hmm.

[unamaga]

Personally, I've been in "fandom" as a general thing for years and years now - I can't even properly remember what age I was when I discovered ff.net. I've been through ten or so different fandoms, some just as flings and others in a more involved way, and I'm curious. Tell me about how you first got involved in this whole crazy world.

Some guiding questions:

• What show or book (or whatever) first introduced you to fanfiction?


• How did you get into the fan community on livejournal?


• If you've had other fandoms, did you participate or just lurk?


• Is Supernatural the first fandom you've really been active in?

And some more general questions, if you're so inclined:

• Had you ever been involved in RPS before this fandom?


• Why do you think RPS is so popular here?


• How did you first find Supernatural - the show?

Comments

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

* What show or book (or whatever) first introduced you to fanfiction?

Oh boy. *thinks* Um. I think it was The Fast and the Furious. I know it was the first fanfic I'd written (het, too).

* How did you get into the fan community on livejournal?

That took a little longer. I was involved with various and assorted message boards, mailing lists, etc in that fandom/Vin Diesel fandom and several people I knew had journals. Eventually, I just happened over too - in the days when you needed an invite code. Wooo whee!

* If you've had other fandoms, did you participate or just lurk?

It depends on the fandom and if I "click" with anyone else. Some I've been more involved with than others.

* Is Supernatural the first fandom you've really been active in?

Lol. No.

And some more general questions, if you're so inclined:

* Had you ever been involved in RPS before this fandom?

Yes.

* Why do you think RPS is so popular here?

I'm gonna decline only because I'm tired and not doing well at forming coherent thought right now. ;-)

[ruedifference.livejournal.com]

What show or book (or whatever) first introduced you to fanfiction?
It's weird, but the way I've always described it is 'Wil Wheaton got me into slash.'. I was always a ST:TNG fan, and when I discovered he had a blog, I started reading it. He once linked to TWoP (http://televisionwithoutpity.com/), where I started reading Smallville reviews. Well, on those boards I read posts by slodwick, who linked to her lj. The rest? Is history.

How did you get into the fan community on livejournal?
After lurking around on slod's lj for awhile, I got one of my own. SV fandom was very welcoming and I just started getting more and more friends.

If you've had other fandoms, did you participate or just lurk?
Hmmm. Both? I'm a bit ADD, so I'd say I've been semi-active in about 20 different fandoms just within the last 5 years.

Is Supernatural the first fandom you've really been active in?
Nope, Smallville and Pirates of the Caribbean were the first.

Had you ever been involved in RPS before this fandom?
*laughs*
I actually used to think RPS was wrong. Then? I discovered Olympics/Swimmer!Slash fandom. And let's just say, I had a change of heart. (http://ruedifference.livejournal.com/60950.html) *cough*Not to mention this. (http://ruedifference.livejournal.com/93766.html)*cough*

[polyspaston.livejournal.com]

I was trying to remember the other day and then I realised, I realised ANY fandom actually existed through reading - ah if you haven't read them you so have to its hillarious - the secret diaries off of Lord of the Rings that cassandra claire wrote? I can't for the life of me remember how I stumbled across those but then I found this little link to the draco trilogy she wrote, and I just assumed it'd be like the secret diaries, and then I realised she'd actually written...well, a novel on the subject, and then I decided I really couldn't stop reading it and then I realised there were looooooads of people doing it, and then I realised it wasn't just harry potter, and then I wrote some crap and didn't do a lot of uni work which I was supposed to be doing instead. The end.

And I didn't know about supernatural until you set me up with that pilot and *sob* I've not seen any since. Though if it's on ITV1 I might :0D

[immoralilly.livejournal.com]

I swear, it was all binx_349's fault. She showed me LJ, and she helpfully gave me a link to what turned out to be NC17 Grissom/Sara porn. "EMMA!" I cried. "GRISSOM AND SARA ARE... HAVING SEX! I SWEAR THIS NEVER HAPPENED ON THE SHOW! ALSO, I JUST READ A DESCRIPTION OF GRISSOM'S MANPARTS!" "Yes, Robin," she replied. "This is called fanfic. It is good and bears no resemblance to reality."

And Emma was right.

So, my other fandoms were CSI and then a brief stint in Lost which I got bored of because everyone else wanted to talk about the weird reversed voices in the forest and no one wanted to talk about Sawyer's chest. SPN is my first really major fandom, participation-wise, though. I got into it Feb 1st this year (oh man, go check out my post on that day, it's fucking hilarious.) About five days later, I was reading NC17 Wincest. Good times.

I swear, this is the only fandom I read RPS in. Usually it squicks me, but here I love it. This may be due to my acute Winlexia, and I think it's true to say that it's a milder form of Winlexia that makes it so accepted - people want to read The OTP, whether it be J/J or S/D.

