Why this fandom?

[solrosan]

Why are you in the fandom(s) that you're currently active in? What makes you participate in some fandoms but not others? 

If I'm to explain why I'm in the fandoms I am I can give pretty straight forward answers.

Sherlock -- I loved the show when I watched it, then when I discovered fandom about 6 months later my life was a mess and in finding fandom I also found a word to describe myself that I had searched for for a long time. The Sherlock fandom filled a gaping hole in my life. The Sherlock fandom gave me a purpose for many years. I cannot overstate the importance of the Sherlock fandom and the timing in my life.
 
MCU -- I've always been a casual fan of superheroes (and I mean all of them, though I'm growing tired of Spiderman so fast it's not even funny) but then Clint Barton, one of my best fandom friend's fav, turned out to have kids and Natasha was an integrated part of that family. It wasn't until I had written a few thousand words about it that I realised that the reason I probably got this invested this fast is because that's the relationship structure I want. I want to be Natasha to the Bartons.

Kingsman -- Do you have any idea how much fun it is to actually know stuff in a fandom? Like really know it? Without research? You know how fucking rare that is for people not from the UK or US? Any idea how much more fun that makes it? Honestly, I just came here to write some meta to help people who might want to write somewhat accurate fics about Eggsy as a prince of Sweden, but I realised that I was about the only one who wanted to do that and it was too much fun to be able to use just being fucking Swedish and knowing shit about Swedish royal history to not stick around.

But then when I turn it around.... why NOT this or that fandom, then it gets harder.

For example, I love Criminal Minds. Always have. From first episode to latest episode. The way that show get my heart raising. The way I'm on the edge of my metaphorical seat sometimes. The way I care for a lot of the characters. It evokes an emotional response in me that not even Sherlock has managed. I have never cried watching Sherlock, but I have cried a lot to Criminal Minds.

The West Wing? Sure, I had no idea what fandom was when I first watched it, but nope.

Fröken Fridmans Krig? It's in Swedish, so I think that might be the reason?

Star Trek (AOS)? The first movie gave my first OTP. I adore Spock and Uhura together. The first movie got me buying a TOS box, I was invested enough to throw money at the franchise... but the fandom? No. For some reason. It's not like it's because the fandom at large is against my OTP, I have a tendency to be drawn to women who break up popular mlm ships... Mary Morstan, Laura Barton, Princess Tilde, Nyota Uhura... So there's obviously something else.

Good Omens? My latest binge, because Tumblr, lbr. I love this fandom. They seem to have so much fun! And I love watching it from afar. I've even read two fics (old Sherlock authors coming back to play and I have missed their writing so much) but I have no interest what so ever to engage.

So... why are you in the fandoms you're in? Or why aren't you in the ones you aren't?

Comments

[donut_donut]

ooh, this is an interesting question!

Sherlock is really the only fandom I'm in at all seriously, or ever have been. It's not the first thing I've been passionate about, but I think it's the only one that had a large, active, easily-accessible fandom right at the moment when I was desperately seeking more content.

One problem I have is, when I'm really excited about a show or movie or book, I have a huge desire to talk about it and dissect it and analyze it, whereas the most common form of fan engagement seems to be writing and reading fanfic. I like fanfic all right, I've written some and read lots, but it's not my greatest interest.

I think Sherlock fandom was SO big when I entered, I was able to find at least a few people who were willing to entertain the kind of conversations I wanted to have. Other stuff I'm passionate about is either too old or too obscure for me to find my particular niche in the fandom.

I did actually do that a bit in the Harry Potter fandom, at its peak. But I wasn't *that* into Harry Potter, so my interest in talking about it spent itself out after a few weeks. I *tried* to do it in the Call Me By Your Name fandom, but the most active fans had such a different reading of the book/movie from me, I lost interest in their conversations fairly quickly, even though I remained passionate about the story.

