My first fandom, by Clio, aged 36 1/2
Jan. 2nd, 2006 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhYou know, nothing says Christmas like running to the filling station at 7pm for another 12-pack of Bud Light. I'm sure the woman my mother and I saw coming out of the Mobil MiniMart as we were going in (in search of onion dip) was desperate to keep the relatives drunk and happy. My Christmas was mostly just the family stuff that has to be endured though it had its bright moments. These included a visit with my best friend C, and lunch with my college roommate and her family.
I also had dinner with a high school friend and told her I write Harry Potter porn. She replied, "Good, you've always written such excellent porn" and then broke into much laughter about it being Harry Potter, followed up by her confession that she's become a Wiccan, which is pretty awesome. She reminded me of the first "fanfic" I wrote: self-insertion Duran Duran porn. Gotta love old friends and their looooong memories.
So I feel that in the spirit of openness I should share with you something I never actually wrote but only concepted: a musical based on the first three Duran Duran albums. In it you will see the influence of both 80s musicals and Judith Krantz novels. The indicated songs are in italics.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emmagrant01, heinous_bitca, and heidi8 should get special enjoyment out of this one.
Our setting: London, 1939. The heroine is named Rio and is fabulous in that manner of Judith Krantz heroines: beautiful, talented, irresistible to men yet a friend to women. She is a young American dancer who becomes the toast of society that season (Rio) and is courted by half the town (Hungry Like the Wolf). However, she is something of an iconoclast and refuses to conform to expectations (My Own Way). Her friend and co-star Simon, who is half in love with her himself, protects her from the worst of the weirdos (The Chauffer). One night she meets a dashing young titled soldier, John (Last Chance on the Stairway) and they immediately fall in love and marry. Rio retires from the stage to her manor house while the valiant John heads off to fight the war (Hold Back the Rain) with trips home as often as possible. Toward the end of the war John goes missing (Save a Prayer). When word comes that he has died, a heartbroken Rio goes into seclusion and goes a bit mad (New Religion). But Simon comes to find her and persuade her to enter society again (Lonely in Your Nightmare). Since she'd always made her own costumes, she decides to try her hand at fashion design.
In Act II, we find the now-successful designer Rio the toast of the town again, though this time it is the fabulously catty world of fashion that is under her spell. She and her designs are in all the best magazines (Girls on Film) and she's friends with all the right designers and editors. It's a fast crowd (Sound of Thunder, Planet Earth) who are quick to discard anyone who goes out of style (Friends of Mine). But even these distractions cannot mend her broken heart or keep the ghosts of her first love away (Is There Anyone Out There?, Careless Memories, Night Boat), and she tries to keep a worried Simon, the only one who really knows her, at arm's length. In this vulnerable state she goes on a foreign trip for her next inspiration (Tel Aviv) and meets a mysterious, wealthy, charismatic, stylish and slightly dangerous man named Nick, who couldn't be more opposite of the heroic John.
Act III opens five years later in Monte Carlo, where Nick and Rio have relocated, though they have never married. Nick owns a casino, and Rio has once again retired from the public eye, putting her design sense into the decor for Nick's casinos around the world and being a beautiful and stylish attraction herself. We shift POV to Roger, a hard-nosed veteran of the war whom the now near-frantic Simon has brought to Nick's compound near Monte Carlo (Tiger Tiger). Roger encounters Rio that first night in the casino (I Take the Dice) and is captivated, though it is only after their meeting that Simon tells him who she really is. Shortly after Simon introduces him to Andy, who works in some capacity for Nick though his loyalties are unclear, and whose mysterious duties also include watching over Rio (The Reflex). Andy warns Roger that his "meet cute" with Rio has him on the jealous Nick's radar, but Roger, who seems to already know Andy, is unconcerned. Andy brings Simon to Rio, who defends Nick and her relationship with him and accuses Simon of babying her. They tell Rio that if she wants to know more of the truth about Nick, she should come with them to see something in a few days' time. Meanwhile Rio and Roger continue to spend seemingly innocent time together in the casino—fully in public, so that she is easily able to push off Nick's jealousy. Roger worries that his unexpected feelings for Rio may complicate his mission (Cracks in the Pavement). Rio goes with Andy and finds that Nick's ties to the underworld are much closer and more sinister than she had thought (Union of the Snake), and Andy assures her that they can get her to safety, but they will need her help to capture Nick. She agrees, wondering if the Nick she loved ever existed and how she could have fallen for his lies (The Seventh Stranger), but for the time being pretends to still believe him. Rio meets secretly with Andy and Simon and is surprised to see Roger as the mastermind behind their plot (New Moon on Monday). At the designated time, Rio distracts Nick by having a fight with him in the casino, and as Andy comes to spirit her away to safety (and Roger) she confronts Nick with his lies to her (Of Crime and Passion).
I'm amazed I actually remember that much of the plot, though I'm sure it was simpler and had more holes in it when I'd thought it up over 20 years ago than it does now in the retelling!
