Also, fanfiction doesn't have to be smutty. In fact, a lot of writers and readers abhor explicit sex. With such a polarizing label, I would be much more cautious about painting with so wide a brush.

Smut is a good thing. It's self expression at it's most verbally graphic. Fanfic was created because we wanted to bend our favorite characters to our will.

When an author requests that we not write fanfic about their characters, as Anne Rice has, we respect that.

The first time you read smut you think, "Ooh, this is wrong, I shouldn't be reading this". The second time you read smut you think, "This is so wrong, I can't stop reading this". The third time you read smut, you're hooked.

Not every branch of smut is for everyone. There is some hardcore BDSM out there, slash is every where, and why not?

We write what feels good, even if it's dirty.

PS – SarahBella is my penname at both Twilighted and fanfiction.net.

As this article makes clear (and quite similar to other fanfics) sexuality is strong undercurrent. In fact the strong sexuality is one of the few common threads between various fanfics, and as such is worthy of journalistic investigation.

Moreover, you're assuming this article is somehow mocking your obsession, but she's actually being very sensitive about it. This could have been far more damning and hysterical but it isn't.

Choire picked up Luke Mazur in his silver volvo. "Did you see that thing I wrote about that internet site today?" asked Luke, in his boyish, husky lilt. "I did", replied Choire, in his polished, oaken purr. "It had three factual errors and two spelling errors, so I'm cutting your bonus this month." They drove on in strained silence. As they approached the fancy-dress orgy at Moff's fabulous Motthaven loft, each wondered if there was a practicable way to get Moff alone to inquire discreetly about work/live spaces in the neighbourhood, or would he be all over Mary HK Choi, as usual. "He couldn't cut a piece of that if he shot Calpico from his…", murmured Luke, sulkily. "Hm?", intoned Choire from around a mouthful of smooth, unfiltered Menthol Balkan Sobranie."

Way back that was the fannish nickname for those who had/have no idea there is the whole fanfic culture and that there are a LOT of people, mostly women, in it and what they write cover a pretty enormous spectrum. This article on Twilight fic is like finding an article where someone announces with great excitement that there are people who like to eat food.

Annie, she's so silly!

Natasha, I wonder if you've read Annie Proulx's thoughts on the fanfiction that has grown around Brokeback Mountain. She talks about it in the current issue of the Paris Review. She's furious about it: 'Those characters belong to me by law!'

The inaccuracies just go downhill from there. I'm quite a bit younger than thirty, as were many other panelists. The light that you painted the panel in was, quite frankly, a little insulting. Many of us never discussed smut, many are known for stories in which smut isn't a prevalent factor, and yet I can't help feeling as though many of the items presented in regards to the panel and fanfiction were very self-serving to your personal beliefs. I'm not a member of the Twilighted staff, and I suppose, as such, was never contacted by anyone in reference to a discussion, which I would certainly have offered in light of your very skewed interpretation of the panel I happened to have participated in.

Nevertheless, you surely can't blame PsyMom for her reluctance to encourage the entirely opinionated and somewhat inaccurate representation you intended to convey here.

I suspect the same is, or soon will be, the case for Twific.

* Don't be a snob! Geeks have needs, too!

Trust in Advertising: No Rating (didn't read this one)
The Office by tby789 Rated: NC-17
The List by Laura Cullen Rated: NC-17
Snowed In Rated: NC-17
Hiding in Plain Sight by limona Rated: NC-17
Never Sleep in a Strange Man's Bed by WndrngY Rated: NC-17
Seducing Ms Swan by Rialle New! Rated: PG-13 (fluff is great too!)
Nothing Left to Lose by SarahJayne Rated: NC-17
Innocent, Vigilant, Ordinary by Oxymoronic8 Rated: NC-17

Hiding in Plain Sight is a personal fave!

In fact, the #1 story, has no sex in it at all. "Trust in Advertising."
There are others on those lists as well. It’s about half and half.

So instead of jumping on the smut wagon, maybe you should have researched your facts a little better. It's no wonder psymom and the staff of Twilighted didn't feel comfortable talking to you. You would have twisted anything they would have added to this article.

If you want people to embrace it, maybe you shouldn't denigrate to what you have.

Also, Crunchbird, I 100% understand your concerns. I do think that to even write about any (sub)culture for a readership that isn't of that culture it won't even mater what you write. Psymom seems to have nailed that (painfully well) and it's my opinion that the piece at least should get credit for including that.

Finally, I am supportive of this if only because it involves original reporting on the web where a person TALKED to somebody else and managed to leave the apt to find out about something. And I hope this does not come across as Awl writers being defensive jerks and having one another's backs own blah blah blah…