Word on the Street
We asked some wizard rock artists and fanfic authors, "What were your best fandom moments of 2007?" Naturally, the writers' responses were longer...but they are all so amazing, and sum up so much of what fandom really means. We dare you not to be proud to be a fan.
"Tim", aka DJ Knockturn...(to list all his other projects would take forever).
"So, that scamp of an editor has asked me to select a few moments- but as there were so many, how does one choose?
Do I select the first time I listened to Dumbledork, and resolved to take part in the scene?
Do I talk about the day I started the UK and Irish wrock group on Myspace?
Do I mention the twenty seventh of October, when we put on our first major wrock show?
Do I make a rambling mention of my ongoing wizard rock collaborations that will one day see the light of day?
Well that, dear reader, is what I shall call some of my top moments this year. And I have a feeling that it will be even more trying for me to select the pick of the crop next year..."
DementorDelta, fanfiction author
"Hmm...well, okay, the coolest moment this year, had to have been when Book 7 came out. I was thrilled to be in London for the release, at a convention called Sectus. There was lots to do at the convention, but of course the centerpiece had to be the midnight book release. The con organizers, thoughtful of having so many out of towners (and out of country-ers!) arranged to have the venue deliver our books at midnight for those who wanted to have it in our hot little hands at midnight. They also arranged a reading room but I wanted to take mine back to my hotel and read it.
I was sharing a room with Snapetoy who felt the same way so we picked up our books together and walked back to our room with two other fangirls, Treewishes and Amanuensis, both of whom were staying in other parts of London so we'd offered them reading space so they didnt't have to wait to get started reading!
Of course we all read through the night--all at different paces. There was squeeing, there were snorts of disgust, there were half choked sobs during that long night. I was the last one to finish, and was just crying my eyes out during the last few chapters. Not just about Snape's end, but about the end of fandom as we'd known it. Not that Snarry fandom was dead--just different. Closed canon changes the tone of their relationship in a way that I knew would be more challenging to work around.
After I closed the book, I just had tears streaming down my face and I was just a wreck. Snapetoy climbed onto the bed, then Amanuensis and we just hugged and cried and let the emotions swirl around us and spend themselves. There was no better place to be a fan at that moment and no finer people to be with."
Kristina from The Parselmouths
"My best fandom moments of 2007, in no particular order:
- Singing "Crawl Through My Treehole" with Matt at Prophecy for the biggest crowd of people I have ever seen at a wizard rock show in my life.
- Touring for a week with the Remus Lupins, the four sweetest and most fun guys I have ever met in my entire life.
- Playing seeker and catching the Golden Snitch for the Wizard Rock Quidditch team at Phoenix Rising.
- Meeting and singing "Snape vs. Snape" with Ministry of Magic at Wrockstock. It was written in the stars for us to be able to perform that song together.
- Every second I spent with all of the amazing people I have met on this journey, and knowing that our fun times together are truly just beginning."
Sesheta_66, fanfiction author
"I have to say that this sounded easy to start with, but as I thought about it, the answer was difficult to formulate. Excuse me while I venture just a little beyond the scope of your question.
Considering I had never even heard of LJ until a little over a year ago, I am astounded by how much it has become a part of my life. I discovered the Harry Potter fandom, and the Harry/Draco ship in particular, quite by accident. I saw a video on YouTube, which led me to an LJ, which led me to the hd_prophet newsletter, which led me to some of the best H/D fanfiction out there. I lurked (read anonymously and commented on nothing) for a few months before I got my own LJ and tried my hand at writing *gulp* fanfiction. I was hooked, and never one to do things on a small scale, I've never looked back.
I found that it was a way to carry on with this world that JKR created while waiting for more ... the next movie, the next book. More than that, however, was this world of writers that I discovered. It could be said that it's not serious writing, and why would anyone bother reading something that isn't even an original idea. To those that would say that, I suggest they read some of the fanfic before judging. Or not, because it doesn't really matter how trivial others may think it is. In the end, it is something I love, something that led surprisingly to some amazing friendships, and something that I hope carries on always.
Writing fanfiction, for me, enables me to improve my writing skills without having to create an entire world in which to write. I can focus on brevity (drabbles), particular genres (angst, romance, etc.), writing styles (first/second/third person, formal/informal, one-shots/chaptered, etc.), particular aspects of writing (dialogue, description, characterization, etc.), and going beyond what I previously felt comfortable with. There are readers out there that provide feedback, challenges that stretch my creativity, and a world of other people out there that are passionate about the same things as I am (writing & Harry Potter). I know that I'm a better writer, and less apprehensive about writing certain things, than I was a year ago. As strange as it sounds to say this, I have HP fanfiction to thank for a lot of that. It got me writing ... every day. That's half the battle.
