Fandom Snowflake Challenge

[ysabetwordsmith]

Fandom Snowflake Challenge

Day 13
In your own space, write about a moment in fandom that meant a lot to you. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


* My first gaming convention when I was in high school, I mentioned to a vendor that I made up my own monsters.  He said, "Doesn't everyone?"  :D  It was the first time I was in a place where creativity was assumed as the norm.

* My first science fiction convention, around the same time, one of the dealers scrambled under a table to measure an anklet on me.  It was enlightening to see someone else move through space the way I do, looking for the most efficient route instead of the most socially approved one.

* Several years later, in college, I noticed that pros were consistently picking me out of a field of 400 people in a con.  I had no idea why, so I asked one, who explained, "It's because you treat us like people.  Everyone else here only wants to talk about our work.  You let us talk about the weather."  So now I know why famous people like me.  \o/

Comments

[technoshaman]

Several years later, in college, I noticed that pros were consistently picking me out of a field of 400 people in a con. I had no idea why, so I asked one, who explained, "It's because you treat us like people. Everyone else here only wants to talk about our work. You let us talk about the weather." So now I know why famous people like me. \o/

Yes. A couple years ago I was quite mystified as to how the hell I had ended up with a number of Names in filkdom/fandom on my friendslist (and not their public accounts, either...) talis_kimberley explained it, "You show up, you treat us like people instead of going all fanboi, and you're helpful. It's not that we treat people like duchesses instead of flower girls, because they really don't like pedestals either. It's that when she's been through a very long sound check, a full concert, and chatting up all the fans, and she looks up at you and says, "I need food", you can take her to a quiet room and point her at the veggie curry (Brit soul food) and a God's Blessing magickally arrives ... it's about taking care of each other.

[mama_kestrel]

I ended up with an autographed set of a favorite author's work because I did NOT ask her. We sat and chatted about everything from the weather to magic to a particularly ridiculous fashion for a couple of hours. Finally she pointed to my bag and said "aren't you going to ask me to sign those?" I told her no, I knew she had a several hour long autograph table session ahead of her. She asked if I planned to be there. I again said no - I hate that sort of crowd and queue. Whereupon she grinned, grabbed my stack of books, and signed them all. :)

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Awesome fan = awesome author. :D

One of my funner signing stories is from the Pagan Leadership Summit. A bunch of us had brought books to get signed, Pagan ones. I had Isaac Bonewits' Authentic Thaumaturgy -- the gaming volume, not the Real Magic handbook for Pagans. Isaac squealed, grabbed it, and ran around the room showing it to friends who hadn't seen his non-Pagan stuff. It was adorable. And I did get it signed.

[alatefeline]

These are lovely. :D

[thnidu]

In a Trivia Quiz at Arisia one year, one of the questions was "Who has a weathervane shaped like a hippopotamus?" I called out "Prospero!", and the asker on the panel grinned and tossed me a candy, or whatever the prize was for a correct answer. I added "'And not the one you're thinking of'", and he tossed me another.