Random fandom thoughts

[mayfly_78]

I have been buying paper and making cute little stamps. More about that when I have photos.

So, yes, some fandomy and fanfictiony thoughts...

[By clicking on this link I solemnly swear I will not get offended and I will not create wank nor will I be nasty or aggressive in any way.]Thing is, I love my little corner of fandom. The people are all so lovely and friendly and I just want to squish you all. I hear of trolls and flaming and shipping wars and bitchy BNFs and stuff, but I

Comments

[kayoko]

It's merely one person's take on fandom and it's certainly sounds negative. I believe that it's possible to participate in fandom and have a life outside of fandom. People come and go for that very reason.

[mayfly_78]

That's what I like to think to. That fandom is full of all sorts and that many fandomers have exciting lives outside too. It just gets me down when one of our own perpetuates the myths, however well meaning I am sure she was.

[mayfly_78]

Yeah, fandom is supposed to be a fun thing on the side.

My whole rant came from the fact I took issue with the fact she chose to describe the lives of three of the imaginary fandomers in her fic, and not one of them was portrayed as a person with a fulfilling life outside fandom who enjoyed fandom just because.

[ashindk]

Sometimes everything is magnified through writing, including people's issues and backstories. I think most of us have lives (sometimes boring, normal ones, like mine) outside of fandom. To me, writing and sharing fics is a creative outlet. I need one and right now, it's writing. In the past it's been sewing, knitting and other crafts. Noone IRL except for my husband knows I write fics. They know I write, but they think it's original work.

[mayfly_78]

Well that was my issue: the people she was showing as representatives of fandom where just the cliches everyone thinks about. Would it have killed her to make one of them happy with their lives and just in fandom because they wanted a fun, sociable, creative outlet?

And what with it in general being a very good and insightful fic and it getting so much love, it started making me worry that she was right, and those people WERE representative of fandom.

[tryslora]

I think that a lot of time when folks need to pick out a character to represent something, they do go for the recognizable stereotype, even when that stereotype may be only a slim representation in the first place. Because people recognize it, they latch onto it, and they believe it quickly without a lot of work. Also because they expect it. But it doesn't mean it's true... it usually just means the other folk that haven't been represented are quieter. There are so many people in fandom, and they encompass all kinds.

[mayfly_78]

I like to think that fandomers are varied and come in all shapes and sizes. But why would a fandomer, writing for other fandomers feel the need to use such blatant stereotypes?

But since I was the only one upset by it, I think it's just a case of me being over-sensitive.

[snorkackcatcher]

Right, I consider that a deadly insult! *defriends*

:D

You're clearly not a loser, and I don't think fandom has any chance of turning you into one -- how people behave in fandom tends to be mostly how they'd behave otherwise, I suspect. Your confidence has clearly taken a hit, but (I repeat) feeling miserable and down is just a natural normal reaction to the life-being-pretty-shit-at-the-moment thing. If fandom activity cheers you up, go for it. People join in and drop out all the time depending on what else they've got going on, and there's a lot more to you than some negative cliché of a fandomer in a fic. (That's one of the things I like about you. And I think of you as a friend, although I'm rubbish at being a friend, I'm afraid

[mayfly_78]

*hugs you back* Thank you for the pick me up.

Where is the rest of the fandom anyway? I came into it late and after browsing the archives for a while - which was lonely business - I got straight into LJ.