AN: Howdy, y'all! I know that I owe you another chapter of "The Art of Love," but I've been having a hard time writing it (or more specifically, figuring out what to do with Maureen's protest), so I thought I'd work on something a little different. I also have a Newsies one-shot in the works (OMG, I am shipping Javid SO HARD right now!), if anyone would be interested.

That said, I must give credit where credit is due: I completely stole this idea from a story that ThrowDownTheKey published just recently. She shared her story of how she became obsessed with RENT, so I would now like to share mine. Therefore, this is officially dedicated to her. I love your Cangel fluff, hon. Keep up the great work!

So, without further ado, I present:

ConfessionsOfAGeekyFangirl's RENT Story

Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a huge obsession with The Wizard of OZ. I used to always bring the DVD over to my babysitter's house to watch it with the other kids there. One day, when I was eight years old, my friend there started telling me about this amazing musical she'd recently seen, called Wicked. I was skeptical at first, but I soon got really hooked on it and saw it live on stage the very first chance I got.

This is really what got me addicted to musical theatre as a genre, and I soon became interested in seeing other Broadway shows. Of course, my Wicked obsession directly led into an Idina Menzel obsession, so when I read online that she had previously starred in another musical, RENT, was really eager to check it out. However, once I learned of the show's subject matter (homosexuality, drugs, AIDS) I was immediately turned off by it. One thing you have to understand about me is that, even as I got older, I was an extreme prude. I knew next to nothing about, well, "doing it," and got extremely uncomfortable when anyone even brought it up. I also never used swear words and outright refused to watch any movies above a PG rating.

This all changed the year that I was in the seventh grade, when the kids from the middle school were allowed to participate in the high school's production of Footloose. Working with and befriending high school kids really helped to loosen me up a bit (pardon the pun). I was no longer as awkward and closed-off, became more easy-going, and more open to and educated on the concept of sexuality.

So, I decided that maybe, now that I was more mature, I could try watching RENT to see if I liked it or not. I ended up checking out the final performance recording on YouTube, and . . .

. . . I didn't like it. Maybe it was because I didn't (and still don't) really like the way that certain actors portrayed the characters; maybe it was because I wasn't used to musicals that were sung all the way through; maybe it was because I still wasn't old enough to understand it, but yeah. . . It just didn't click with me.

Months later, I was writing out my wish list for my upcoming birthday, and at the last minute I decided "Hey! How about I add the DVD of the RENT movie! Maybe I'll like it better than the play!"

I watched the movie version of RENT for the first time on the day of my thirteenth birthday, and it absolutely changed my life.

I began to watch it more than any other film. I memorized all of the songs by ear. I converted both my mother and my musical-hating aunt into RENT-heads. I started painting my nails blue to be like Angel, and bought a pair of plaid pants to be like Roger. Most of my wardrobe consists of boots, leggings, skirts, sweaters, and hats in attempt to copy Mimi's amazing wardrobe. I pray that there will be a time in math class when we will need to calculate the number of minutes in a year, just so I can show off the fact that I already know it's 525,600. Whenever I have writer's block, I listen to "One Song Glory" and wait for inspiration to strike. I've started reading "La Boheme" on my Kindle. I even bought the Final Performance DVD and, although I still don't like some of the actors, it's really grown on me and I now appreciate its brilliance.

Mimi has now become a dream role of mine, and I even found a pair of blue, Lycra hologram leggings on Etsy so I'll be prepared for when the day finally comes. I'm also absolutely determined to convince my drama teacher to let us perform the school edition, even though she said RENT was the one musical she would never, ever do.

RENT has affected the way I live my life, too. Everybody at school considers me a hipster, to which I reply, "No. I'm a bohemian." And it's true. Due to my love of the musical, I have begun to live a very bohemian lifestyle: remaining devoted to my art, challenging society's standards of who I am and what I should be, passing no judgment on anyone or anything and accepting them for whom they are.

Maureen has helped me to become more self-assured and confidant. (I even performed "Over the Moon" for some of my friends . . . in a church.)

Joanne has helped me to see that I can still study hard and do well in school while still sticking to my bohemian roots.

Mark has helped me to remember that, even though I often feel alone, as long as I stay strong I can survive any battle.

Collins has helped me to learn that sometimes, a little rule-breaking is okay, and that I should always stay true to my beliefs.

Angel has helped me to remember to be as good of a person that I can be, but nobody's perfect and I shouldn't be too hard on myself.

Roger has helped me to realize how important it is to embrace life, instead of dwelling on the past.

Mimi has helped me to know that you can still be loved and accepted by your friends, even if they are older than you – and that you can be an alto and still have an awesome singing voice!

And during the period of time in my life when I had depression, watching RENT again and again helped me to overcome it. The words "No Day but Today" taught me just how important it was to live life to the fullest, instead of wasting it on sadness and regret. They are still the words I live by, and will continue to do so until the end of my days.

Thank you, Jonathan Larson.

AN: Thanks for reading! If somebody else would like to share their RENT story, I would be more than happy to review it. I think it would be a great idea if more people would do things like this. It really makes us closer as a fandom.