Letters to the Editor
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Fannish Escapes
I know lots of fannish people. They're very social, very weird and a lot of fun to hang out with. Lots of them live La Vida Harry. They knit Gryffindor scarves, wear capes in Costco, and name their cats things like "Weasley" and "Minerva". The suburban ex-cheerleaders and ex-jocks love to scorn them, but they have no idea of the bubbling cauldron of good fun and jocularity that the people they sneer at enjoy every day. (The fans call those people "Mundanes", and now "Muggles")
Maybe our reader is afraid that her Muggle family will disapprove of her joyous escape? Perhaps she can download some knitting patterns and make scarves for everyone and pull her real life into her fantasy life, have the twain meet and discover that she's not so removed from reality after all. Perhaps if she wore big glasses and asked her husband to wear a black wig and imitate Rickman's mellifluous voice she could spark things up a bit so she doesn't have to read slash fiction?
My own experience with crushy obsessions has been that I indulge in them if my own life is not spicy enough or if I have had a big breakup. Maybe our dear reader needs to see what she can do to make her life a little more magical...