And I first heard about SPN when I was in a movie theatre. A trailer aired as part of the pre-movie ads, and I was terrified. "WORST CAR AD EVER!" I thought to myself as the Impala zoomed about and Dr Ellicot tried to suck Sam's soul and Dean made out with chicks. "NO. WAIT. IT'S FOR A TV SHOW. BEST TV SHOW PIMPING EVER, MUST WATCH THAT NOW!" And I did.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

If you're still willing to go the download route, I can totally hook you up with, like, all of season 1 and what we have so far for season 2. *pimp pimp pimp* Look at my cane, it is shiny.

Re: Secret Diaries - Hah! I remember those! And also the trilogy, though I never read it. I remember the wank, though. OH THAT WANK.

[polyspaston.livejournal.com]

I so would but this computer's a bit dodgy at the moment on the downloading stuff. I'm good with music but it wibbles over big things! But link me, pimp, for I can always try :D

The trilogy was well cool. Well, it got me hooked anyway. She made it into an article about fandom in the sunday times, that girl.

[writing-light.livejournal.com]

What show or book (or whatever) first introduced you to fanfiction?
Harry Potter. I sort of stumbled onto ff.net got addicted, and from there found the good stuff at checkmated.com and the sugarquill

How did you get into the fan community on livejournal?
I can't remember for sure, but I think I followed authors from checkmated over.

If you've had other fandoms, did you participate or just lurk?
I used to be very active in the Boondock Saints fandom. Now I lurk there occasionally.

Had you ever been involved in RPS before this fandom?
I used to read Flandus (Norman Reedus/Sean Patrick Flannery), but that's it.

Why do you think RPS is so popular here?
Because Jared and Jensen are dripping with chemistry. Unlike Flandus, where the guys just happened to be pretty and working together, you know that J2 really really like each other. It's not hard to imagine there's a bigger relationship than what we get to see.

How did you first find Supernatural - the show?
A few people in the BDS fandom started watching and then talking about it nonstop. Then I realized that Dean was Eric from Days and Sam was Dean from GG so I checked it out.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I remember the good ol' days of needing an invite! Actually, scratch good ol' days. I am so so glad livejournal stopped with that nonsense.

Vin Diesel fandom, huh? Is that how you know chickypooh

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Vin Diesel fandom, huh? Is that how you know chickypooh

Yeah, you found me/us out! :D

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

*feels so speshul and smrt*

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Of course you are! *smooches*

[chickyoops.livejournal.com]

Oh the good old days. *snuggles you*

[chickyoops.livejournal.com]

*sexes*

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

*smooshes you*

[chickyoops.livejournal.com]

*curls up in your lap and hums quietly*

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooh.

*thinks wicked thoughts*


*gropes you*

[chickyoops.livejournal.com]

Tsk tsk, naughty woman.

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

*waggles eyebrows*

You know it.

[ericaplease.livejournal.com]

1. ...Linkin Park
2. Um, through Linkin Park, but not in the LP community, because it's virtually nonexistant on lj.
3. Participated, mostly.
4. No.

5. Yes! I totally got my start in RPS.
6. I think the main reason (aside from the obvious aesthetical reasons) is that writing RPS in this fandom is something of a way to avoid writing incest. Of course, I've heard that theory turned completely around, too (that people write Wincest to avoid writing RPS, which... what?). But I still think it's a large part of RPS fic's popularity.
7. I found it through... I have absolutely no idea. :D

[chickyoops.livejournal.com]

*flashes*

[hebrew-hernia.livejournal.com]

When I was about 12, I was all about the Animorphs, which was a really bad sci-fi book series. I spent my formative years on ff.net writing for Animorphs, then In a Heartbeat (Disney Channel TV series starring Shawn Ashmore). I found LJ through Pages of True Love, which is a fan forum for the Pacey/Joey pairing on Dawson's Creek based on EZBoards.com, when I came looking for OC fanfiction (the connection was through miss_begonia). The OC fandom enabled me to establish a flist, which introduced me to other fandoms such as Doctor Who and Supernatural.

I have ended up participating (i.e. writing fic) in every fandom I've been in (with the exceptions of my lurking around and occasionally commenting on HP fic, and House, which I never really got that involved with anyway), with the exception being SPN RPS, which is the first RPS fandom I've been in. I don't write porn, although I am an avid reader and sometimes overly enthusaistic commenter, because I firmly believe in the tenet of "write what you know" but am woefully inexperienced. I'm pretty young, still.

I think RPS is so popular because JARED AND JENSEN ARE MOTHERFUCKING HOT. And are pretty obviously doing each other. So there's that. And it can pretty much be the ultimate OTP because there's really no established canon aside from the whole totally-doing-it vibe they give off all the time, so they can be angst-free or angst-laden, depending. I personally prefer my J2 to be angst-free.