One possible missed opportunity was Smallville -- that was a show I loved 99.9% just for the most popular ship (Clark/Lex), which is unusual for me. I thought the show itself was silly trash, but I looooved that dynamic and all the subtext around it. I think I might have really gotten into the fanfic for that show, if I had been aware of such a thing at the time. Or I might have gotten into that genre of tumblr post which is basically, "omg, are you seeing how gay they are for each other? so gay." (like 90% of the Good Omens posts on my dash right now, lol) Normally those posts just kind of irritate me, but maybe I could have gotten on board for Smallville.

[solrosan]

It makes sense that it would be connected to what type of things you want out of the fandom experience and how easy it is to get in contact with people who can make that happen. It's hard to get into a dead fandom or at least to be there for very long, or when, as your experience with CMBYN, the active part doesn't give you what you're seeking it out for.

(Then of course it's doing things out of spite just to show people -- which I end up doing a lot -- but it's hard to keep that going.)

Have you tried any fanfics for Clark/Lex at all? Or is it the one that got away completely?

I'm fascinated with what's happening with Good Omens over at Tumblr right now. It seems as every blog I follow, no matter what fandom I followed them for to begin with has turned into a semi-GO blog. (Expect the ones which turned into Rocketman blogs a few months ago, they stick to their thing even though I'd prefer for them to turn a bit GO.) That was actually one of the reasons I finally sat down and wrote this post, because of how many people have decided that YES, that fandom! even though their interests before have had much overlap.

[donut_donut]

Yeah, my dash is totally overwhelmed with good omens right now... Though I think probably 70% of it is one person who posts a lot. I'm thinking of unfollowing her, at least temporarily, since she refuses to tag anything. In fact, the whole GO fandom seems inexplicably terrible about tagging. It's like they think the whole world MUST be as interested as they are.

I don't mind too much because at least the actors are attractive and charming, but it is getting a bit much. At least there hasn't been much wank yet!

I actually went to look for some Clark/lex fix right after I wrote that comment, haha. But the first stuff I found were crossovers or other stuff that doesn't interest me, and then a baby needed me and I got distracted. I just don't really have time for another fandom right now, even though I'm curious.

[solrosan]

I feel like Tumblr-after-the-purge is worse at tagging in general than it was before, but that might just be that the people who I followed who tagged really religiously all left. I get where the misconception that everyone must love GO comes from, because well, it looks like it! But I don't mind it at all, because suddenly my dash is actually active again and the canon is enjoyable enough. The only wank I've seen so far is directed at NG which is very unfortunate, but it hasn't reached a level that I feel like I have to NOPE out of lurking around.

Sorry your quick search didn't turn up anything good! I've tried looking for fics in fandoms I'm not active in (mostly Criminal Minds) but never got really hooked or found anything I really wanted to read. I wonder if that might have to do with the fanon voices and subtle codes and shorthand that comes with fandom and takes time to learn and that that might be a turn off or if there's something else. The community is clearly lacking when I just go and look for fic and that might be something needed?

[donut_donut]

yeah, tbf it took me ages and ages before I found Sherlock fic that actually held my interest. And most of that came from recommendations by trusted friends. I probably don't have the energy to do that for Smallville, especially since it's a basically dead fandom (I mean, I assume, since there hasn't been new canon for like 20 years...)

I did just unfollow the person who was posting SO much good omens stuff. we'll see if that helps my grumpiness toward the fandom, lol. it's true that there's very little wank (...yet) which is great, but I am getting a little sick of the posts bragging about how pure and perfect and beyond reproach everything to do with the show is, hahaha. But that's just me being churlish. I just need to be better about scrolling past the text posts.

[solrosan]

Hehe yupp, I also getting a bit tired of the general attitude that everything is pink and fluffy and everyone (from creators to actors to characters) is a cinnamonroll unable to do wrong. Also, when that type of thing flips around to wank it usually turns into a shit show. But it's New Fandom Energy! And as long as I get something else to mix it up with I'm happy for them. Believe it or not, but there was a time when there was almost no other wank in the Sherlock fandom than "Sally called him a FREAK!"

I hope your dash will feel better after the unfollowing!

[donut_donut]

Also, when that type of thing flips around to wank it usually turns into a shit show.

haha truth.

