InsaneJournal

My fandom anniversary - Oooh, do I get cake? :D
It was one year aniversary since I started reading HP fanfic and I can't believe I forgot it! :o Some time in the end of October or beginning of November last year was the time when I went "Oooooh, this is fun!" and started looking for more fanfic to read. :D

When did you start reading fanfic and which were the ones you came across and read first?

I started out on Immeritus. I was a bit bored, and after reading HBP I really wanted to discuss it with somebody. Nobody I know in Sweden reads Harry Potter (at least not how I do :P), so I thought I'd join a forum and find some people to discuss it with. So it was on Immeritus that I came across the first fanfic I read. I don't remember the title, but I'm quite sure it was a story set in the Marauder era. And there might have been swimming involved. Like I said, I don't remember. I just remember that I was totally weirded out by it because that was the first time I'd heard of fanfic (besides all those Star Wars novels in bookshops), even though I'd been using the Internet, chatrooms and forums for years.

I still tried out more stories though, but mostly those posted on the forum or linked from there. The Paradigm of Uncertainty (by Lori) and its prequels and sequels were some of those. They were not the best of stories, but they were fun to read, especially because they were the first long ones I found. :D

Soon after that I found slash. The Civil War Verse (by Sushi) was the first Snarry I found but I didn't really like it. :/ My reaction to the first part went a bit like this: *stares* Umm. *rereads the part about Snape's underpants* :O Why would anyone want to know about his underpants??! *backs away slowly* It was a bit too strange for me, because Snape at that time: ewww. :P I gave Snarry another try though soon after that by reading If You Are Prepared (by Cybele) which made me bawl my eyes out. Then I just decided not to read any more Snarry because it hurt. :/

After that I waded my way through a bunch of Snape/Hermione, but I gave up after I read too many stories where all of Hermione's Muggle friends turned out to be witches and wizards that went to Beauxbatons, but then, oooh, surprise, they just happened to transfer to Hogwarts (this usually happened around the fourth chapter). I did read some good ones though, and there are some I still check to see when they'll be updated (because it's been ages).

Then there was Cartographer's Craft and other stories by sam_storyteller. And then I found Underwater Light (by mistful) which I loved and which is still one of my favourite fics. By the way, I know there are a lot of people that don't like the ending of that story (the whole "Dumbledore is evil" thing), but am I the only one that interpreted it as Dumbledore not being evil but just doing what he had to do? I thought he did all of those things because he knew that Harry wasn't strong enough to kill Voldemort, and the only way he'd be able to do it was if he was really pissed off. Hence all that "Look - I am so evil" stuff. Anybody? :/

After Underwater Light came Nine Days Till Christmas (by rurounihime - read before Christmas) which charmed me completely, and then I just followed people's links to the rest of the H/D fic. So, that got me into Harry/Draco. :D

I got into Harry/Snape (for real) when I read In Between Days (by atrata) because, WOW. I loved that Snape. He was actually Snape-ish (is that a word?), and I love Snarry where you're not exactly sure which side he's on (but really, you know he's on the good side anyway) and where he's still Snape and not Fabio. :D In Between Days made me give The Civil War Verse another try, which I then liked. I got a bit acclimatised to Snarry by that time I guess. :)

So that's my story. There were a couple of O_O and :O moments, like that time I came across a Dumbledore/Harry non-con fic which made me want to wash my eyes and brain with bleach. Or that "mind fuck fic" (meant literally). By the way, does anybody have a link to that one? I believe it was Lucius/Draco and it was so gross that I want to read it again. :D

I'm curious to know which stories you read first and which ones convinced you to keep reading. And also, does your family know what you read?

I know my boyfriend knows. He spent several hours laughing and teasing me after reading "Fuck me, FUCK ME!" (or something similar) over my shoulder while I was sitting on the sofa with the laptop. He found it especially hillarious that it was Harry saying that to Snape. And he kept making jokes about two man luge when he heard about snarry_olympics. So, yeah. :) Although lately he's actually been asking me to tell him when I find a particularly horrible photo manipulation because he loves to criticise them and point out how their faces look melted and how Harry's mouth on Draco's nipple on that manip makes him look like a squid. :D So we have a HP hoby together now, hehehe. ;)

How about you? Where did you start? :)