Henry Jenkins said that fan works emerge from “a balance between fascination and frustration. If the original work did not fascinate fans, they would not continue to engage with it. If it did not frustrate them on some level, they would feel no need to write new stories” – Fan Fiction as Critical Commentary, 27th September 2006
We take this as our mission statement: to discuss and engage with both the fascination and the frustration of cultural works.
The Why Of It All
Ruth & Michelle met through fandom in 2006 and have been engaged in fan culture ever since.
They have spent many a night, up ’til 2am, drinking tea and debating the finer points of a recent plot twist or character arc. This website and our podcasts are a way to open up this discussion to all.
Ruth & Michelle host:
‘South Side Rules – A Shameless Podcast’ (February 2023)
‘Thinky Thoughts – A Multi-Fandom Podcast’ (August 2018)
‘Destiny & Chicken – A Merlin Podcast’ (August 2019 – Complete)
‘The Descent is Easy – A Shadowhunters Podcast’ (August 2017 – Complete)
Who We Are
Ruth was born and raised in London, to an English father and an American mother, with lots of family in New England. She has a BA in Creative Writing and a Masters in Publishing. She wrote her thesis on ownership issues in participatory fan works. She writes sometimes. She currently as a freelance Editor for an academic books. Her favourite colour is purple, she couldn’t live without tea or cats, and her most prized possession is a pair of red velvet Doc Martens.
Michelle was born and raised near Zurich, in Switzerland, where she completed a three year apprenticeship in book selling, publishing, and book shop management; and created art (fan and other) as a hobby, for occasional cash, and various favours in her spare time. She moved to London in 2008, where she spent two years doing a BTEC in Animal Management. Her favourite colour is rainbow and she spends a vast amount of time being climbed on by baby goats.
Up until now, we have been remiss in not introducing you to everyone working behind the scenes here at Fascination & Frustration, so without any further ado, we would like you to meet the rest of the team.
Mouse (Mouse McFeathers aka Boodle aka Boodleboots aka Mousecat – The Undisputable Leader of the Gang aka Cat) was born in March 2009 and peacefully passed away in April 2021 after a 3 year battle with cancer. She has often been referred to by Michelle as ‘the most beautiful thing ever bought for £25.’ She went through extensive surgery and radiology treatment, and rapidly became the most beautiful thing ever bought for £10k+ worth of credit card debt. Mouse was a Shadowhunters fan first and foremost, and loved the #tDiE bookclub, considering there is nothing more comfortable to sit on in this world than a book that is actively being read by a human.
Wiggins (Wiggins Dangerbean aka Wigglypuss aka Twiglet aka Stripey Boy aka t’Other Cat) was born in April 2013. He is as aloof as he is beautiful and tends to not get involved in our podcasts, however he does enjoy sleeping under beds and furniture, out of sight of everyone, popping up when you least expect him and scaring the life out of you. Ruth or Michelle shouting ‘HOLY SMOKES WIGGINS! WHY??’ has been edited out of many a podcast episode.
Howard (Howard Bambino aka Ginger Butt aka Pumpkin aka t’Other t’Other Cat aka t’Third Cat) was born in April 2014 and spent his first 4 lives as a semi feral farmcat (you can read his full story here) before coming to live in the F&F household for his remaining 5. He’s the most active podcast participant, and loves all of our podcasts equally, as long as he can loudly give his opinion during recording, or help with the editing by motivating us with his upside down love.
If you wish to send our feline friends something nice, you can check out their Amazon Wishlist here.