Revealing our dark pasts

[lokifan]

I went to a bi speed-friending thing on Sunday (it was great) and one of the conversations I had there reminded me of this weird, hilarious moment of fandom-meets-normal-people I had a while ago.

So there were six of us sitting at a round table in a restaurant, having just done a fun activity for sodsta’s birthday. Me, sodsta, januarium, Januarium’s husband A, and our friends L and F. Importantly, L is a uni friend of A’s, and F is her partner. We’re definitely all big nerds together but I’m not sure even L knew that Januarium, Sodsta and I all met through Harry Potter fandom.

We did, though. And we’re part of a group of 11 friends who all have a lightning bolt tattoo - mostly about two inches long, on the inside of our wrists. They were drawn for us originally by lizardspots, because she wasn’t gonna get a tattoo herself but she was part of the group. None of us, I think - including the 4 or so of the group who are trans - regret the tattoos, because they’re a symbol of friendship rather than Potter in itself.

Sooooo like two years ago, we’re sitting around having dinner and F starts excitedly talking about how she’s reading HP for the first time, and really enjoying them. She’s very offline and you can tell from how she’s talking that she has no idea about JKR’s fall off the deep end - and her girlfriend L, who 100% knows, is trans. So she’s happily talking, and L is looking at us in desperation, clearly hoping we’re not about to burst F’s bubble with any information about JKR’s transphobic activism. And I think we all silently decide that if L doesn’t wanna have that conversation, we won’t inflict it. But we’re all kinda like ‘hmm, interesting’ lol, not really engaging about HP, more drawing the conversation towards like reading in general. You’d have no idea any of us had even read those books.

And then F goes something like ‘and the red dragon, the - I can’t remember, the - ’

Januarium: the Norwegian Ridgeback?

F: ???

Sodsta: the Chinese Fireball, wasn’t it?

Me, joining in for the fun of it: or the Welsh Green?

F: …wait…

Januarium, sodsta and I: :look at each other, then slowly slide our wrists onto the table and pull back our sleeves to reveal our tattoos as one:



So we basically did a big reveal that we’d secretly been in a cult the whole time, lmao.

Comments

[lunabee34]

Ha ha ha

That's a great story.

[lokifan]

Hee, thank you! DW is definitely the audience for it :)

[princessofgeeks]

Very funny!

[lokifan]

It was such an intense moment of silence and then we all fell about laughing while F was just like WHAT.

[ivy]

This is a wonderful use of that ink! <3

[lokifan]

Haha, thank you! Honestly can't think of a better one, it's true.

[spiralsheep]

~:D

[lokifan]

Haha, thanks!

[isis]

Oh, hee!

[lokifan]

It was such a dramatic sinister moment and then we all burst out laughing.

[petra]

I love this story.

[lokifan]

Haha, thank you! I'm glad I remembered to tell it here :)

[thisbluespirit]

Ha, that is great! <3

[lokifan]

It was such an incredible moment. This hilariously intense reveal and then we all died laughing.

[sabethea]

Yeah, lightning is just cool in itself, anyway. Shitweasel doesn’t get to steal lightning, even if her books were the original reason you got that tattoo. Also, that’s a brilliant story; I wouldn’t have been able to resist (and it’s always annoyed me that it’s a Welsh green when you can tell from the Welsh fucking flag that Welsh dragons are red…)

I don’t regret HP fandom because I met the best people there, so so many of whom are trans ( including me). But oh gods, fandom and normal people… I just can’t. Trying to explain our little cult ways and conversations is - yeah, different worlds. (The first mini con I went to was the first time I met new people and suddenly thought “hang on, I can almost be myself here!” It was amazing.)

[lokifan]

Yeah, lightning is just cool in itself, anyway. Shitweasel doesn’t get to steal lightning, even if her books were the original reason you got that tattoo.

Yeah, quite. I was in Thor fandom at the time too so even then I didn't feel it was HP so much as fandom friends via HP and Thor.

and it’s always annoyed me that it’s a Welsh green when you can tell from the Welsh fucking flag that Welsh dragons are red…

I KNOW. Diana Wynne Jones would never. (She has an appropriately white English dragon and red Welsh dragon in one of her books.)

I don’t regret HP fandom because I met the best people there, so so many of whom are trans ( including me).

Exactly :D But yeah explaining this stuff is so wild. Especially 'how did you meet' type questions, which I've had more often than I'd expect given it's not romantic relationships. "Well, I read their excellent erotica online and then..."

[sabethea]

Well, I read their excellent erotica online and then..."
lol, this did make me laugh because it’s so true!

[drinkingcocoa]

This is an AMAZING story.

...and then, I guess you all had to have *that* conversation? Or has F been filled in on the badness by now?

[lokifan]

Haha, thank you!

F's been filled in by now. It wasn't that night, but we've talked about it since. I think maybe L realised that not telling her wasn't working!

[drinkingcocoa]

The whole story is such a masterpiece of what Koreans call nunchi! People looking at each other and making silent decisions for the good of the group at the moment!

[lokifan]

:D I'm very flattered by that!! I don't know that it's a skill I have much of, in general.

[greenwoodside]

Aww, that's a great story! And one that reminds me of how what a fun, crazy place the HP fandom could be in its heyday. I'm glad it left some positive traces, like your group of friends.

[kaberett]

XD