Challenge 10
In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, creator, episode, or it could be your fandom friends. Share your love and squee as loud as you want to. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I'd bet everyone who knows me is expecting me to write about Janet Fraiser! *lol* Well, she is my number one character love. But SG-1 and Janet are not what got me into fandom.
I first discovered online fanfic in the form of Voyager fanfic. It was mostly Janeway/Seven fic, but not exclusively. There was also Janeway/Torres, and Torres/Seven. I then expanded into SVU and other Law and Order fanfic. I was a silent lurker for a many years in the old yahoo groups under a different nic. Eventually, I braved sending someone feedback... and made an online friend with a fanfic author. I noticed quite a few of the 'good' authors were migrating from the yahoo groups to a place called LiveJournal. So I joined LJ.
Still, I was a lurker, but I liked the communities that grew there. The interactions between writers and readers was friendly and welcoming... at least in the comms I was I in. Then one fateful day, I created a new online identity, wrote something, a prologue to a story, and posted it. I was scared as hell. But I was not only welcomed into the online fandom community, but a wellknown author agreed to be a beta reader for me. That author was kind and helpful, and so giving of her time and knowledge and encouragement. She made what could have been a bad experience, a wonderful one.
I've heard horror stories about people who have had their stories ripped to shreds by readers because they dare to introduce original characters, or they don't ship the right pairing, or any of a dozen other reasons. I'm so thankful I have not experienced those things personally, nor witnessed it secondhand. I have made some very dear friends through fandom. Some I've met in real life and consider irreplaceable and have known well over a decade. I have friend all over the globe because of fandom, and I don't regret a minute of it! Fandom and the internet are wonderful things. :)
This entry was originally posted at https://dhamphir.dreamwidth.org/291569.html.
