Rough draft of article for D: "On Teh Fandom!!1"
D is starting a website for artists of all types and asked me to contribute by writing articles every now and then. Here's the first rough draft of the first one.
Critique like my future depends on it!
It's all over the place and probably not all that article-ish, but I did it distractedly and at the last minute on some nights.
On Teh Fandom!!1
Sasha!
Someone asked me how I could be so entertained with my internet favorites when said favorites were, what appeared to them at least, "boring paragraphs and weird pictures".
They mused aloud, very pointedly mind you, at my odd habits when I was enjoying such things: I squeal (Squee); I fume or beam and then, on good days, begin to type very fast in certain boxes. How was it that I could be so engrossed with a story of a story, a picture of a movie scene, or strange debates that were full of non-words. Looking over my shoulder, they spent a good hour watching as I wrote and read reviews for various things, not getting any of the in-jokes but apparently still laughing, if only because, out of context, they are rather ridiculous; several times I was stopped to define a phrase from the Lexicon of Geekiness. Things like "pwn"-- which back then seemed to only show up on the net when dealing in fandom--sparked an interest and conversations about the events leading up to said pwnage, though these were often so full of non-essential exposition it did not hit quite the bone I looked for. It was very hard to cut to the bare essentials of a thing like that, if only for my deep and abiding love for such a subject and their utter newbi-ness. Exuberance often led to embarrassment. Or awkward silence.
In an attempt to dispel mockery, I sat down with my friend, patiently waiting for the bemusement to go away; when it did not, I started explaining Fandom. One minute in and I realized it wasn't simple at all. Fandom is so big. It is fantasmagoric.
For one, it is a community. Like any community, it grows, sometimes to monstrous proportions, and splits off into tribes...tribes with cabinets, meeting places, dialects and rules. To talk about one would often mean referencing another and, because that wouldn't work, a complete umbrella of Woah Now would open up. I am not trying to drag this out now, nor was I then, but Fandom in general is something very close to me and I'd love to share it, or at least enlighten those who would judge me based on something they don't understand.
As a new-comer, I realized I'd always sorta-kinda-maybe already belonged to fandoms. I loved characters, thought enough of their stories to wonder about different outcomes, admired the artistry enough to imitate it, and dressed up for Halloween just to feel a little closer to it, something I'm sure a lot of people have done. The only difference was I had no clue people took the time to write novel-length stories about Cinderella, Tenchi, Ed, or Harry Potter, or drew pictures that were full of beauty and irony. Not only that, but organized it so others who enjoyed it could access them and chat. And once I found these people existed, I looked at my own poorly-crafted stories and doodles and lamented. Eventually, though, these pieces of fantastic encouraged me to put myself out there and learn how to write, how to draw, even though the latter landed me in the emergency room on the first day of Spring Break. (Don't ask. Or do. I don't mind.)
But really, Fandom is a place to grow. These universes we become so engrossed in for whatever reason are the foundations of something awesome.
There are those that argue fanworks are illegal and amateurish. We're not getting into the illegal bit now, as it has been ranted and raved about before, but amateurish, yes. Amateur derives from a Latin root meaning "love". We love something and emulate it. We strive to understand it, or become connected in some form and fashion. We don't usually sell said fruits of this labor as that would be the general line crossed in the legal debate, where love turns to prostitution in the eyes of the general public, where fanatics try to capitalize on someone else's sucess.
Playing with someone else's toys to get the hang of them does not mean we're incapable of making our own brand. It is sometimes just more interesting to see what would happen if CharacterA went into TownF to Situation3 with CharacterT instead of dying in BattleK. You know? You do. And it takes work to elaborate on what you see in between the lines.
My friends, we live in between the lines. We are, in the words of Pervyficgirl, "Open[ing] all the doors and painting all the rooms."
