Hello and happy Saturday, blog readers!
I'm pointing out that it's Saturday not because I feel you aren't aware of what the date is, but because I am proud of myself for sharing that knowledge. I had a minor freakout yesterday when I was sitting on the couch and thought to myself, "is it Thursday or Friday? I just - wait. When was Wednesday? Yesterday, or two days ago? How have I not looked at a calender enough recently to know what day it is?!"
It was in fact Friday. I used to work at a theatre where I sold tickets to musicals and was constantly, constantly looking at calenders. Not having that job anymore (and being on a break from 5AG, to be honest), I'm never quite as sure what day of the week it is. But yesterday was the first day I actually had to look it up.
Even though it's still technically "summer break", I've been learning how to battle myself to stay motivated and productive with all my free time. And aside from the exorbitant amounts of Buffy-watching, I think I've been doing a pretty good job, and actually do keep myself relatively busy with all the little projects I take on. But I'll admit, it helps that even the things I have to do are kind of fun.
Working for ZAXY (and preparing for all the fun PAX stuff happening next week) is the first time that I've actually realized I might not be nerdy enough. Seriously, after all my years of Harry Potter and Anime and Wizard Rock and YouTube - I sit down for a G'Ovah podcast interview or look at the PAX scheduling and I feel like the new kid on campus. So a lot of my time is being spent researching nerd subcultures I've never been part of, and learning to change my chameleon skin to fit that of PAX West.
Watching Buffy, too - I now understand how people feel who are only just reading Harry Potter for the first time. I am almost finished with Season 4 of Buffy, and I just watched the 2 episodes where Faith comes back (sorry, kind of a spoiler) and I had this sort of sad realization that the Buffy fandom was probably a really awesome one to have been part of. I mean, granted, I was only 11 when Season 4 aired on TV, but I get emails from plenty of 11 year old wizard rock fans or nerdfighters. I'm sad that I missed being part of that world when it was happening.
I wonder how different it would have been though. I only just started using a computer when I was 11 - the types of ways we create internet fan culture now are so different than they were back then. Is there anyone who reads my blog that WAS part of that world and can tell me more about what it was like?
But I guess at the same time, this whole realization sort of gives me hope that there are always going to be great things to be part of. I mean, just looking at the timeline of stuff I was into - Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Harry Potter, YouTube, Doctor Who - there are no shortage of fandoms to be part of, so in a way it's kind of nice to see that people were doing this kind of stuff long before I was, and will most likely to continue to do so ... probably forever.
Anyway, Spike still cracks me up every time he's onscreen, Xander and Anya are the funniest together, Riley is kind of Vanilla for my taste but I suppose he's okay, and every time Willow and Tara talk to each other I want to rip my eyes out because it's so awkward and overtly sexualized in a weirdly innocent way. Also, every time I think I've pinpointed who the villain is this season, they die. I like college!Buffy; it's been nice for the change of scenery and the mix-up of everyone's role in the group/relationships.
I had a whole list of questions left over from people on twitter that I was going to answer today, but I got distracted on my fandom tangent, so I think I will just stop here for the day.
My friend Strawburry17 was just talking about Cardcaptor Sakura on twitter and it brought back this flood of memories from middle school (it was my favorite anime). She sent me a site where you can watch them all online, so I think that might be something I am doing in the near future.
Questions for today's comments section:
1. What's the earliest internet fandom you became involved in?
2. What's your favorite anime?
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The Future of Orion
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Well, since I'm only 14, I started playing video games on the computer at around 5 since we had one, and they weren't too uncommon. But the internet started to get big for me around 8 with neopets. That was pretty big for me and my friends. A technical fandom fandom would probably be Avatar the last airbender at about 11, even though the show ended already.
Oh my favorite anime. Hmm, would it be weird to say Hetalia? Some of it's fans are rabid, but it's so hilarious that I watch it anyway. Countries as people, who comes up with this stuff?
Even though I didn't start getting into big internet fandoms till 3 years ago, and I feel like I missed out on a lot, I keep finding new things.
