jedibuttercup

You know how sometimes you enter a fandom by the fanfic doorway?

That's me these days.

I mean, it was me back 20 years ago reading my way through Mulder/Scully fic in the X-Files fandom, which I hadn't watched since around S2. (The alien 'oil' freaked me out at the end of S2 and I never ended up going back. Horror and suspense are not my oeuvre.)

But I have very fond memories of reading my way through...golly, I can't even remember the fic archive anymore. But there were a number of "Virtual Seasons" and some fics that were very good - full episode types. Some better than others, obviously, but I still carry the gist of them here and there.

Anyway, more recently, I've read a Heated Rivalry fic or two, but my latest 'go through all the fic' obsession is Avatar: the last Airbender but specifically Zutara fic. And since I haven't seen the series all the way through (I watched Book 1 and maybe got a little way into Book 2, but never got to Book 3), then the AU doesn't bother me. Not that AU has ever bothered me when I'm talking about a pairing I like.

For this, I'm mostly blaming Pinterest, which has turned out to be more addictive for me than Tumblr. I go to FB because I want to know what's going on in my 'real life' friends lives; I go to Threads because it keeps me up to date with world events...and educated about the milieu of life beyond my experience. I scroll through Insta for pictures and sometimes 'turntables' of information and crafts and art and oddities.

But Pinterest has turned into my fandom exploration space. Mostly because all the Tumblr theories end up there, but algorithm'd, not just off a friends feed.

And, after a decade of Maria/Steve and maybe 700 fics, about 1/6th of which I either wrote myself or inspired, it's so nice just to wander into a fandom, plonk myself down, and get to read the best of some 8000 fics without having to create anything myself!

It's true that I've belonged to other fandoms with pairings with a decent amount of fic about my favourites (BBC Merlin: Arthur/Gwen had a reasonable amount, and Bridgerton: Kate/Anthony still has its proponents), but this is ~8000 worth of fics where people have extrapolated four seasons (and a lot of tie-in material) of a non-canon relationship and come out with some beautiful results!

I don't read much in the fandoms I write anymore - as I had to say in the 3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme - "specifically [insert female character here]" because so few of thoe fandoms had a focus on the (usually secondary) female character.

It's true that I'm not getting much sleep, cos I'm too busy reading 100,000 word fics. But this? This is fun.

I feel like I haven't had fun in fandom for a while...

1. How often do you hear live music?

Not very often. I never have been much of one to go see bands or even concerts. A few musicals. The occasional concert by an artist I enjoy. And sometimes bands on a Saturday night down at the pub back in university days.

These days? Very rarely.


2. What was your favorite live musical performance ever?

I don't know if I remember this one with fondness so much as just it's the strongest memory I have. One night after university computer lab, a couple of the people I'm working and doing uni with say they're going to a bar in town to celebrate the 18th birthdays of a couple of the guys we work with. The two of them room together, and their birthdays are back-to-back. It's not my usual scene, but I figure I should really do more socialising with this group, so I agree to go along.

It's a dive bar. On a Wednesday night. In a university town. Kinda quiet, but there's a band on stage that's doing rock covers from the 80s. The floor is an old nylon carpet and we're not going to think about how it's slightly sticky underfoot. The lighting is dim, there's about a half-dozen of us, and after a drink or two, we're singing along with the band who takes it pretty well.

They invite the birthday boys up to sing the Eagle Rock, but somehow end up singing Hotel California. I am served a triple-rum-and-coke having admitted to the others that I don't really drink, and they think that it's hilarious to get me an excessively alcoholic drink for my 'first drink'. The 2xrum&coke is foul, and someone else ends up drinking it. I go for a wine cooler, which is sweeter and easier on my palate. We bawl songs until it's midnight and it's the birthday of the second guy, and then we keep going for another hour.

TBH, the performers weren't standout. But I remember the night the best, simply for the hanging out and the friendships.


3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?

I play piano, I learned flute and tuba, and I sing - happy birthday, at church, in the car, on the karaoke machine.


4. Have you ever performed music onstage?

Does karaoke count? But even without that, yes, I've performed at concerts and eisteddfods when I was younger. Not for three decades now, but then it might even be years since I've touched a piano.


5. Who is your favorite musician?

That's a tricky one. Modern or classical? Artist or musician? Live, recorded, without autotune?

I can't choose. I love them all - Beethoven and his Ninth, Elgar and the Engima variations, Chopin's Impromptus and the haunting notes of Tchaikovsky's opening to Swan Lake. There's Queen's Rhapsody and P!nk singing about falling into trust, there's Billy Joel crooning smooth and sweet and Deborah Harry declaring she wants that man, there's Rihanna singing about being unfaithful and Anna of Cleves rmeinding us that she's the Queen of the Castle... I remember going to see Roxette and Offspring, singing with U2 in the car - raised by wolves | stronger than fear | when I close my eyes | you disappear...

You can't make me choose. I carry it all in my heart.