That's interesting. My show of all shows is BtVS, but I have a weird relationship with the fandom. I saw the first ep, the first two hour special, and was lurking on the first posting board. BtVS wasn't my first fandom, but it did teach me how to look at layers, and at how to tell a story. I touched base with BtVS fandom occassionally, but it wasn't my fandom. I'm willing to discuss BtVS with nearly anyone, even to hear it come under heavy cricitism, and I love the meta. This was the show that taught me about meta. But the show feels personal. Pretty much everyone knows I like BtVS, and I will occassionally talk about it, but BtVS just feels too personal for fanfic, for shipper wars, for fandom politics, for the stuff that fandom brings.
QaF and LJ was the fandom that made me stop lurking. I had to comment to be added to f-locked ljs so I could read the fic. And I saw how everyone else was having all these discussions, and it looked easy, so I commented. And LJ became a massive time suck. And I still occassionally just lurk, and hang back, but I'm participating more. I know all about the scary, obsessive behavior. QaF was my fandom, but not really my show, because dramas don't really do it for me. But when I fixate, I just end up fixating.
I also remember lurking in X-Files fandom, mostly because I had to watch jumbled together eps (at the time, my area didn't carry Fox network, so I had to watch syndicated reruns). I went online to figure out what was going on, then became aware of the fanfic. I remember all the post-apocalyptic stories.
Pretty much everyone knows I like BtVS, and I will occassionally talk about it, but BtVS just feels too personal for fanfic, for shipper wars, for fandom politics, for the stuff that fandom brings.
It's interesting that you say that. Before XF,I was really into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. (pre The Vampire Armand), but I never went near the fandom. Even when I started lurking in XF, I didn't even look for fandom. To this day, despite the current mocking of Anne Rice and the most recent novels, I have this gut reaction that some things are sacred and Lestat is one of those things. It doesn't make sense logically, but the books were just so influential to me at a really key time that they were a really, really personal experience. In contrast to that, I think the things I have been actively fannish about are those that I needed to to talk out and share my reactions to or understand other's reactions. XF, BtVS, etc, have always seemed like a shared experience. VC did not.
BtVS, not XF, taught me about meta as well. My involvment with XF was much too simplistic. As I said, I only liked MSR (and Marita/Krycek), I really only read people who agreed with me and I stayed far away from what I would now call the edgier side of fandom. I did lurk in BtVS/AtS for a year before I got involved, in pretty much the same way you got involved in QaF, so that was really where I learned.
I've become fairly multi-fannish, at least as far as lurking goes, and lj is the worst time suck ever. I tend to just lurk at times too, and I try to stay away from wank, but there are days when I can still spend hours. I used to not have a computer. The mind boggles. *g*
I get what you mean about some things needing to be shared. I started watching QaF with a bunch of friends, and their commentary and snark made it an enjoyable experience, and I looked for more of that online. I expected to just be a casual fan of HP, but it's become a shared experience, which is kind of strange in itself.
I have no idea how I used to live without a computer, either. I mean, I borrowed them and used public terminals. I also remember when I only used to check my email and browse websites. Now it's hard to do one thing on the computer, without visiting 10 different sites.
QaF and LJ was the fandom that made me stop lurking. I had to comment to be added to f-locked ljs so I could read the fic. And I saw how everyone else was having all these discussions, and it looked easy, so I commented. And LJ became a massive time suck. And I still occassionally just lurk, and hang back, but I'm participating more. I know all about the scary, obsessive behavior. QaF was my fandom, but not really my show, because dramas don't really do it for me. But when I fixate, I just end up fixating.
I also remember lurking in X-Files fandom, mostly because I had to watch jumbled together eps (at the time, my area didn't carry Fox network, so I had to watch syndicated reruns). I went online to figure out what was going on, then became aware of the fanfic. I remember all the post-apocalyptic stories.
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It's interesting that you say that. Before XF,I was really into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. (pre The Vampire Armand), but I never went near the fandom. Even when I started lurking in XF, I didn't even look for fandom. To this day, despite the current mocking of Anne Rice and the most recent novels, I have this gut reaction that some things are sacred and Lestat is one of those things. It doesn't make sense logically, but the books were just so influential to me at a really key time that they were a really, really personal experience. In contrast to that, I think the things I have been actively fannish about are those that I needed to to talk out and share my reactions to or understand other's reactions.
XF, BtVS, etc, have always seemed like a shared experience. VC did not.
BtVS, not XF, taught me about meta as well. My involvment with XF was much too simplistic. As I said, I only liked MSR (and Marita/Krycek), I really only read people who agreed with me and I stayed far away from what I would now call the edgier side of fandom. I did lurk in BtVS/AtS for a year before I got involved, in pretty much the same way you got involved in QaF, so that was really where I learned.
I've become fairly multi-fannish, at least as far as lurking goes, and lj is the worst time suck ever. I tend to just lurk at times too, and I try to stay away from wank, but there are days when I can still spend hours. I used to not have a computer. The mind boggles. *g*
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I have no idea how I used to live without a computer, either. I mean, I borrowed them and used public terminals. I also remember when I only used to check my email and browse websites. Now it's hard to do one thing on the computer, without visiting 10 different sites.
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