Twelve Steps?
I've been involved in the HP fandom for less than a year. I didn't read my first HP fic until late July. I didn't bother leaving feeback for any fics I read until September, and even then, I was usually really bad about it for months after that. I was content to be a lurker because getting involved in fandoms tends to suck out my brain. I become obsessed to the point where I read fic instead of doing the things I should be doing -- like sleeping, working... having a life in general away from my computer.
I was starting to come to grips with things - as in not spending every free waking moment drowning in the Potterverse - when I discovered that there was a whole new side to the Potterverse on Live Journal. That was late September/early October. And of course any progress I'd made in quelling my obsessive behavior was not only trampled, but buried so deep that I'd forgotten it had ever existed. And it wasn't that I lurked because I'm anti-social or shy - I just didn't have enough time to voraciously read fics and converse with people at the same time. I have no idea how I found things back then. I had no idea how fandom was 'structured' and I vaguely remember a constant stream of mouseclicks -- so constant that I'd lose track of where I had started. And the most compelling reason I had for avoiding the HP fandom for so long in the first place -- it's so huge that I'll literally drown trying to navigate my way through it -- took more than just form and shape; it sucked me in so hard that I've still got whiplash. I finally did manage to get it under some semblence of control when I started writing my own fics, but even six months later, it's still so vast that I continue to find it a bit daunting regardless.
I've also discovered that it doesn't matter how many fics (and various pairings) I read and *squee* about or cry rivers of tears over, or empathize with, or nod my head and agree with the concept or possibility of (even if it doesn't have a chance in hell of ever being 'canon'), nor does it matter that I'll always love the books for themselves despite fanfic:
I am an utter and complete crack whore for happy ending Sirius/Remus fics and scenarios.
There. I said it. Denial be damned. I make my own reality anyway. *breathes sigh of relief* Unfortunately, I'm still as obsessed with the whole fandom thing as I was when I read my first Star Trek extended universe novel. And nobody has invented a twelve step program for curing that. (Well, okay, I could smash my computer and never go online again, but cold turkey didn't work for helping me quit smoking either *she says as she lights up another*)
I was starting to come to grips with things - as in not spending every free waking moment drowning in the Potterverse - when I discovered that there was a whole new side to the Potterverse on Live Journal. That was late September/early October. And of course any progress I'd made in quelling my obsessive behavior was not only trampled, but buried so deep that I'd forgotten it had ever existed. And it wasn't that I lurked because I'm anti-social or shy - I just didn't have enough time to voraciously read fics and converse with people at the same time. I have no idea how I found things back then. I had no idea how fandom was 'structured' and I vaguely remember a constant stream of mouseclicks -- so constant that I'd lose track of where I had started. And the most compelling reason I had for avoiding the HP fandom for so long in the first place -- it's so huge that I'll literally drown trying to navigate my way through it -- took more than just form and shape; it sucked me in so hard that I've still got whiplash. I finally did manage to get it under some semblence of control when I started writing my own fics, but even six months later, it's still so vast that I continue to find it a bit daunting regardless.
I've also discovered that it doesn't matter how many fics (and various pairings) I read and *squee* about or cry rivers of tears over, or empathize with, or nod my head and agree with the concept or possibility of (even if it doesn't have a chance in hell of ever being 'canon'), nor does it matter that I'll always love the books for themselves despite fanfic:
I am an utter and complete crack whore for happy ending Sirius/Remus fics and scenarios.
There. I said it. Denial be damned. I make my own reality anyway. *breathes sigh of relief* Unfortunately, I'm still as obsessed with the whole fandom thing as I was when I read my first Star Trek extended universe novel. And nobody has invented a twelve step program for curing that. (Well, okay, I could smash my computer and never go online again, but cold turkey didn't work for helping me quit smoking either *she says as she lights up another*)