A History

Circle Of Crones

Circle of Crones : A History

Contributed by LlewellynMcEllis

It began on a lazy, late August afternoon in the spamdom of another forum. Britannia and Llewellyn McEllis discovered through chance, or maybe it was a poll of some sort, that among their fanfiction peers they were two old women--wise, but old, and more outnumbered than they could ever have dreamed in a world that was supposedly only fit for the young, but not the young at heart. While neither of them ever revealed their true age to each other, this common elderly bond led to the reading of one another's fanfiction. Fanfiction bloomed into chatting via email, which inevitably led to a supportive friendship between two women who lived an entire ocean apart, and yet shared more in common with one another than could ever be dreamed.

Between August and September, Brit and Llew began sharing interesting new authors they thought were worth a read. These authors included Phineas--who had a flare for embarrassing a certain potions master in ways no other author had ever dreamed. Phineas understood the true meaning of comedy, and deserved every laugh she ever got. At some point Llew and Phineas began exchanging random emails and chatter about David Bowie.

Llew met Alpha3760 during the validation of a story, which Llew thought was absolutely brilliant. While to many other people, receiving a random email from a cuckoo named Llewellyn would seem strange and possibly even threatening, Alpha and Llew began to talk about their work, while simultaneously supporting and sharing ideas and tastes in fiction. Behind the scenes, Brit was also coming to know Alpha, and the two of them began sharing work.

BJAuth came into the picture in a way most embarrassing to Llewellyn, but because she was such a schmuck, she willingly admits that she badgered BJ with minor threats of a lawsuit involving the boundaries of intellectual property over the use of a character name in a story that's only similarity to Llewellyn's was the fact that it included the name (obviously...) and a Snape and Lupin love triangle. Imagine, poor BJ sitting at her computer reading this crazy lady's letter and thinking, "Why if I could only Avada Kedavra that Death Eating so and so. . ." Obviously it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, which will span the ages for centuries to come.

Siren and Noblevyne both popped up on the forums of the original site where everyone met. At some point there was a mock, spam war and an ongoing battle for the title of evil-overlord. Llew and Siren fought long, hard months, and to this day, despite what either of them will tell you about who rules the universe, the battle continues in a galaxy far, far away (and often includes burnt toast and crocodiles.) The real bonding began, however, during the planning and writing process of a group fiction on the other site we were all working or posting on. A trying, yet satisfying project, it pulled many crones together and began the first sparks of what would eventually become the Inner Circle.

During this Big Fic Project that nearly everyone was involved in, many future Crones began to become acquainted with Wulfeyez--who took charge and set the writers up with a chatboard so that they could hash out ideas and communicate over the excitement and stress of the major project before them. She was an immediate shoe-in when the Crones forum first opened up on ez-board in March of 2005. Her contribution to the site has gone above and beyond the call of volunteer duty, and when the forums moved to PHBB, Wulfeyez became our forum administrator.

Britannia and MadameSnape had bonded in the summer of 2004 over chats about Alan Rickman, and once more their elderly status among the members of the other forum. Llew began bonding with MadameSnape over musical tastes and story sharing and the rest is. . . er. . . well, it'll be history one day.

Alpha3760 introduced Llew and many others to CorLeonis' work by recommendation, and everyone couldn't help admire the flare Cor had for amazingly moving one-shot short stories about characters no one else would dare to tackle in the fanfiction world.

Bbnaz and Strawcherry were both avid reviewers, and through reading became friends with several of the growing number of already interacting Crones. Both also shared a flare for alternative writing genres, including poetry and non-fiction.

Prudence Prior was elected into the group by recommendation. Everyone was talking about this amazing author who had written a story called Over the Hill Harry. Phineas suggested we invite Prudence Prior to join our circle of extraordinary women, and so we did.

Last, but most certainly not the least loved or appreciated, MagGrrl joined the Crones when Pru told her fellow members that they simply had no idea what they were missing when they were missing out on MagGrrl. She was right, and the Crones now ask themselves on a regular basis what they would have ever done without just a little bit "moe" excitement in their lives.

And now that you have met everyone who has contributed to make this site what it is today, I bet you're asking what prompted them to all come together in this great big circle of creativity?

The Circle of Crones as a website first sparked in the eyes of co-founders Britannia and Llewellyn just around the winter holidays in year 2004. A strange and eerie threat had clouded over their world, which at the time had consisted of writing, reading, validating and breathing Harry Potter fanfiction on one of the top, HP Fanfic sites on the net. While others in the nest of panic insisted that there was no way the comfort of that special fanfiction site could ever be yanked away, Brit and Llew began the first discussions on what it might take to make a site where they not only decided the barriers of the comfort zone, but expanded it to include much more than either of them were receiving through their personal fanfiction endeavours.

They wanted a place to share original ideas, poetry, artwork, dreams and friendship with some of the most amazing women either of them had ever come in contact with. The dream began to expand. What if those amazing women all existed in one place? What if they could collaborate on original work one day? What if they took over the world? Okay... that last one was a little lofty, but the power of friendship and camaraderie combined with support and hope has given these Crones the power to do anything!

Eventually they realized that holding this incredible power and support all to themselves was just plain silly (not to mention greedy,) and now they've opened up their circle to share and dream with any and all who dare to cross the lines of creative freedom.