"The Golden Days of Fanfic"
Now, fanfiction is still very much a thing now as it ever was. It hasn't 'died'. Some authors have changed, some haven't. We see new faces every day, and you see increasing number of deleted journals every day.
There is a murmur of an idea I've heard around the place that we're no longer in the "golden days" of fanfiction, especially not for Harry Potter. It's true, approximately 5 years ago, give or take a few, fandom was a very different place. I believe it was different anyway. To say however that it's therefore "not as good" is an assumption I wouldn't make. Besides that, there is such a volume of fanfiction out there that you could never have hoped to read it all even when it was published back then, let alone keep up with what is being posted now. But there are always the re-occuring themes, the personalities we like to give to our characters (such as Harry and Draco, my OTP) and so on.
But why did so many people move on? Why did some stay? Or like me, what brought you back (I gave it up for a few years and have just recently dove back in again).
It makes you stop and wonder sometimes if it's something you would give up. Does it affect your life? Does it stop you from getting out there and doing things you ordinarily would have? Does it leave you sitting on a computer all day long, forgetting to eat and drink, forgetting personal hygiene? Is it all worth it? Why do we become so obsessed with it? Some of these things are what made me force myself to forget fandom the first time around. I find for me, it's like an all consuming addition where I just read and read and read until my eyes are burning, it's 3am and I'm a mess for the next day. It can ruin my life if I let it. This time around I told myself I would enter fandom in a responsible manor. But still I find old bad habits creeping back in (such as the late nights), that not only affect me this time but also my partner. What makes it so addicting?
But what really started this rant was the notion of the "Golden Days". Are we no longer in the Golden Days of HP fandom? Are we scrambling to try to hold onto something that really should have been left behind? Or is it still alive and thriving?
I read Draco and the Not-Potter just now by circe_tigana who's last post which was Harry/Draco related was in 2008, the story written in 2004. Draco felt the same as how I imagine him now, Harry felt the same too. It could have been written yesterday for all I knew, but in actual fact it was written close to 8 years ago.
Anyway, if you read all that, I think it's an interesting rant!worthy topic
There is a murmur of an idea I've heard around the place that we're no longer in the "golden days" of fanfiction, especially not for Harry Potter. It's true, approximately 5 years ago, give or take a few, fandom was a very different place. I believe it was different anyway. To say however that it's therefore "not as good" is an assumption I wouldn't make. Besides that, there is such a volume of fanfiction out there that you could never have hoped to read it all even when it was published back then, let alone keep up with what is being posted now. But there are always the re-occuring themes, the personalities we like to give to our characters (such as Harry and Draco, my OTP) and so on.
But why did so many people move on? Why did some stay? Or like me, what brought you back (I gave it up for a few years and have just recently dove back in again).
It makes you stop and wonder sometimes if it's something you would give up. Does it affect your life? Does it stop you from getting out there and doing things you ordinarily would have? Does it leave you sitting on a computer all day long, forgetting to eat and drink, forgetting personal hygiene? Is it all worth it? Why do we become so obsessed with it? Some of these things are what made me force myself to forget fandom the first time around. I find for me, it's like an all consuming addition where I just read and read and read until my eyes are burning, it's 3am and I'm a mess for the next day. It can ruin my life if I let it. This time around I told myself I would enter fandom in a responsible manor. But still I find old bad habits creeping back in (such as the late nights), that not only affect me this time but also my partner. What makes it so addicting?
But what really started this rant was the notion of the "Golden Days". Are we no longer in the Golden Days of HP fandom? Are we scrambling to try to hold onto something that really should have been left behind? Or is it still alive and thriving?
I read Draco and the Not-Potter just now by circe_tigana who's last post which was Harry/Draco related was in 2008, the story written in 2004. Draco felt the same as how I imagine him now, Harry felt the same too. It could have been written yesterday for all I knew, but in actual fact it was written close to 8 years ago.
Anyway, if you read all that, I think it's an interesting rant!worthy topic