Admit it. You can't wait to turn that page, and on daring nights you'll stop yourself from going to the next chapter just to soak in the anxiety or call a friend to babble and tease. You fall in love with ideas or characters, squee about them for months at a time. And the wait for a new release will keep you on edge or in depression; the knowing or pained look on a peer's face will egg you on. After a seemingly random event, you'll itch to write, sew, forge a contest, download clips to arrange to a musical arrangement or paint a What-If. And people will see this. They'll see it and praise you or critique you and you'll learn, eventually, what the masses like. If you want, you can stay in this niche forever, never wanting for much of anything for you will be a veteran in a much loved society, one that will most probably keep gaining followers so long as it's in the public eye or the underground's whispers.
OR, you can take what you learn from the support of your community and do something original enough with it that people won't complain about copyrights, piracy and plagiarism. There is nothing wrong with having a hobby and being good at it. There are some AMV makers I believe would do very well in the entertainment Business and some writers I swear surpass the author they admire so much. But it's one thing to do it for fun and another to do it for money, as a career, as a job. As it is, Fandoms are made up of so many different people with different experiences, opinions, outlooks and techniques: it is a perfect place to learn. It is not every day that this is available so readily to people. The internet reaches nearly everywhere. You could get lucky enough to meet your muse, or someone who will get you an empire.
[Like Mr. D, the creator of SephrimMedia. We met by chance in a book store while I was attempting to avoid an amorous young chap and put away my Batman Comic at the same time. It was a great read and I didn't get to finish it. While said amorous boy latched on to my novelty (Girl Comic Reader) Mr. D had as well but played it much cooler, eventually ambushing me the next time I was in the shop with his drawings and glowing praise for Michael Turner, who had done the Supergirl Intro I was reading. Somehow this led to a somewhat-long-distance-friendship fueled by artsy talk, fandom wank, and late night story-storming. And now he's planning on taking on web and organize a place where Our People would
Or Violet Blues, the first creative partner I went full-out with. I'd read her stories online during the summer, not knowing I would bump into her one hot day in Reading Class. Over the chatter I heard the phrase "fanfiction dot net" and zoned in, butted into the conversation, excited and shocked. As we talked, the necessities were defined. What did we like to read there? Harry Potter? Really? Do you write? Really? What's your pen name? REALLY? I've read your stories! It turns out Miss Blues had cheated and become a member of the site before legally turning 13, which was awesome for me as I gained a lifelong friend with the same interests and creative passion, a writer who was willing to take the same path in learning craft.
Over the years we fell in and out of love with our first love, Harry Potter, and branched out in fandoms, learned the facts of life in grueling AP Lit classes, and developed separate voices. But always, we had archives of old emails and challenges we'd written. And they were awesomely bad sometimes, but there are so many fond memories attached it does not matter. We are here now and we learn, we see the fads the stages and the problems in our fandoms. We can talk to newer writers and help them out if we want.
]
But this is a place to try it out. You have peers and professionals and entertainment. You can do whatsoever if you pleas, thank you. Utilize that--even if that means lurking and just...watching. Reading. Masturbating. Mentally, of course.
For the sake of the fandom, please realize what a gem we have with the internet and the sites that are catered to our tastes. We, who understand strange acclamations of names the masses thought were weird on their own anyway, and things such as OTP, W00t, squee, meme, m/m, het, yaoi, and "slash is so in now, I can remember a time when asking readers to R/R would get me newb trolls, a flame war, or a cookie and it actually hurt my feelings--it was only Weasleycest,"-- we are so cool.
In some cases, the creators acknowledge us, or at least try to appease us with fanservice and in-jokes in the form of jittery actors. Sometimes we will stick by a company no matter how many train wrecks we've sworn to look away from, no matter how many women we find in refrigerators or how Death herself has lost her potency. In other cases, our enthusiasm and creativity will cost us. Our watering holes will be banned or deleted or the victim of an international crack-down on something or other.
And that's terrible.
