fannish5's Question: Five Reasons I Love HP Fandom
This week's question is a really personal one, and it really goes to the core of a lot of both my personal and my fannish life (because of that, I'm actually going to be turning off the comments to this post). I have such a big bundle of HP love and such a tangled and interwoven relationship with it that it's really hard for me to separate out just five reasons that this series and fandom means the world to me.
This is particularly true because I was very lucky with my early HP experiences. I mean, I totally recognize that I could've been surrounded by jerks and had things go differently, and yeah, sometimes I still end up running into so much rage in the fandom that I have flames along the side of my face. But then I take a break and think back to the moments that I'm about to share, and I know that HP will always have its very own place in my heart.
((While I'm chatting, I thought I'd mention that I totally realize the lol factor of using a LotS icon on my HP love!post. But since it's my 'reading' icon, I figured it would be alright, anyways.))
fannish5 asks for: five reasons you loved or hated (or were indifferent to) Harry Potter fandom.
1. While Harry Potter wasn't my first slashy fandom, it was the first fandom that totally and completely made 'gay is okay' such an integral part of my life. I was lucky enough to have plenty of slash-loving support among my early HP friends, so even on the rare occasion that I did run across a homophobe in HP fandom, I was able to brush their bigotry off as a random jerk being an asshole.
And because of that, because I was a part of such an incredibly slash and glbt-friendly contingent of HP during my formative years, I had a ready-made support system for when I was discovering my own sexuality. I remember thinking to myself, 'well, if I intimately believe that it's awesome that Remus is bisexual and loves Sirius, and so do my friends, well, than it's just as awesome for me to love guys and ladies, too.'
2. It's one of the first books that I actually sobbed uncontrollably over. Seriously, when Dumbledore gave his speech following Cedric's death I swear I cried like a baby for far too long. And that was just the first of many times that I was so connected to the world, the characters, and the writing itself to have my heart torn in two.
I fully expect to sob when I see the last film on Sunday, too. Not just for the many parts that are sob worthy in the canon, but because of the fact that it IS the last film. It's the last bit of new material that'll be given to us for quite some time, and that's a scary and heartbreaking thought. I can only pray that the fandom doesn't die out like so many others have.
3. All of the memories, y'all, all of the memories. I've been involved in HP fandom for over a decade, and the friendships and important moments have become such an inseparable part of me that I can't imagine living life any differently.
I have amazing memories of discussing epic HP rpgs over pizza at the front desk in my dorms, memories of wild HP premiere parties, memories of staying up all night with friends rpging and/or writing and/or squeeing online, memories of my mother reading me the HP books when I was in the ER and later, when I was having surgery, memories of HP pens being given to me to make up for medical mistakes (totes worked, too), etc.
4. Okay, so, as dorky as this is, HP squeeing helped me feel absolutely sure that I was dating the right woman. When I first started dating my wife, the two of us would chat online a lot. Well, one day HP came up and we ended up discovering that (at the time) we both preferred Remus to Sirius. Well, that just solidified everything in my mind. I heavily identified with Remus at the time, and so knowing that she loved him over the (atm) cooler Sirius Black gave me a giant 'OMG WE'RE MEANT FOR ONE ANOTHER' lightbulb moment.
Even now we're both still HP fans, with her introducing me to new fics and pairings, and vice versa. We don't always still have the same favorite characters, but that's okay. We'll always have that moment that was so critical to both our relationship and our individual fannish identities.
5. Without going into a lot of details, there were some really, really shitty times in my life, especially my early life, where Harry Potter and its fandom were the only thing that kept me functioning. The books, the films, the fic, the daydreams, and the stories in my head, they were all there for me during times when I didn't have anyone else that I could really turn to.
In its own way, HP and its fandom's still there, still helping me, still saving my life when I least expect it, in all sorts of big and small ways. And I can never express how thankful I am to JKR and all of the various fandom folks who might never even know all that they've done for me and all that they mean to me.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. It has
comments there. Please comment there using OpenID or a DW account.
This is particularly true because I was very lucky with my early HP experiences. I mean, I totally recognize that I could've been surrounded by jerks and had things go differently, and yeah, sometimes I still end up running into so much rage in the fandom that I have flames along the side of my face. But then I take a break and think back to the moments that I'm about to share, and I know that HP will always have its very own place in my heart.
((While I'm chatting, I thought I'd mention that I totally realize the lol factor of using a LotS icon on my HP love!post. But since it's my 'reading' icon, I figured it would be alright, anyways.))
fannish5 asks for: five reasons you loved or hated (or were indifferent to) Harry Potter fandom.
1. While Harry Potter wasn't my first slashy fandom, it was the first fandom that totally and completely made 'gay is okay' such an integral part of my life. I was lucky enough to have plenty of slash-loving support among my early HP friends, so even on the rare occasion that I did run across a homophobe in HP fandom, I was able to brush their bigotry off as a random jerk being an asshole.
And because of that, because I was a part of such an incredibly slash and glbt-friendly contingent of HP during my formative years, I had a ready-made support system for when I was discovering my own sexuality. I remember thinking to myself, 'well, if I intimately believe that it's awesome that Remus is bisexual and loves Sirius, and so do my friends, well, than it's just as awesome for me to love guys and ladies, too.'
2. It's one of the first books that I actually sobbed uncontrollably over. Seriously, when Dumbledore gave his speech following Cedric's death I swear I cried like a baby for far too long. And that was just the first of many times that I was so connected to the world, the characters, and the writing itself to have my heart torn in two.
I fully expect to sob when I see the last film on Sunday, too. Not just for the many parts that are sob worthy in the canon, but because of the fact that it IS the last film. It's the last bit of new material that'll be given to us for quite some time, and that's a scary and heartbreaking thought. I can only pray that the fandom doesn't die out like so many others have.
3. All of the memories, y'all, all of the memories. I've been involved in HP fandom for over a decade, and the friendships and important moments have become such an inseparable part of me that I can't imagine living life any differently.
I have amazing memories of discussing epic HP rpgs over pizza at the front desk in my dorms, memories of wild HP premiere parties, memories of staying up all night with friends rpging and/or writing and/or squeeing online, memories of my mother reading me the HP books when I was in the ER and later, when I was having surgery, memories of HP pens being given to me to make up for medical mistakes (totes worked, too), etc.
4. Okay, so, as dorky as this is, HP squeeing helped me feel absolutely sure that I was dating the right woman. When I first started dating my wife, the two of us would chat online a lot. Well, one day HP came up and we ended up discovering that (at the time) we both preferred Remus to Sirius. Well, that just solidified everything in my mind. I heavily identified with Remus at the time, and so knowing that she loved him over the (atm) cooler Sirius Black gave me a giant 'OMG WE'RE MEANT FOR ONE ANOTHER' lightbulb moment.
Even now we're both still HP fans, with her introducing me to new fics and pairings, and vice versa. We don't always still have the same favorite characters, but that's okay. We'll always have that moment that was so critical to both our relationship and our individual fannish identities.
5. Without going into a lot of details, there were some really, really shitty times in my life, especially my early life, where Harry Potter and its fandom were the only thing that kept me functioning. The books, the films, the fic, the daydreams, and the stories in my head, they were all there for me during times when I didn't have anyone else that I could really turn to.
In its own way, HP and its fandom's still there, still helping me, still saving my life when I least expect it, in all sorts of big and small ways. And I can never express how thankful I am to JKR and all of the various fandom folks who might never even know all that they've done for me and all that they mean to me.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. It has
comments there. Please comment there using OpenID or a DW account.