cyphomandra

Britta Lundin, Ship It.

Claire Strupke is 16 and obsessed with Demon Heart, a not-at-all similar to Supernaturalshow in which demon hunter Smokey teams up with Heart, a demon with a, uh, heart, to save the world. Obviously she ships SmokeHeart (the main slash pairing - all the women, apparently, get killed off) and writes enough fic to be well-known in the fandom and, when the actors come to a con near her, she asks them about it (this was the first time I had to backbutton out of the ebook and look at something else until my second-hand embarrassment subsided, although not the last), and is devastated when Forest, who plays Smokey, shoots her down in flames. To salvage the show's PR, the production team invite Claire along on the convention tour. Claire seizes the opportunity to try and convince them to make SmokeHeart canon - but, she's also met Tess, a fanartist, following the tour, who is openly queer and very attractive, even if she's hiding her own fannishness from her popular friends. Claire has always been open about her love for fandom, but her own feelings are much more complicated…

( More discussion, vague spoilers. )