IDB

Hi! I'm Claire and I'm from Illinois. I've been a slight lurker for a couple months but figured it was finally about time to make an account since you all seem like a really cool group of people! Plus, having just turned 20 a couple weeks ago, I'm starting to feel a bit old for Tumblr even if that's where I spend 90% of my free time.

I actually think I have a pretty interesting phandom origin story, as my first video was the squareflakes video. I'm not even kidding. Basically, I had just gotten into MCR in late September of 2015 and noticed all these "crafting" comments on their YouTube videos. Call it human nature, but I wanted in on that joke. I eventually found from other comments that it had something to do with these guys called Dan and Phil. Late one October night, I finally bit the bullet and searched "dan and phil craft joke" on YouTube, found the squarefakes video, and was more than a bit confused but somehow still intrigued. I watched the punk edits video next, then one of the Tumblr tags, and by the end of the week, had pre-ordered TABINOF just 4 days before its US release. And I've pretty much been ever since!

I also started writing phanfiction in October of 2016 (I'm outerspacehowlters on ao3, btw!), which rekindled my lifelong love of writing and even inspired me to transfer colleges, as I realized I'd be much happier following my dream of writing/editing/publishing rather than being a grammar school teacher, even if it's a bit of a harder road. (To be clear, I have nothing against teachers/teaching and may actually come back to it someday--I just don't think I currently have what it takes to handle all the work that goes into it.) I'm now heading into my junior year of college, and the idea of being a creative writing major, with a concentration in fiction, still sends a shiver down my spine, so I'd like to think I'm doing the right thing for me regardless of whether or not it's a throwaway degree.

So. Um. That was a lot longer than I intended but what can I say, I'm a bit of a rambler. I'm really excited to join in the discussions, though, and make some new friends in the community!

I don't feel qualified to welcome anyone, but I still wanted to say that I've read some of your fic before and I really like your writing!

Awww thank you so much! It feels so good to know that people enjoy my fics, especially when it can sometimes take quite a bit of effort to post them.

Welcome! I feel a bit weird about handing out the proverbial muffin basket as well since this will be my 5th post lmao, but I think it's incredible that (if I'm reading your post correctly) fanfic was the segue to you basically... changing your life? That's cool as hell.

neetbuzzer wrote:I think it's incredible that (if I'm reading your post correctly) fanfic was the segue to you basically... changing your life? That's cool as hell.

Yeah, I guess so! I never really thought of it that way, especially since my change of schools isn't super drastic (both my old and new school are in my home state and I'm close enough to commute to both) but it is a really nice way to think of it! My family has always said that my grammar nazi tendency would make me a great editor and I'd love to get into beta-ing but pretty much the feeling I get when writing fanfic and discussing that with my mom, who's surprisingly cool about the whole thing, was what really prompted me to turn my life around. (I mean, technically, I've been writing fanfic since before I even knew what it was, as the first thing I ever wrote when I was 6 was a 2-sentence story about the Care Bears where I listed every Bear I could think of and all the fun things they did together--clearly, I was a cool kid lol)

outerspacehowlters wrote:(I mean, technically, I've been writing fanfic since before I even knew what it was, as the first thing I ever wrote when I was 6 was a 2-sentence story about the Care Bears where I listed every Bear I could think of and all the fun things they did together--clearly, I was a cool kid lol)

because that killed me

Welcome to you both! I feel like I have so much in common with you outerspacehowlters (and your mom as I am the mom of a writer and I'm "cool"). I went to school in Illinois and I was an editor for 5 years. I'm not a writer but I enjoy phan fic. I'll give yours a read. Have fun here!