Snowflake 2k25 (II)

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?