Change is Good - You Go First

[geoviki]

So many wonderful fics have been written this month. Go, you!

Many of you have already noticed abbycadabra's latest, Paris. Being that I'm in an angst mood, I did love it. Abby's writing is so poetic. (She also wrote Wildfire, on Skyehawke, which I raved about a while ago). Warning for heart-stopping sadness, and tear alert.

And switchknife added a chapter to Un Dieu Anonyme. And Switch wrote it for me. It even says so, right there at the beginning! No one ever wrote anything for me before!

wayfairer follows in the footsteps of great fairy tale writers with The Sparrow Prince. I adore fairy tales, as you may have noticed. I shamelessly ripped off the Brothers Grimm for ATBT.

Aaand here's a Snape/Lupin - see, see? I do read some things other than H/D. The Root of All Midnight Blues by scribbulus_ink. Great title, great story.

I've been picking up on some classic fics that I'd missed, courtesy of dracorocksmysox who has a terrific LJ full of new and older H/D recs. For stories posted on LJs, I always read the comments, too, and I noticed that many of the users who posted then don't seem to be active now. Coupled with the withdrawal from fandom of some of its most talented and enthusiastic authors, I was feeling pretty maudlin about my future in fandom. On one hand, I know that nothing is forcing me to lose interest, yet conversely I see a natural cycle occurring in other writers: discovery, enthusiasm, and disenchantment. From time to time, long-term fans mention things that make me think that there was once a Golden Age of HP fandom, and that I missed it.

Added to the mix is my interest in going to the HP Con in Salem in 2005. Do I plan for this now? Will I be active in October a year from now? Will all of you? Will I have written new things, or will I be that writer who wrote something a long time ago that no one remembers? Will I be the Danny Bonaduce of the HP slash world?

Or maybe I'm just feeling all introspective and stuff because my daughter just turned 18 and is heading off to college in less than two weeks. < / old >

So because I'm such a song-lyric whore, here's a song for you:



Everything must change
Nothing stays the same
Everyone will change
No one stays the same

The young become the old
Mysteries do unfold
For that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged

There are not many things in life
You can be sure of...

Except, rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
Hummingbirds do fly.

Winter turns to spring
a wounded heart will heal
oh but never much too soon
no one, and nothing goes unchanged

There are not many things in life
You can be sure of...

Except, rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
Hummingbirds do fly.

Comments

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

I'm certain I missed the golden age of fandom, but I've decided there's no use crying over it. I spent most of my teen years pissed off that I'd missed the 60s, and I'll not be doing that again, thankyouverymuch. :))

AFA TWH goes - I'm planning to go. I have people within fandom whom I've enjoyed meeting and spending time with, and that's reason enough for me. I know that even if I'm not reading or writing fic, I'll enjoy spending time with them. And I think that I'll be doing some kind of meta-analysis on this community for a while to come, so that will likely hold my interest anyway. :D

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Your entry cheered me up, actually. I've been checking out TWH info and I think I'll take the plunge and make plans for it.

I kind of miss the 60's though...

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Oh, do! I had my very first fandom meetup in June for POAIMAXNYC (it was also my first weekend away by myself in 5 years, but that's another story) and it was very fun. I've since hooked up with a few local fan types and we are planning local stuff. And TWH should be fun regardless.

And honestly, who really CARES when we got here? As I was mentioning to someone a while ago, the cool thing about getting here late is that we don't have to go through a lot of the big upheavals the community has been through. It means we never completely grok all the nuances (GTwhatsit?) but we also didn't have to experience it personally. And really, I have enough drama in my offline life, thanks. :))

Congratulations on your daughter going off to school, by the way! Mine are so young that I can only dream about such a time when they don't need me in the room at all times. :))

[zhonnika.livejournal.com]

Having been in fandom for three years now, I can say that it has changed a lot, both in good and bad ways. I don't know if their was one 'golden age' but I think we're in a good place right now. There have been a lot of awesome stories and art out there in the past year, and I think that with new fans arriving all the time, it'll keep getting better.

But, I'm still here because it's where my friends are. For the most part, I have fun.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I found it really encouraging to hear from you and know that you've been here 3 years. There are awesome stories and art, I agree; I write about them all the time. I don't know why I let myself get all weird about this. The older I get, the more resistant to change I get. What a curmudgeon I've become! *shakes self*

[chuffing.livejournal.com]

I noticed that many of the users who posted then don't seem to be active now. Coupled with the withdrawal from fandom of some of its most talented and enthusiastic authors ... I see a natural cycle occurring in other writers: discovery, enthusiasm, and disenchantment.

A lot of them have switched fandoms. With the release of the LotR films and QaF, a lot of the HP writers went over. Also, I think a lot of them left for personal reasons. Many are professionally writing now and therefore have no time for fanfiction. Many left over disagreements and spats with other writers and/or fans, sadly.

long-term fans mention things that make me think that there was once a Golden Age of HP fandom, and that I missed it.

I would say there was an age, but whether it was Golden is subject to opinion lol. It was fresh, and new, and everyone had a lot of enthusiasm. There were no cliches, no boundaries. Everyone was friends and everyone worked together to make the structured centre that is the fandom we know now. But, as all things are wont to do, shite happened and things flung them apart. I, personally, think this is our Golden age. Most everyone gets along, everyone has veered into groups that share the same interests and opinions so less disputes occur, a larger percentage of people are older that are quite active in fandom and therefore more openly willing to take responsibility. There are all around more options and more people with which to find one's best possible place, if that makes sense. When the range of options grew, it made it easier to get actively involved and for people to not have to feel left out of the loop. I hope that you decide to stick around and always have your enthusiasm and curiosity for HP. You seem to be just the sort of person that fandoms thrive with; constantly questioning, open to possibilites, easy to get along with. I'm shutting up now. :)

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

You are so sensible! Yes, I plan to stick around, I was just feeling all gloomy about my future for some odd reason. But I'm really happy in the fandom right now; I don't know why the mood shifted the way it did for me yesterday. Silly bint.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

So what if I participate in wave 6 rather than wave 1 of a FQF. The new stuff is exciting too.

You know, you're really right about that. I do read plenty of terrific things that are all new. And even when people leave, if they've written or drawn cool things, it stays with the fandom for latecomers like me to discover and enjoy (well, for the most part. Multiple archiving seems to be a good idea).

Thanks for reassuring me.

[arsenicjade.livejournal.com]

Having been in fandom long enough to have done the cycle of which you speak a few times, *hugs*, that's never fun.

On the other hand, I think HP may be in more of a lull than anything else. I, for one, have already paid for TWH, and so will definitely be there *laughs at self*

If nothing else, it will be a vacation with some amazing YA authors speaking. (But then, since I'm pursuing an MA/possible PhD in children's lit, that's probably more of a draw for me.)

Anyway, sorry you're feeling disillusioned. I'll be sad if the fandom looses you but I definitely understand the need to move on at times.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, I'm not feeling disillusioned. I'm still in the happy phase, but I was just looking off into the future and felt a chill for a minute about what I thought I could see.

And yeah, I think I'll plan for TWH. This navel-gazing is just a momentary thing. I blame it on hormones!

[arsenicjade.livejournal.com]

Hormones suck, and really, there's very little that I can't blame on them, so I support you fully in that.

Glad to hear you plan on attending. It will be my first (and considering my financial sitch, probably only ever) convention and I'm about three miles past excited.

(Or, well, I will be, once I get over freaking out about how much school I'll have to miss and the fact that I still don't have a roomie.)