challenge #2: fannish origin story

[efinea]

from snowflake_challenge :

Challenge #2
In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

• what better way to start this challenge out than with a trust fall? may i introduce my one and only dated but well loved ff dot net account here!

It would have been webrings that brought me to my fanficy fate but ultimately when I wasn’t lurking this was the site where you’d find me. I remember having binders of printed fanfic to read for later. They must still be around in a basement somewhere....

I also spent quite a bit of time on Quizilla. Fanfic especially self insert fic was rampant there and profiles were easily able to be updated, so you could post your favorite AMVs and update your doll maker all while browsing whatever fandom you were in (for me Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fic *laughs*)

In my own winding way I found webrings and larger fandom most likely through neopets forums and pet pages as that was my first experience on the internet. It certainly explains why so many of my accounts were frozen (linking off site was a no-no!)

When I started to get into AMV making with Winows Movie Maker the Naruto forums became my new home. That was basically the only time I wasn't a full lurker until LJ and tumblr times and even then I mostly found myself going through the various fanclub pages. I was happy enough just to have a place where others talked about the things I liked. Oh, and all the shipping theories! Those really kept me excited for each new chapter reveal even when I wasn't up to date so to speak *laughs*.

A fun fact: there's been a very big move in the Inuyasha fan space to archive every bit of fic on ff dot net for when it inevitably goes down. That's something I'm very thankful for, and I think I'll always remember this bit of my fannish beginnings with some nostalgia. Truly the world was bright, vast, and there seemed to be so few limits!

 

Doing the snowflake challenge now reminds me of some of the events the naruto forum fan clubs would do... it really is amazing what a sense of community does and how festive it made life seem. I can't blame myself for continuing to take part in challenges now! Glad I shook that lurker status off eventually.