justira

Hey it's a post from that ridiculous/amazing/this is the worst idea/this is the best idea Make-Your-Own Meme "blog every day of November" thing! Original post/list of topics. Feel free to add more: LJ | DW — anon and openID welcome!

squeemu: What was your first fandom/what got you into it in the first place? (here)


Depends on what you mean by fandom! In a way, I was in fandom before I knew what fandom was. First, I will mention Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario Brothers, and come back to them later. Hold onto that thought. Probably The Dark Is Rising and His Dark Materials, both book series blending our world and fantasy that I found in my school library, were the first things I was fannish about in the sense of SO wanting to share with other people and making up stories in my head (especially Dark is Rising). But I encountered both in 4th grade; I was 9 years old at that point. I had friends, but none who shared my interest in books, and though I was already an internet user by this time (which is not impressive now, but that was back in 1995), it had never occurred to me to try to find like-minded souls there.

But here's something more interesting: I was connected to a huge part of Xena fandom history before I knew what fandom was, too.

So I had been watching Xena: Warrior Princess for a while; I don't recall how I got into it, though I think I caught it on TV at someone else's house and checked it out (remember when those TV Guide books were relevant?). My mom was herself a longtime Trekkie (not that I knew what that was, either; just assume I knew absolutely nothing about fandom throughout this story), and eventually joined me in watching Xena after complaining a few times about how campy it was (whatever, mom). Now, I don't think my mom had any connection to Star Trek fandom in terms of interacting with other fans; I'm pretty sure she didn't know what fandom was, either. But once she started watching Xena, that was it. SHE WAS A FAN. She taped every episode and had a catalogued list of them; they filled up half our video case. And she, being an adult and more adept at internet use, DID find fandom online.

And fell in with Melissa Good.

( My mom is Xena fandom history! )

So my mom was a fan — a pretty big fan? — and I didn't know it. In fact, I had been YEARS AND YEARS in fandom myself before I looked back and went "... huh!" I've been meaning to interview her about it for a long time, actually; relations with her are like, not awesome, as has been intimated in previous posts, but I am sitting on a big chunk of fandom history over here and I think it would be an interesting project! If I ever do, I will slather the gleanings all over Fanlore and probably make a note here =d (For the record, Xena/Gabrielle was all well and good, but I shipped Xena/Ares hardcore. Maybe a little Xena/Autolycus and Xena/Calisto >.>)


But that's all fandom before I really knew what it was. What I've always thought of my first real fandoms — or my first real fandoms — were Pokemon and Dragonball Z, which I paid tribute to in the last of my daily doodles. One fandom that didn't make it into the doodle but definitely deserves a mention is Sailor Moon. Yes: I came into fandom through the Grossly Popular Anime Trifecta.

The story is not fancy: I ran into all three on the teevee. This was before either series exploded in huge popularity in the U.S. (I tend to have a trend in my life of catching on to things either just before they hit big, or waaaay late); Pokemon was on at ass-o'clock in the morning. I think I caught it one time and was like WOW YES. I loved the relationship between Ash and Pikachu SO much; I have such a soft spot for this sort of thing and basically the show had adorable animals and close bonds between people and animals and I mean, I didn't even need to be sold on it. DONE.

DBZ and Sailor Moon were on in the afternoons, in those blocks of anime they used to have on then (Samurai Troooppperrsss). I realized as I watched Sailor Moon particularly that I had seen it before, waaaay back, when I lived in LA. That must have been like freaking 1992-1993: EARLY days. How was it even ON in the U.S.? But regardless, I watched the girliest show ever back-to-back with the manliest show ever, and I adored both. The reason I tend to habitually drop SM from "first fandom" status, though, is that it didn't really grow on me as a fandom until I was already in other fandoms. At first, it was mostly an "okay, that was awesome NOW WHAT'S UP IN DBZ!!!" thing.

So DBZ: HOW I DISCOVERED SLASH. Don't laugh: the first slash I read was Goku/Vegeta. HELL YEAH! My first slash ship was probably Will/Bran from Dark is Rising, but I didn't even know what the hell a slash ship was then and did not really understand this yearning in my soul for them to make out already.

With Goku and Vegeta, I stumbled onto porn. Immediately.

It. Was. Great.

I. Was. 11.

=D

... so yeah.

( Pokemon (and Sonic) )


( Dragonball Z )


( Sailor Moon )


Altogether, though, it was kind of interesting being into all three series at the same time? Pokemon fans were kinda looked down on for being into a kiddie show (yeah, same to you, jerks); DBZ fans were looked down on for being into dumb dudes thunking on each other and DBZ fans in turn kinda were really misogynist, geez. Especially in the SM direction, which was obviously girly and dumb! Overall it was a pretty strange feeling sharing all three spaces.


And finally, a special mention: Harry Potter. HP was another one of those things I caught early and then suddenly it exploded around me. I read the first book from my middle school library and then I had to wait for the second book to come out. Okay guys? DO YOU HEAR ME? I have had to wait for EVERY BOOK. And this was BEFORE synchronized release dates, so I had to wait a whole excruciating YEAR after it had come out in Britain to get my hands on it over here in the U.S. By this time I was a seasoned fan, though, and this fandom I caught from its inception. This was my first non-anime/manga fandom, and I've been lurking (quietly) around it since 1998. I drew and posted some art, wrote and didn't-post some fic, and actually have a comic I'm working on: it's inks and wordless, and I'm actually really proud of it?


My first video game fandom (not counting Mario) was not Final Fantasy X, through which circuitous route I met many of you! It was actually The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I made a website for it in middle school, okay? I REALLY LIKED SHEIK. I also shipped Link and Sheik withouth realizing. But Final Fantasy X was the first video game fandom where I actually de-lurked and interacted with other fans. HI GUYS.


My first LJ fandom? Trigun, actually! And then, much more actively, One Piece.


And that is my fandom history of firsts! Which, looking back through it, covers books, tv series, anime, manga, comics, and video games. Not bad!

Daily Doodle: Haha guys, I'm sorry, I had a terrible day. You guys really helped with cheering me up, but I still fled work at 2pm (before you guys came to my rescue!) and so didn't have time for my usual post- or pre-work doodle. So. No Moogle Fluff today. So. Back to pokeymans in MS Paint.

KIND OF a little frustrated today, so Charmeleon, who is good at angrypants. Came out kinda feline, which I was half shooting for, so I guess that works.
Backdates one hour
Time: 20 mins?

( Daily Doodle: Charmeleon from Pokemon )

Daily Doodle: What blasphemy is this?! A Generation 2 pokemon in MY daily doodles? Well, yeah, this is actually one of the Gen2 pokemon I like, since the design doesn't feel overdone like most of the others do. Plus, he's cute and has a spankin' awesome name. I went for a kind of "curious raptor" pose here. Had fun!
Backdated one hour, the usual, blah blah
Time: ~15 mins

( Daily Doodle: Ampharos from Pokemon )

Daily Doodle: Weekly colour. It's really been a bad week, doodle-wise, and I'm not satisfied with this at all, but it's better than nothing! I like the pose enough that I think sometime I'll clean this up and colour it proper-like.
Time: ~9min sketch, ~10 min colour = ~19 min total

( Daily Doodle: Flareon from Pokemon )

Daily Doodle: Pikachu, looking a mite pissed! Yeah, uh, STILL too tired/busy to draw at work, so I totally just threw this together in just a couple of minutes XD It's not in the canon style, I don't think -- but then Pokemon has so many styles associated with it, I give up. I just drew it, and I think it looks reasonably cute =P

Pika!
Time: like 6 mins XD

( Daily Doodle: Pikachu from Pokemon )