Dec 3: December Meme

[brightly_lit]

"What other fandoms have you been involved with and what were they like, and are there any that you're considering dipping your toe into?"


SPN is my first proper fandom! The closest I ever came before was quite a small bandom for a semi-obscure musician, but a bandom appears to be a WHOOOLE different animal. I can tell you, it wasn't nearly as friendly a place as this, lots of sniping and fighting and scandal among the fans (and with the musician himself), bleh.

I peeked into Merlin fandom when I thought I was about to get really into that show. I'm seriously considering Teen Wolf fandom, because GAH, that show is so good! (I think you're of a mind, asker alexisjane ...?) But then I worry I won't find the quality of deep, thought-provoking fic as one finds in SPN fandom. Plus, SPN fandom is amazing and special in so many ways, and I love all my buddies here, so I don't want to unbalance all the good stuff I've got going on here with something else--not to mention that the Teen Wolf canon is still comparatively few episodes. What impressed me most about SPN was that it maintained such a high level of quality for so many seasons; I'm not yet ready to give my heart to a show that may not be able to go the distance. But if it keeps being this good ... you never know. ;->


That was such a great question, kind of wasted on me since I have so little experience with other fandoms, so I'd like to ask my f-listies: What other fandoms have you been involved in? Do you find it throws a wrench into your dealings with people from previous fandoms? (I worry, for instance, that my SPN buddies would be unhappy to see Teen Wolf fics start showing up on my lj.) Do you end up transitioning to the new fandom completely, or is it possible to be a big fan of multiple shows at once? Grant me your wisdom, oh friends list ....

Comments

[alexisjane.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, I'm dying to know which musician now...*chinhands*

I have similar reservations about trying other fandoms, I think partly because our little corner of the world is really so lovely and crammed full of friendly, talented people but also as I don't know if I love and respect anything as much as I do spn. If there's an entry exam, I won't make it x

[brightly-lit.livejournal.com]

After saying all that, I daren't say who it was! Especially as he's dead now and I don't want to defile his memory for those who weren't privy to some of the less savory aspects of him, but truly, you probably wouldn't have ever heard of him. (Then again, I've pretty much already told you all my secrets, so if it hurt your heart not to know, I'd probably spill just for you, my dear. :-})

[toratio.livejournal.com]

What is it about bandom? I was in one years ago, and it gets so nasty. Must've been a nice surprise to join the SPN fandom after that!

[brightly-lit.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think it's because everyone's always vying to sleep with the band members; rock stars have this mystique that for some reason doesn't carry over to t.v. stars. Bleh. :-p

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

Well, I've been involved in online fandom in one way or another for about 13 years, mostly under this username. The first fandom I was actively into, as opposed to just reading fic and lurking, was for a not-very-well-known (but very good!) manga series called Petshop of Horrors, and that was in the early days of LJ fandom. Things were based on ff.net and mailing lists at first, but that soon changed. I'm no longer in touch with anyone I knew there, because I had a series of pretty big life upheavals that led me abandoning a giant WIP, and I was too embarrassed to post anything after that!

My other major fandoms were Watchmen -- which was pretty awesome: small but active, lots of quality fic, little to no wank -- and Sherlock, which also has a lot of quality fic but also seems to have reached Critical Wank Mass some months ago. I've been peripherally involved in quite a lot of other fandoms, in that I might've written one or two fics, but I didn't really get to know people. There are some people I still follow or talk to from previous fandoms, but not a huge number. Honestly, I think the LJ-to-Tumblr/AO3 shift has a lot to answer for on that front, because those platforms are less conducive to actually getting to know people outside of fandom. I'm definitely more likely to talk to people from previous fandoms if they still interact on LJ than if they've completely moved over to Tumblr. And of course, canons end and people drift away and fandoms die. *sniff*

Sherlock's the only fandom I've ever made a conscious decision to move away from, for various reasons. That wasn't particularly because I'd got into SPN (though having something new to love definitely made it easier), though -- more a combination of the new series not being to my taste and a feeling that interacting in that environment probably wasn't doing me a lot of good. A couple of other people jumped ship to SPN around the same time, and I chat to them quite a lot. :) That's an exception, though, and I don't tend to leave previous fandoms behind completely -- they may be mostly dead, but I'd be really happy if I ran into new fic or someone who wanted to chat about them. It's perfectly possible to be multifannish, IMO, and it's easier to do that on a platform like LJ where we get to know each other as people rather than an endless stream of gifs. ;)

[brightly-lit.livejournal.com]

Ooh, what a great, satisfying answer!