The earliest fandom i probably got into was Twilight when i was 13/14, back then it wasn't the huge deal it is now so i had a few online Twilight friends and stuff. Before that all i did on the internet was go on Bebo(it was a really popular social networking site in ireland) and play Clubpenguin :L
My favourite anime series is Avatar the legend of Aang! I used to get up early to watch it on Nickelodeon :) And i love the Studio Ghibli movies :D
I used to frequent a message board about the Sweet Valley: Senior Year books, starting around 1999 or so. I guess that was my first fandom. I have one online friend from that fandom that I'm still close with and talk to regularly.
Obviously it's very different now, but Buffy fandomy stuff is going on. Yesterday for my birthday I actually got registration to a Whedon con going on in LA in November. The stuff I've found is mainly scholarly stuff, like HPEF but with Buffy, but they still have a lot. I wish I was around when it was actually on as well but at least there is still some activity left. :)
And my first Internet fandom was for Kelly Clarkson by joining a guild on neopets xD I made tons of friends and was insanely obsessed with Kelly. I still am, but less so than I was.
I was first in the "kawaii" fandom, basically japanese stationary and pixels, and on a few message boards.
Also the warriors fandom, doing roleplaying!
I also really wish I was a part of the Buffy fandom, and I was only a few years old when it released!
1. My first real fandom was and is still Formula 1 and the Microprose Grand Prix series of games. 10 years later I am still part of the forum and group that i was a part of way back then although its not what it was.
After that came Buffy. I was a part of the community of a British Buffy site called The Watchers Web. And i used to do fanfiction type of things and play Buffy quote games and stuff.
2. Never watched Anime
1.) Probably Harry Potter, but I can't quite remember
2.) Ouran High School Host Club and Full Metal Alchemist <3
1:) Er...idk
2.)FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! (The new anime btw, not the old one)
My earliest fandom was errr...*cough* Spice Girls. But most of my friends were just as guilty, so I guess it's not that bad. I've been a part of so many fandoms, honestly. I guess the ones that have stuck are YouTube, Harry Potter, Pokemon and The O.C.
I watched Buffy while it was on, but only my brother and one of my friends watched it, so it wasn't really a community experience for me.
Favourite anime? Mmm. My Neighbour Totoro And Spirited Away :)
1. What's the earliest internet fandom you became involved in?
Umm...Pokemon I believe it was. I had gotten into pokemon when it first started being on TV in the US way back in 98. Then a year later I finally got internet (AOL 3.0 on Windows 95...it's crazy how far we have come from that) and I became involved with a group that created our own Eevee evolutions and role played with it.
2. What's your favorite anime?
I would probably have to say Tenchi Muyo...even though I haven't seen it in forever. Though I'll admit that Sailor Moon was a huge staple for me growing up.
1. Harry Potter
2. Zoids!
Well, I hope in time you come to enjoy Willow/Tara.. I think they're really quite cute and they inspired and helped a lot of women who are gay - which is awesome.
1. I can't remember, really.
2. Escaflowne (series not the movie) and Chi's Sweet Home
The earliesst fandom I was involved in... does Neopets count? LOL
Besides that, it was probably Harry Potter starting from age 11, then Pirates of the Caribbean.
I loved Cardcaptors!
Recently I found a bit of Cardcaptors fanfic that I must've written when I was ten or so, and it was typed with illustrations done on MS Paint.
I'm caught between pride and embarrassment when I think back to how obsessed I became with anime, because none of my friends felt the same way toward any fandoms.
I would be an entirely different person if I'd never found nerdfighteria.
:) This really got me thinking. Personally, I've changed so much with my fandoms - but at the same time, I still love them all. Thinking about it kind of blew my mind a bit. You even inspired a bit of a blog post. :)
PS. I absolutely hated Riley. I couldn't stand that Vanilla flavor, as you put it. It drove me nuts.
you're in a podcast now? I love podcasts. subscribed!
Harry Potter.
