My history with the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise is technically still going on, even though a lot has happened to me already. When I joined the old AATC Fan Forum in January 2017, my introduction post there was paltry compared to what happened to me since. And because of this, I'm also not sure if I should update this post, or add another post to this thread, by including more significant fandom events that would happen to me since the writing of this post.
My true introduction to the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise was actually the two Alvin Sing-Along VHS tapes from the 90s, consisting of song numbers from "The Alvin Show" from 1961. I have also heard the original "Chipmunk Song" on a Dr. Demento Christmas Compilation album, but other than that, I gradually grew indifferent of the franchise.
But then, in August 2016, I saw the Nostalgia Critic episode "reviewing" the first live-action movie from 2007. When the Critic character imitated the Chipmunk characters there (just like how he imitates other characters in other movies he reviews all the time), I noticed that (apart from the higher pitch) those imitations sounded... sped up, especially considering that there was one non-voiceover Chipmunks imitation he did that even looked sped-up. With all that in mind, as well as an earlier clip where he imitated Ian Hawke saying "Have you tried speeding up so it sounds like high-pitched ear penetration?", and my prior knowledge on how this technique works, my curiosity gradually peaked to the point where I started experimenting by recording recitations of The Chipmunk Adventure quotes very slowly in Audacity, and then using the "Change Speed" effect to speed it up by 2. After being satisfied with the results, I did more quote recitations, before moving on to made-up sketches, and finally reaching what I consider to be my breaking point when I recorded my first full-on Chipmunks cover.
I have since admitted to becoming a Chipmunks fan, but I have not even considered joining any AATC fan communities until I asked a genuine question on the AATC Wiki about whether Simon loves Alvin overall despite all the stress the latter gives the former. After a few back-&-forths with the admin there, he encouraged me to join that forum. Since then, my public fan activity has grown substantially, and even became friends with some other fans, to the point where I became more comfortable discussing my problems with them, than how I was doing so before.
Then there's this whole #ChangeTheChannel debacle back in April 2018, in which part of it condemned the Nostalgia Critic for existing past 2013, and since I became a fan of the franchise through an episode made in 2016, I felt that I should have known the NC was terrible enough for me to stop watching it before I could have possibly seen that episode. Because of that, I actually wished I never became a fan of AATC in the first place. I just simply wish things away from all of history if it's deemed to be terrible enough, and I really wanted to make up for becoming a fan of something through a terrible person. Then I was backed out of that mentality through the message of It's a Wonderful Life and every played-straight clone ever.
Again, a lot has happened to me since becoming a fan, including publishing quite a few fan covers & audio plays to the old forum, and later, the Wiki's Discord server, to the praise of my friends in the fandom. Some of them were adaptations of my own fan fiction scripts, while others were adaptations of others' fan fiction by request.
After being disgruntled over the laziness of other fan covers on YouTube, I started a YouTube channel in November 2017 called "AnUnexpectedChipmunksFan". I added "Chipmunks" to that username because YouTube is a more general platform and I want viewers to know what I'm a fan of. Even though I have already published a few legitimate fan covers there, I am winding down activity there partly because of fears of YouTube's ContentID system potentially blocking my cover videos, as it had already done so for a couple of attempted uploads.
Then, in December 2021, I finally buckled down to see the live-action movies after over 5 years of being a fan and yet refraining from seeing them solely because of their negative reception, simply because I was being convinced by other fans to see them anyway. You can see my first-impression review videos and hear my thoughts on these movies on my YouTube channel.
I really hope that this forum will give me just as much joy as the old AATC Fan Forum did!
