M. Suzanne Terry

This was the sort of pic where a tripod or a selfie stick would have come in handy. Alas, I had neither. But I think it’s cute anyway. Also, I made Michelle put on her Superman hoodie for the shot, and you can’t even see our clothes. I was just so excited to get a picture I could use with both of us and the shelves in the background that wasn’t fuzzy from our laughing or my inability to take this picture.

Michelle came to visit this weekend! We ate glorious, terrible food and drink, and we watched glorious and terrible things.

But first, before the liberal libations started flowing, we had to take a picture that I think captures the essence of our friendship.

I met Michelle on the Michael Rosenbaum Message Board (the MRMB, for those in the know). It was the youth of our Smallville fandom – the early seasons when Clark and Lex fell in love were also beginning their legendary friendship. And we bonded over our fascination with how this series characterized Lex (and also by our fascination with the fellow who played him). We traveled to fan gatherings together, we spent hours on the message board, dissecting every nuanced glance, and we got to know each other outside our TV interests as well.

But TV was what brought us together.

Our plan for Friday evening was to drink until we were tipsy enough not to notice how terrible Magic Mike is when we watched it (we had been warned).

Friends, there is not enough alcohol in the world.

And when I had no words to express how truly awful an experience that movie was, it was our fandom background that helped me express it.

“You know, I once spent the weekend with MRMB fans in New York, and we watched 1999. Then we were so angry at Michael Rosenbaum for making that terrible movie. It was the worst movie I had ever seen. UNTIL NOW.”

And she understood. And she understands why, despite this experience, we must someday watch the second one because Matt Bomer sings in it.

Fandom is not rational, but it is wonderful and is made more so by friends who share it.

I am a little behind on my 31 Days of Shelfies. I really need to get a home computer.