And this might sound a bit...resentful? So sorry about that. But now you kinda feel how I feel when I think about how you jumped on the Harry Potter thing early, and by the time I'm old enough to go to cons and stuff, it'll pretty much be over. :( (Sorry, I'm overly emotional because of post-Mockingjay syndrome)
1. Harry Potter
2. Pokemon and Card Captors :D
1) Neopets
2) The only anime I ever was interested in was Tokyo Mew Mew, and that was only to appease a friend. So I guess I don't have an answer to this one...
I believe mine was Halo, when I was like 12-13. Sometime around 2003 was probably the golden age of Halo fandom, as all the different areas of the game were at their height (single player, LAN parties, online multiplayer, tournaments, books, tricking, map modding, speed-running, exploration, easter eggs, warthog launching, videos, etc.). It was also when the hype for Halo 2 started to get feverish. It's amazing, thinking back on it, exactly how much stuff was a part of the Halo community.
Anime: Ouran High School.
Re: Buffy fandom online, whilst I was never a part of it myself, there's loads of stuff about it online, including academic stuff (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_studies)
1. Probably Pokemon when it first started with the saturday morning cartoon and trading cards in the UK.
2. I never really went any further than Pokemon and Digimon.
My comments on this site here: (I promise it's not spam) http://www.talesofapirate.co.uk/wordpress/?p=462
Tara and Willow get better. Particularly season five. Every thing gets better during season five.
1. Sailor Moon was probably my first fandom, although Lord of the Rings was pretty early, too.
2. BLEACH! I actually went to an Anime conference this summer as Rukia =]
When I got a livejournal I started joining sorting communities where you fill out an application and existing members sort you into a Hogwarts house. So Harry Potter, probably around when I was 14. Or Orlando Bloom, if that counts as a fandom...
I'm woefully uninformed about anime, but I LOVE Cowboy Bebop.
I'm 17, and in the course of those 17 years, I've been a part of MANY fandoms.
The earliest I remember was when I was in Preschool - Kindergarten. It was Rugrats. I remember my one friend Hillary carried around these Phil and Lil dolls ALL THE TIME and because of that, she was the coolest kid in our Kindergarten class. True Story.
After Rugrats was most definatley Pokemon. Most of the kids at my school collected and traded Pokemon cards, but had no clue how to play the game.
Sailor Moon was in 2nd grade. I went to a prive all-girl school, so ultimatley, there was enough girls to have everyone be a different Sailor when we played Sailor Scouts at lunch. Seriously, we'd run around the playground shouting thinks like "Moon Tiara Magic!" and "Mercury Star Power!" until we were hoarse. I remember Sailor Jupiter being my favorite, then switching to Sailor Venus because I found out she liked singing and had a cat...just like me!
Around the same time as Sailor Moon, was Powerpuff Girls. My class got SO into Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon it was insane. All we wanted to play at lunch was Sailor Scouts or be Blossom or Buttercup or something. We even made up new Sailors and new Powerpuff girls to include in our games. I gues kind of like fanfic, but not really. :)
Oh, and there were also Sailor Moon trading cards. Think like Pokemon cards but with the Sailors.
The next fandom I remember is Neopets. I got into Neopets SUPER early. I was 7 when I made my first account. My favorite Neopet was and always will be the Aisha. I remember playing Neopets on the computer in my school's extended day care. I remember saving up for my Kougra's purple paintbrush, only to have him zapped by Boochi and be turned Baby (a good color for a Kougra...but all my Neopoints down the drain! Agh!). I remember pretending to be Aishas and Kyriis and Peophins at lunch with my best friends. We'd pretend to fall into the Maraquan whirlpool and then we'd have to fight Doctor Sloth before he turned all of Neopia into mutants. True story.
I was bomb at Neopets. I still have my account. My pets are painted. I ran numerous guilds, and had a successful book shop. I also participated in a lot of plots, including the oldest I can think of...the Tyrannian Wars.
There was a little Card Captor Sakura, too in elementary school, but that was a short phase.
Harry Potter was 4th grade. Holy cow! That was the best. We even put on a play about Harry Potter in elementary school. My teacher read Sorcerer's Stone to us in class. All of my friends talked about the new movies coming out (Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets). At lunch, we'd want to play Harry Potter, but since we were an all girl school, we'd all fight over who'd get to be Hermione, the only decent girl character. Haha, we were funny.
