Snowflake 2k25 (II)

[queenslayerbee]

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.

 

 

Ooof. Oh man.

Well, I'm 28 now, and my beginnings in fandom started at... 12? 13? So, do the math xD. It started with the Buffyverse, and shortly after the HP books. I was largely a lurker, thought I commented on some long-lost forums of the Spanish side of things, moving from fandom to fandom whenever I got into something new (ATLA, TVD, DC...).

By then the embryos of the first versions of my original stories had already been brewing (ages 9 to 11 were very formative in that regard!), but I also did write some fics of dubious quality I was too embarrassed to even contemplate showing anyone. OTOH, I'm sure their quality was nothing sort of atrocious xD. On the other, my computer back then was an old, old thing my father had already retired from his office, and it mercelessly crapped on me one day, losing everything 😔, so if they were posted on fanfiction dot net I would've had access to them smh.

Sometimes I remember one of those stories (ff and some of my earliest attempts at original writing), and honestly? Yeah, I'm sure they were messy and unpolished, but my ideas already cooked xD. "Hey, what if I wrote a Bangel fic set on The Wish but I made it even WORSE and SADDER than what happens in that episode?" was a genius idea, and I totally applaud my 13yo self for it. She was going through it and already channeling it through tragedy and catharsis <3
 

My more active fandom beginnings happened circa late 2016/early 2017. At first I didn't have a main fandom, but then season 2 episode 8 of Shadowhunters hit hard lmao. I was REALLY into Isabelle/Raphael. Which, at the time, meant that I suddenly received a ton of anon-and-not-so-anon outright hate! The wank in that fandom was really fucking annoying! BUT. I've always been petty, and vindictive, and it probably fueled me. Before that I had gone through years without really writing, and I was suddenly writing two fics that was 80% shippy enthusiasm and 20% spite.

innocence, your history of silence: The story in which Azazel put Valentine in Raphael's body, instead of Magnus'.

we stand up peerless: All the times Magnus offered his blood to Camille.

Now, my ao3 account reached its 100th fic a few days ago, so hey. That fandom is long behind me; I didn't even finish the last season, and I'll likely never write SH fic again (though I did leave some ideas in the chamber...), but it gave me back that spark, which later extended to other fandoms and reignited my passion for original writing.

All in all, I'm really grateful that one day the SH writers decided Raphael biting Izzy would be sexy (and they were right!).

So. What's that one fandom you've outgrown, but that really helped you along the way?

Comments

[silveradept]

Not so much as "outgrown" as "not willing to put in the effort for the amount of spite needed," but that describes Harry Potter reasonably well. It might come back when there's not an author actively poisoning the well, but for the moment, I have other things to turn my attention to.

Oh, too bad that your old computer died on you before you could save the older material. Not that it's necessarily publishable, but it's nice to look back and see how far you've come from there.

[queenslayerbee]

HP is one of those fandoms I used to have a lot of ideas about, but have fully left behind now -not *just* because Rowling is a scummy human being actively platforming horrid policies, but. That sure didn't help lakdjfsaf.

Yeah :/ I'm also someone who likes looking at old ideas and repurposing their parts (frankenstein-ning them, if you will), and if they were still around, I could take advantage of that... alas.

[greetingsfrommaars]

I've never watched Shadowhunters, but I've read enough of the books that reading this post is wild to me! suddenly I am so curious to know what happened after I dropped off...

I really like the question you've posed. I think for me it would be some of the manga fandoms I was active in about 10 years ago, like Prince of Tennis or Fairy Tail.

[queenslayerbee]

I never read the books, but I remember that whenever I thought a plot development was REALLY interesting, someone inevitably complained about it being a drastic change from the books lol. I suspect the showrunners *wanted* to deviate from there in some major ways (i.e., it was clear the character that interested them most was Alec, for example), but didn't quite have the guts to fully depart from them. The results were mixed lol.

I'm only vaguely familiar with Fairy Tail('s title). Ig the equivalent for me would be ATLA or HP; I even broke my lurker ways back then to comment on fic forums and all lol, but I rarely think about them these days, save the odd ATLA post that crosses my dash lol.

[svgurl]

I never watched BTVS but I love the general thought of going "what if canon but sadder and worse" instinct.

Congrats on 100 fics! :D

[queenslayerbee]

It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it xD

(btw, "The Wish" is an episode that shows an alternate world where Buffy never came to the town, which lead it to become a Vampire Paradise where humans were having a really terrible time. This version gave us a cold and hardened Buffy, a crushed and almost wholly defeated Angel, and the two of them barely get to meet before they're killed in a battle. And my goal was "no, angstier than that xD")

Thank you! I was determined to get there before the year ended but and wasn't easy ^^U