Incidentally, Fiction Addiction is one of my Fields of Expertise.
The basic concept of Fiction Addiction is that if you consume too much material of a specific fandom too fast, this fandom and with it the fictional universe and its characters become part of your life up to the point that they might feel much more real to you than the actual real world.
No, honestly, I'm not kidding.
Now, a lot of people don't take this seriously, usually those people who have never experienced this kind of total self-sacrifice that is a fandom. To those people, I can only say I'm sorry for them. Really. I pity you.
Fictional characters can be very good friends. They don't just leave you without reason (unless they die. Which happens a lot in certain fandoms). They don't argue with you, they never turn their phone off and they don't mind you waking them up in the middle of the night. They are incredibly good listeners because they never interrupt you. If you know them really well, they will even answer your questions. Not without reason do we ask ourselves: What Would Captain Picard Do?
But, as with every addiction, there are unfortunate side effects.
Sometimes you are so absorbed in this fictional universe that you start mixing realities. Suddenly, you're incredibly annoyed that you cannot inherit the family house because even though you're older than your brother you're still just a girl and sons come before daughters when it comes to heritage. Suddenly you draw your pencil and try to inflict the Tickling Curse on that guy in your class that you can't stand. Suddenly you wonder why the photos on your wall don't move.
And then there's the "It's Over"-Effect.
This is what happens when your fandom is no longer updated. That means there's no new books anymore, the show was cancelled, you name it. Or maybe it's just over for now and you have to wait for, like, an eternity until your heroes return to the page/screen.
Do not underestimate the "It's Over"-Effect. It's devastating. It leaves a hole in your heart and in your world. You wonder what the purpose of life could be if you cannot continue watching Downton Abbey right now. Especially if it's over forever. I mean, honestly, what are you going to look forward to now?
I don't know how to cure that. I'm still busy trying to recover from multiple bouts of Potter Depression and I'm suffering from severe Doctor Who and Sherlock withdrawal (and that although the DW finale was only yesterday). So don't expect any real help.
But to lighten the burden there are a couple things you can do:
- Rewatch. Reread. Reboot.
- Watch or read interviews. Making ofs. Background material. Blogs.
- Create art. Record songs. Write FanFiction.
- Join a forum or even a Facebook group. Talk to people. Works like support group.
- One word: tumblr.
Good luck. I'll see you around (unless I'm busy with a Doctor Who marathon. In that case, hush, don't interrupt).
Jojo
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