thedeadparrot (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thedeadparrot) wrote2008-01-13 03:53 pm
thedeadparrot) wrote2008-01-13 03:53 pm
Entry tags:
Feeling the fandom love
So, I've been reading romance novel review blogs lately (shut up, stop judging me), and while it's totally cool that people enjoy romance novels, it just made me realize how much I love fandom.
See, from what I can tell, romance novels kind of operate in the same sort of id-space that fandom does, especially since, like most of fandom's output, they are primarily written for and by women, but you see, in romance novels there are rules. Like, you have to have a heroine and hero, and they they have to fall in love, and there have to be a certain number of words, and you need to get someone to publish it, etc.
In fandom, though, there are no rules. I love that about fandom. That there are people writing Ron/Squid epics, that there are people who write nothing but drabbles, that there are people writing really bad Mary Sue stories, that we can fanwank John Sheppard's first wife into being Rodney if we want. I love that there are gen writers/readers, there are slash writers/readers, there are het writers/readers, there are people who hate it all except for that one they stumbled on accidentally once that was actually not that bad.
I love that we can kill off the characters that we love, that we hate, that we need to in order to tell our stories. I love that we can explore thousands, millions of possibilities without denting canon. I love that we borrow characters we already know and love, that the emotional connection is already there; we just want more of them and their story. I love that my Foreman may not be your Foreman or![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
queenzulu's Foreman or the show's Foreman, but that he's still a Foreman all the same.
I love that fandom is a conversation, that when I post House/Wilson fic, it might not just be a reaction to House and Wilson being really really gay this week, but it might also a reaction to that one really annoying fic I read last week that totally butchered the characters. I love that most people get this. I love that we can have a wave of zombiefic or crossovers for no particular reason. I love that no one can tell me, stop writing Wilson as a hooker, because seriously, who the hell appointed you the fandom police?
I love that we give these stories to each other for free, without expectations, and that all we get in return is feedback (though we all know that good feedback is worth its weight in gold). I love that we can be as pandering or pretentious as we want to be, because there are no publishers between us and our audience. I love that fandom is all about filtering the wheat from the chaff, because it means that we get to have our wacky BDSM AUs next to our fluffy gen fic.
Dear fandom,
Never stop being really fucking awesome.
Love,
me
See, from what I can tell, romance novels kind of operate in the same sort of id-space that fandom does, especially since, like most of fandom's output, they are primarily written for and by women, but you see, in romance novels there are rules. Like, you have to have a heroine and hero, and they they have to fall in love, and there have to be a certain number of words, and you need to get someone to publish it, etc.
In fandom, though, there are no rules. I love that about fandom. That there are people writing Ron/Squid epics, that there are people who write nothing but drabbles, that there are people writing really bad Mary Sue stories, that we can fanwank John Sheppard's first wife into being Rodney if we want. I love that there are gen writers/readers, there are slash writers/readers, there are het writers/readers, there are people who hate it all except for that one they stumbled on accidentally once that was actually not that bad.
I love that we can kill off the characters that we love, that we hate, that we need to in order to tell our stories. I love that we can explore thousands, millions of possibilities without denting canon. I love that we borrow characters we already know and love, that the emotional connection is already there; we just want more of them and their story. I love that my Foreman may not be your Foreman or
queenzulu's Foreman or the show's Foreman, but that he's still a Foreman all the same.I love that fandom is a conversation, that when I post House/Wilson fic, it might not just be a reaction to House and Wilson being really really gay this week, but it might also a reaction to that one really annoying fic I read last week that totally butchered the characters. I love that most people get this. I love that we can have a wave of zombiefic or crossovers for no particular reason. I love that no one can tell me, stop writing Wilson as a hooker, because seriously, who the hell appointed you the fandom police?
I love that we give these stories to each other for free, without expectations, and that all we get in return is feedback (though we all know that good feedback is worth its weight in gold). I love that we can be as pandering or pretentious as we want to be, because there are no publishers between us and our audience. I love that fandom is all about filtering the wheat from the chaff, because it means that we get to have our wacky BDSM AUs next to our fluffy gen fic.
Dear fandom,
Never stop being really fucking awesome.
Love,
me