Harry Potter is hands down still a huge fandom I am a part of. From 8-17 is a long time to be invested in something, and that's HP for me. I love the books, all of the movies (except the 5th one, I mean...ugh!), and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE wizard rock. HP = love.
Middle School, was Narnia. God, I love Narnia. I still love Narnia. They need to have Narnia Rock, like trock or wrock, but for Narnia. :)
Middle School was also Totally Spies. Girls Kicking but with Laser Lipsticks and compact mirrors that turned into phones! Yeah!
Avatar: Last Airbender was around that time, too.
I've had a handful of other fandoms in my high school years, too. The TV series Heroes, along with The Office, and Pushing Daisies (which was cancelled!). And the Bloody Jack series, too.
My favorite Anime is Avatar: Last Airbender! :)
Thanks for reading!
<3 Ashley
1. Harry Potter <3 Lauren was playing a wrock show for DH's release and from their I got into wrock and youtube, although before that I did read fanfic and listen to various hp podcasts!
2. Avatar the last airbender by far! But I do love pokemon! And Cardcaptors xD
I'm never sure how I feel about watching tv shows for the first time on dvd. I like being able to watch a bunch in a row but I am also missing the anticipation of having to wait for the next episode, especially between seasons if there is a cliffhanger.
I just rewatched season 5 of buffy last week. "Triangle" was a really funny episode that I didn't even remember, so that was nice.
I've never been part of a fandom as such but I used to heavily post on the boards at IGN. I would post on some of the gaming sections but mainly on the big, general community board.
Girls were such a rarity there that when they updated their whole website a few years ago and added blogs and new profile features, they had a banner put on the main IGN page with the photos of 5 girls (one of them being me) and links to our profiles with a tagline saying 'What? Girls on IGN?'.
Considering they didn't tell us they were going to do this, I suddenly had over 1500 views overnight on my crappy blog where I typed things when I was bored like "Today I ate some pancakes. Yum." It was a little surreal!
I've also played a lot of online games such as Wolfenstein Enemey Territory, Counter Strike and America's Army. I also went through a bit of a XBox fangirly stage too.
Aside from all of that, I don't think I have nerded it up too much in other areas, haha. :)
The Nerdfighter fandom was the first I got involved in, and I'm still unsure how exactly it happened.
As for what my favorite anime is; I don't actually watch any. My sister does, avidly. I love love love Hayao Miyazaki. My Neighbor Totoro was my life as a child, as was Kiki's Delivery Service. But I'm not positive that counts as anime.
Have you ever seen the show Supernatural?? If you haven't, I suggest you start season one now. The last season starts in a month, if you want to jump on the end of the fandom train. It's great!
1. It was either Neopets, Pokemon, or Sailor Moon. I forget which came first. I really wish I had been old enough at the time to be part of the Buffy and Xena fandoms but I was too young. I'm into them now though.
2. My favorite anime would have to be Sailor Moon. It's like a classic to me and I have to many memories pretending to be the characters with my friends. (I was always Sailor Jupiter =D)
GAHIWROTEALONGCOMMENTANDIT'SGONE!
...
Short version.
1.) I live and breathe Harry Potter, and that was my first crazy fan thing. ... Seriously, I remember altering my Neopets user page to make it Ron Weasley-ish.
1b.) The Ultimate Film editions of PoA and GoF come out Oct. 19th. I thought you would appreciate knowing, if you didn't already.
2.) Inuyasha and Fruits Basket. I know they're not the "cool" anime, and in fact, a lot of people find them meg lame, but I like them anyway. I'm not one to start hating something 'cause it's not cool. Oh. And I like Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series. Not sure that counts. :-)
My first internet fandom...I dont really know. I know that I have been into Harry Potter since it has been out...but I sort of lurk in the shadows of blogs and read what people have to say, but never give my feedback. For a couple years I have been getting into Nerdfighteria and some of the associated vloggers.