What's awesome is getting a second chance to reform a reputation. You know the stereotypes. Fic writers are mostly girls (and lonely ones at that), comedy is badly written, rape is romance, Mary Sue's are rampant, and/or angst abides. Artists are either @) struggling young college kids who can't hang and have a fixation on Asian girls, or #) struggling young college kids who can't hang and have an unhealthy fixation on gay men. AMV-ers are pale, stressed and have too much time on their hands. Cosplayers are not human but are often very pretty and prone to staying in character far too long.
You would never guess that most of these writers turn professional, or already are. After years of writing and posting several short stories and a very big, ambiguously gay trilogy, all of which earned her the honor of being a Big Name Fan (she is famous and deserves lots of glomps) in several fandom circles, Cassandra Clare, aka Cassandra Claire (of Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings fame), is now a published and very successful author with a universe and plethora of characters of her own. Which rocks. Hem-hem.
Most of these artists are, or deserve to be, selling their original works on the side, getting into art schools, gaining cult-status, even landing jobs in big companies.
With the way YouTube is going, it is a wonder AMV makers have gone relatively under the radar for so long.
My point, repetitive though it may be, is to embrace your community. Learn from your peers. If you stay, stay--it is a good stress reliever. If you decide to do something else, we are a good test audience.
But most of all, have fun. Do not take this too seriously. Though I learned most of the intimate details of mental breakdowns, sex, and the thought-processes of those in mundane and extreme situations through this medium, nothing beats experience.
You are most likely not making out with Tamaki, Roy Mustang, Severus Snape, Kaye, Buffy, Cabbage Man, or whoever you fantasize about at night; you are most likely not being held under a gag order, spell, or threat of blackmail in a foreign land; Pete is not picking Patrick over you because he hates you; the Kataang and Zutara feud is not going spill into your town and raze your house; you are, most likely, not in unfortunate position of having a child even though you are a man, or figuring out how to fly in a skirt. There is never a reason to take these things so seriously as that. You control the characters. We don't need fans spazzing out on television if another craze hits the cities. Control yourselves.
In the words of Mary Borsellino: "fandom is funny, lighten up...."
Critique like my future depends on it!
It's all over the place and probably not all that article-ish, but I did it distractedly and at the last minute on some nights.
On Teh Fandom!!1
Sasha!
Someone asked me how I could be so entertained with my internet favorites when said favorites were, what appeared to them at least, "boring paragraphs and weird pictures".
They mused aloud, very pointedly mind you, at my odd habits when I was enjoying such things: I squeal (Squee); I fume or beam and then, on good days, begin to type very fast in certain boxes. How was it that I could be so engrossed with a story of a story, a picture of a movie scene, or strange debates that were full of non-words. Looking over my shoulder, they spent a good hour watching as I wrote and read reviews for various things, not getting any of the in-jokes but apparently still laughing, if only because, out of context, they are rather ridiculous; several times I was stopped to define a phrase from the Lexicon of Geekiness. Things like "pwn"-- which back then seemed to only show up on the net when dealing in fandom--sparked an interest and conversations about the events leading up to said pwnage, though these were often so full of non-essential exposition it did not hit quite the bone I looked for. It was very hard to cut to the bare essentials of a thing like that, if only for my deep and abiding love for such a subject and their utter newbi-ness. Exuberance often led to embarrassment. Or awkward silence.
In an attempt to dispel mockery, I sat down with my friend, patiently waiting for the bemusement to go away; when it did not, I started explaining Fandom. One minute in and I realized it wasn't simple at all. Fandom is so big. It is fantasmagoric.
For one, it is a community. Like any community, it grows, sometimes to monstrous proportions, and splits off into tribes...tribes with cabinets, meeting places, dialects and rules. To talk about one would often mean referencing another and, because that wouldn't work, a complete umbrella of Woah Now would open up. I am not trying to drag this out now, nor was I then, but Fandom in general is something very close to me and I'd love to share it, or at least enlighten those who would judge me based on something they don't understand.
