The coolest girl I know

In your own space, share a favorite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, crazy times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I was in my early twenties when I discovered online fandom. Wow! 
This was the late 90s. Professional wrestling was my jam, and Scott Hall was my dude! 

Pro wrestling fandom was, and probably still is, a dual fandom of sorts. I started out on usenet and quickly found rec.sport.prowrestling, RSPW. 
EVERYBODY was on RSPW back then, fans, smart fans, dirtsheet writers, promoters, agents, writers, wrestlers. and BAH GAWD, even Jim Ross!

It had everything from the backstage gossip, to fans making great lists and writing e-fed storylines, to, in hindsight, straight up trolling training grounds. It was the wild west to me and most of what I know about the internet I learned in my first month at RSPW. So anyway, while I'm immersed in this super male-centric, rough fandom, I'm also very interested in looking at photos of hot wrestlers and bit by bit I found the female fans.

There were websites, and photo galleries, and message boards with threaded conversations so you could meet and talk to other lady fans! Then I found the fan fic and that lead to a whole other level of websites and mailing lists and archives and a different set of fans who would become friends. I learned how to code HTML and javascript, how to make Flash games, how to edit video, how to sell on ebay - I learned a shit ton of stuff during this period. I was in college on a business degree, but looking back some 20 odd years later, I'm making a living off the things I learned through fandom. My real life job is digital content producer, and that's all fandom.

Anyway, this is getting long. Eventually most of the wrestlers I enjoyed left the business or died :/  I fell out of active fandom and was out for a loooooong time until, in 2013ish, I found my new thing, Person of Interest.

( Hobo Reese ficlet under the cut )

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

1. I would love a knowledgeable and patient person to explain to me how fic exchanges like Yuletide and
chocolateboxcomm work. So far, I've taken part in very easy to understand type exchanges: I make a post, I list my likes/dislikes, a mod matches me with someone and I write. Tagsets, nominations....I don't know, I still don't understand how these latger exchanges work or how to participate in them.

2. Fan art for fic is always nice.

3. Podfic of fic would also be wonderful.

Day 1
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


The Rest Of The World Out There | Fandom: Person of Interest | Harold Finch

This will always be number one on my rec list because it's my first Person of Interest fic, and the first fic I wrote and posted after a 10+ year hiatus from fandom. This is also my favorite fic of mine. I've heard people say they don't like to reread their own work - not me. I wrote this because I fell in love with the Harold Finch character and I couldn't find anything like it. As I write more Harold fics, I often come back to this story and the notes.



By Your Name by Hagar, JinkyO | Fandom: Person of Interest | Harold Finch | Podfic

Squeeeeeeeeee!! I love this podfic project!! My pod_together partner wrote this fantastic text. I don't know if she ever read The Rest of the World Out There, or even knew about it, but her story thrilled me because, again, I got to revisit my beloved Harold Finch. It was like *finally* getting that fic I'd looked for in the first place. So that's my fannish love for the story - but then I got to read and record it. And there was acting (some of which I'm proud of) - and sound effects - and story telling with sound -and this podfic utilized so many of my creative skills and I will be forever proud of the end result.



Details by JinkyO, sk_lee | Fandom: The Fugitive (1993) | Samuel Gerard/Richard Kimble | Podfic

This is the first collaborative podfic project I worked on and I rec it because this one was a creative challenge for me that led to a really good end result. The main challenge being, as a mono-fannish person, I didn't really know much about The Fugitive. Then I watched the film and hit a huge wall of intimidation because the source is so good, so complete, that it was hard to find an easy entré. Then, I cracked it and ended up writing a story that felt true to canon and that I was proud of. Then my partner went and recorded this beautiful read and I was just all around pleased with the results. And happy to have contributed something new to a small fandom.



The Longest Distance Between Two Places | Fandom: Person of Interest | Carl Elias/Anthony Marconi

This was experimental fic that seemed to work, and by seemed, I mean, other people read it and *got* what I was trying to do. As a creator, that's probably the highest compliment I can get, that one other person out there understood what I was trying to do. I'm very fond of this story.



Ready or Not | Fandom: Person of Interest | Harold Finch | FanVid

This is Mama's favorite at the moment. My biggest gripe is that I had to use standard def footage for the video. Beyond that, I love everything about it. I got lucky in finding a great song to accompany yet another retelling of this Harold Finch story that never leaves my brain.