I’m Not Fun at Parties is a thought and opinion column reflecting on pop culture, fandom, books, and anything that falls in between those cracks.
I’m not fun at parties. This is a joke I tell, a bit I do after going on some kind of lengthy rant about one or more of my many niche areas of interest turned expertise. Don’t know if you can tell but I’m not much fun at parties, it’s a self-deprecating punchline.
I’ve been the weird kid pretty much my whole life; when you’re the only out gay kid at a private Catholic school in a 6000-person small town it’s kind of inevitable. Add on an obsession with the quickly fading golden age of Tumblr, my resident emo-kid status, and general anti-social I’m-not-like-other-girls behaviour, and you’ve got the perfect recipe. So, I was the weird kid (and yes, before you ask, I was obviously bullied in primary school).
But here’s the thing about being the weird kid that you eventually figure out; when that 600 student Catholic school eventually chews you up and spits you out, you realise the real world is a lot bigger. You don’t have to be the weird kid for your whole life, but you can make it your whole life.
Now, instead of spending most of my time telling self-deprecating jokes in the corners of parties I don’t want to be at, or running my mouth in my Study of Religion class, I get to build something out of the things that ricochet around in my brain.
So hey, hi, nice to meet you, where do we begin?
I’m Not Fun At Parties isn’t a self-deprecating punchline anymore but a home for the not-so-retired emo kids, anyone who is still active on Tumblr in the year of our lord 2024, all of us with three to five AO3 tabs open on our phones at any given time, the kids who got in trouble for reading in class, and the people who care way too much about too many things and refuse to be normal about it. It’s a thought and opinion column reflecting on pop culture, fandom, books, and anything that falls in between those cracks.
And me? I’m your guide, Grace. Officially, I’ve got a BFA in Creative Writing with over five years of experience drifting around the various spaces of the Brisbane arts scene and a soon-to-be cool, gay English teacher. Unofficially? I’m a DnD nerd who reads too much, never finishes a video game, spends too much money on concert tickets for bands that were cool in 2012, and thinks too intently about the topics that rattle around in my brain.
Together, we’re going to talk about the rising trend of fanfiction as a mainstream media vehicle, what the rise of DND actual play content really means, and the power of the romance novel, among other things.
So welcome, sit down, let’s chat.
