Seven Day Response: Day 2 (Belated) Fandom ♥ LJ
Fandom ♥ LJ: a day devoted to thank you notes, love letters, posts, and testimonials about why LJ is good - why it is for us and we are for LJ.
You might also consider dropping by ljabuse_love
Loving LJ. . .
Poppy Z. Brite once said something about New Orleans after Katerina that has become one of my favorite quotes. After the recent wank-age, I found that it was something that applied to my feelings about LJ.
"If a place takes you in, and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you."
~Poppy Z. Brite.
For many, including myself, LJ is a place that has taken them in with open arms, creating a place for community. After a while, we have embraced LJ, loved it, bitched about it, but in the end we have taken it and made it a part of our on-line- and for some, RL- lives. It has healed us, supported us, taught us, connected us, loved us, made us stronger, and occasionally made us come to terms with the less flattering things about our selves and our friends. It is our home.
Many times, we forget that LJ can remove us. They can ban us, they can implement things that we dislike, and release press releases that make us less then happy. But this doesn't make it any less our home. Just because it can do these things doesn't mean that it's not worth fighting for. LJ granted us voices, and last week proved that we can use what LJ has given us to fight for it- even against LJ itself.
Now, many folks have adopted Hoist the Colors High from the POTC:3 movie. However, I stand by a song that has always described what I personally feel about LJ and the community it houses- Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan. You can find the lyrics here, but I feel compelled to post up the chorus:
I believe, this is heaven to no one else but me,
And I'll defend it long as I can be,
Left here to linger in silence if I choose to,
would you try to understand. . .
You see, when I first started to involve LJ into my day-to-day life, my siblings were less then supportive. Many of you would be familiar with the jabs they had for LJ- however, I loved it. I loved how it was a place where I could be heard, could help, could be helped. I could find people who other wise I might never have met, and because of LJ I have created Deep Friendships with and have maintained these friendships for at least 5 years- half a decade. LJ is a venue for freedom, if we choose it to be.
Some of you might be going, "Hey, where's the fandom?" or "hey, half this stuff you already said in your fandom love letter." I know. The thing is that LJ is the venue by which fandom continues on a long term basis. Without LJ, fandom would not have been such a positive influence on my life. ON a message board, it's a hell of a lot less intimate. LJ, on the other hand, is both intimate and varied. It can be used to house J-pop sparklies next to Personal angst next to cracktastic fic. I could scroll down my flist, and there might be Some personal issues being discussed, political quotes being hashed out over, mst-s making us all laugh, and even RPS right above House slash right above Severus Snape fan fiction. It's a one stop place in which we can virtually visit our friends from many walks of life in a short period of time. It is also a place where we can express ourselves in many different ways.
In short, I love LJ. If you ever check out my other blogs, they are but shadows content wise of my LJ. Some even only exist in case the worst should happen and LJ dies. Worse case scenario prep, if you will. I will prolly never completely leave LJ, so long as this journal exists-and I'm not so much one who would delete content even if it IS my own.
I Love you LJ. Never leave me, for serious.
You might also consider dropping by ljabuse_love
Loving LJ. . .
Poppy Z. Brite once said something about New Orleans after Katerina that has become one of my favorite quotes. After the recent wank-age, I found that it was something that applied to my feelings about LJ.
"If a place takes you in, and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you."
~Poppy Z. Brite.
For many, including myself, LJ is a place that has taken them in with open arms, creating a place for community. After a while, we have embraced LJ, loved it, bitched about it, but in the end we have taken it and made it a part of our on-line- and for some, RL- lives. It has healed us, supported us, taught us, connected us, loved us, made us stronger, and occasionally made us come to terms with the less flattering things about our selves and our friends. It is our home.
Many times, we forget that LJ can remove us. They can ban us, they can implement things that we dislike, and release press releases that make us less then happy. But this doesn't make it any less our home. Just because it can do these things doesn't mean that it's not worth fighting for. LJ granted us voices, and last week proved that we can use what LJ has given us to fight for it- even against LJ itself.
Now, many folks have adopted Hoist the Colors High from the POTC:3 movie. However, I stand by a song that has always described what I personally feel about LJ and the community it houses- Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan. You can find the lyrics here, but I feel compelled to post up the chorus:
I believe, this is heaven to no one else but me,
And I'll defend it long as I can be,
Left here to linger in silence if I choose to,
would you try to understand. . .
You see, when I first started to involve LJ into my day-to-day life, my siblings were less then supportive. Many of you would be familiar with the jabs they had for LJ- however, I loved it. I loved how it was a place where I could be heard, could help, could be helped. I could find people who other wise I might never have met, and because of LJ I have created Deep Friendships with and have maintained these friendships for at least 5 years- half a decade. LJ is a venue for freedom, if we choose it to be.
Some of you might be going, "Hey, where's the fandom?" or "hey, half this stuff you already said in your fandom love letter." I know. The thing is that LJ is the venue by which fandom continues on a long term basis. Without LJ, fandom would not have been such a positive influence on my life. ON a message board, it's a hell of a lot less intimate. LJ, on the other hand, is both intimate and varied. It can be used to house J-pop sparklies next to Personal angst next to cracktastic fic. I could scroll down my flist, and there might be Some personal issues being discussed, political quotes being hashed out over, mst-s making us all laugh, and even RPS right above House slash right above Severus Snape fan fiction. It's a one stop place in which we can virtually visit our friends from many walks of life in a short period of time. It is also a place where we can express ourselves in many different ways.
In short, I love LJ. If you ever check out my other blogs, they are but shadows content wise of my LJ. Some even only exist in case the worst should happen and LJ dies. Worse case scenario prep, if you will. I will prolly never completely leave LJ, so long as this journal exists-and I'm not so much one who would delete content even if it IS my own.
I Love you LJ. Never leave me, for serious.