Wonderful World of Academia: halp, I'm academically drowning!

[gelbes_gilatier]

Anyone remember my last post on my September academic exploits? Well. I'm done with the essay on soldier narratives and authenticity (if anyone wants to read it, it's five pages jabbering about authenticity and books written by soldiers in German) and the book review on Mary Roach's Packing for Mars (if anyone wants to read it, it's more or less

Comments

[diek09]

Funny. I'd never thought about how I perceive myself as a fan, so I might well think about it now to answer your questions

[gelbes_gilatier]

in the sense they take previous ideas and modify them to fit with the script

Exactly! Also, there actually is a literary theory saying that the notion that there is an infinite supply of ever original stories is crap and that there's actually only a limited supply of stories you can tell, in number of variations (I recently had a guy studying German literature try to tell me otherwise and that it's possible to write something completely new and original and honestly, I think he's got no idea what he was talking about *rolls eyes).

fandom is there to create a space where you can free your ideas and even share your darkest fears, it feels like a warm place to be around

I love that! I'm also amazed at how the basic definition of a fan (I took the one from Merriam-Webster) makes it clear that being a fan is supposed to be something passive and that fans basically are simply consumers and that fans would never define themselves that way. It seems very much to me like fans would actually define themselves the opposite of a passive

[hanseatic_keks]

Can't tell much about myself as a fan, I'm very passive (only reading/watching). As for my perception of things, yes, they're definitely colored by things I'm a fan of. I grew up with Stargate: a nerdy archaelogist (who still got the girl on every planet), an alien, a snarky USAF colonel and a strong female USAF captain/major/colonel. I love love love that show. I don't think I have to tell you much about it ;-)
Ah, experiencing fandom. Oh my. I love to read fanfiction and watch pretty pictures on tumblr. But I just hate all the hate that goes through fandom. I mean, some people are bitch fighting over a fictional character like it's the end of the world. (and then they're doing it anonymously, cowards) - but then, I'm a bit like Sansa Stark, I just want the world to be nice and beautiful.
Maybe that's why I also detach myself from fandom from time to time. I may keep reading, but I stay away from everything else (mostly tumblr, that can be a very nasty den of hate)

[spandexmonkey27]

I'm a pretty passive fan. I will read fanfiction all day long, and I'll look at all the pretty pictures and videos, but I always struggle to actually create my own fanfics