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

[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!