fandom and fan-fiction

Money talks? Yes, but Twilight transformed talk into money. Whether fans related to the teenage awkwardness, longed to be swept away by a man intoxicated by their scent or used Bella’s “blank slate” front as a kind of projection board for their own anxieties, Twi-fandom provoked arguably more debate and interaction than any fresh franchise in recent history.

In the vein of Kirk/Spock writing, Twi-lovers re-popularised “shipping” as a fan-practice. Reports that 45 per cent of the first film’s opening-weekend audience were over-25 stoked talk of Twi-mums; payback time, said fans, for all those films about middle-aged men ogling younger women. Urban myths of Cullen-inspired divorces proliferated, though their provenance proved sketchy. And, for every blush of restrained longing between Bella and Edward, fan-fiction steamed to Twi-lusty erotica, not least E.L. James’ Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Fans camped out for Meyer book signings and paid pilgrimages to the Twilocation of Forks, Washington. Bloggers got to go on set and visit the edit bay, where fansite boss Kallie Mathews even persuaded Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon to make Bella’s post-blood-lust dress messier. Overnight queues outside Hall H, meanwhile, changed Comic-Con. Many Con-goers protested, but most concurred that forcing conventions to make Con areas welcoming for women (and embrace female-centric films and shows) could only be for the good.

As fans sought to bond themselves to Twilight in every way possible, records crumbled. Opening-night box-office records fell as fans camped out in the rain. Even waxworks benefited: R-Pattz was reportedly the most-kissed model at Madame Tussauds.