the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be a part of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.
Yep. I’m the mom in her 40s that writes through the night with little bodies pressed in close, when the rest of the house is fast asleep. I brainstorm and/or write at the playground while the kids run and play, while waiting in the car in pick up line, at the library during storytime, in the shower, while making dinner, on walks, at the grocery store… it never stops.
I think it’s funny and sad when a younger person learns about how many older folks are in the same fandom spaces as them. Funny because they’re so innocently taken aback by it, and sad because they thought that there was some magical age where they’d have to ‘grow up’ and couldn’t participate anymore.
You don’t have to give it up.
You can still love your shows, your ships, and the stories. You don’t have to give any of it up unless you want to let it go.