As for anime...I dont watch any. It never appealed to me. Instead I have always loved the good animation of Rocco's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead, and Aeon Flux (probably the closest to anime I have liked).
My favourite anime is Death Note - nothing can touch it, and it's my second favourite show in general (after Lost)!
I started frequenting MuggleNet around 2000, when I was a kid; I was REALLY into Harry Potter, and it was my first fandom, around the time I first started using the Internet. Following the progress of the first Potter film and then subsequent films, going on forums and theorizing about the books, and all the easter eggs of J.K. Rowling's official site...these are things that enhanced my Potter experience, and I'll never forget them!
My investment in the Lost fandom rivals that of Harry Potter, though; HP has the nostalgia factor, but Lost wins obsession-wise, haha.
Yeah... I've basically been installing my own computer games since the age of 3.
I first got into the Internet big time in first grade, and I totally rocked Barbie.com (the old site is much better). I also was big with a barbie fansite, and a fansite for some of the computer games I was addicted to then.
And then in third grade, I got in to webkinz. I am like a webkinz entropenur. I still have 25 and my account is still valid after nearly five years!
That was also when I got into Harry Potter. And the rest is history...
Harry Potter was my first fandom. It would have been Pokemon but for some reason I could never get very wrapped up in it. As far as anime goes, Fullmetal Alchemist and Trigun are the best!
1. HARRY POTTER. and then directly, MuggleCast (and PotterCast) and things like the mugglecast fan forums and chat. Liane used to be part of it! I had one of those WOAH WAIT WHAT moments when I figured out she was Friday of 5AG! (reading other comments makes me wonder if neopets DOES count?)
2. Uhhhhh. I don't think I've delved into anime enough to have a favourite. Though my brother and I did watch DBZ RELIGIOUSLY every day after school for at least two years. Good times.
anddd i'm well impressed you're already near the end of season 4! took me ages. you'll probably catch up to me before I know it (I'm nearing the end of season 6).
I got into Starsky & Hutch in a big way a few years ago, and found a fandom that had existed since WAY before I was born! I have zines full of fanfic written in the 70s. There were songvideos recorded by recording two VHSs together, and fanart made back when my mum was in her teens.
It's so insane to think that nerdish, fannish tendancies have always been around and always will be. I love it.
I was part of the Buffy fandom then. Mostly on Dutch forums. First on the forum from the TV-station that was airing Buffy (and Angel) at the time. Later we made our own forum. BB&B forum.
There was a Buffy podcast that was also absolutely great, The "The Succubus Club". Very mugglecast/pottercast like, but about Buffy. They had writers on sometimes, like Steven S. DeKnight , David Fury and Jane Espenson. It was a great resource, but I don't think you can get the mp3's anywhere anymore. Maybe I should upload them somewhere. Is there any interest?
*cough*calendar*cough* :P <3
1. Doctor Who was the first thing I found fandoms of online, and I got into fan fiction and YouTube from there.
2. I don't watch any. *hangs head in shame*
1. When I was maybe 9 or so, I dabbled in the Harry Potter fandom. I didn't really get too hardcore into it until later, though.
When I was 12, I got into the Les Miserables fandom and I've been in it since.
2. A lot of people are saying Avatar the Last Airbender. I never considered that anime, but that would be my favorite.
I'm an active member of an HP Forum on Fanfiction.net, so I guess that's still my fandom of choice. Nerdfighters would be a close second.
My favorite anime of all time is probably Death Note. A little morbid, I know, but there's something so...awesome...about the way it's done.
Yeah, I so wish I was a part of the buffy fandom. There's a "WhedonFest" happening in Toronto really soon, and i would LOVE to go, but it's kind of far. :(
My first internet fandom was Harry Potter, and my favourite anime is Death Note. If you haven't seen it, you really should. Currently I'm in the middle of watching Ouran High School Host Club which is hysterical and ridiculous, and I really feel like you would enjoy it.
I found out there was a Renaissance Faire near my city recently, and I missed it. Phooey.
