Fandom_Love
So the people at the Veronica Mars forum at TWoP are freaks. Just look at what happened over there yesterday.
It all starts when Ostrich suggests sending Kristen Bell flowers or a gift basket. All the interviews say she's really tired, working insanely long days and getting little to no sleep.
healing fish calls this idea smurfy, which sets off a silly debate on whether they're smurfs or marshmallows or Twinkies or candy canes or whatever.
Then
Polter-Cow, at 3:50 PM, suggests an inscribed pillow. It's just a random idea, but they immediately start arguing over what it should say, until
wykbbb hits the jackpot: "A long time ago, you used to get sleep."
In response, Polter-Cow starts filking the rest of the song.
At 4:56 PM, jb88 reveals that she knows how to embroider. And suddenly, the idea has a whole lot more weight. wykbbb thinks the Paley Festival would be a good time to get it to her.
By 6:14 PM, jb88 has already cut the fabric for a throw pillow-sized pillowcase.
Polter-Cow tries to make it all about him by asking about the song lyrics. car1fsu suggests Photoshopping them onto a screencap. Less than an hour later, wykbbb presents this, a preliminary offering.
jb88 wants to know where to put the lettering. Then she switches the color of the pillow and stitching. Which are white and red because Kristen likes the Detroit Red Wings.
wykbbb dubs the entire conversation pillow talk.
Finally, Polter-Cow finishes his bloody filk, "You Used to Get Sleep":
A long time ago, you used to get sleep
But you haven't slept the night lately at all
If tired you get, a pillow we send to you
Short and sweet kind of nap we intend
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Come on now, honey
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember lines when you're good to go
Come on now, sugar
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember your lines
It's something you said, or something we know
Or you brought it up, maybe on a talk show
Now everybody needs some sleep, and everybody knows
It's fine to get rest, and everybody knows that
Come on now, sugar
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember cues when you're good to go
Come on now, honey
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember your cues
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep, yeah
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
A long time ago, you used to get sleep
But you haven't slept the night lately at all
Rest your lovely head, this message we send to you
Short but sweet, it's now come to an end
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
The pillowcase is well under way. Currently, they're discussing making mix CDs and giving the rest of the cast gifts.
healing fish put it best when she said, "This is officially the day the snark died."
The above is clearly a poor imitation of the type of entry you see at Fandom_Wank. F_W represents the worst of fandom and really, humanity in general. It is a testament to the fact that when you get a large group of people together, they will inevitably self-destruct. People are petty and oversensitive and spiteful and bitter and really very horrible creatures.
But I'm not here to rant about F_W. Not really. I'd like to do the converse. Inverse. Proverse. Multiverse. I dropped my logic class.
I don't know that I've been as passionate about a show as I am about Veronica Mars. It was very unexpected, because the show didn't sound like something I would be into, and I didn't really identify with any of the characters. But I fell madly in love with the show anyway. Maybe because I needed something to love. Maybe because I needed something to love that needed my love, unlike Lost, which is loved by many more.
I should be this crazy about Buffy and Angel and Firefly. But I didn't really join Buffy fandom until late in the game, when most people weren't crazy about the show anymore. And I think love, like wank, is self-perpetuating. It's hard to seize passion from a passionless bunch. And before, when it was up to the quality of the show to wow me, I was just me. Just one person. Same went for Angel, pretty much. I didn't contribute to the gift basket following the cancellation news. And I honestly didn't really love Firefly until near the end. I didn't end up actually getting involved in any of the Save Our Show campaigns.
Wonderfalls could have engendered VM-like devotion, I think, had it stayed on the air, injecting new life into the fandom every week. I pestered the DVD Request Lady for that show. I made an infinitesimal contribution to dachelle's Wonderfalls Animal Adoption Project. I paid for about four feathers.
Now I'm writing "Veronica Mars is smarter than me" on all my money, sending doctored $2 bills to various entertainment bigwigs, and filking songs for Kristen Bell.
But I'm not here to write about me. Okay, I am, but that part's over now.
The popularity of Fandom_Wank is not surprising. We love to accentuate the negative. We thrive on scandal. We pay attention to the bad.
And you know what? I don't care why we do it. I just want it to stop.
Because the other side of the coin is glorious. You have fans pitching in to buy the Angel cast and crew a gift basket for five years of hard work. You have dachelle raising over two hundred dollars in the name of Wonderfalls to adopt zoo animals. You have, year after year, giant fan gatherings that raise money for charities. And now you have a pillowcase for wee Kristen Bell, which went from idea to conception in less than four hours. It was very "Hey, let's fly Nilly to America!"
These kinds of things make me feel good about the world. They make me feel like the human race is worth saving, that we're not all just a bunch of assholes out to destroy the Earth.
For my teaching class last week, I led a discussion group on the social context of television. I love how a television show can bring so many different kinds of people together, from all over the world. It connects them whether they know it or not. And I love that when they get together, beautiful things can happen. Dreams can become reality. We are a powerful force, you see. We are resourceful and intelligent and we have far too much time on our hands.
And we are good. That is what I want to say. I wish there were a community dedicated to pointing this out. Highlighting all the great things that can happen when crazy people obsessed with their television shows have a nice idea. Showing that fans, with their passion for television, truly do have big hearts. Proving that fandom isn't all wank.
But I know it wouldn't be very popular, and that makes me sad.
In any case, I'm proud of and happy about our pillow talk yesterday. The whole endeavor made me smile so much my face hurt.
