Meta, get your red hot meta

[wabbitseason]

Part of the reason I adore going to MediaWest Con every year is hearing the stories. Across fandoms, across experiences, across genres, it's always fascinating to hear how people came into fandom or what they go through. Sometimes they're so far outside what I have to deal with and sometimes I have to laugh and say "Been there, done that, got that t-shirt". LJ sometimes feels like an extended version of those panels, only livejournal posts are not limited to an hour.

In that vein, several people have started posting various discussion posts:

• penknife asks us what we learned from our first fandoms: Thinking about my own experiences, I realize they probably say a lot about me. I started out in book fandom, primarily Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey ones. Yes, they're sf/fantasy based, but the fan groups had very strong creator connections. I was always conscious of playing in someone else's sandbox, what the rules were. Mind you, this was early 1990s, before things became really wanky there. AUs were actually encouraged for each group, either in a different time period or location, so we didn't step on their toes. I was also used to working with editors and deciding when I'd see fanfic published.
  
  When I moved online, I discovered the media fandoms, mainly Buffy and Babylon 5. That was a different experience. The TPTB were around sometimes. Suddenly I could send out my fanfiction with a click of an email. Rules depended on the group you joined, if then. AUs were something fun to twist your brain around.
• angisgeek's survey of trends in changing fandoms
• minisinoo wonders what draws us into particular fandoms
• cereta asks the question: Why SGA?