Fangirl

Wren is Cath’s identical twin. When they go into college, Wren wants to distinguish themselves so that people don’t “treat [them] like [they’re] the same person” (7), like they do in their hometown. She begins by getting a “pixie cut” without telling Cath about it and asking to room in different dormitories so they can gain “independence.” Cath perceives this as a betrayal.

A rift between Wren and Cath grows as they each adopt different approaches to Coming of Age and Exploring Identity. Their respective issues with eating illustrate their differences. While Cath self-isolates to the point of being unable to feed herself properly, Wren and her roommate, Courtney, adopt the calorie-restrictive “Skinny Bitch Diet” so they can be “skinny bitches on weekdays” and “drunk bitches on the weekend” (85). As they did in the wake of their mother’s abandonment, Cath directs her distress inward, whereas Wren acts out, engaging in “adult” behaviors like heavy drinking. However, Wren’s excessive drinking eventually lands her in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. She reacts negatively to their father’s imposing consequences, insisting that she is fine. Their father recognizes that Wren’s drinking and her tentative reconnection with their mother mean that she “must have some shit she still needs to figure out” about the effects of their mother’s desertion on her (163).

By the end of the novel, Wren has developed healthier behaviors. She distances herself from her roommate, Courtney, who dropped her off at the emergency room and left her alone when Wren was unconscious from alcohol poisoning. She begins dating Jandro, who influences her to adopt a healthier relationship with alcohol. By asking Cath to room with her next year, Wren shows that she understands that it was a mistake to force distance between them to establish her individual identity. Her agreement to have a separate room on the same floor as Cath symbolizes the happy medium she and Cath have found in their relationship, where they are individual people but still provide each other with love and support.

Levi is Cath’s love interest. He is “tall and thin and tan” with dark blonde hair that is receding slightly, giving him a large forehead (5). He has the “smilingest face” Cath has ever seen (48). Levi is considerate and respectful. He walks Cath home from the library at night, but he never enters her dorm room when they are alone, out of respect for her boundaries. More than any other character, Levi understands and is sympathetic toward Cath. He joins her solo “Emergency Kanye Party” after Professor Piper fails her writing assignment, “dancing together, imitating each other’s goofiest moves” (111). He does not ask Cath to divulge why she needs a dance party but joins her without hesitation. When Cath tells Levi about her Simon/Baz fanfiction, he does not judge her or call it “creepy” as Reagan does. He asks questions about why it is important to her so that he can learn more about her and her hobbies. He asks her to read her fanfiction writing to him and defends her when Reagan teases her about it. In return, Cath is sympathetic to Levi’s struggles with reading, offering to read his assigned books aloud to him to help him complete his homework. Though their personalities are different, they each try to sympathize with each other as their romantic relationship grows.

Through Levi, Cath learns about Navigating Romantic Relationships in a healthy way. Levi supports her as she cares for her family and works to develop her independent, adult identity. He gives her a ride to St. Richard’s to help her father, and when Wren is hospitalized, he shows up at the hospital just for moral support. Cath is used to being able to lean only on Wren and her fandom community for support, and while Levi recognizes that those will always retain importance for Cath, he provides her in-person support, comfort, and romance that complements the support of her online community.

Reagan is Cath’s roommate. She has “smooth auburn hair” (5), and Cath observes that she looks like “if Adele had a harder, somewhat sharper twin sister” (190). Though she’s two years older than Cath, the rules of her scholarship determine that she must occupy a double dorm room. Reagan helps Cath with Coming of Age and Exploring Identity apart from Wren. She has a sharp wit, which sometimes manifests as insults, but her actions reveal her to be a caring and supportive friend, taking Cath under her wing. For instance, when she notices that Cath has no social interactions apart from an occasional lunch with Wren, she says, “You’re a sad little hermit, and it creeps me out. So get dressed. We’re going bowling” (68). Though Reagan purports that Cath’s behavior “creeps” her out, she regularly invites Cath to events with her and Levi. Reagan also teaches Cath about the importance of open and honest communication in friendships. When Cath begins dating Levi, who is Reagan’s best friend and ex-boyfriend, Reagan establishes several “ground rules”: “[W]e’ve got to get this out of the way. You can’t be jealous. And in return, I won’t flex my best-friend muscles just to remind myself, and Levi, that he loved me first” (288). Cath is uncomfortable with the conversation at first, but Reagan’s bluntness prevents misunderstanding and hurt feelings later on. Reagan pushes Cath to have hard, uncomfortable, but necessary discussions that benefit the future of their friendship. At the end of the novel, Cath’s newfound individual identity is symbolized by her decision to room with Reagan again the next year instead of Wren. Reagan helps Cath become a more confident and independent person.

Professor Piper is a minor side character who occupies a gray area: Though she is very supportive of Cath’s writing and talent, she is judgmental, narrow-minded, and dismissive about fanfiction in a way that makes Cath feel small and chastised. Professor Piper represents one potential perspective on The Role of Fanfiction and Fandom Communities. When Cath turns in a piece of fanfiction for an assignment, Piper has a meeting with her about “plagiarism.” From Piper’s perspective, fanfiction is “stea[ling] someone else’s story and rearrang[ing] the characters” (107). Piper continues on to say that in college writing, they do “real” work, implying that writing fanfiction is not “real” writing. Piper is a published author, and she thinks of writing in terms of capital rather than community. She tells Cath that “you can’t do anything with fanfiction. It’s stillborn” (262). When Cath protests that many people read and get joy from her fanfiction, Piper continues, “You can’t make a living that way. You can’t make a career” (262). Piper does not see the point of writing when the goal is not prestige or profit, but rather lingering in familiar and comforting worlds and sharing joy with other people.

Though Piper’s scolding and dismissal of fanfiction hurt Cath, she also provides her with significant support. Piper advocates for Cath when Nick steals her contributions to his final project and passes them off as his own. She tells Cath that she recognized her authorial voice “in some of the best parts” of the story (263). When Nick tries to submit the story for a prestigious publication in the undergraduate literary journal, Piper tells Nick that “it runs with both of [their] names or not at all” (403). Though Piper does not understand the purpose fanfiction plays in Cath’s life, she nevertheless sees her talent and protects her from being exploited.