'How Harry Potter Fandom Changed My Life': Discussion on how this fandom changed us.

[djin7]

Hi! I'm DJ, and I'm happy to host the 'How Harry Potter Fandom Changed My Life': Discussion. I'm posting this at midnight and then I will be back in the morning after 11:11 to enjoy the discussion.

First, a poll!

Poll How HP Fandom Changed My LifeDid Harry Potter fandom change your life? Did the sheer size of it overwhelm you, enthrall you, spoil and ruin you for all other

Comments

I'll go first!

[djin7]

LJ Name/User (previous or present): DJ (I have always been djin7)
Harry Potter fandom era joined (by year, book or movie): Book: OOtP (2003)
Pairings/ships/OTPs (if any): Snarry, Drarry, Harry/Hermione, Harry/Pansy, Harry/Remus, Harry/Lucius. Harry/anyone, pretty much. GEN TOO
When did you find Livejournal?: 2004, when I was linked to various authors here by a Harry Potter yahoo group. I signed up for LJ in early 2005, and I'm still here.
Did you ever attend a Harry Potter convention or HP fan meet-up? Where?* Yes, many - Lumos, Prophecy, Azkatraz, Lubricus, Terminus, Aeternitus
How did the Harry Potter Fandom change *your* life? Be as candid as you please but this is not a boxing match! I can't even articulate how much: Basic skills on the internet, then advanced skills. Website Coding. Editing. Writing. Traveling (see conventions, above). Volunteering. Organisation. I learned all these things at the feet of masters, and I have so many more things to learn! I also received immense and unbelievable gifts in the form of

:D

[reddwarfer]

LJ Name/User (previous or present): reddwarfer/darth krytie at other places.
Harry Potter fandom era joined (by year, book or movie): June 2004.
Pairings/ships/OTPs (if any): Snape/Harry, Harry/Pansy, Harry/Luna, Snape/Lockhart, Snape/James. Sirius/Remus, Remus/Harry. others.
When did you find Livejournal?: Nov 17th 2004. Well, that's when I joined. I found it early when I somehow ended up being kind O.o over Ron/Ginny art.
Did you ever attend a Harry Potter convention or HP fan meet-up? Where?* Yes! Salem's The Witching Hour. Chicago, San Fran. Lacuna, NH. Don't recall the names for those.
How did the Harry Potter Fandom change *your* life? Be as candid as you please but this is not a boxing match! Harry Potter Fandom gave to me the strength to leave a disappointing relationship, helped me find friends that I'm still friends with today. *hugs djin7 and so many others* Helped me get creative and write. Helped me connected with people for the first time since I was a teen. Helped me when I was down, sad, and alone. It really was a

RE: :D

[djin7]

...Helped me when I was down, sad, and alone. It did this for many of us. I was very glad to have found you, love. <3

[florahart]

LJ Name/User (previous or present): florahart, everywhere and everywhen (IDK what I will do if this name ever becomes somehow compromised for me. It's as much my identity as the one on my legal documents)
Harry Potter fandom era joined (by year, book or movie): Um, 2003, but I had been writing without knowing it was a thing for probably two years before that.
Pairings/ships/OTPs (if any): I am so multishipperous it's ridiculous.
When did you find Livejournal?: 2003
Did you ever attend a Harry Potter convention or HP fan meet-up? Where?* Nope. Groups of people scare me.
How did the Harry Potter Fandom change *your* life? Be as candid as you please but this is not a boxing match! So many ways. I learned to tell stories that other people would want to hear. I learned to listen to people. I learned to articulate why economies that run on love (of each other, or of a common art, w'ev) are a goal worth striving toward. I learned to be honest in ways I was previously not--because I learned not to have shame about who I am or want to

[djin7]

*apologizes to any/all fest mods ever* hahahah! I too, have problems with deadlines. As a participant. :D

[inell]

You!!!!!!! ♥

[frogbeans]

LJ Name/User (previous or present): frog, back then, frogslayr? ver2frog? balfrog? I've slipped too many skins to remember myself. The last 'frog I've used is 'annohreog' for Thor. Currently, no fandom.
Harry Potter fandom era joined (by year, book or movie): 2004
Pairings/ships/OTPs (if any): H/D, always H/D
When did you find Livejournal?: 2003-4
Did you ever attend a Harry Potter convention or HP fan meet-up? Where?* Nope. I really wanted to/ didn't want to.
How did the Harry Potter Fandom change *your* life? Be as candid as you please but this is not a boxing match! It helped me/ hurt me through the 2nd half of grad school, almost ruined my dissertation, cultivated fiction writing instead -- which I'd never done before, turned me from a critical writer to a creative writer, made me dump academia and turn to fiddling with novels for a living, made a closet fandom geek embrace geekery as my one true mode of loving things, connect with people, miss people, rage over people, figure out about groups and cliques and finally be

[djin7]

The Mothership. YES.

I still come around for some things, and this reunion has me hopping about, but I hear you, HP fandom both revitalized and destroyed me in equal measure when I was immersed in it. :D

[frogbeans]

hey dude. I have *a long time ago, we used to be friends* cranking through my earworms right now. :DDD

I have a real life friend who proudly says at parties, "I almost dropped out of my Ph.D. program b/c I was addicted to pornographic Harry Potter fanfiction," and I just shuffle my feet and whistle like I don't know nothing about that.

[djin7]

Hey you. :D Lol, I'm that friend. My IRL friends constantly mock me for it. *snicker*

[author_by_night]

LJ Name/User (previous or present): For the most part in the HP fandom, I've always been some variation of my ff.n name, Author By Night. I was "Ayla Lupin" on The Werewolf Registry, though.

Harry Potter fandom era joined (by year, book or movie): I'm actually a real oldbie; I joined in 2000, about a month and a half before GoF came out, and slowly eased my way in. I remember when there were fifty Harry Potter fanfics on fanfiction.net or something. (Believe it or not, I think there were pretty great fics.)

Pairings/ships/OTPs (if any): Although I wish it had played out in canon differently, Remus/Tonks will always have a special place in my heart, and I love Ron/Hermione. Really though, I never cared that much about shipping.

When did you find Livejournal?: 2002 or 2003.

Did you ever attend a Harry Potter convention or HP fan meet-up? Where?* Just really small meetups that barely qualify as such.

How did the Harry Potter Fandom change *your* life? Be as candid as you please but this is not a boxing match! It got me

[djin7]

I used to do forums and yahoo groups. I never felt as welcomed there as I did LJ, though. But they were a cool thing to watch for hours.