Fandom

[amberdreams]

I just watched a documentary about fandom called Fanomenon which looked at women in sci fi fandoms and the history behind it, then followed a woman from (I think) Virginia, who was a huge Stargate Altantis fan. Somewhat predictably, she wrote erotic fanfiction about a Mary Sue character of her own creation having hot sexy times with John Sheppard, but apart from that, they presented her very sympathetically. And fans in general were given a pretty fair presentation - but the best part was right near the end, when Joe Flannigan (and the documentary crew) arranged for a friend she'd made via the internet to come over to join her at DragonCon. Both of the women have been skyping and chatting online for about four years but never thought they'd get to meet in person, and seeing them hug and laugh together (totally ignoring Joe flannigan in their excitement at meeting each other for the first time) - that was awesome.

Reminded me of all the wonderful friends I've made - some of whom I've met, others I've yet to meet...well, you never know, right?

Comments

[sw0rdy.livejournal.com]

Aww, I saw that being advertised and wondered whether it would be really cringey or not. Glad they didn't make us look like complete weirdos - fandom (and fanfiction in particular) seems to be creeping more and more into the mainstream as something to make fun of (bloody 50 Shades of Grey...). I've found that I used to be a little more open about writing being one of my hobbies. Now people have a greater awareness of fanfic, I don't tend to mention it, which is a shame because it's a hobby I LOVE and get a lot of enjoyment from.

As for meeting fans, I have a wonderful friend whom I only know via fandom. She's stayed here in the UK, and me and the hubby have stayed with her in the States in our fancy-free days pre-children. We've also travelled together, discovering Ireland and Barcelona, so I have lots of treasured memories. I remember when she first came over here, it raised eyebrows that I was meeting someone I only knew online - I think now it's probably more acceptable. I also remember that I cried buckets when she went home as it was the first time I'd ever had someone in 'real life' that I could be my true geeky self with.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

There is something very special about fan-friends, it's true.

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

You never know :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

YES! You are in Europe for a year, you have to come over to the UK at least once, right?

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

That's the plan :)

[dolnmoon.livejournal.com]

I would love to watch that.

I have made so many great friends through fandoms, from Buffy to SPN and a few from The Walking Dead.

Meeting some of my fandom friends in rl at cons has been some of the highlights of my fandom experience.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Me too - it is one of the main reasons I keep going back... It made me laugh because these two women were so excited to see each other, Joe Flannigan was standing there watching them squee and hug with this bemused look on his face. Got to say he came across as a really nice guy.

[zara-zee.livejournal.com]

I have to admit...when I went to the US last year for Chicon, I was probably more excited about meeting and spending time with my fandom friends than I was about the Con! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Con and my photo ops...but getting to meet those online friends who you can be (as sw0rdy put it) your true geeky self with...is pretty amazing! :)

[hybridshade.livejournal.com]

I always get a bit apprehensive when books/doco's/etc get made about fandom-driven things, especially when the makers may not understand fannish motivations to the fullest extent... but I'm glad this one sounded a bit more positive!

Personally I've made two friends for life because of fandom (on LJ, no less). I've known them both about 8-9 years, one of them lives local to me and we get dinner/text/tweet etc and we're going overseas together next year. The other is in Europe but lived in Japan for a while so I just kept going back to Japan and bunking in with her, lol. I know them both so well and love them to bits. And now I've got a whole bunch of lovely SPN peeps that I've got to meet, too!

Aah, where would we/I be without fandom? I hate to think... *sweeps everyone into my arms* \o/

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

*Hugs you back* IKR? This whole fandom thing has been a revelation to me. And I was pleasantly surprised at the way this documentary was presented - I thought at the end maybe it had been made by the Fangasm girls, but it wasn't. I didn't see when it was made but I assume it was a few years ago because it was on one of our old repeats channels.

[stripytights.livejournal.com]

Bar small encounters of the fannish kind, the first proper time I met fandom friends was when I threw caution to the winds and flew to Iceland to do so (we all wanted to go, so we impulsively decided to do it together). They were amazing and we had such a fun time. I tend towards being much shyer online than in person so it's harder for me to make fannish friends than everyday ones. Based on that experience though, A++ would definitely do again.

I like the sound of the documentary and I'm so glad they dealt fairly with her. A lot of mainstream takes on fannishness tend to be rather unkind.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yes I was pleasantly surprised at the tone - but it was made by a woman about women so that probably helped. Talking to all of my online friends, I'd say 90% of us are people who would be classed as introverts - so yay for the internet that has allowed us introverts to make such good friends and be sociable!

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

Ah, that would be amazing. I will get to England one day.

LOL, not to the documentary, but to the SPN retrospective (which I finally got to see) and the clips of the young women watching the season 9 finale and getting quite hysterical. I feel like that is how they see fandom and it doesn't represent me or most of my fandom friends at all.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I know, that young demographic exists, obviously, but one point this documentary made very well without labouring the point was that 85% of the women sci fi fans are middle aged, and from all walks of life.

And yes! You must come to England! We have a guest room... :D

[kalliel]

Awwww.... <33333