That fandom meme
Aug. 5th, 2006 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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painless_j.
1. When did you come to HP fandom? How did you find HP fanfiction/fanart? Was HP your first fandom? I was very into the Mummy at first. I loved the character of Ardeth Bay. I used to type up stories on my manual typewriter. I had no idea that other people did things like this, and I had no idea that it was called "fanfiction". I used to trade little smutlets (we called them "weasels") withbookwench2096. I was avoiding the HP books because I worked at a bookstore, and usually you begin to actively loathe very very popular books. So I eventually did pick up the first two and read them, but I wasn't very impressed. Then Bookwench mentioned how much she liked Snape, and so I wrote her a quick smutlet about him finding her and strip-searching her. Yeah, a weasel. Anyway, for some reason it lurked in my subconscious and wouldn't let go, until I was really beginning to go Snape-crazy. Alan Rickman helped, of course, though I still think he's a bit too old for the part.
At some point Bookwench told me all about fandom (she was in X-files at the time), and she showed me a little bit online. Eventually I bought a computer, and in November 2003 I spent a lot of time running around the internet, trying to find Mummy stories. After a couple weeks I thought, what the heck, I'll look for Snape stories, and I started going through ffnet. I spent three months looking at the summary or skimming/reading every single Snape story there. And there were a lot, let me tell you. I started composing a story in my head, and Bookwench told me about Mary Sue, which sent me online for another three days, looking up and finding out about her and how to avoid her. That was when I discoveredpottersues, and I spent another three days reading and laughing hysterically. I set up a LJ just so that I could comment there.
2. Where did you hang out at the beginning? LJ? Some forums? What were those places you frequented at first? I mostly hung out onpottersues, and at ffnet. I discovered FictionAlley not too much later; I still enjoy the In Character forum there, and occasionally post there. I also joined the Potions Master's Muse, a yahoo group about ss/ofc stories, and I'm still a member there.
3. What was the first HP fic you read? If you don't remember, name the first author or anything you remember about those very first experiences. Did you like that fic? Did it make you try and find something else or did it make you run away? I liked reading stuff on ffnet at first, and I found a few good stories, like Sticks and Stones, but the one that immediately springs to mind is Balance by rabbit and jinx. Balance was terrific because it was so damned inventive and imaginative, and it made me sit up and take notice. I really love that story. I still go back and reread it occasionally. It is uneven, but it has so many interesting moments, and such an unusual plot, that I am addicted each and every time. It's gen, and very action-oriented. I found it because of a recs page.
4. What was/were the first pairing(s) you read? And that you liked? Were they the same? Was it one or several at once? I really never got into specific pairings, at first. I was looking for anything Snapecentric. And even though I am writing ss/ofc, I generally don't enjoy that pairing almost ever. Funny, huh?
5. Has it changed with time? How or why? I've started reading slash, mostly because of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
switchknife. A lot of great writers write slash. And I've really started to love ss/rl; I'd almost call it my OTP.
6. If you write/draw/rec, did you start writing/drawing/reccing at once or did you lurk for some time? What made you start exploring your creative side? I started writing almost immediately. Mostly because I already wrote before the fandom, and I've always loved to write. I lurk just a little, at first, to try to figure things out.
7. Tell us something amusing or embarassing from your newbie times. Or just something that stands out in your memory from when you were fresh and green, fandom-wise. I probably made poorviolet_quill insane...I commented WAY too much on her journal at first, when I was just learning the ropes. Same with a few other people. I also wrote very very very long comments. And I still cringe because I corrected mysduende on a typo; she very politely explained that it was better to email those things, and now I totally understand why.
8. What was your reaction to first feedback? First negative feedback? First flame? First rec? Did they teach you anything? What? I was totally excited by my first feedback. I was hoping against hope that I would have a slew of feedback, but that didn't happen. The first feedback that I remember thinking, huh? was a very short comment that said that Harry was spending his shortest time ever at Hogwarts before book 6 so my story was AU. This was information that had come from JKR in an interview, and it was published after I started writing (which was a year before book 6 came out). I have been so lucky that I haven't had any flames...yet. And I was rec'd, which made me jump around madly...it showed me that my summary was horrible, though, because it summed it up better than I ever have.
9. People. Who played a big part in your fandom acclimatisation? Who helped you and how?mysduende, deepforestowl...and tviokh. Every time Tviokh would complain about something, like memes posted without a cut, I'd cringe, and change my behavior.
10. Anything else you want to tell us about your early experiences? Or early experiences in comparison to now? I love knowing things now, and I've seen firsthand how fandom people can slide right off the fandom map...I can see cycles at work in the people I interact with here on the internet. I used to think that having a big flist was impossible, but now I see that many of the people on the list stop posting or post only infrequently, so it makes it a lot more manageable. I still have odd moments where I confuse people, but I'm getting more and more at ease with the electronic life. heh.