Well I don't think I would classify it as being part of the Buffy fandom, but back when the show was still airing, my sister and I would role play in all of the AOL chat rooms. We mostly stuck to Buffy and Charmed, but also dabbled in some of the more generic high school and Hogwarts chats. Basically you designed your character and chatted as them, using the double colon :: to indicate actions and whatnot. Met one guy through those chats that I'm still internet friends with.
I'm one of those people who just started reading Harry Potter. I'm on year 5. So I missed that train, but I was definitly part of the Buffyverse from the age of 9.
I didn't like Riley either, but I was still in love with Angel at the time. I didn't even give Riley a chance. The Willow sexuality thing.... just keeps happening, and sorry but it gets worse.... you'll see.
Anyway my earliest fandom was definitly Buffy. I was obsessed. I read a lot of fanfiction.
My favorite anime series was definitly Sailor Moon, but I was young and just thought it was a cartoon. I never had any idea that anime was like, a thing.
I freaking LOVED Cardcaptors!!! That show is the reason I LOVE the name Sakura! (I've used it as a character name in a novel I'm writing, and I might still use it if I ever daughter...) what's the link? I'm up for a blast from my past! XD
I just realised, I never really answered the questions...
I didn't really get into fandoms (other than HP) until I was older, but Pokemon, Digimon, Neopets, Harry Potter, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptors kinda shaped my childhood.
as for favourite anime, I never really watched much, but if Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, and Pokemon can count then those... otherwise I was really addicted to Inuyasha in my early-mid teens, one of my best friends watched it and she got me into it... Oh and I don't know what it qualifies as but I LOVED Cyber six and Princess Sissi
I was definitely OBSESSED with Buffy when it was on the air and absolutely enamored with Xander. I read fanfiction online (WATCHER'S WEB, @ajayrious! ME TOO), tried my hand at writing some, printed out pictures of every character on our black-and-white printer, and taught my 3-year-old sister each of their names. You and I are the same age, but I can hardly believe I was 11 when my mom made me stop watching it because she didn't like the lesbian development. After that, I just bought all of the books (did you know there are books, because there are).
I'm pretty sure the earliest fandom I was involved in was Harry Potter, but mostly in fanfiction.
And right now, because my tastes change constantly, my favorite anime is Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). I don't even really know why it's appealing to me, but I like it. :)
I didn't know that you liked anime? :o Oh that's awesome, which is your favorite?
My favorite is Chrono Crusade..I don't know if you've ever heard of it, it's sort of well known.
Yeah my first fandom was Sailor Moon..aha XD
<3, Meghan
I didn't know that you liked anime? :o Oh that's awesome, which is your favorite?
My favorite is Chrono Crusade..I don't know if you've ever heard of it, it's sort of well known.
Yeah my first fandom was Sailor Moon..aha XD
The first fandom I was involved in was Buffy and my favorite anime was probably Fooly Cooly.
1. I can't really remember what my first fandom was. I can remember being into pokemon in like 6th grade, pre Nsync and Backstreet Boys.
2. I love Yu Yu Hakusho,Yu-gi-oh, Naruto Shippuden, and One Piece!
oooh depends what you call fandom... if we're going ff.net then final fantasy X. Then Doctor Who. Then Avatar (tv show) then the renewal of the Harry Potter. Which is what I wanted to talk about.
So around three days ago I was looking for this Avatar fic called pen pals (a TophXZuko fic which I recently fell in love with, the ship I mean, even though the show has ended I just started reading the fanfic recently) anyway I foun a DracoXGinny fic of the same name and I thought, "Well, Kristna likes DracoXGinny, maybe I should give it a shot"
May I say thank you?!?!?! It is my new favorite pairing, and I am so thinking of changing my alligence from Ravenclaw to Slytherin. Thank you for opening my eyes :)
Oh, just left a comment but, do you have a ff.net account?? If you write DracoXGinny I would love to see it!
First fandom was Harry Potter..... I think thats pretty much where my heart is still at fandom wise, and probably will be for a very long time. Anime, however, I never really got into......
I have the same problem that I don't know which day is it. but thanks to technology. I just have to watch my pc clock, my ipod or my mobile. but I try to avoid forgetting because I like to Buy Viagra on mondays.
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