G: What was your first fandom?
*cringes* ok I was 11 and had just started high school. I liked hanging out in the library, and eventually volunteered as a student librarian. The senior student librarian was writing fanfic for this new spin-off show called The Royal. It had spun-off from Heartbeat, which was basically a British institution for a really long time, though I think it’s been cancelled now.

Anyway, they asked me to beta read and edit their fic for them. I liked having a sort-of friend, and so I wound up writing my own fic as well. It was a show I watched with my family, and while I didn’t care that much about it, I liked being a part of something. The older student created a fansite/forum for the show on the internet, and that attracted fans. It was actually amazing when I think about it now, how popular and active it was.

So yeah, The Royal/Heartbeat was my first fandom, and it kinda happened accidentally. I was a part of it for a year or so before I got iced out. I was too young really to be part of the “leadership”, the other student was 4 years older than me and as I was 11 that was quite significant. They appointed other mods without discussing it, and one of those mods really didn’t like me. Looking back now, I didn’t help myself but I was only 11. This other mod was 30 and the names they called me were quite appalling to be honest. That wasn’t a nice way to treat anyone, let alone someone you knew was just a kid.

By then I had moved on to other fandoms but I was still quite shaken at the time. However, now 15 years later, it’s just a distant memory and it’s hard to recall the details. The part I cringe the most about is the awful fanfic, but thankfully I think the worst of it is no longer floating around the internet. Seriously, I know I was 11 but that writing was very, very bad.