Introduction and Orientation

[melannen]

So, with all the new invites going out, I suppose it's time to do this properly.

A year Two Ten years after open beta, this is still my general introduction! So I guess it's time to start keeping it up to date.admit I will never keep it up to date. Most of this is about 2009-me with whom I sometimes disagree! You've been warned.

Hi, all! I go by Melannen here on DW, and on most other places around the 'net. I'm also active on LibraryThing. I have an AO3 account at melannen that I keep more-or-less up to date, where I'm also usually a volunteer, a nearlymostly-empty DeviantArt account, a livejournal (melannen) that's been mostly derelict since Strikethrough, and a tumblr (melannen) that's been mostly derelict since That Man was elected president.

I'm a geek, a fan, and a slasher, and proud and open about all three. My interests and enthusiasm are wide; if it's geeky, fannish, or slashy, I probably know at least the basics, and even odds have read fanfiction about it. I'm a fannish butterfly, read pretty much everything, and sometimes even watch or read canon. I love characters and relationships and kinky sex scenes as much as the next fangirl, especially if they are poly or involve enemies-to-lovers or both, but what really draws me in to a fandom is the worldbuilding: the setting, the mytharc, the special physics, the backstory, the references, the way its narrative causality functions, the tiny details that can be fit together into a whole 'nother story. Even in RPS fandoms. I'm completely incapable of resisting a crossover. I have a getting less severe embarrassment squick. In a bewildering variety of fandoms, I've been known to perpetrate: fanmeta, fanfic, fanart, recs lists, fanmixes, javascript toys, on the very occasional best-forgotten occasion, fanvids, and even more direly, filk; but nine times out of ten, I plan something out in my head and then go read more fic instead of actually making it.

I'm sporadically involved in local politics; I mess around with all different kinds of crafts; I try to keep up to date with various sciences and social sciences, history and current events; I am a naturalist at heart and like exploring the land I live on, on foot when possible; I collect books and also other things, mostly by going to second-hand shops and flea markets; I enjoy overanalysing things; I love to learn and hope never to stop. I volunteer for OTW but in the most low-effort way imaginable.

I am one of those odd geeks who is far better at in-person interaction than online; throw me into a conversation or behind a podium, and I go on autopilot (and go and go, as anyone who's met me at in-person fan gatherings can probably attest.) Give me time to think and rethink, and I overthink, get shy, and freeze up. Which is the long way of saying that I don't leave nearly as many comments as I think I ought to, and I'm especially bad about posting feedback for fic. Silence on my part is always about my fear of socializing, not about anything you've done. I love internet communication in principle, I'm just not very good at it. (Far better at internets than telephones though! Wow do I loathe telephones.) I do read almost everything that comes through my reading pages, whether I comment on it or not.

As for who the physical me is - People who first meet me in RL call me Sally. I'm young; white; American; college-educated; of no particular sexuality, but 'asexual' is probably as close as you'll get pretty secure as an asexual aromantic these days; an occasionally active but not devout member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; a loyal Democrat, and so far left-wing I am a member of the IWW. I'm precisely average height and weight, with wavy brown hair, eyes of no particular color, hairy legs, and a tendency to wear vaguely period clothing, eyeglasses, interesting hats, and dyke boots. I live in Maryland. My real-life circle is almost as geeky as my DW one, but centered on slightly different axes (sometimes we throw them at things). I've wanted to be a writer since I was six, and I'm obsessed with Story. I like long walks on the beach, extremely dark chocolate, good books, hot baths, falling asleep in sunbeams, and brooding over my hoard.

I work at a public library, surprising absolutely nobody who knew me growing up.

Now for the important part, my circle policy: I read a lot of people, and I'm planning to use DW's possibilities as an excuse to read even more. I never turn down new readers, or comments of any kind, and if you add me to your circle, I'll probably at least check out your journal to see what we have in common. But I rarely lock anything, so from now on I'm probably going to just grant access on an as-needed basis, unless something changes. I'm working under the assumption that most validated openIDs are just waiting for DW accounts, so I'm probably not going to be adding them back for the time being, either. And I promise not to take your circle changes personally, and hope you'll do the same for me.

Comments

[misbegotten]

Your strikethrough tag needs a /. :)

[melannen]

Thanks!