shadowscast

My 12-year-old son turned to me this evening, apropos nothing, and said "I don't think x-ray vision would be a good superpower. You'd walk into walls because you couldn't see them."

I agreed, and mentioned that I'd actually put that very observation into a story I wrote years ago.

And then it occurred to me that the story in question would actually be okay for my kid to read. Almost none of the fanfic that I've written is 12-year-old-boy-appropriate, but that story—"Five Superpowers Xander Is Not Sorry, Upon Reflection, That He Doesn't Have", in which Xander is hanging out in the Summers' backyard, S7-era, idly chatting with Dawn, Anya and Spike about hypothetical superpowers—actually is.

So I asked my kid if he'd like to read it, and he said sure, so I opened it up on my phone.

And omg. That was the most satisfying experience I have ever had of somebody reading my work.

He started laughing at the second line. He started reading out loud at the third line. He read the whole thing out loud, cackling with glee at nearly every remark the characters made. I felt like the best writer ever!