeks now, ever since I saw that comment. I no longer write fanfics- I'm working on that series I was talking about- but I still read it sometimes. And I know other people who read it, too. And it hurts when people say that those stories aren't "real" or aren't "good" just because it's someone writing a story about a TV show. Some of those stories are wonderful, obviously have been worked hard on, and just like any book can take you on an adventure. So I think people should back off the anti-fanfic thing. Also, what is the harm? (Don't say "Fifty Shades of Gray" because I'm pretending that isn't real.)

On a lighter note, take a look at my locket from the pictures above:

It's a vintage Estee Lauder locket. I had to wash the gross make up out of it. $2.50 at the Punk Rock Flea Market! I know I showed you my collection of vintage photos- one day I'll need to show you my locket collection. I have a ton and I love lockets, so I'm always buying more.

You could say I AM LOCKED.

Have you figured it out yet? ;-) See you tomorrow for Inspiration Tuesday which has NOTHING to do with this week's theme.