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My first experiences with fandom happened through fan fiction as well although I’m just a reader.
I’m no creator in general. Apart from probably not being particularly talented or creative I am certainly not disciplined enough to art/write my ideas and headcacons into existence. I have the deepest respect for people who labour over their work and their only payment sometimes being likes and kudos.
This blog is the first time for me participating in fandom at all and it took me a while to give up lurking and put some effort into my fandom experience.
I hardly had any idea of fandom in general before TFA but fan fiction has helped me for a long time enhancing or fixing unsatisfying canon material like Star Trek (Spock was my first crush as a little girl and I still have a thing for him, Sarek and Amanda came later, also Klingons…), Riddick (Riddick!), Babylon 5 (my nerd love Lennier), Legend (ahem, red guy confused my little child self in ways I’d comprehend a little later in life…), Predator (they are hot, no?), etc.
Labyrinth was certainly a milestone for the development of my tastes in media. This movie was with me my whole life. First I loved it as a child, after years I rediscovered it as a teenager where it sparked a lot of confusing and not entirely unpleasant feelings and a yearning for something I couldn’t quite comprehend. The last time I got really obsessed with Labyrinth was in my late 20’s / early 30s and this time I knew exactly what it did to me and how to scratch that itch. Fan fiction provided. I have read obscene amounts of my (now) second favourite hero/villain pairing. Reylo is of course my top OTP now. 😉
When I watched TFA the first time I thought I might combust because it seemed that for the first time a true hero/ villain pairing might become canon in mainstream media. Yes, there are other instances but mostly cutesy/comedic stuff geared towards younger children like Megamind or Strange Magic. Never something epic like Star Wars. In a way the ST is my ultimate fix-it fic for my decades long Labyrinth suffering if that makes any sense. Probably not. Anyway it made me me so incredibly happy that I would see this happening in Star Wars which was another formative experience for me as a child.
We’re really excited to share this one and we hope you all like listening to it as much as we liked recording it! As always you can also find us on Twitter or our website, and iTunes ratings and reviews are much appreciated. Show notes are located below. Enjoy!
The three harpies discussing my most favourite trope ever: The heroines that have much more to offer than just physical beauty (and are sometimes – gasp! – outright unattractive) and the supernaturel/magical men who love them.
It’s still incredibly hard to find this kind of narrative but lately it seems to get better. For example there is a huge franchise that features a very capable heroine and a troubled man in possession of mysterious powers….yes I’m talking about Star Wars.😉 (I’m aware that Daisy Ridley is a beautiful woman, but Rey isn’t framed as typical pretty girl or femme fatale.)
When I watched TFA for the first time I almost couldn’t believe that of all franchises out there my old love Star Wars would give me this kind of story. It felt surreal and I felt vindicated because after I (or all media consuming women) had to suffer through so many male self insert hero fantasies where women were mere accessories or prizes finally a type of story which is very apealing to women is presented to a huge (HUGE!) audience. And since almost two years I’m hoping for Reylo to be successful not only because I’d love for Rey and Kylo to truly find each other but also because I hope that after Reylo we get more and more narratives like this one in all kinds of media.
Anyway, great podcast!!! Very insightful, funny and full of awesome recommendations.
Monsters and Villains 