Snowflake Challenge - Day #13...
Challenge #13
In your own space, share a favorite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, wild times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
This one is tough because I have a lot to sift through. Hmmm….
It’s no secret to those who know me that I love The Lord of the Rings. You see I’m the sort of person who can read a mass-market paperback, and it still looks pristine. Like fresh-from-the-shelf, no-bent-corners, no-cracked-spines, no-folded-over-pages pristine. And yet, I read copies of the books into oblivion: covers torn or hanging on by a thread, the yellow on the edges of the pages wearing off, some pages coming a bit loose.
When I heard they were making the series into a films, I was both excited and terrified. Excited to have more than just the old animated film. Terrified that they were going to get it wrong, that the movies couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations as a fan of the books. While I might quibble about some things altered and/or left out of the films (Oh, my sweet, creepy barrow wights, how I missed you!), the films definitely did not disappoint.
The films released around Christmas, and the year The Fellowship of the Ring came out, we were having a bad winter weatherwise. Normally, I would drive from Cleveland to Northeast PA to spend the holidays with my mom, but since she was worried about me driving through the mountains, I stayed at home. And saw Fellowship thirty-one time. Though that wasn’t just over the holidays, it was over the theatrical run. Actually, if you add in viewings of the Extended Editions of the films in the theatre, plus a twelve-hour marathon of all the Extended Versions I’ve seen it probably over forty times. Let’s not talk about watching it at home.
I can remember the first time I went to see Fellowship in the theatre. From the opening scene and the score, I knew the film was going to be magic, and it was. Yes, I missed the barrow wights and Glorfindel (though I didn’t get bent about Arwen taking his place because I liked how that sequence played out and developed Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship). However, I was awestruck by Rivendell and Moria and Lothlorien and enchanted by the Shire. I loved the casting and performances. I adored the score. It was Middle Earth come to life, and it was everything my fangirl heart wished for. It was glorious.
After I left the theatre for that first time, I headed to the box office, bought another ticket, visited the restroom, and went right back in to see it again.
Of course, it was the films that made me active in fandom for the first time. Sure, I’d read fic and lurked in fannish spaces, but it was The Lord of the Rings that made me want to take that next step and become part of fannish communities, and I’m deeply grateful for that and all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.
Banner by Seleneheart.
In your own space, share a favorite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, wild times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
This one is tough because I have a lot to sift through. Hmmm….
It’s no secret to those who know me that I love The Lord of the Rings. You see I’m the sort of person who can read a mass-market paperback, and it still looks pristine. Like fresh-from-the-shelf, no-bent-corners, no-cracked-spines, no-folded-over-pages pristine. And yet, I read copies of the books into oblivion: covers torn or hanging on by a thread, the yellow on the edges of the pages wearing off, some pages coming a bit loose.
When I heard they were making the series into a films, I was both excited and terrified. Excited to have more than just the old animated film. Terrified that they were going to get it wrong, that the movies couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations as a fan of the books. While I might quibble about some things altered and/or left out of the films (Oh, my sweet, creepy barrow wights, how I missed you!), the films definitely did not disappoint.
The films released around Christmas, and the year The Fellowship of the Ring came out, we were having a bad winter weatherwise. Normally, I would drive from Cleveland to Northeast PA to spend the holidays with my mom, but since she was worried about me driving through the mountains, I stayed at home. And saw Fellowship thirty-one time. Though that wasn’t just over the holidays, it was over the theatrical run. Actually, if you add in viewings of the Extended Editions of the films in the theatre, plus a twelve-hour marathon of all the Extended Versions I’ve seen it probably over forty times. Let’s not talk about watching it at home.
I can remember the first time I went to see Fellowship in the theatre. From the opening scene and the score, I knew the film was going to be magic, and it was. Yes, I missed the barrow wights and Glorfindel (though I didn’t get bent about Arwen taking his place because I liked how that sequence played out and developed Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship). However, I was awestruck by Rivendell and Moria and Lothlorien and enchanted by the Shire. I loved the casting and performances. I adored the score. It was Middle Earth come to life, and it was everything my fangirl heart wished for. It was glorious.
After I left the theatre for that first time, I headed to the box office, bought another ticket, visited the restroom, and went right back in to see it again.
Of course, it was the films that made me active in fandom for the first time. Sure, I’d read fic and lurked in fannish spaces, but it was The Lord of the Rings that made me want to take that next step and become part of fannish communities, and I’m deeply grateful for that and all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.
Banner by Seleneheart.