Donna already answered your previous comment for me (just much more eloquently than I would have), so I'll just jump in on the discussion right here.
I have to say that part of my interest in Snape is caused by that 'bad boy' thing. Though I wouldn't refer to it as that (but I don't mind JKR calling it that, it's just a simplification.. that's also why I didn't understand people complaining about that statement of hers during her latest Q&A session), it's more the 'mysteriousness', the fact that we don't really know who he is, what role *exactly* he plays, or why/how he's become the (angry, bitter) man he is now..
Re fangirls: I believe that as long as you don't behave like one of the teenage fangirls, you won't be associated with them?! (And I think netspeak can be used, as long as it happens in the right 'context'. I, for example, use it myself sometimes, but it really depends on whom I'm talking to, and what we're talking about.. and it is usually used in an exaggerating/humorous/sarcastic way.)
I don't mind random comments either (I believe most people who are interested in all sorts of fandom related discussions don't), and I also leave much more comments than I post entries in my own journal. Hmm, though that's not so much because I don't have anything interesting to say, it's more because posts take so much more time and energy to write, and I'm a very lazy and lethargic person. ;)
And that brings me to the 'potential new friend' issue. I'm not one of those people who friend everyone back automatically (Donna, I believe you do that?), but that's because I'm really very much focussed on fic, art, essays, theories and so on. I only friend people whose journals I find interesting, and I believe that applies for many other LJers as well.
I'm not a writer or artist myself, and that makes making friends (= people who are 'willing' to friend you back) much more difficult, but uhmm.. I have found that I can't expect people to friend me (back) if I don't have anything interesting to say. When I was new to LJ, I didn't really understand that, but back then, I didn't spend much time online (I was still on dial-up) and therefore couldn't really understand what the community was about. I was always wondering why I had so little mutual friends, but now that I know how the fan community on LJ works, now that I'm more active myself, it seems only logical to me. I did neither provide much interesting content, nor did I interact with people - and those are really the two most important things if you want to be.. dunno.. 'recognised'.. or 'part' of it.
Oh well, some people don't care if they are friended back, some only use their journals to read what others have to say, or they only create one to be able to reply to posts with a 'proper' name - and that's perfectly okay IMO.
Hmm, you mentioned that you don't really know where to look for quality stuff.. I think other people's friendslists are often a good starting point to find people with similar interests, or fic and art of similar standards (ohh, and check out the various communities listed on ppl's flists!). I don't know if you know about them already, but there are also two fandom newsletters here on LJ: the daily_snitch, which links to all sorts of discussions, essays and theories, and the quickquote, which links to uhhh I think mostly fic and art and icons and so on (I'm sorry, I can't really say much about the QQ because I uhmmm.. don't really like it and stopped reading it when I got to know about some unpleasant stuff that went on 'behind the scenes'.. If I had to compare the two, I'd say the daily_snitch is the fandom's Guardian, while quickquote is The Sun, but I know that many people read & enjoy the QQ, so I'd say go and judge for yourself! :))
Re: *coughs*
Donna already answered your previous comment for me (just much more eloquently than I would have), so I'll just jump in on the discussion right here.
I have to say that part of my interest in Snape is caused by that 'bad boy' thing. Though I wouldn't refer to it as that (but I don't mind JKR calling it that, it's just a simplification.. that's also why I didn't understand people complaining about that statement of hers during her latest Q&A session), it's more the 'mysteriousness', the fact that we don't really know who he is, what role *exactly* he plays, or why/how he's become the (angry, bitter) man he is now..
Re fangirls: I believe that as long as you don't behave like one of the teenage fangirls, you won't be associated with them?! (And I think netspeak can be used, as long as it happens in the right 'context'. I, for example, use it myself sometimes, but it really depends on whom I'm talking to, and what we're talking about.. and it is usually used in an exaggerating/humorous/sarcastic way.)
I don't mind random comments either (I believe most people who are interested in all sorts of fandom related discussions don't), and I also leave much more comments than I post entries in my own journal. Hmm, though that's not so much because I don't have anything interesting to say, it's more because posts take so much more time and energy to write, and I'm a very lazy and lethargic person. ;)
And that brings me to the 'potential new friend' issue. I'm not one of those people who friend everyone back automatically (Donna, I believe you do that?), but that's because I'm really very much focussed on fic, art, essays, theories and so on. I only friend people whose journals I find interesting, and I believe that applies for many other LJers as well.
I'm not a writer or artist myself, and that makes making friends (= people who are 'willing' to friend you back) much more difficult, but uhmm.. I have found that I can't expect people to friend me (back) if I don't have anything interesting to say. When I was new to LJ, I didn't really understand that, but back then, I didn't spend much time online (I was still on dial-up) and therefore couldn't really understand what the community was about. I was always wondering why I had so little mutual friends, but now that I know how the fan community on LJ works, now that I'm more active myself, it seems only logical to me. I did neither provide much interesting content, nor did I interact with people - and those are really the two most important things if you want to be.. dunno.. 'recognised'.. or 'part' of it.
Oh well, some people don't care if they are friended back, some only use their journals to read what others have to say, or they only create one to be able to reply to posts with a 'proper' name - and that's perfectly okay IMO.
Hmm, you mentioned that you don't really know where to look for quality stuff.. I think other people's friendslists are often a good starting point to find people with similar interests, or fic and art of similar standards (ohh, and check out the various communities listed on ppl's flists!). I don't know if you know about them already, but there are also two fandom newsletters here on LJ: the