I first found SPN through a friend IRL, actually, who kept mentioning it and Jensen Ackles and how hot he is (although I already knew that, thanks to Dawson's Creek and Smallville, which I watch very infrequently, but frequently enough to know that Jensen Ackles was on it being insanely hot), and then it exploded all over my flist and I decided to conform.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

TWENTY? *keels over and cannot even comprehend*

[saekokato.livejournal.com]

My first fandom/introduction to fandom was Sailor Moon. Um, my experience in the fandom was realitively brief (a year or so) 'cause then I moved onto boybands. Heh. I did the boyband fandom (primarily BSB and *NSYNC) for *years* and then wandered off for affairs with Gundam Wing, Star Wars: TPM, Buffy/Angel/Firefly, random anime, West Wing, Sports Night, Harry Potter and some others that I have to be forgetting. Most of the last six, seven years have been spent with Gundam Wing and Harry Potter. Then I found SPN.

And I was saved! Hallelujah!

*ahem* Most of my time was spent lurking, but I have participated in Gundam Wing and Harry Potter and, most recently, SPN. I still don't participate-participate, but I'm definately more up on what's going on with SPN than I was with anything else. Gundam Wing was what sucked me into LJ, with the RPG Solicium. *Love* those guys. And I totally blame all of the people I met through Solicium for SPN. They started squealing about the show and then I looked into it and I was hooked.

I started with RPS in the boyband realms. Just couldn't avoid it really. And I think its so popular in SPN because incest really is a big taboo for society and the sexual tension is so *there* between Sam and Dean on the screen that people have to see it and the only way to make that kosher is to see it as Jared and Jensen and not the two brothers. 'Cause gay men are much more acceptable than bro-cest. *shrug* I just like having both options. ^_~

So, yeah. That's the last ten years or so of my life for ya. *laughs*

[vileseagulls.livejournal.com]

I'M SO SORRY, I'VE WRITTEN YOU AN ESSAY.

When I was 12 Stargate SG-1 started in New Zealand, and I discovered online fandom, or rather, a website that no longer exists where you played games to increase in rank, and there was a chat thing that was really more like a guest book we'd cannabilised. Anyway so I was on there for a couple of years, and somewhere in there I discovered OneList and fanfiction. So I was reading het until I was about 14, possibly 15, and then I discovered SG-1 slash (no, not Jack/Daniel. Jack/Martouf. always had a thing for angry sex). Anyway, I wrote a couple of crappy pieces, one gen and the other a Mary Sue with het, and they kicked me off the Jack/Martouf mailing list for being underage before I could write anything there.

After that, I can't remember what I did, I was reading slash somewhere, but it wasn't SG-1 and I don't remember what it was. I got kicked off a lot of mailing lists. OneList became eGroups became YahooGroups, and the original SG-1 site I'd been on lost its community aspect when it got bought by MGM, and now exists as an Official Site.

At the tail end of YahooGroups' popularity, within a few months of turning 18, I got into Star Wars prequel fandom (Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan, of course), and met someone there who introduced me to LJ. So I got my LJ in March 2003, and shortly after left Star Wars and got into Harry Potter. I shipped Harry/Snape while it was still incredibly rare, and branched out into all the weird pairing. I wrote graphic Dumbledore/Marcus Flint, something with frilly knickers, and something else I can't remember, and entertained myself greatly by showing them to unsuspecting members of fandom. I also wrote a bit of plot, for an exchange, which still gets decent reviews. I'd learnt to write respectably by then.

I don't think that's quite right, actually, I think HP and Star Wars overlapped, or perhaps I took a break from HP. Because I was on a lot of YahooGroups for HP and also I was there for several years, and it's not adding up right.

After HP was Stargate Atlantis, which was a hell of a breath of fresh air. HP really got past its use-by date, and it wasn't fun anymore. Atlantis is fucking awesome, a good third of the fandom is pure crack. Anyway, that was about two years, and I was reading Supernatural on the side but not actively participating, and then a few months ago I started writing in Supernatural, and ditched Atlantis. Few other side fandoms along the way, things I read a bit in the middle of actively participating in other things, but that's pretty much me.

OKAY GOD I'M DONE.

RPS: I used to read HP RPS, though not in a major way, and I've been known to dabble in bandslash, though you didn't hear me say that. Atlantis I've written in, and I read a lot of it. I think probably some others too, along the way.

Er, clearly RPS is popular here BECAUSE THEY ARE FUCKING ASKING FOR IT. No, I'm serious. If they aren't actually fucking, I'd like to know why not, because they look at each other with so much damn love, I don't know what to do with myself.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

Before I start, like, replying to things, I want you to know I put this into Word with regular essay standards (12 Times New Roman, Double Spaced) and it was three pages long.