Monday, April 11, 2011

Two fanfic writers collide...


Due to crazy circumstances involving my current extensive travels of the U.S., the opportunity arose that Push and I would be close enough in proximity that we might actually be able to meet face to face. We already knew each other's true identities (yeah, that's right, her real name isn't ShouldIGetOutandPush and my real name isn't Zyra, isn't that shocking?) so meeting in person wouldn't compromise already-previously-lost anonymity. The timing worked out, and this evening we finally got to talk face to face.


So, what is she really like in person? Two words: total bitch. Okay, that's not actually true. Not even remotely. While we had shared one awkward phone conversation mostly because I am terrible at talking on the phone, this, while a little weird at first, eventually had us falling into our usual e-mail conversation without all the hassle of typing. And no typing lol, just literally laughing out loud. While admittedly it is a bit strange to have these out loud conversations about Star Wars that we usually keep as a closeted secret from friends and family (except I totally talk about Star Wars with my brother and some of my cousins, though definitely not about the Han and Leia relationship) it was nice to be able to talk about it and meet the person behind the e-mails.


Of course there were initial jokes about whether or not one of us was really using this whole thing as a ruse to murder the other or take all their money. Or maybe one of us was really a perverted old man. But honestly, it seemed like an awful lot of trouble to have gone to before hand with such an elaborate ploy. There have to be easier ways to reel in a victim aside from trading e-mails about Han and Leia and writing chapters and chapters of stories about them in the hopes that maybe sometime in the near future you might be able to convince the other person to come close enough during a cross-country road trip so you can eat their liver and wear their flesh as a hat.


These meetings can be risky, as I'm sure some of you know. I've had people who on paper I thought I'd be best friends with and then in person? Not so much. My first college roommate was like that. We wrote letters to each other the summer before (yeah, pen, paper and stamps) and I swear I thought I'd found my new best friend. I think it took me thirty-seven seconds upon meeting her to realize that that was not going to turn out to be the case.


It turns out, we were both who we said we were. I think I came home with all of my credit cards and none of hers. She stopped at my hotel and we drove a mere half-mile to get something to eat and she said she wasn't sure if I'd actually get in the car with her. Maybe we're both naively trusting, but it seems to have worked out okay so far. And you can all now be jealous that we got to sit around and talk about Star Wars and our stories and what not. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I mean, I don't know why I should've expected anything else coming from the person who not only knows the nerdiest things about me, but the one who I probably e-mail more times per day on a daily basis than anyone else. For the record, we do both have other friends and other things in our lives, so please don't be worried about that! I think she said herself when we were talking about this sort of thing that yeah, we're weirdos. But we're functioning weirdos. There's a huge difference.


So fortunately that all worked out so we can continue to e-mail each other without the cloud hanging over our heads of, "I really didn't like her in person." Or at least that's how I'm coming away from it. She may have an entirely different opinion! In which case I figure I'll have a pretty empty e-mail box in the near future. The only downside is that the chances of us meeting up again are pretty darn slim. Normally we are at least 2000 miles and a time zone or two away from each other. But hey, who knows?


We also agreed that adding captions to Han and Leia pics in the blog posts is a fantastic idea to continue on each post. So have at it. And thanks for dinner :)


5 comments:

  1. Well that's cool you guys got a chance to meet up, and that neither one of you murdered each other. I can't imagine having an out loud Han and Leia conversation.

    And I've got that picture as my current desktop...no brilliant captions here though.

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  2. Wow! You two are brave. Not only for meeting in person but for saying things out loud that I don't think I ever could. But congrats on making it out unscathed.

    No witty captions here either. But why does Leia have that crazy look in her eye?

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  3. Well, so far you've only heard from one of us, so I guess as of right now it is entirely possible that Push is now a bloody corpse in the trunk of my car...

    Well, since we already knew the other one would understand, it's not so hard to say it out loud. Although honestly it is a bit weird at first to talk about Star Wars with another grown woman for the first time I think ever. I probably talked about it with school friends, but certainly not to this degree! It would've really sucked if I had decided after I didn't like her. It'd be hard to stop e-mailing now.

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  4. Hey guys! I'm writing this post from inside of Zyra's trunk, but don't worry I have a handkerchief dangling out the tail light and I feel certain someone will call 911 soon!

    Just kidding. :-)

    I did tell Zyra that I contemplated dropping off the face of the fanfic earth after she posted this blog so you guys would think that she killed me, but I could only hold to that for so long.

    I really enjoyed getting to meet Zyra in person, meeting someone from off of the internet is something I have never done before and yes, I was a little nervous that she was going to be a dirty old man, or maybe just a weird person in general.

    But we're both pretty normal, I guess, for two closet Star Wars fanatics (that happen to look like super models). Too bad neither one of us was wearing one of the many t-shirts we've gotten when we e-mail each other that Target or WalMart has some must have retro tee on a clearance rack for $5! It could've read like in the movies, except instead of having a book with a flower in it we could've been wearing our recently purchased Millennium Falcon t-shirts as we spotted each other across the room...

    Anyway, I have NEVER talked about my fanfic writing out loud with anyone face-to-face. I mean, my husband knows that I write stories, but he doesn't read them and I don't talk plot and characterizations with him or anything, so, it was really, really weird and cool at the same time to actually talk about this stuff out loud. There was one point where we were discussing one of our stories and I tried to picture the Star Wars galaxy map in my head and figure out where one planet was related to another and at that moment I thought, If ANY of my friends could see me now they would probably have me committed! But Zyra completely understood. :-)

    So, now that Zyra and I are back to being a time zone away, I personnally am glad that we snatched the opportunity to meet while we had it, because it may never happen again and it was really, really cool that it did.

    So, lastly, a caption? I hate to disappoint, but nothing jumps out at me for this photo. For a moment I entertained something about Leia walking in on Han and Chewie in a compromising position...what with Chewie's legs in the background and Han's face looking a little guilty, but then that just grossed me out. So, I got nothing. But I agree, that Leia has the crazy eyes...

    Later gators...

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  5. I did have one blind date off the internet (well, not totally blind, I at least knew what he looked like) and it didn't go so well in spite of having a lot in common and having had a couple of good phone conversations. So I know this doesn't always work out!

    And I had definitely thought about how funny it would be if we identified each other based on our Millennium Falcon shirts, but that might have looked a little odd to anyone else in the restaurant ;)

    Yes, definitely strange to talk about it out loud for the first time but you just went for it and jumped right in and it was easy from there. I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that we both look like supermodels, but I didn't want to make anyone even more jealous than they already are.

    As for the pic, hmmm... to me it looks like Han just got caught doing something he shouldn't have. Nothing major, just something childish that had him wind up on the ground. I wish I could think of something good but my mind is friend from spending too much time in the car.

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