I really like the idea of a small but active fandom with quality fic and no wank. I do follow a Princess Tutu comm, but that anime is so old now that very little happens in that fandom now, and it was small to begin with.

There are some people I still follow or talk to from previous fandoms, but not a huge number.

That's my fear in terms of becoming part of another fandom--that I would lose my buddies here in SPN fandom. Would you say that's a reasonable fear? It doesn't seem like it should have to be like that, but then I all but never see someone who's a big part of another fandom being a big part of SPN fandom, and non-SPN fics seem to drop like anvils when they appear on an SPN fan's lj.

And of course, canons end and people drift away and fandoms die. *sniff*

Wah. :-( I already dread that moment for SPN fandom, far away though it hopefully remains.

Yeah ... I've seen some wank surrounding Sherlock fandom, and I can see why you'd want to leave that behind. There's just never been a show that impressed me so much for as LONG as SPN did. There are shows that have a great couple of seasons, but that they were able to sustain it on SPN says there's something really special at the core of it, which seems to be reflected in the fandom.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me!!

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

That's my fear in terms of becoming part of another fandom--that I would lose my buddies here in SPN fandom. Would you say that's a reasonable fear?

I think it all comes down to how you handle it, really! As long as you continue to also chat with them about SPN stuff, or make an effort to comment on other people's personal/non-fandom posts if you find that you no longer want to discuss SPN, then I don't see why that should happen.

That's kind of a separate issue from finding an audience for fic for another fandom really, though. I think most of us read fanfic because we're invested in particular characters or a particular world, and (as I'm sure you're well aware) the nature of the beast is that fanfic rewards familiarity with the source canon, finding the intersections and connections and changes that the author makes. So it seems like a slightly different thing to, for example, posting original fic for your fandom friends to read. So you might find that you need to look elsewhere for an audience for other-fandom fics -- maybe join some LJ communities dedicated to them, or (because my impression is that Teen Wolf is more of a new school fandom?) use Tumblr or AO3 to pimp your fic. But I don't think there's any reason you can't interact in more than one fandom at a time! There are probably going to be slightly different platforms and groups of people that you talk with about each one, but as long as your friends know you still want to talk to them, then I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to talk to you. Because, you know, you're pretty awesome. ;)

I already dread that moment for SPN fandom, far away though it hopefully remains.

Indeed! :( I expect you're right, though -- it's a long way off. I mean, they may not be what they were in their heyday, but Buffy and Harry Potter still have active fandoms! I can't see why SPN should be any different.

[brightly-lit.livejournal.com]

Ah, quite sensible all around, and I agree completely. I guess the trick in that case would be finding the time and energy to maintain two significant presences in two separate fandoms; keeping up with just the one can be quite time-consuming. But ARGHH, I'll never give in to going over to Tumblr! But yeah, AO3 does tend to attract a whole other contingent of readers.

And aww, you're so cute. <3 <3

This has cast off a lot of uncertainty and doubt for me. Thanks, dearie!

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

I think the SPN fandom has probably spoiled a lot of us for future/further fandom exploration, gotta say. Having said that, I was a member of the BtVS and AtS fandoms, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Harry Potter.

A lot of my fandom leanings have been intense and blazed for a little while then I've faded back into the distance, maybe because I'm actually quite shy and finding a new place to hang your hat is always daunting but also I think I lurked for so long in the SPN fandom, reading and enjoying the talent here, that when I came out of hiding last year I came out like a bullet out of a gun and I can't see me calling anywhere else home.

I've been knocking around on lj for a while, didn't get active on here til I was 15 though, since then I've never looked back :)

It wasn't a wasted question hun, I really enjoyed your answer *hugs*

as for the worrying about other fics popping up on the flist feed, I think of it like this, as I've been writing for one fandom or another for nearly 15 years...cumulatively I think I've written about four books...That can't ever be bad, lol!

[brightly-lit.livejournal.com]

You only came out of hiding last YEAR?? I only joined SPN fandom last year, myself, but I got the impression you had been a big part of this fandom for years!

Glad you enjoyed my answer. :-) As I enjoyed yours!

It's true that that can't ever be bad! I continually marvel at the sheer volume of work this fandom creates.

Thanks for your thoughts, dear. :-)