We've only been lj friends for a week, but I think I already love you.
I think one thing to add is to never be scared to ask for help. LJ (and html) can be scary--I've been here 6 years and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Either ask someone your friends with or PM the mod of a community and hopefully they will be kind enough to help. The same goes for fic--finding a someone to read over a fic is helpful because things can always slip by once you've read it so many times to yourself.
Note for the oldbies: Please play nicely with all the new kids in the sandbox. When you throw sand it gets in everybody's eyes. If I had to pick my fave from the list, this would be it.
My initiation into "real" fandom was lovely as well... we lit candles and played soft music... and wait a second... Uh... nevermind.
But really, the quiet suggestion to start an LJ account came from a writer I still admire to this day and keep in touch with. Though our fandom is dead.
Alias and yes, we should. It was an alias author who found me on ffnet and told me to come to the dark side. I'd commented anonymously on her fic on lj and she coerced me into this wonderful place.
I was watching one of the fanvids I saved from another friend and it's just lovely. I miss Alias a lot.
I think this is just great! I wish I would've had something like this when I joined my first fandom -- many, many years ago. O__O
I have to admit, in my - erm... older fandom age? (I have no idea how to put it) I've seen a lot of stuff go down, and it's hard to get super involved in fandom again and I do a lot of lurking and just chat with the same friends (even though we're all in entirely different fandoms now) that I've had for, wow, 6 years. But this can almost be like a "so you're an oldbie and wish you were a newbie again" guide. ;-D
Awwww, bb! I had no idea! I'm so glad you're in fandom now and are having so much fun. <3 <3 <3
Speaking of not being afraid to ask for help, I have scoured the lj faq, but I still can't figure out how to make those highlighted spoiler bars. How to?
This is all a good primer. I think one to add is to try to blend in. I remember someone who consistently wrote these really "look at me! look at me!" headers in fic posts to comms despite the fact that no one else did; everyone else resented it---like, super goofy subject subject lines with really long and chatty A/Ns and obnoxious summaries/warnings/etc. Newbies should use comments on other people's fic to get their personalities across, not fic headers. I spent at least a month leaving nice feedback for people whose stories I liked before posting my first fic.
I remember doing that. Writing long, involved author's notes. Trying to be witty. People do that because they want to be seen as charming and funny, and they don't know any other way to do it. An A/N is sort of safe, in that you aren't addressing a single person, but just whoever happens to come and read your fic. It's sort of like putting a sign on your front lawn that says "This is the home of a sane, intelligent, witty individual who enjoys making friends."
I stopped doing it, eventually. But I'm just saying, it's out of insecurity. A lot of people are terrified of commenting on someone else's stuff, and they're worried they'll be offensive or just...seen as stupid, somehow. So yeah, blending in is good. It's just unlikely to happen with a lot of people. It's like teenagers acting out and then they leave high school and they grow up. Sort of a rite of passage type thing.
But then, maybe I've been reading too many anthropology articles on Wikipedia lately, lol.
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I think one thing to add is to never be scared to ask for help. LJ (and html) can be scary--I've been here 6 years and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Either ask someone your friends with or PM the mod of a community and hopefully they will be kind enough to help. The same goes for fic--finding a someone to read over a fic is helpful because things can always slip by once you've read it so many times to yourself.
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Also, let's cuddle.
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Note for the oldbies: Please play nicely with all the new kids in the sandbox. When you throw sand it gets in everybody's eyes.
If I had to pick my fave from the list, this would be it.
♥
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/creepypedotalk.
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For real.
My initiation into "real" fandom was lovely as well... we lit candles and played soft music... and wait a second... Uh... nevermind.
But really, the quiet suggestion to start an LJ account came from a writer I still admire to this day and keep in touch with. Though our fandom is dead.
You are awesome for posting these things!
*hugs you tight*
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What was your first fandom? Should we have a memorial service?
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I was watching one of the fanvids I saved from another friend and it's just lovely. I miss Alias a lot.
What was yours?
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I have to admit, in my - erm... older fandom age? (I have no idea how to put it) I've seen a lot of stuff go down, and it's hard to get super involved in fandom again and I do a lot of lurking and just chat with the same friends (even though we're all in entirely different fandoms now) that I've had for, wow, 6 years. But this can almost be like a "so you're an oldbie and wish you were a newbie again" guide. ;-D
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Speaking of not being afraid to ask for help, I have scoured the lj faq, but I still can't figure out how to make those highlighted spoiler bars. How to?
This is all a good primer. I think one to add is to try to blend in. I remember someone who consistently wrote these really "look at me! look at me!" headers in fic posts to comms despite the fact that no one else did; everyone else resented it---like, super goofy subject subject lines with really long and chatty A/Ns and obnoxious summaries/warnings/etc. Newbies should use comments on other people's fic to get their personalities across, not fic headers. I spent at least a month leaving nice feedback for people whose stories I liked before posting my first fic.
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I stopped doing it, eventually. But I'm just saying, it's out of insecurity. A lot of people are terrified of commenting on someone else's stuff, and they're worried they'll be offensive or just...seen as stupid, somehow. So yeah, blending in is good. It's just unlikely to happen with a lot of people. It's like teenagers acting out and then they leave high school and they grow up. Sort of a rite of passage type thing.
But then, maybe I've been reading too many anthropology articles on Wikipedia lately, lol.
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[font color="black" style="background-color: black"]warnings go here[/font]
Just change the [] to <> and you're good!
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