Day 12
In your own space, talk about what you think the future holds for fandom. What are your hopes and dreams for fandom? Do you have any predictions about what the next five years holds for fandom? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.Fandom, in and of itself, is a strange beast, one that I knew nothing at all about until I was in my late 30s. I grew up and still live in a rural area. I was born before VCR’s and am old enough to have seen Star Trek all the way through when it originally aired. The only Batman I knew was Adam West and I still tend to love him the most.
I didn’t know that there was such a thing as fandom until we got the internet in the late 90’s. My daughter loved the musical CATS and we both got into that. I admit that was more like groupies than fans though so I count Babylon 5 and LOTR my first fandoms. It was only after I began writing fanfiction that I learned that there had been fanzines and conventions even in the 60s. I began writing Real Person fiction and stayed with it for quite awhile. I am quite good at the steamy slash PWP.
In April 2002, I began LOTR Adult Fiction at Yahoo because I got tired of all the sniping and infighting over RP fic/character fic and I made a place that was conducive to both and gen, het and slash as well. It finally became
Of Elves and Men.
I am still only involved in fandom online. I do not travel to cons and I have no interest in cosplay or anything of that nature. Fandom to me is friendship and a passion for the object of fandom. And writing. Always writing. But even that has changed. Fandom is moving away from journals and blogs to archives and places like Tumblr and I admit that I can’t make heads or tails of it. I see much of the personal going away and the friendships not happening like they did before.
I don’t see the writers being shut down though not for lack of trying on the part of TPTB. I don’t know what venue will be the next one because even though we operate in the open, we are all still a little hesitant sometimes about being outed as fanfiction writers. We are usually maligned as lonely, pitiful losers who have nothing else to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Fanficcers are more diverse than most groups and that’s what makes us so much fun. We are young, old, rich, poor, female, male, all nationalities, all races…on and on.
Some shows and movies give credit to their fans. Supernatural often does that, even having the boys read fanfiction sometimes. I find that endearing. On the other hand, the creators of BBC Sherlock seem to have decided to insult their fans with their very stereotypical loser ‘fans’ on the show. We have become ‘the fourth wall’ in some shows on tv. The sheer number of conventions shows that the writers and the actors are beginning to understand that fandom is a force to deal with.
Where is fandom going? I don’t know that answer. I hope that it endures in a form in which I am able to participate. I think the whole experience is life enriching in many ways… it gives us all another place to belong and for the most part, a very friendly one.
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