Dreamwidth Fandom Snowflake Challenge - Day 9

[teddy_radiator]

First of all, Happy Birthday to Severus Snape, who has been such an inspiration in so many ways. The culmination of the archetypal dark-haired, dark-eyed man I had dreamed of since I was a child, my secret Muse, my eternal flame.



Day 9
In your own space, talk about what surprises you about fandom. It could be a pairing or fandom you never thought you'd like. A fanwork type you never knew existed.  Talk about a talent you discovered you have. Finding folks who are geekier than you, or on the flip side, finding out that there is no one geekier than you. A person who changed your life. The possibilities are endless. Big or small, what unexpected surprises have you found?

I was surprised that so many people liked my fanfiction. I thought of myself as a decent writer, but their encouragement gave me a lot of confidence to try and grow stronger as a writer. I never thought I would like slash (and still don't care for a lot of it), but I found a true appreciation of certain pairings that surprise me (Argus Filch/Severus Snape, for one, Severus/Sirius Black, due to the immense talent and all-around awesomeness that is akatnamedeaster.) I also love the fact that I have got the chance to collaborate with and been the happy recipient of the work of lemonade8, whose SSHG art was the first I ever saw, and fell in love with her stern-faced, gorgeous Severus. I'm still in love with him; he is the prototype for my original character, Elwess. Whenever I see her Severus, I see my Elwess.

I love how protective of my OTP I have become, and how I love reading and writing about them. I'm also very proud of the fact that I was able to do several podfics for Hufflehugs and the dearly missed mischievous_t. I love reading aloud, and I hope I brought her some happiness at Hufflehugs.

The people that most changed my fandom life were kmhmd, for turning me on to Harry Potter fanfiction in the first place, droxy for introducing me to this amazing network of creativity,toblass for being such an encourager, and stgulik for being so special I am afraid to imagine life without her.

I could not talk about this without mentioning TheHubs™, who is my number one fan, who believes in everything I do, and who loves me in spite of my mostly idiotic behaviour. I am surrounded by people worthy of a far better person than I am.

Comments

[alisanne.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I've become protective of my OTP as well. The longer I'm in fandom, the less I can tolerate seeing them separated, although, on the other hand, I'm also a lot more willing to write rare pairs these days.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Same here. I am passionately devoted to my OTP, but I can appreciate other pairings, which in the beginning I couldn't. It was like being unfaithful to them or something!

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

I'm the exact same way with my OTP, which is why I get so upset when I've been questioned as to how I can love it or had my work denigrated because I love them so much. And I do, I'm not embarrassed to say that, I love my OTP. It ain't popular, it ain't well loved, but it's mine and I adore it.

Thank you for having an open mind about them, otherwise, you an I would have never met in the first place!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I think you are the perfect example of what I was talking about in Day 10's challenge. Your love and passion (not to mention incredible talent) made me take a closer look at your OTP. I even got up the nerve to ask you why this particular pairing, and our discussions and your passion for them meant that eventually I fell in love with them as well. I mean, it was enough to make my Muse say, 'let's write about them', which doesn't always happen.

While I have written other pairings and have felt happy with the results, I feel a complete fidelity to my OTP, and I will always champion someone who writes and draws and presents their OTP with devotion and passion.

[droxy.livejournal.com]

Hugs you. Those in the OTP do gather them up. I didn't find her, but we found Dicky the same way. Through you I met other on line. =)