This year has been full of discovery for me. It has introduced me into a world where people are, on the most part, very supportive of one another. The fact that the ship is all about two gay wizards adds the additional element of sexual orientation, and again I find that "slashers" are very accepting, span many races and religions, and don't necessarily take themselves too seriously. It's refreshing. Of course I'm generalizing, but that has been my experience.
My favourite fandom moment was more than a moment, but I'll do my best to capture it. Prophecy in Toronto enabled me to meet some online 'friends' and other slashers in person. I got to meet people whose work I had read, and in some cases recommended at every opportunity. I attended not really 'knowing' anyone, but immediately felt welcome. It was like we all had this connection - or perhaps slashers are just inherently nice people. Who knows? All I know is that I had a great time, and without hesitation (once I got the time off work) I agreed to fly to St. Louis for a weekend to meet up with some of them all over again. Insane? Perhaps. I have always been the "plan it to death" type of person, and this has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. Spontaneity is a wonderful thing. Who knew?
Besides the more serious, big-picture stuff, it is FUN. I love to read good work, encourage fellow writers, stare in awe at the artwork, and joke around with friends. And I really enjoy watching the progression of others as their own work improves. You want to get better at what you do? Do more of whatever it is. On that note, I'll say that I plan to do more of whatever it is I do ... hopefully a lot of that will be writing in the HP fandom. It's the most fun I've ever had writing, and I don't plan to give it up any time soon."
Zoe, aka Split Seven Ways etc.
"I went on a school trip to Normandy in 1999, just after starting to read the books. Me and my friends, weird little obsessives that we are, spent the entire time claiming we'd found the French school of witchcraft and wizardry (this was before GoF so lord knows what we decided to call it), put on a production of the flying lesson scene in PS which mostly involved us jumping off chairs, and then because it was Halloween we all bought broomsticks and my very tall, very lovely but rather silly friend attempted to fly out of a window. In our defense we were 12 and sugar-high.
Another favourite memory is of making videos with the previously mentioned obsessive friends. Characters included Severus Snape managing to throw ink everywhere (guess who played him...), Ron and Harry in girl's lingerie being forced to sing, house-elves singing a little song, Vernon Dursley claiming that babies should be fed mustard, Peeves (portrayed by a piece of wire and a broomstick - top notch special effects!)... and so on.
I had a fantastic time at a Harry Potter party thrown by my singing teacher (this would have been in about 2001?) It was supposedly for her daughter but we all knew it was for her. She was McGonagall and heading the Gryffindor team and we had a Sprout to head the Hufflepuffs, and we didn't have a Slytherin team in case the little kiddies got upset by being sorted into it (the reason we gave was that Snape disapproved of this whole Muggle taster day thing) but we didn't have a head of Ravenclaw so I, random Slytherin student, took the helm. We won the quiz, because we were Ravenclaw/Slytherin and thus awesome. I was asking the kids who their favourite characters were and was getting the usual answers (ie, Harry or Hermione, over and over), when one suddenly announced "my favourite character is Voldemort. I wanted to be in Slytherin, this isn't fair!"
I went on holiday to the west coast of Scotland during the run-up to DH, along with two also-obsessed friends. We played Mostly-Harry Potter Consequences (to the point where we had several shopping bags full of the things that I still need to type up) which were notable for the fact that if we couldn't think of a girl's name we would write Bellatrix, leading to some odd pairings. Then we went searching for Hogwarts! We were pretty sure we'd found the lake and grounds but got out quick-sharp in case something in the forest got us.
Then, of course, there was Potter Rocks this year, which was AMAZING. I went with my friend Alisha - we spent all day talking about how tragic Snape was and how much we love the film version of Prisoner of Azkaban. I nearly cried when RiddleTM played "Look At Me" and she burst out laughing when DJ Knockturn played Voldemort's parody of "Save Ginny Weasley" - "We're gonna feed Ginny Weasley to the basilisk!" Other notable moments included one of the Black Sisters accidentally saying "Snarry!" during a PPP sketch (I visibly cringed - it's burned on my retinas!), meeting so many more lovely people, and wandering back to the train singing all the songs we'd heard!"