(no subject)

[olivermoss]

* I've joined a local writer's group. It only meets monthly but it appears... really good so far? We'll see how this goes.

* Writer's Strike has passed day 100. Here's hoping the studios crack soon.

* With movies and shows coming slower for a while due to this, I am finally tackling a long post I've been meaning to make for transmediaclub I am doing a write up of Alexander James Adams. It's super frustrating because a LOT of the resources that I'd like to use just don't exist online anymore. He's been a nationally touring musician on the con / geek / ren fest / celtic circuit since... uh... since... at least early 90s? I *think* late 80s? Not even the Norwescon website will just tell me how often he's performed there or when the first official performance, as opposed to filk circle, one was. That kind of info used to be easy to look up! Anyway, it's going to take me a minute to find a way to be all 'this person is a huge deal actually but got weirdly forgotten due to the name change and also his label went under so he couldn't sell or perform his 12 albums of original content for years' Though, overall, it's now 20 albums of orig solo content, 4 with bands and also he was involved in making some of the recording of music from Mercedes Lackey books. Mercedes used to write the songs that were mentioned in her books and put them at the end, and they were made into albums.

Also, we didn't have the term deadname back then. Their old name just became forbidden to say, with no goddam explanation, in a lot of spaces offline and online. Yeah, without context, image being yelled at because someone asked who your fave musician is and you're told you are going to be banned if you ever say that name again... without context that is very alarming! I think that happening around the same time the label went bankrupt was a lot. Massive name recognition in several scenes and over a dozen albums being sold at events across the country to suddenly none of that.

So yeah, the post is going to be a project.

Comments

[gingicat]

I know I saw him in 1995 doing a filk convention concert. Does that count?

Edit: Also, on the website Alex refers to himself as "playing the music of Heather Alexander" with a link to Bandcamp.

[olivermoss]

Alex has changed how he refers to himself and his past catalog a few times, which is one reason why the post is going to be a bit tricky. He went from 'Heather never existed and never says that name' to 'Heather is another person and I am their heir' to 'yeah I am both' over the years. How I refer to him/them in my post is consistent with how he currently talks about his past. My transmediaclub post will have to start with a note about all that.

Some fans still think that 'never mention the name Heather Alexander' is the correct thing, which makes all of this tricky to talk about.

[oracne]

Good luck with the writers' group!

[olivermoss]

Thanks!

[mistressofmuses]

Fingers crossed for the writer's group!

I've seen a handful of things about Alexander James Adams, but feel like I'm definitely missing chunks of it, due to that same wormhole you mentioned. I remember for a while looking for the MLackey music (and mostly finding random single tracks on limewire, which probably dates that search as much as anything), and then encountering that "WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT NAME HERE" stuff when I ventured onto forums or fansites. Much MUCH later I found out more about the whole situation, but not a LOT more.

[olivermoss]

"we do not mention that name here" sounds so, so, so, so bad without context. It's like... holy hell what happened?

[mistressofmuses]

Right? Like... with the context it's great, I'm glad everyone is really just wanting to be respectful of his identity, but... without context it sounds like "OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT DID THEY DO?"

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I wound up not being in the loop and alienated during the period of time when we lived in the same city and I could have gone to shows, met him, knows of the existence of a trans man in my local community, etc... How that was talked about, how it drove people away, etc, it was not a good situation. It really disrupted his following when he was already going through it, as I now know.

I'd listened to him for ages, almost obsessively at times, like there was something there... I have a weird track record of getting really into artists and then later they came out as trans.

[mistressofmuses]

That's really crappy, and I'm sorry you did miss out on the ability to potentially connect with him at that time.

I understand that some of the intent came from a good place - we don't want to deadname! Respect who he is now! - but "never speak that name" is the sort of treatment that feels a lot more associated with someone who has done something deeply wrong and harmful, and it wouldn't surprise me if people really believed that to be the case, and wound up with an unearned negative response to him because of it.

It's weird when that sort of thing happens! Sometimes there is a sort of... vibe or the like, even if someone isn't out, or their messaging isn't overt. Not as a weird "lol, gaydar" thing so much as just a... "hey, there's something about you and your work that speaks to something in me or expresses something I feel very strongly" that turns out to be some flavor of queer.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, also specific attitudes towards gender that just feel... comforting when the rest of the world is off-putting. I college I used to just back to my room and listen when I was stressed out. I just didn't know why

[mistressofmuses]

Very much so. Connecting with art, *especially* when it feels counter to everything else your life is full of, is... extremely powerful, even when you don't always know *why* you connect the way you do. I think sometimes the artists may not know what thing they're imbuing their art with either. It's hard for me to put it into words.