As a new-comer, I realized I'd always sorta-kinda-maybe already belonged to fandoms. I loved characters, thought enough of their stories to wonder about different outcomes, admired the artistry enough to imitate it, and dressed up for Halloween just to feel a little closer to it, something I'm sure a lot of people have done. The only difference was I had no clue people took the time to write novel-length stories about Cinderella, Tenchi, Ed, or Harry Potter, or drew pictures that were full of beauty and irony. Not only that, but organized it so others who enjoyed it could access them and chat. And once I found these people existed, I looked at my own poorly-crafted stories and doodles and lamented. Eventually, though, these pieces of fantastic encouraged me to put myself out there and learn how to write, how to draw, even though the latter landed me in the emergency room on the first day of Spring Break. (Don't ask. Or do. I don't mind.)
But really, Fandom is a place to grow. These universes we become so engrossed in for whatever reason are the foundations of something awesome.
There are those that argue fanworks are illegal and amateurish. We're not getting into the illegal bit now, as it has been ranted and raved about before, but amateurish, yes. Amateur derives from a Latin root meaning "love". We love something and emulate it. We strive to understand it, or become connected in some form and fashion. We don't usually sell said fruits of this labor as that would be the general line crossed in the legal debate, where love turns to prostitution in the eyes of the general public, where fanatics try to capitalize on someone else's sucess.
Playing with someone else's toys to get the hang of them does not mean we're incapable of making our own brand. It is sometimes just more interesting to see what would happen if CharacterA went into TownF to Situation3 with CharacterT instead of dying in BattleK. You know? You do. And it takes work to elaborate on what you see in between the lines.
My friends, we live in between the lines. We are, in the words of Pervyficgirl, "Open[ing] all the doors and painting all the rooms."
Admit it. You can't wait to turn that page, and on daring nights you'll stop yourself from going to the next chapter just to soak in the anxiety or call a friend to babble and tease. You fall in love with ideas or characters, squee about them for months at a time. And the wait for a new release will keep you on edge or in depression; the knowing or pained look on a peer's face will egg you on. After a seemingly random event, you'll itch to write, sew, forge a contest, download clips to arrange to a musical arrangement or paint a What-If. And people will see this. They'll see it and praise you or critique you and you'll learn, eventually, what the masses like. If you want, you can stay in this niche forever, never wanting for much of anything for you will be a veteran in a much loved society, one that will most probably keep gaining followers so long as it's in the public eye or the underground's whispers.
OR, you can take what you learn from the support of your community and do something original enough with it that people won't complain about copyrights, piracy and plagiarism. There is nothing wrong with having a hobby and being good at it. There are some AMV makers I believe would do very well in the entertainment Business and some writers I swear surpass the author they admire so much. But it's one thing to do it for fun and another to do it for money, as a career, as a job. As it is, Fandoms are made up of so many different people with different experiences, opinions, outlooks and techniques: it is a perfect place to learn. It is not every day that this is available so readily to people. The internet reaches nearly everywhere. You could get lucky enough to meet your muse, or someone who will get you an empire.
[Like Mr. D, the creator of SephrimMedia. We met by chance in a book store while I was attempting to avoid an amorous young chap and put away my Batman Comic at the same time. It was a great read and I didn't get to finish it. While said amorous boy latched on to my novelty (Girl Comic Reader) Mr. D had as well but played it much cooler, eventually ambushing me the next time I was in the shop with his drawings and glowing praise for Michael Turner, who had done the Supergirl Intro I was reading. Somehow this led to a somewhat-long-distance-friendship fueled by artsy talk, fandom wank, and late night story-storming. And now he's planning on taking on web and organize a place where Our People would
Or Violet Blues, the first creative partner I went full-out with. I'd read her stories online during the summer, not knowing I would bump into her one hot day in Reading Class. Over the chatter I heard the phrase "fanfiction dot net" and zoned in, butted into the conversation, excited and shocked. As we talked, the necessities were defined. What did we like to read there? Harry Potter? Really? Do you write? Really? What's your pen name? REALLY? I've read your stories! It turns out Miss Blues had cheated and become a member of the site before legally turning 13, which was awesome for me as I gained a lifelong friend with the same interests and creative passion, a writer who was willing to take the same path in learning craft.
