the internet is good sometimes
May. 23rd, 2022 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
letterstonowhere the internet is good. in February I went to my first ever concert. it was for a band I have been a huge fan of for a while now. I didn't see them live earlier because the first time they came 'round, I would have likely had to go with one of my parents because none of my friends were fans and I couldn't drive. I was too scared of judgement so I kept quiet. and then I could drive, but I was too scared to go alone, and then covid hit and there were no concerts. this time, I had been living in my new college city for around six months, and as soon as the tour was announced and presale opened, I bought one ticket in the back of the lecture hall during my 9am class. I felt new, different. I wasn't worried at all about going alone because there was no one here to judge me and the venue was only a few stops away from my dorm room on the subway. I made a group chat on twitter of people who were going to the same show as me. most of them I didn't end up actually getting to meet, but one of them whom I knew a little better came over to wait in line with me when she arrived just after I did. it was freezing that day, and I think I would've lost my mind if I hadn't waited with her. she came with her mom since the venue wasn't as nearby to her, and we'd take shifts cycling through waiting in line and inside the warm store across the street. this was both of our first times ever seeing the band, and it felt surreal the closer and closer the clock got to 6, when doors opened. I can still remember exactly how I felt when the band walked onstage and started the first song of the setlist, and I'm glad I had a friend next to me who felt the exact same way, in a room of strangers who all felt the exact same way. music brings so many different people together into one room, where everyone can cast away their worries for a few hours and feel truly electric, alive, themselves.
the internet is good. a few weeks ago my closest internet friend and I video called for the first time. we have known each other for around two years now, as we both became more active in the same fandom spheres during quarantine. neither of us were super open about sharing our faces online, which was totally fine with me. we had talked enough about fandom things and college things and how-much-we-hate-covid things that I felt as if she was one of my closest friends despite the fact that we have never met in person and live in different countries. my best friends are people I have grown up with in a tiny suburban town, people who witnessed every awkward phase I went through. we bonded over terrible teachers and high school antics and the trials and tribulations of being a band kid. my internet friends were inherently different, for that reason. they only knew me through my celebrity profile picture and the fanart I sometimes posted and my rambling about whatever topic came to mind. in that way, they're like the inverse of my "real life" friends. those friends all have different music tastes than me with little overlap, while I have at least one band in common with my internet friends. when that friend and I started the zoom call, me sitting on my bed in my dorm room late at night, I was nervous. we had talked through twitter dms for literal years, yet this felt even more daunting for some reason. however, my worries were quickly alleviated as soon as we started talking. before we knew it we realized that we had been talking nonstop for two hours, which for me is longer than just about every single video call I've ever been a part of.
the internet is good. a few weeks ago my closest internet friend and I video called for the first time. we have known each other for around two years now, as we both became more active in the same fandom spheres during quarantine. neither of us were super open about sharing our faces online, which was totally fine with me. we had talked enough about fandom things and college things and how-much-we-hate-covid things that I felt as if she was one of my closest friends despite the fact that we have never met in person and live in different countries. my best friends are people I have grown up with in a tiny suburban town, people who witnessed every awkward phase I went through. we bonded over terrible teachers and high school antics and the trials and tribulations of being a band kid. my internet friends were inherently different, for that reason. they only knew me through my celebrity profile picture and the fanart I sometimes posted and my rambling about whatever topic came to mind. in that way, they're like the inverse of my "real life" friends. those friends all have different music tastes than me with little overlap, while I have at least one band in common with my internet friends. when that friend and I started the zoom call, me sitting on my bed in my dorm room late at night, I was nervous. we had talked through twitter dms for literal years, yet this felt even more daunting for some reason. however, my worries were quickly alleviated as soon as we started talking. before we knew it we realized that we had been talking nonstop for two hours, which for me is longer than just about every single video call I've ever been a part of.