By Alexandra Trosan

A fandom is a community of people that support a famous person or sport. A bandom is a group of people that are fans of certain bands.

Renee has several favorite fandoms and bandoms. She is a member of The Sherlock fandom, which some people claim started in the late 1800’s.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had his detective stories containing the main character Sherlock Holmes published in multiple magazines between 1887 and 1893.  People started writing what would today be called fan fiction and held public mourning events when the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle “killed” Holmes in a story where he meets his nemesis and they both die.  Even Doyle’s mom begged him not to kill the character.  Renee may not know all this background but her interest was ignited by the Masterpiece theater series that re-imagined herlock Holmes. How would a modern Sherlock Holmes work out? Curious and intrigued she waited for the first episode to air. And then it happened: the first episode swept her off her feet. Every time she heard Benedict Cumberbatch’s incredible voice she’d go insane. The story line and the plot twists left her both speechless and flailing. Jon was perfect. Sherlock was perfect.  The cliffhanger in episode three hit her with a feeling of hopelessness and despair, “Moffat and Gatiss (writers of the show) seemed pleased,-knowing they clearly broke our hearts and we couldn’t do anything but just sit there,” Renee says.

Currently she is waiting for season 3 to start.  Renee feels the Sherlock fandom is the best fandom she has ever been involved with. She calls herself a Sherlockian.

The Strokes’ bandom appreciates five men: Julien Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond JR., Fabrizio Moretti, and Nick Valensi. They are the kings of Renee’s little heart.  She started listening to them last June. She automatically fell in love with their garage band sound. She was (and still is) utterly obsessed with them.  The band can be described as dysfunctional and according to Renee, “The bandom is just as crazy.”

Renee also suscribes to Doctor Who fandom: She learned about this fandom through tumblr. To her delight, she found out that the shows were on instant Netflix and in between sleeping and blowing her nose, she started watching series 1. Her very first episode was “Rose.” She was charmed by the unique concept and the slightly cheesy special effects.  By the time she reached “Father’s Day” she was hooked. She was so in love with the characters.  She says, “It was fun, it was clever and after watching “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances”, I realized that Doctor Who could be terrifying too.  She’s excited to start watching some more classic Dr. Who episodes.  She’s seen a few already. Her mom wonders what has become of her. She watches it too, but mostly because Renee likes it. Renee’s proud to be called a “Whovian”.  “It’s always fun meeting other ‘whovians’, and even more fun converting ‘whovians,’” she said. She’s made several of her friends “whovians” by making them watch “Blink.” While “Doctor Who” is fun by itself, part of the charm is the fact that the entire fandom is completely wonderful. “Thanks Doctor Who for entertaining me and bringing me into this fabulous fandom!” she said.

MGMT bandom: Four letters, five guys. Andrew VanWyngarden, Matt Asti, Will Berman,Ben Goldwasser and James Richarson. Their wonderful psychedelic rock and electric beats are enough to make anyone sway their bodies. Renee owns all their albums, and she has their single “Metanoia” on a vinyl disk. She adores all five band members and she’s met some amazing people who also listen to them. They will always remain one of her favorite bands.

Last but certainly not the least of Renee’s fandom connections, the Avengers: “The best comic books there is,” she says. Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Thor come together to fight for justice. The books and movies has always been a huge part of her life.

When not watching shows, listening to music, or staying tight with other members of the bandoms and fandoms, she is spending time with her mother and occasionally making a visit to Minnesota to see relatives.  Her favorite relative is her Uncle Tom. And her best memory with him is going on vacation to Virginia beach.

When she gets home, she has a daily routine on her laptop.  She opens her music app, opens Google chrome and then opens 3 tabs-Facebook, tumblr, twitter.

Break your routine tomorrow and say hi to Renee in the hall or check out some fandoms and bandoms!