Over the years we fell in and out of love with our first love, Harry Potter, and branched out in fandoms, learned the facts of life in grueling AP Lit classes, and developed separate voices. But always, we had archives of old emails and challenges we'd written. And they were awesomely bad sometimes, but there are so many fond memories attached it does not matter. We are here now and we learn, we see the fads the stages and the problems in our fandoms. We can talk to newer writers and help them out if we want.
]
But this is a place to try it out. You have peers and professionals and entertainment. You can do whatsoever if you pleas, thank you. Utilize that--even if that means lurking and just...watching. Reading. Masturbating. Mentally, of course.
For the sake of the fandom, please realize what a gem we have with the internet and the sites that are catered to our tastes. We, who understand strange acclamations of names the masses thought were weird on their own anyway, and things such as OTP, W00t, squee, meme, m/m, het, yaoi, and "slash is so in now, I can remember a time when asking readers to R/R would get me newb trolls, a flame war, or a cookie and it actually hurt my feelings--it was only Weasleycest,"-- we are so cool.
In some cases, the creators acknowledge us, or at least try to appease us with fanservice and in-jokes in the form of jittery actors. Sometimes we will stick by a company no matter how many train wrecks we've sworn to look away from, no matter how many women we find in refrigerators or how Death herself has lost her potency. In other cases, our enthusiasm and creativity will cost us. Our watering holes will be banned or deleted or the victim of an international crack-down on something or other.
And that's terrible.
What's awesome is getting a second chance to reform a reputation. You know the stereotypes. Fic writers are mostly girls (and lonely ones at that), comedy is badly written, rape is romance, Mary Sue's are rampant, and/or angst abides. Artists are either @) struggling young college kids who can't hang and have a fixation on Asian girls, or #) struggling young college kids who can't hang and have an unhealthy fixation on gay men. AMV-ers are pale, stressed and have too much time on their hands. Cosplayers are not human but are often very pretty and prone to staying in character far too long.
You would never guess that most of these writers turn professional, or already are. After years of writing and posting several short stories and a very big, ambiguously gay trilogy, all of which earned her the honor of being a Big Name Fan (she is famous and deserves lots of glomps) in several fandom circles, Cassandra Clare, aka Cassandra Claire (of Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings fame), is now a published and very successful author with a universe and plethora of characters of her own. Which rocks. Hem-hem.
Most of these artists are, or deserve to be, selling their original works on the side, getting into art schools, gaining cult-status, even landing jobs in big companies.
With the way YouTube is going, it is a wonder AMV makers have gone relatively under the radar for so long.
My point, repetitive though it may be, is to embrace your community. Learn from your peers. If you stay, stay--it is a good stress reliever. If you decide to do something else, we are a good test audience.
But most of all, have fun. Do not take this too seriously. Though I learned most of the intimate details of mental breakdowns, sex, and the thought-processes of those in mundane and extreme situations through this medium, nothing beats experience.
You are most likely not making out with Tamaki, Roy Mustang, Severus Snape, Kaye, Buffy, Cabbage Man, or whoever you fantasize about at night; you are most likely not being held under a gag order, spell, or threat of blackmail in a foreign land; Pete is not picking Patrick over you because he hates you; the Kataang and Zutara feud is not going spill into your town and raze your house; you are, most likely, not in unfortunate position of having a child even though you are a man, or figuring out how to fly in a skirt. There is never a reason to take these things so seriously as that. You control the characters. We don't need fans spazzing out on television if another craze hits the cities. Control yourselves.
In the words of Mary Borsellino: "fandom is funny, lighten up...."