…especially to all who celebrate! I know I promised a Wednesday drop, but I’m in a weird limbo working on a research assignment for school and also trying to observe Good Friday in my time zone. (I’m only a partially lapsed Catholic so Lent and Holy Week are still a big deal in our household, and I try to respect that.) I wanted to make sure I shared a little something.

If you’re new to fan/work, you might have missed my first piece on making friendship bracelets and last week’s newsletter full of recommendations, so I hope you take the time to check that out.

A bit of music for the weekend

I did not realize that Cowboy Carter was upon us (for some reason, I thought it would drop by Easter or after) until I saw a post from one of my favorite gossip communities. I am personally excited for Beyoncé’s cover of Blackbird and the Miley Cyrus feature. (Miley’s another artist whose voice serves country music well, and anything that gets her into that genre is something I support.)

One of the things struck me while reading up on this album is how Beyoncé created a country project out of an experience she had where she didn’t feel welcome in the space.

I think most of us fans can relate to the experience of something we love not quite loving us back, whether it’s shows and movies that ignore their queer audiences or contribute to media and entertainment’s lack of representation, media or creative work that understates the larger issues that impact its characters or us audience members, or even just work that relies heavily on stereotypes instead of creating something more nuanced.

I think Beyoncé being public about that where that creative urge or spark came from is about as close to an expression of fannish desire that we would get from a star of that caliber. Fannish, in this instance, is something I’d describe as a combination of inspired and also wanting. There could be disappointment in there, or maybe even sadness, anger, frustration.

It’s the feeling that this comic might evoke in you.

Why fannish? Why can’t it be just desire? My takeaway from the quote I saw in Variety was that she had some love for the genre even before she decided to come out with the album, and having that previous experience where she didn’t feel like she belonged made her want to dive deep into the genre’s roots and create something.

Push herself.

Experiment.

As anybody who has written fanfic and found themselves in at least one rabbit hole knows, sometimes you learn new things when you take a little bit of dissatisfaction, a desire to see yourself (or more of others), and an outlet to create. I know that’s what got me to start writing fanfic and to be more involved in a fan community, and I know that a lot of people have had a similar journey.

And I know this could very well be a PR line that I’m falling for hook, line, and sinker, but it still makes me curious that this is the story she’s going with publicly.

We’ll probably hear more about the album in the coming days, and I am curious to know how she got to creating this album and how that desire shaped her creative process.

If there are any Beyoncé fans or listeners, I’d love to know if there are any tracks you’re looking forward to or surprises we should watch out for!

✨ What’s something new that you learned while creating something for a fandom or just being in fandom? (Mine has to be how to create dishes that read like they would come from a Michelin-starred restaurant.)

A playlist for the road?

When I was stuck in a creative rut and could not write fic, I tried my hand at creating a playlist for a character. When I first did this, I had watched Ocean’s 8 twice and was obsessed with Anne Hathaway’s Daphne Kluger, and I decided to create a playlist for her. More specifically, Daphne’s public persona.

While I did not write anything after making that playlist, I realized that playlists are a great way to try some character work without writing anything. There are some tracks that I ended up removing because they didn’t fit into the vibe that I wanted to go for. Now that I’ve revisited it, I wonder if I could make it more nuanced and do a playlist that describes Daphne’s journey as a character, and not just the surface-level, glamorous actress that Daphne is supposed to be.

If you haven’t given it a shot, I highly recommend it. You might end up with a fun new playlist for your next road trip, or a creative spark for your next fandom-related project.

💡 If you engage in creative practices like fanart, fanfic, fanvids, fic binding, etc., has music played a role in your creative process?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t end this newsletter by celebrating the fact that we’ve hit over 100 subscribers for fan/work! I’m grateful to the lovely folks at The Rec Center for recommending this newsletter to their audience and to anyone who has found this project. However you got here, know that I’m glad you’re here and that I’m excited to bring good stuff to you.

Thanks for reading, and happy Friday. 😁