Welcome to Xenodike.com. It’s a merger of my fandom LiveJournal, which I started in 2005, and a book blog I started here on WordPress in 2017. That’s why, despite this being my first official post here, you’ll find entries going back almost seventeen years.
I’ve had this blog set up for months but haven’t published it. Instead, I’ve been going back and forth, debating if this is something I want to do.
Ever since LiveJournal died, I’ve kept my fandom lives separate from each other. I’ve had one account for gaming fandom, one for the fandom(s) I write fanfiction in, and one for the books I love… you get the picture.
I’ve gone to great lengths to keep these different parts separate. LiveJournal, in its prime, always felt like our little piece of the internet; it felt safe. Since that era ended, I’ve never felt comfortable on any other platform.
I’m still not comfortable, and I’m not sure this is a good idea. Today, being a fan–of anything–is so single-minded and judgemental. I don’t like that mindset or the entitled attitude that comes with it.
If you’re a fan, you have to be a hard-core fan, borderline obsessive, or you’re “doing it wrong.”
Without really thinking about it, I’ve adapted how I interact with my interests online to those hard boundaries. In an attempt not to ruffle any feathers and stay out of the drama, I’ve fragmented my interest into tiny, closed-off spaces.
Maybe it’s the result of turning forty, but I’m officially over it.
I’m not a single-minded person; I like a lot of different things. Despite the impression I might have given on other platforms, I’m not obsessed with one character, actor, book, game, or show; I love several, and I like even more.
What I don’t like is the self-righteous, confrontational, combative, and downright childish attitude prevalent in most fandom spaces, especially since they all seem to take themselves so damn seriously.
It’s fandom; it’s not serious, and, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not even important. It’s entertainment. I read, write, play games, and watch tv to escape; to get to know characters, and explore places I’d never meet or see in real life—it’s all make-believe and that’s why I like it. I don’t take it seriously. At all.
Which is why I don’t have patience for people who do; who argue about cannon, or pit characters against each other, or invalidate other people’s feelings or preferences.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and everyone’s entitled not to like something, but you don’t have to shit all over other people’s feelings just to validate your own.
I’m over it; and I’m over trying to fit into all these tiny, square boxes that set the boundaries of what it means to be a “fan.”
Fuck it. This is me, sailing into my forties, with a new attitude. I’ve deleted my LiveJournal, Tumblr, and old book blog; this is my new space, and anything I like goes.
Mostly, this is a blog about stories. I love stories, in whatever shape they come, so that’s what I’ll write about.
What will my next post be about? Honestly, it could be about a new show I discovered, a game I love, or my writing.
It could be a book review; the genre? Who knows, I read a lot of genres; it could even be…. non-fiction.
It could be an opinion piece. Here, I won’t hold back the way I do on more social platforms. Here, I will say that I think Netflix The Witcher sucks balls (and not in a good way), Cyberpunk is a great game, Castiel was an awful character, and I’m terrified the new Tolkien show on Amazon will be a complete dumpster fire.
You are, of course, entitled not to agree, but you’re also not required to be here.
Want to have a respectful, mature conversation about our conflicting opinions that will enrich both of our experiences? Sure, let’s talk.
Want to bitch, insult me, and tell me I’m wrong? Get the fuck out. This isn’t Twitter; this is my place, I paid for the domain name, so I make the rules.
So, that’s it. This is a blog about stories and the next evolutionary stage in my journey through the fandoms I love.
In some ways, it feels like coming full circle. When I entered fandom in the early 2000s’ all the “cool” people had their own websites.
Now, seventeen years later, here I am, still a nerd, still passionate about stories, and still using the same pen name* as I did when I created my first fandom account.
So, welcome to Xenodike.com; a multi-fandom space where stories are meant to be enjoyed, fandom is not taken very seriously, and all fangirling is self-aware, mature, and done purely for entertainment.
* I got the name “Xenodike” from an old PC game: Zeus: Master of Olympus. It was a super fun greek mythology city builder; I played the hell out of that game.
Xenodike 