Fandom of One
I've come to believe that I'm very much a fandom of one. That in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't always mean it's a good thing, either.
We all come to shows for a reason and that reason is unique to each person. I got hooked on Smallville for the Kents and the mythos. I started watching Stargate for Daniel, mythology, and the team. I got hooked on X-Files because of the unsolved mysteries feel to it. Luke Skywalker dragged me into Star Wars. But for other people they might find Lex Luthor fascinating. Or maybe Teal'c. Or maybe Han Solo. It all depends.
Naturally, we seek out people who like what we like. Daniel fans search out Daniel fans. Clana fans seek out Clana fans. Skinner fans look for other Skinner fans. Shippers fall into shipper groups and slashers fall into slasher groups. Gen people seek gen people. It's not diferent than the real world where like seeks like.
But there is a downside. Cliques form. Groups become posessive and develop superiority complexes. Doesn't matter who you like. It's inevitable. You either fit or you don't.
And this is where I fall into trouble. I don't consider myself a shipper, so I don't fit into the shipper groups. I don't consider myself a slasher, so I don't fall into slasher groups. I tend toward gen, but even gen is segmented and fractured, as well as being heavily ignored and dismissed as not as good as ship or slash.
For example, in SG-1, I dabble into Sam/Daniel, but I don't really fit in with Sam/Daniel fans. I dabble into Sam/Teal'c, but I don't really fit there. Heck, I dabble in just about every pairing except for a couple, but I don't fit into any of them. I'm just the outsider that comes by every so often and contributes, but because I don't fully embrace the group mentalities, I don't ever really fit in there.
As a gen person, I tend to get sidelined. I don't buy into a lot of the slash standards. And my views of friendship between characters seem to differ a lot more than the standard norm.
I'm stretched over various places without ever feeling like I've come home.
There's nothing wrong with being unique. I like my views. I like how I read the show. And I don't expect everyone to read it the same way. And I honestly do enjoy knowing so many people that view the show differently than me. It's refreshing. It challenges me. And it keeps me on my toes. None of us should have to feel like we have to conform just for the sake of feeling like we belong. Ugh, no. But it can sure get lonely when you realize that you can't really be pegged into any one place in a fandom. In those moments, I tend to feel very much like Cameron with it just being SG-me.
We all come to shows for a reason and that reason is unique to each person. I got hooked on Smallville for the Kents and the mythos. I started watching Stargate for Daniel, mythology, and the team. I got hooked on X-Files because of the unsolved mysteries feel to it. Luke Skywalker dragged me into Star Wars. But for other people they might find Lex Luthor fascinating. Or maybe Teal'c. Or maybe Han Solo. It all depends.
Naturally, we seek out people who like what we like. Daniel fans search out Daniel fans. Clana fans seek out Clana fans. Skinner fans look for other Skinner fans. Shippers fall into shipper groups and slashers fall into slasher groups. Gen people seek gen people. It's not diferent than the real world where like seeks like.
But there is a downside. Cliques form. Groups become posessive and develop superiority complexes. Doesn't matter who you like. It's inevitable. You either fit or you don't.
And this is where I fall into trouble. I don't consider myself a shipper, so I don't fit into the shipper groups. I don't consider myself a slasher, so I don't fall into slasher groups. I tend toward gen, but even gen is segmented and fractured, as well as being heavily ignored and dismissed as not as good as ship or slash.
For example, in SG-1, I dabble into Sam/Daniel, but I don't really fit in with Sam/Daniel fans. I dabble into Sam/Teal'c, but I don't really fit there. Heck, I dabble in just about every pairing except for a couple, but I don't fit into any of them. I'm just the outsider that comes by every so often and contributes, but because I don't fully embrace the group mentalities, I don't ever really fit in there.
As a gen person, I tend to get sidelined. I don't buy into a lot of the slash standards. And my views of friendship between characters seem to differ a lot more than the standard norm.
I'm stretched over various places without ever feeling like I've come home.
There's nothing wrong with being unique. I like my views. I like how I read the show. And I don't expect everyone to read it the same way. And I honestly do enjoy knowing so many people that view the show differently than me. It's refreshing. It challenges me. And it keeps me on my toes. None of us should have to feel like we have to conform just for the sake of feeling like we belong. Ugh, no. But it can sure get lonely when you realize that you can't really be pegged into any one place in a fandom. In those moments, I tend to feel very much like Cameron with it just being SG-me.