Snowflake - Day 2

[prisca]

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.

My fannish origin story ... hmm ... I am wondering when it starts. When I was a child, I could barely read, but I got my first 'Pucky' book at Christmas from my grandma? Some years later, when I discovered the books of Enid Blyton, devoured her 'Adventure' series first, until I moved on to the 'Mystery of...' and 'The Famous Five' series? It was then that I decided to be a great author like her one day, and I started writing my first fanfiction. Without even knowing that some like fanfiction was exciting ;)

Well, I guess, my true fannish life started years later when I discovered the movie 'The Fellowship of the Rings'. I knew nothing about Tolkien or that this movie was only the first of two more to follow. I just knew that I had fallen in love.

Everything else came almost on its own. I read the book(s) and started looking around on the internet for other people sharing my love. I discovered communities and even a (German) fan club for LotR. It was only a matter of time before I dared to widen my horizon even more and create my first Livejournal.

There, I found the first fanfiction stories I've ever read. I gathered all my courage to post one myself. And one more... and one more... Today, about 18 years later, I have seen some ups and downs; no, fandom is not the same anymore like it have been so many years ago, but I am still here, writing this post, and it feels good.

Comments

[sisterdivinium]

It really is good to still be here :) And I always find it interesting when people mention fannish groups in other languages! That's certainly something I never experienced for some reason, always defaulting to searching for the English circles directly.

[prisca]

Well, I am from Germany; I practiced English only at school, and stopped thinking about it as soon as I possible. For me, signing up at Livejournal was a big step. Today, I am glad that I overstepped my lines, and I feel much more confident today when it comes to reading and writing in English.

[sisterdivinium]

Oh, yes, it's just that I'm also from a non-anglophone country (should have mentioned that, sorry!) and here it seems almost a 50/50 split between people who search for "local" fandom first and those who stumble upon English-language fandom first even though they can't fully understand every word -- at least as regards people I've known personally.

Challenging yourself and taking that step was a great choice. After all, not only did it get you here today, it also made you grow your skills and that's one lovely combo! :)