Well, that's a lot of crazy, too. Maybe Twilight-crazy seems crazier cause I can't imagine being into it. That last book seriously grossed me out.

Uh, some Lord of the Rings fans believed that Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan were in a relationship, but were forced to hide it, but gave out secret signals in interviews and stuff.

Some Harry Potter fans are convinced they're married to Severus Snape on the astral plane.

... Okay, fair points. I guess I'm just currently weirded out by the idea of fans offering to buy someone's clothing or stealing their library card just because "souvenirs" of the town the book is set in.

Oh, they're all bugfuck. Some of them are possibly the same bugfucks.

And maybe the difference is, if somebody DID tell me, "It's crazy, being really obsessed with a city you've never been to because of TV."(Because I know it is.) I could say "Yeah," without being offended.

... Okay, fair points. I guess I'm just currently weirded out by the idea of fans offering to buy someone's clothing or stealing their library card just because "souvenirs" of the town the book is set in.

Well, it is quite bonkers. But, yes, I agree it's because there's a physical location connected with the beloved fantasy world - and it's not like Angel being set in LA, 'cause LA is already super famous. Whereas this place had no particular claim to fame before the Twipocalypse, and now I guess it's pretty much the Mecca of sparkly mormons vampires.

It is thoroughly disconcerting, though - I think the difference isn't so much in the level of craxy, but more in the fact that Joe Public is being sucked in. It's a little like the unpleasant intrusiveness of RPF - only it's impacting on totally innocent people who have in absolutely no way volunteered to be obsessed over, or to be public figures.

Must be very strange.

It's a little like the unpleasant intrusiveness of RPF - only it's impacting on totally innocent people who have in absolutely no way volunteered to be obsessed over, or to be public figures.

Totally word. I mean, the fact that these are adult women--mothers-- who are approaching teenage girls and offering them cash for a cheerleading uniform. I just want to grab them by the shoulders, shake them, really hard and say, "Lady, what would you do if some strange, whacked out individual approached your kid? Right, move along now before I call the cops."

I mean, going back into the memory banks, I remember when Twin Peaks was at its cultish high, weren't people descending on the small town masquerading as it and going into the diner and ordering cherry pie? People have this inherent mentality that drives them to want to be a part of something they love, in whatever way possible. Alyssa, after her first Atlantis book came out, got an email within the first week from a reader who loved the books. In the email was an attachment-- the reader had rushed right out and gotten a tattoo of the Atlantis symbol from the books on her inside of her forearm.

I will admit to this, however-- I think I'm falling just a little in love with Robert Pattinson, because of how he's dealing with all this craxiness with a certain measure of bemusement and most importantly, distance. (He's talked about how he's playing Edwards as this character who's monumentally depressed and has an enormous amount of self-hate, which is right on the money. Plus, as he said, "One hundred eight year old virgin, man-- there are issues there.")

I think the thing with filming a TV show in a real town that you can actually visit attracts people for the same reason it'd be neat to visit the set of a TV show you liked. And yeah, that happened with Twin Peaks, and Northern Exposure, and Homicide, and Dawson's Creek, and who knows what else. That doesn't strike me as crazy -- if anything, it signifies that you DO understand it's a TV show and not real.

I don't think the Twilight fans are any crazier than other fans, but it seems like there's more coverage of their crazier extremes. Possibly because the books in themselves aren't interesting enough to talk about, I dunno.

I think the thing with filming a TV show in a real town that you can actually visit attracts people for the same reason it'd be neat to visit the set of a TV show you liked.

Yep.

Twin Peaks/North Bend/Snoqualmie encouraged the travel. I think Roslyn (the NE town) did, too. I know that certain pieces of iconic real estate mentioned the connection in the for sale literature. Because, of course, they had specific visitable exteriors and welcomed the additional tourist dollars. (North Bend/Snoqualmie have morphed into bedroom communities for Microsoft, but in the early 90s, I don't think they had a lot going for them other than pretty, pretty Mt. Si in the background and a big old waterfall with a hotel next to it.)

Forks... Forks is just Forks. People didn't go there willingly if they could help it!

Whereas this place had no particular claim to fame before the Twipocalypse, and now I guess it's pretty much the Mecca of sparkly mormons vampires.

Untrue! I think it was our Rainiest Spot in Western Washington! That's a claim! I mean... it's Forks.

Untrue! I think it was our Rainiest Spot in Western Washington! That's a claim! I mean... it's Forks.

I think that's exactly why she wound up choosing the location. She Googled for the rainiest spots in the U.S.

Of interest:

HarperCollins has announced the launch of Angry Robot, a publishing venture designed to "provide the global science fiction/fantasy community with new content both in physical and digital form." The venture will be involved in ecommerce, print on demand, digital and traditional retail trade publishing of science fiction and fantasy fiction. The venture will be overseen by Marc Gascoigne – former Publisher of the Solaris and Black Library imprints at Games Workshop PLC and will be based in Nottingham, England. Its first titles are expected to be released in June 2009. Plans are to release two books a month, moving to three titles a month within two years. Books will be offered as paperbacks, digital audio and ebooks, as well as some hardcovers and trade paper titles. Older titles will be offered as print on demand. Read more about the venture at [link]