It all starts when Ostrich suggests sending Kristen Bell flowers or a gift basket. All the interviews say she's really tired, working insanely long days and getting little to no sleep.
healing fish calls this idea smurfy, which sets off a silly debate on whether they're smurfs or marshmallows or Twinkies or candy canes or whatever.
Then
Polter-Cow, at 3:50 PM, suggests an inscribed pillow. It's just a random idea, but they immediately start arguing over what it should say, until
wykbbb hits the jackpot: "A long time ago, you used to get sleep."
In response, Polter-Cow starts filking the rest of the song.
At 4:56 PM, jb88 reveals that she knows how to embroider. And suddenly, the idea has a whole lot more weight. wykbbb thinks the Paley Festival would be a good time to get it to her.
By 6:14 PM, jb88 has already cut the fabric for a throw pillow-sized pillowcase.
Polter-Cow tries to make it all about him by asking about the song lyrics. car1fsu suggests Photoshopping them onto a screencap. Less than an hour later, wykbbb presents this, a preliminary offering.
jb88 wants to know where to put the lettering. Then she switches the color of the pillow and stitching. Which are white and red because Kristen likes the Detroit Red Wings.
wykbbb dubs the entire conversation pillow talk.
Finally, Polter-Cow finishes his bloody filk, "You Used to Get Sleep":
A long time ago, you used to get sleep
But you haven't slept the night lately at all
If tired you get, a pillow we send to you
Short and sweet kind of nap we intend
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Come on now, honey
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember lines when you're good to go
Come on now, sugar
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember your lines
It's something you said, or something we know
Or you brought it up, maybe on a talk show
Now everybody needs some sleep, and everybody knows
It's fine to get rest, and everybody knows that
Come on now, sugar
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember cues when you're good to go
Come on now, honey
Take a nap, take a nap, yeah
Just remember your cues
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep, yeah
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
A long time ago, you used to get sleep
But you haven't slept the night lately at all
Rest your lovely head, this message we send to you
Short but sweet, it's now come to an end
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep a long time ago
You used to get sleep
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
Ah ah-ahh-ahh-ahh
The pillowcase is well under way. Currently, they're discussing making mix CDs and giving the rest of the cast gifts.
healing fish put it best when she said, "This is officially the day the snark died."
The above is clearly a poor imitation of the type of entry you see at Fandom_Wank. F_W represents the worst of fandom and really, humanity in general. It is a testament to the fact that when you get a large group of people together, they will inevitably self-destruct. People are petty and oversensitive and spiteful and bitter and really very horrible creatures.
But I'm not here to rant about F_W. Not really. I'd like to do the converse. Inverse. Proverse. Multiverse. I dropped my logic class.
I don't know that I've been as passionate about a show as I am about Veronica Mars. It was very unexpected, because the show didn't sound like something I would be into, and I didn't really identify with any of the characters. But I fell madly in love with the show anyway. Maybe because I needed something to love. Maybe because I needed something to love that needed my love, unlike Lost, which is loved by many more.
I should be this crazy about Buffy and Angel and Firefly. But I didn't really join Buffy fandom until late in the game, when most people weren't crazy about the show anymore. And I think love, like wank, is self-perpetuating. It's hard to seize passion from a passionless bunch. And before, when it was up to the quality of the show to wow me, I was just me. Just one person. Same went for Angel, pretty much. I didn't contribute to the gift basket following the cancellation news. And I honestly didn't really love Firefly until near the end. I didn't end up actually getting involved in any of the Save Our Show campaigns.
Wonderfalls could have engendered VM-like devotion, I think, had it stayed on the air, injecting new life into the fandom every week. I pestered the DVD Request Lady for that show. I made an infinitesimal contribution to dachelle's Wonderfalls Animal Adoption Project. I paid for about four feathers.
Now I'm writing "Veronica Mars is smarter than me" on all my money, sending doctored $2 bills to various entertainment bigwigs, and filking songs for Kristen Bell.
But I'm not here to write about me. Okay, I am, but that part's over now.
The popularity of Fandom_Wank is not surprising. We love to accentuate the negative. We thrive on scandal. We pay attention to the bad.
And you know what? I don't care why we do it. I just want it to stop.
Because the other side of the coin is glorious. You have fans pitching in to buy the Angel cast and crew a gift basket for five years of hard work. You have dachelle raising over two hundred dollars in the name of Wonderfalls to adopt zoo animals. You have, year after year, giant fan gatherings that raise money for charities. And now you have a pillowcase for wee Kristen Bell, which went from idea to conception in less than four hours. It was very "Hey, let's fly Nilly to America!"
These kinds of things make me feel good about the world. They make me feel like the human race is worth saving, that we're not all just a bunch of assholes out to destroy the Earth.
For my teaching class last week, I led a discussion group on the social context of television. I love how a television show can bring so many different kinds of people together, from all over the world. It connects them whether they know it or not. And I love that when they get together, beautiful things can happen. Dreams can become reality. We are a powerful force, you see. We are resourceful and intelligent and we have far too much time on our hands.
And we are good. That is what I want to say. I wish there were a community dedicated to pointing this out. Highlighting all the great things that can happen when crazy people obsessed with their television shows have a nice idea. Showing that fans, with their passion for television, truly do have big hearts. Proving that fandom isn't all wank.
But I know it wouldn't be very popular, and that makes me sad.
In any case, I'm proud of and happy about our pillow talk yesterday. The whole endeavor made me smile so much my face hurt.