I also had dinner with a high school friend and told her I write Harry Potter porn. She replied, "Good, you've always written such excellent porn" and then broke into much laughter about it being Harry Potter, followed up by her confession that she's become a Wiccan, which is pretty awesome. She reminded me of the first "fanfic" I wrote: self-insertion Duran Duran porn. Gotta love old friends and their looooong memories.
So I feel that in the spirit of openness I should share with you something I never actually wrote but only concepted: a musical based on the first three Duran Duran albums. In it you will see the influence of both 80s musicals and Judith Krantz novels. The indicated songs are in italics.
emmagrant01, heinous_bitca, and heidi8 should get special enjoyment out of this one.Our setting: London, 1939. The heroine is named Rio and is fabulous in that manner of Judith Krantz heroines: beautiful, talented, irresistible to men yet a friend to women. She is a young American dancer who becomes the toast of society that season (Rio) and is courted by half the town (Hungry Like the Wolf). However, she is something of an iconoclast and refuses to conform to expectations (My Own Way). Her friend and co-star Simon, who is half in love with her himself, protects her from the worst of the weirdos (The Chauffer). One night she meets a dashing young titled soldier, John (Last Chance on the Stairway) and they immediately fall in love and marry. Rio retires from the stage to her manor house while the valiant John heads off to fight the war (Hold Back the Rain) with trips home as often as possible. Toward the end of the war John goes missing (Save a Prayer). When word comes that he has died, a heartbroken Rio goes into seclusion and goes a bit mad (New Religion). But Simon comes to find her and persuade her to enter society again (Lonely in Your Nightmare). Since she'd always made her own costumes, she decides to try her hand at fashion design.
In Act II, we find the now-successful designer Rio the toast of the town again, though this time it is the fabulously catty world of fashion that is under her spell. She and her designs are in all the best magazines (Girls on Film) and she's friends with all the right designers and editors. It's a fast crowd (Sound of Thunder, Planet Earth) who are quick to discard anyone who goes out of style (Friends of Mine). But even these distractions cannot mend her broken heart or keep the ghosts of her first love away (Is There Anyone Out There?, Careless Memories, Night Boat), and she tries to keep a worried Simon, the only one who really knows her, at arm's length. In this vulnerable state she goes on a foreign trip for her next inspiration (Tel Aviv) and meets a mysterious, wealthy, charismatic, stylish and slightly dangerous man named Nick, who couldn't be more opposite of the heroic John.
Act III opens five years later in Monte Carlo, where Nick and Rio have relocated, though they have never married. Nick owns a casino, and Rio has once again retired from the public eye, putting her design sense into the decor for Nick's casinos around the world and being a beautiful and stylish attraction herself. We shift POV to Roger, a hard-nosed veteran of the war whom the now near-frantic Simon has brought to Nick's compound near Monte Carlo (Tiger Tiger). Roger encounters Rio that first night in the casino (I Take the Dice) and is captivated, though it is only after their meeting that Simon tells him who she really is. Shortly after Simon introduces him to Andy, who works in some capacity for Nick though his loyalties are unclear, and whose mysterious duties also include watching over Rio (The Reflex). Andy warns Roger that his "meet cute" with Rio has him on the jealous Nick's radar, but Roger, who seems to already know Andy, is unconcerned. Andy brings Simon to Rio, who defends Nick and her relationship with him and accuses Simon of babying her. They tell Rio that if she wants to know more of the truth about Nick, she should come with them to see something in a few days' time. Meanwhile Rio and Roger continue to spend seemingly innocent time together in the casino—fully in public, so that she is easily able to push off Nick's jealousy. Roger worries that his unexpected feelings for Rio may complicate his mission (Cracks in the Pavement). Rio goes with Andy and finds that Nick's ties to the underworld are much closer and more sinister than she had thought (Union of the Snake), and Andy assures her that they can get her to safety, but they will need her help to capture Nick. She agrees, wondering if the Nick she loved ever existed and how she could have fallen for his lies (The Seventh Stranger), but for the time being pretends to still believe him. Rio meets secretly with Andy and Simon and is surprised to see Roger as the mastermind behind their plot (New Moon on Monday). At the designated time, Rio distracts Nick by having a fight with him in the casino, and as Andy comes to spirit her away to safety (and Roger) she confronts Nick with his lies to her (Of Crime and Passion).
I'm amazed I actually remember that much of the plot, though I'm sure it was simpler and had more holes in it when I'd thought it up over 20 years ago than it does now in the retelling!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 01:12 am (UTC)Luckily for us all, my DD fanfic has been lost, never to be seen again. ;-)
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Date: 2006-01-03 03:04 am (UTC)Haha, mine too, as it was hand-written and is long since ash in the town dump.
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Date: 2006-01-03 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 04:55 am (UTC)But then I really like The Pretenders.
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Date: 2006-01-03 05:24 am (UTC)I actually have "Rio" in my CD player right now, ha, and have been switching it out with their "Greatest" album. :))
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Date: 2006-01-03 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 05:36 pm (UTC)But...but...what happened to John!!??!!
You rock, Clio.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-03 10:05 pm (UTC)Besides in Judith Krantz novels the first love always dies. He's also usually much older, but I didn't put that in.