Believe it or not, but there was a time when there was almost no other wank in the Sherlock fandom than "Sally called him a FREAK!"

amazing. I didn't enter Sherlock fandom until the Wank was well-advanced, so it's all I've ever known.

[solrosan]

I have to put in a small asterisk on my statement about the wank-freeness of Early Sherlock Fandom, because I was much better at looking away from it when it was on LJ and not on Tumblr, but my experience was wank free until the "haitus" of the biggest community.

[signoftea]

That was interesting to read!
What makes me participate in fandom? Good question. If I find something I'm truly obsessed with, I want to see what other people think about it, so I look it up on the internet, and sometimes I stumble into a fandom. :) The thing is, it doesn't happen to me very often that I become obsessed with a TV show or a celebrity to that degree. So I've been in the Sherlock fandom for a long time and I see no reason to go anywhere else. Other shows and movies are nice, but they don't make me stay up all night to rewatch them again and again like I did with Sherlock in the beginning. I am obsessed with dog training and gardening, but those things don't really have fandoms.

[solrosan]

Dog training and gardening have some serious fandoms, we just don't call them that ;) You should see the tags The Crush follows on Instagram or the discussion forums about plants she invited me to while I was still trying really hard to get her to stick around haha Gardening people are Serious People when it comes to fandoming.

Do you have anything that you've thought that "Hmm, I might try out some fanfic about that" due to, say, Tumblr, but then realise it wasn't for you? Or do you always start with a canon?

[signoftea]

Maybe I should try out some gardening forums, too. :) Dog training forums tend to stress me out because everyone has their own training method and thinks it's the best. I also think mine is the best, so I just get annoyed all the time.

I remember trying out fanfic about Cabin Pressure and a few movies I saw, but it wasn't for me. It's probably an aro/ace thing that I find it difficult to ship characters at first when I'm not super invested in their canon relationship. But I'm tempted to read Good Omens fanfic even though I haven't seen the show yet.

What about you - do you always start with canon or does fanon draw you in sometimes?

[donut_donut]

Oh I love cabin pressure but I tried the fic once and couldn't get into any of it haha. I've hardly ever found any fic outside of Sherlock that I liked (to be fair, I haven't looked that hard).

[signoftea]

I haven't really looked for fic from other fandoms either, but I don't really search for fic anyway, I mostly just read what other people recommended. There was some Cabin Pressure fic on my dash a few times, so I gave it a try, but it wasn't for me.

[solrosan]

You should! If nothing else they are often filled with pretty pictures! I'm mostly on male-excluding forums when it comes to this and that might be something to look into as well. I'm not saying all non-males are welcoming angels but it does cut down on the preaching and mansplaining A Lot.

I've tried CP fics too and I was turned off by that exact reason! I really, really, really can't ship those characters. At all. And I was baffled by how much shippy fics there are out there for these four (or three, lbr, Carolyn didn't get much action).

I jumped on some GO fics because an old Sherlock writer came back and started writing it. I'm not terribly interested in exploring A/C as a ship, but I've missed her writing and read it because of that. I think there can be really interesting fic in that fandom and that looking through the old ones (the pre-TV show ones) can be really good.

For me it almost always starts with canon. I see something that I want to explore and I start to explore it on my own and then find more people to explore it with. The only fandom where I started as a consumer and not a creator is actually Sherlock, because back then I didn't dare to create.

There are things I've tried out because of Tumblr (like GO) because it started to overwhelm my dash, but those have never stuck.

[signoftea]

I didn't even know there were male-excluding forums. I'll have to give that a try.

Yes, to me Cabin Pressure is not shippy at all, either. I don't know why.

I've already read so much GO meta on tumblr that I might as well give the fics a try.

[solrosan]

Then let me rec you a really lovely fic that crossed my dash this morning! it's the light (it's the obstacle that casts it). It's Teen and up and gives a good little history lesson about queer culture in London ca 1950. I recommend looking up Polari real quick before reading it because as someone on Tumblr said: "If you don’t think Aziraphale learned Polari during his time in “discreet gentleman clubs” you are wrong"

[signoftea]

Thank you, that sounds interesting! :)