My Fannish Origin Story

[ladyfoxxx]

Let's just pretend I've been posting regularly, shall we?

So some folk were talking about fannish origins on Twitter and it got me thinking, I don't know if I've ever really shared my origin story in any real deapth and it might actually be a fun thing to do. So, here it is.

Comments

[kat_lair]

There is so much I can identify with here. X-Files was my first fandom too and I stumbled across fandom and fanfic much the same way as you. Internet had just arrived at the local library (you had to book a slot, 1h/person/day) and on following X-Files links I ended up at Gossamer before soon. I totally still remember the excitement of finding out the stories of stuff I wanted to see in the TV. Like you, I was a Mulder/Scully shipper through and through (OTP of my teenage heart, responsible for my enduring love of the 'from bffs to something more' trope).

I never really was into slash in X-Files fandom (and still aren't) although I remember coming across it there. I never remember being disgusted by it. Soon I got into other fandoms, reading only (I did write one and started another X-Files story but I never posted them): Due South, Star Trek (various), Sentinel... and so one. Was reading both slash and het. RPS happened via Savage Garden and U2, and again I don't remember having any great moral anxiety about the whole thing.

I didn't get actively involved in fandom (as in interacting with people and posting fic) until Stargate Atlantis in 2007 when I got LJ and posted my first fic. Rest is LJ history which has included many different fandoms, both as a passive consumer and active creator. I continue to be

For anyone interested in fandom history I recommend digging into Fanlore. Also, this short article on 'fandom before computers' makes for some interesting reading.

[ladyfoxxx]

OMG my local library had 1 hour bookings too! But I mostly used the internet in the computer labs at uni until I had home access. I remember being all shifty looking over my shoulder because they were all crammed into a room together and you had a person either side. I pretty much only used them for message boards, I couldn't really read fic there because OMG what if someone SAW.

*Mulder/Scully shipper high five* I'm sure they are responsible for my "friends-into-lovers" obsession!

YOU READ SAVAGE GARDEN? What did you read? Were you on any mailing lists or just on the websites? *nostalgia attack*

Oooh thanks for the links, I'll have to check those out. I'm on a bit of a nostalgia kick right now, though I'm still not sure if I have the stones to post my old fandom fics to AO3 as yet.

[kat_lair]

I was about 15 when both X-Files and internet arrived into my life :D But once I got to university I certainly used the computers there for purposes beyond academic study...

Lol yes, I read Savage Garden. I wasn't on any mailing lists, mostly I kept checking some of the central (now sadly disappeared) fanfic sites. And of course those were the days when ff.net allowed RPF. And I totally still occasionally listen to my Savage Garden CDs and Darren's solo stuff.

I've posted aaaaaaaaaall old fanfic except for that one schmaltzy Mulder/Scully Christmas story (seriously so sugary *g*) but everything I've posted on LJ (which, btw, was started 2005 not 2007 - EVEN OLDER THAN I THOUGHT) is on AO3.