so.

three years ago, bored and with a few minutes to kill, i typed 'david bowie' into a search engine, to see what would come up. (i was in the middle of an intense davidbowiefan! phase at the time). having found david bowie, i proceeded to rediscover 'labyrinth' (that beloved staple of '80s kiddie culture). from there i first discovered fanfiction, and came to realization that there could, if one wanted it enough, be more to labyrinth!bowie than his tight grey trousers. (why one might want this is another question entirely...and i'm still not sure of the answer.)

from a labyrinth fanfic site i linked to a neon genesis evangelion fanfic site, which necessarily got me hooked on eva (because it is absolutely gorgeous and thought-provoking and brilliant. if i ever, in a fit of insanity, have a daughter, i'm naming her rei) and introduced me to anime. i've since gone on to find and (in turn) obsess over sailor moon (you've got to love the cheesy transformation sequences. and i'm convinced that i was sailor mercury in a previous life), ranma 1/2 (superficially...superficial. underneath...deeply, deeply disturbing. paging dr. freud!), and visions of escaflowne (van is beautiful. end of story.)

i've acquired all the knowledge i have of these shows(and that's quite alot) just sitting in front of my computer, reading other people's writing. and i'm always amazed and impressed by the thought and effort that fan writers put into their work, and the incredible stories and characters that they produce and then very generously share with the rest of us (even if there is an appalling amount of crap fanfiction out there as well - which i tend to read, too. it's a labor of love).

my most recent fanfic obsession is harry potter. i read the harry potter books when they first came out (along with the rest of the world), and (unlike the rest of the world) was extremely unimpressed. the story was...eh. ditto for characters. ditto for writing style. trust me - if you want to read a great children's fantasy, skip j.k. rowling and go straight to susan cooper and philip pullman. BUT the fanfic writers have managed to drastically improve upon the original product. the best of them (and thankfully, there are so many of these!) have revolutionized my understanding of HP and made the story and characters thought-provoking, wrenching, warming...beautiful. (especially draco malfoy. i love draco. especially armed with a kiss and a whip. especially with harry.)

i don't write fanfic. i prefer to read what other people write, to let my imagination coast on their ideas rather than come up with my own (i'm a bit lazy that way). when i actually do write, it's always academic, and usually it's for my thesis. but i found myself returning to ff.net so often (to the detriment of said thesis) to read and review that i finally decided it would be silly not to register. so this page, this long-winded bio, is my homage to the brilliant writers who kept me coming back for more (and who are listed in my 'favorite authors' and 'favorite stories'). thank you so much, guys - for all the late nights, for all the undone work, for all the procrastination-induced stress. really. i love you for it. keep up the good work!

----------------------------------------------
**incidentally, and if you care, some things i love other than fanfiction...yes, they do exist, really!...are:
writing like e.e. cummings, without capitals
history. so so much
chips (i.e. french fries) and vinegar (especially from oxford kebab vans)
prose by oscar wilde and poetry by john donne
tea (as in the entire meal, not just the beverage)
lord peter wimsey, who like me, lives to quote
the welsh countryside around abergynolwyn, the sheep by stonehenge, and the manhattan skyline outside my window
books, brains - literally and figuratively, and ballet
opals
'free will astrology' horoscopes (rob brezsny kicks professor trelawney's arse, anytime!)
'savage love' (...and i hereby nominate dan savage for canoninzation)
existential philosophy
historical romance novels (you know, the kind where the hero is named gareth and has a barrel chest and a sword and no pants, and the heroine is a proto-feminist in an easily torn bodice)
being alone

and some things i hate:
lousy grammar and spelling
marmite
rabid, thoughtless anti-intellectualism
humorless, un-ironic intellectualism
finance
the parts of newspapers that actually contain news (i never read them)
pop-up ads, when i use internet explorer. they're being a real bloody pain in the ass. grr...
when the sky is red (and it is most nights in manhattan)
licorice or cherry-flavored anything
regret