Bodice buster - An erotico-romantic novel or novella based on a historical plot

I want to talk about something that I feel is..at the same time, serious and silly. Fanfiction.

I remember, as a small child, first exploring and delving into the internets. I discovered a top ten list about fanfic. One of the list said, if there is a fandom, there is a fanfiction out there somewhere. Oh how true it turns out to be.

I also remember about eight months ago, a large group of friends (all whom have since moved south) and I went to trivia. During the scatter of drink ordering and pulling enough tables together a friend who had just recently found herself with a lot more time on her hands steals my notebook. The one I use to write down answers so other teams won't hear me trying to whisper the correct answers. She tears a page out of it and writes me a note, it reads: "I spent the whole afternoon reading Joker/Harley Quinn slash fic. TELL NO ONE." Which I guess I am doing now, but I never said who it was. So the secret remains safe.

I can't pinpoint when I started doing this. Reading fanfiction. I'm sure it began as a joke. A way to have a laugh at 3AM when I was fighting my endless battle with insomnia. It only became serious when I suddenly found myself out of college and with a lot more time on my hands. It only became serious when I started a favorites folder.

First off, let me say there is good fanfic and fucking horrible fanfic. Once you weed out the trash though I must say it can be quite enjoyable to read. In most cases (for me) it is a wonderful way to continue on a story that may have been ended to abruptly for me. Firefly is a great example. One season. We got one season and an awesome movie. But Kaylee ends up with Simon? I hated Kaylee and Simon together. It's so Pretty in Pink. I wanted more. I wanted different. I found it. You name it, it's out there. Current television shows. Cancelled ones. Books. Movies. There are even stories involving Greek Gods for crying out loud.

I am a child of instant gratification. I had to go out and buy LOST on dvd when my netflix wouldn't show up for another day because I had to know what happened on that island NOW. I love sitting through four and a half seasons of Moonlighting 'will they won't they' tension. But every now and then I get an itch. I love to get a different take on it, reading 'stolen moments' as they call them.

These things are my modern day bodice buster trashy romance novel. Free and a great way to kill time when I'm by myself in a hotel room and there isn't any good TV on.