My very own origin story
I was browsing through fandomsecrets the other day (it's a long story; overall I find it ridiculous, worrying, heart-warming, confusing, and at times absolutely terrifying). I may have no particular secret worth sharing, but several of the posts were along the lines of "S!B if my friends/family/dog found out, they would ___", and it made me wonder about my start in fandom and the friends who were part of it.
I've been lurking in various fandoms for more than five years now. Pfff, five years, whatever. That also happens to be one quarter of my biological existence. Which I consider to be a large proportion.
I was first introduced to Harry Potter fic in grade nine (aside: I have no idea if HP fandom was already batshit at that point or not, I confined myself to The Pit). Two of my friends in school were crazy HP fans, and told me about some James/Lily stuff they were reading on FF.net. And thus a lurking, shadowy fan was born!
Reading other people's secrets made me wonder about those two friends, whether they're still into fandom, if they ever wrote anything (I have a vague memory of Friend 1 working on something... don't remember how that ended up), if they ever 'opened up' to other ships. I say that because at the time we (me included, I freely admit that) were quite adverse to slash. For myself I remember I saw slash as a bastardization of what the author had intended the characters to be (I remember this conversation with Friend 2 very clearly), and avoided it completely. I also remember my friends vehemently protesting it.
And then... I got into Stargate Atlantis. I began as a McKay/Weir shipper, but then... Sheppard/McKay came along. In my opinion, this ship would convert even the most hardened het fan. And from that point on I was totally, irreversibly, undeniably hooked.
I wonder about those two friends. Did they ever come across a pairing that made them change their minds, or at least open them? Did they ever move on from HP? Did they fall out of fandom entirely? Could one or both of them be in one of my fandoms right now, writing some porny fill on a kink meme? I honestly have no idea. I keep fandom almost completely cut off from real life. My best friend has no idea (I assume, but then again best friends tend to know things). We only have a few shows in common, and I try to keep my squee under control (you have no idea how hard it was to stay cool when she told me that Morgan was moving into Casey's apartment...). The funny thing is, I'm not really sure what her reaction would be if I told her, anyway.
Well, that's my not!secret. Exciting.
I've been lurking in various fandoms for more than five years now. Pfff, five years, whatever. That also happens to be one quarter of my biological existence. Which I consider to be a large proportion.
I was first introduced to Harry Potter fic in grade nine (aside: I have no idea if HP fandom was already batshit at that point or not, I confined myself to The Pit). Two of my friends in school were crazy HP fans, and told me about some James/Lily stuff they were reading on FF.net. And thus a lurking, shadowy fan was born!
Reading other people's secrets made me wonder about those two friends, whether they're still into fandom, if they ever wrote anything (I have a vague memory of Friend 1 working on something... don't remember how that ended up), if they ever 'opened up' to other ships. I say that because at the time we (me included, I freely admit that) were quite adverse to slash. For myself I remember I saw slash as a bastardization of what the author had intended the characters to be (I remember this conversation with Friend 2 very clearly), and avoided it completely. I also remember my friends vehemently protesting it.
And then... I got into Stargate Atlantis. I began as a McKay/Weir shipper, but then... Sheppard/McKay came along. In my opinion, this ship would convert even the most hardened het fan. And from that point on I was totally, irreversibly, undeniably hooked.
I wonder about those two friends. Did they ever come across a pairing that made them change their minds, or at least open them? Did they ever move on from HP? Did they fall out of fandom entirely? Could one or both of them be in one of my fandoms right now, writing some porny fill on a kink meme? I honestly have no idea. I keep fandom almost completely cut off from real life. My best friend has no idea (I assume, but then again best friends tend to know things). We only have a few shows in common, and I try to keep my squee under control (you have no idea how hard it was to stay cool when she told me that Morgan was moving into Casey's apartment...). The funny thing is, I'm not really sure what her reaction would be if I told her, anyway.
Well, that's my not!secret. Exciting.