Did you hit your head when you fell from that shooting star?

“You know, this isn’t a bad song.”

My boyfriend’s step faltered. “What did you just say?”

I did an unsteady tap step. “This song – it’s alright.”

He held the door open, eyeing me suspiciously, as we exited into the bright sunshine. “That’s what I thought you said. Kat, you hate this song.”

I shrugged. “It just took me a little while to get used to it – “tell me, did you sail across the sun...””

Scott fumbled for his keys, a pained expression on his face. “Yes – I know how it goes.”

I titled my head to the side. “Is liking Drops of Jupiter worse than liking those Nickleback songs?” I asked.

“It’s a little less comprehensible given that you’ve hated it for years.”

I bit my lip. “I know. It’s just there was this fanvid...”

Scott smirked.

“It was really good,” I insisted. “I didn’t realize how perfectly that song fits Mickey’s relationship with Rose.”

He smirked some more.

“It really was perfect.” I insisted. “And at least I haven’t downloaded the song.”

“Yet.”

There was no point in denying it. “Yet,” I agreed.

You may watch it, but do you get it?

“That was Brent?”

Kay nodded. We were standing in the parking lot of my sister’s apartment building, helping her load all of her worldly possessions into the back of a van. Her someday brother-in-law had dropped off a box and sped out of the parking lot without a word.

I shook my head. Though I had never met him, I had heard – repeatedly – of his love for Torchwood and Doctor Who. “I don’t think he’s really a Doctor Who fan.”

Kay laughed. "You can’t know that – besides, he’s seen every episode.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt he’s seen them – he just doesn’t really get them. Otherwise, he would have offered to help.”

Kay nodded. “The Doctor always helps.”

I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe this particular round of packing is a fixed point in history. Maybe he really wanted to help but knew that it would rip the universe to shreds.”

Kay and I looked at each other and grinned. “Nah.”

There can be only one...

I was flat on my stomach, stretched out on the floor of the family room, rummaging through the bottom cupboard of the TV stand – I was desperate. I pushed myself to my feet and darted to the bottom of the basement stairs. “Mom!” I bellowed.

No reply. I ran up the stairs. There were only nine minutes left.

“Mom,” I panted, as I burst into the kitchen. “Are we out of blank tapes?”

“Are there any downstairs?”

“No.”

“Did you check the closet?”

“Shit!” I raced downstairs and was back in the kitchen a moment later. “None.”

“Then we’re out.”

“But I have to tape today’s episodes – they’re really important.”

“Can’t you go to the store?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s on in five minutes.”

My mother sighed, “You’ll just have to tape over something.”

I ran to my room and slid to a stop in front of the bookcase. A dozen tapes were neatly labelled and resting on the top shelf. All were filled with episodes of Sailor Moon – all except one. I picked up the tape on the far left and bit my lip. The tape was labelled in careful blue letters: Doctor Who Movie.

“Damn.” My eyes darted to the alarm clock next to the bed. Three minutes left. The tape felt heavy in my hand. How much would I regret taping over it? How much would I regret not taping those episodes of Sailor Moon?

It was an unhappy choice but I couldn’t have both. I headed back to the family room and stuck the tape in the VCR. That night, I crossed out “Doctor Who” and wrote in “Sailor Moon eps ?? - ??”.

More than a decade later, I can’t remember which episodes I taped that day. I’ve since resorted to watching clips of Paul McGann on YouTube.

About Flirting with Fandom

I have an obsessive personality. When I discover something that I like, I tend to go overboard in my affection (this has frightened quite a few boys). References will work their way into conversations, music will blare out of car windows, and DVDs will be thrust upon the willing.

A few months ago, over at the wonderful Doctor Who LiveJournal community, I started chronicling conversations and events which would suddenly– to the amusement and confusion of coworkers and family – take a turn towards Doctor Who.

The posts were tremendous fun to write and people seemed to enjoy them but I couldn’t help but wonder if I didn’t have more stories to share, after all, Doctor Who is hardly my first crush. And so Flirting with Disaster was born (some day it will expect me to clothe it, feed it, and send it to university where it will meet and mingle with much smarter blogs).

FWD is intended as a collection of anecdotes and misadventures surrounding various infatuations held over the past thirty years– from the Mighty Mouse costume I had when I was four to the day I swore that I would switch teams and move to the UK for Donna Noble, Flirting with Fandom will contain a little bit of everything.

Frequently Asked Questions (as yet to be asked – I’m proactive)

Q. What do you mean “Flirting”? Aren’t you either in or out?
A. A few weeks ago, I walked into a comic shop where a heated discussion was taking place. I wandered around, eavesdropping on the conversation and caressing a copy of Scud: The Whole Shebang as I wondered if it was worth parting with $99. After five minutes, I realized that they were talking Star Wars. Yes, so minute were the details they were discussing that it took me – me who once vowed to seduce George – a full five minutes to realize that they were talking SW.

They were hardcore geeks, proof that I had spent my Star Wars years merely flirting with The Force.


Q. Wait! Some of these aren’t fandoms. How can a fandom pre-date message boards?
A. Oh we had our fandoms before the internet – we just thought we were crazy and alone.


Q. Is that you in the header?
A. No. That is the miracle of affordable stock photography.


Q. Who are all these other people?
A. While coworkers, friends, and former classmates will pop up, the regular cast includes:

Me – also known as Kat (in real life) and Devi (on LiveJournal, which may someday supplant real life).

The Boyfriend – Code name Scott
The Sister – Code name Sandra
The Cousin – Code name James
The Cousin's Wife - Code name Kay
The Ex – Code name Chip