painless_j.1. When did you come to HP fandom? How did you find HP fanfiction/fanart? Was HP your first fandom? I was very into the Mummy at first. I loved the character of Ardeth Bay. I used to type up stories on my manual typewriter. I had no idea that other people did things like this, and I had no idea that it was called "fanfiction". I used to trade little smutlets (we called them "weasels") with
bookwench2096. I was avoiding the HP books because I worked at a bookstore, and usually you begin to actively loathe very very popular books. So I eventually did pick up the first two and read them, but I wasn't very impressed. Then Bookwench mentioned how much she liked Snape, and so I wrote her a quick smutlet about him finding her and strip-searching her. Yeah, a weasel. Anyway, for some reason it lurked in my subconscious and wouldn't let go, until I was really beginning to go Snape-crazy. Alan Rickman helped, of course, though I still think he's a bit too old for the part.At some point Bookwench told me all about fandom (she was in X-files at the time), and she showed me a little bit online. Eventually I bought a computer, and in November 2003 I spent a lot of time running around the internet, trying to find Mummy stories. After a couple weeks I thought, what the heck, I'll look for Snape stories, and I started going through ffnet. I spent three months looking at the summary or skimming/reading every single Snape story there. And there were a lot, let me tell you. I started composing a story in my head, and Bookwench told me about Mary Sue, which sent me online for another three days, looking up and finding out about her and how to avoid her. That was when I discovered
pottersues, and I spent another three days reading and laughing hysterically. I set up a LJ just so that I could comment there.2. Where did you hang out at the beginning? LJ? Some forums? What were those places you frequented at first? I mostly hung out on
pottersues, and at ffnet. I discovered FictionAlley not too much later; I still enjoy the In Character forum there, and occasionally post there. I also joined the Potions Master's Muse, a yahoo group about ss/ofc stories, and I'm still a member there.3. What was the first HP fic you read? If you don't remember, name the first author or anything you remember about those very first experiences. Did you like that fic? Did it make you try and find something else or did it make you run away? I liked reading stuff on ffnet at first, and I found a few good stories, like Sticks and Stones, but the one that immediately springs to mind is Balance by rabbit and jinx. Balance was terrific because it was so damned inventive and imaginative, and it made me sit up and take notice. I really love that story. I still go back and reread it occasionally. It is uneven, but it has so many interesting moments, and such an unusual plot, that I am addicted each and every time. It's gen, and very action-oriented. I found it because of a recs page.
4. What was/were the first pairing(s) you read? And that you liked? Were they the same? Was it one or several at once? I really never got into specific pairings, at first. I was looking for anything Snapecentric. And even though I am writing ss/ofc, I generally don't enjoy that pairing almost ever. Funny, huh?
5. Has it changed with time? How or why? I've started reading slash, mostly because of
switchknife. A lot of great writers write slash. And I've really started to love ss/rl; I'd almost call it my OTP.6. If you write/draw/rec, did you start writing/drawing/reccing at once or did you lurk for some time? What made you start exploring your creative side? I started writing almost immediately. Mostly because I already wrote before the fandom, and I've always loved to write. I lurk just a little, at first, to try to figure things out.
7. Tell us something amusing or embarassing from your newbie times. Or just something that stands out in your memory from when you were fresh and green, fandom-wise. I probably made poor
violet_quill insane...I commented WAY too much on her journal at first, when I was just learning the ropes. Same with a few other people. I also wrote very very very long comments. And I still cringe because I corrected mysduende on a typo; she very politely explained that it was better to email those things, and now I totally understand why.8. What was your reaction to first feedback? First negative feedback? First flame? First rec? Did they teach you anything? What? I was totally excited by my first feedback. I was hoping against hope that I would have a slew of feedback, but that didn't happen. The first feedback that I remember thinking, huh? was a very short comment that said that Harry was spending his shortest time ever at Hogwarts before book 6 so my story was AU. This was information that had come from JKR in an interview, and it was published after I started writing (which was a year before book 6 came out). I have been so lucky that I haven't had any flames...yet. And I was rec'd, which made me jump around madly...it showed me that my summary was horrible, though, because it summed it up better than I ever have.
9. People. Who played a big part in your fandom acclimatisation? Who helped you and how?
mysduende, deepforestowl...and tviokh. Every time Tviokh would complain about something, like memes posted without a cut, I'd cringe, and change my behavior.10. Anything else you want to tell us about your early experiences? Or early experiences in comparison to now? I love knowing things now, and I've seen firsthand how fandom people can slide right off the fandom map...I can see cycles at work in the people I interact with here on the internet. I used to think that having a big flist was impossible, but now I see that many of the people on the list stop posting or post only infrequently, so it makes it a lot more manageable. I still have odd moments where I confuse people, but I'm getting more and more at ease with the electronic life. heh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-06 08:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-06 09:11 pm (UTC)Yeah, I was totally in love with
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-06 01:55 pm (UTC)Thank you for taking part!
Re correcting typos: I still do it in LJ comment 'cos I appreciate it when people point my typos to me. I can see nothing embarrasing for the author in it 'cos come on, who doesn't make typos. And unlike grammar or canon errors, they are nearly impossible to catch 'cos the eye glides right over them.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-06 09:13 pm (UTC)I usually email them, the few times I do actually point them out, unless it's someone new in the fandom, and they seem to be looking for crit.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-07 04:07 am (UTC)This is a great interview. I always love to find out the whys and hows of my fav authors.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-07 10:36 am (UTC)I love
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-08 09:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-08 10:47 pm (UTC)