Fannish migration and pimping...

[fajrdrako]

catalenamara's interesting post on fandoms today made me want to answer her questions in a post of my own. I'd love to hear and see other people's answers, too.

On writing this, and thinking about it, it clarified a little of what fandom is for me. It's falling in love with a book, show, or movie, and then finding other people to share my enthusiasm with. The enthusiasm was there from the beginning; the fandom was a bonus. In some cases, before the Net, I was a fandom of one. It's more fun when you've hundreds of people to share you passion - especially when it comes to slash fandoms - but that isn't the impetus.

Have you ever followed friends/favorite authors into a fandom without ever having seen/read the source material?

No, of course not. I can't even imagine wanting to. I have watched shows on the recommendations of my friends. Sometimes it takes - Professionals, Horatio Hornblower, Doctor Who. Usually it doesn't - all the other shows out there.

But I'm not sure what the question means: I'm not sure how to divorce a fandom from its show. I've never 'been a fan' of something I didn't watch or read. I suppose there are gradations of this - I call myself an X-Men fan, though I don't think the movies live up to the quality of the comics. But this doesn't mean I don't watch the movies, it just means they aren't what made me a fan.

Have you ever really enjoyed the source material, read the work of specific authors into a fandom, and yet have no interest in the fandom as a whole?

Uh... no. Not really. I have trouble even getting my head around the question. Have I ever... read only one author in a fandom? No. I suppose I only read Harry Potter when I'm betaing for friends, or when something has been brought to my attention, but that has nothing much to do with the fandom. It isn't my fandom and I don't consider myself in it even if I dabble - and there are are all sorts of reasong for dabbling, from curiosity to affection for a certain character or pairing, or even, in some cases, I suppose, horrified and incredulous fascination. Don't usually spent time on that last, though.
For instance, calatenamara mentions: Digression: if you want a truly kickass WONDERFUL crossover, here’s an awesome Supernatural/Harry Potter crossover: Old Country by Astolat. I'm sure it's wonderful and I might like it if I read it, but the idea of it gives me the shudders: you'd have to bribe me or torture me to get me to read it. (It might be possible to pique my curiosity, but I can't think how.)

Q. Have you ever been strenuously pimped by your friends into another fandom and immediately fell in love with the source material.

Yes, several times. The Professionals and Doctor Who being cases in point. Though I suppose it depends on your definition of "immediately". I've never become hooked on a fandom on only one viewing of something. It took three or four episodes of two series of Doctor Who to do it. Probably about the same for Pros.

Books, I fall for harder and faster and longer: Halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring I was doomed - it happened in Bree, of course, with the introduction of Strider. Three pages into The Game of Kings, when the pig got drunk. But these, I found on my own, though my father had vaguely recommended The Lord of the Rings to me as something he thought I'd like, though he hadn't read it himself, and a less fannish man I' can't imagine.

Have you ever gotten into a TV show/movie before your friends and busily pimped the source material to them in the hopes that a fandom would ensue?

I like to think I don't pimp. Ever. Some say I do. But, yes. Dunnett novels, for example. Stingray.

Q. Have you ever gotten into a TV show/movie and tried to pimp it to your friends only to find out that they’d just gotten into it as well and were about to pimp right back?

No. Can't think of any case where that's happened.

No, wait a minute. On my first meeting Guy Gavriel Kay, in the course of our conversation, he asked me if I'd ever heard of Dorothy Dunnett. I was speechless for a second. He proceeded to recommend the books to me. I recovered and explained and a delightful conversation ensued. And then, of course, we re-encountered each other in various ways in the course of burgeoning Dunnett fandom.

Q: Have you ever been part of a mass migration into another fandom?

No. On the whole, I am late to find fandoms, and slow to evolve from one to the next. When I do switch, it tends to be self-directed and in a totally unpredictable direction. (Doctor Who? I'd have bet good money I'd never be into that one. Not in a million years. Hah!)

What I have found generally is that, rather than follow friends to another fandom, when I move from one fandom to another I get a whole new set of friends that is almost entirely different. And though I remain friends with those in previous fandoms, and these people mean a lot fo me (tip of the hat here to msmoat and acampbell), we tend to be in touch much less. There is overlap - especially if I factor in slash friends from the early K/S days - but not as much as you might expect. In some ways, fandom is a small world. In other ways, it's a big one.

Comments

Re: Fannish psychology, part 1

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"Smallville" is an even better example.

I was there for the Clex. But that isn't why I left the fandom - it was mostly because I found Lois Lane so annoying I didn't want to watch her. Or Jimmy Olsen. So I stopped watching; there was no payoff any more.

it was so good and so had much farther to fall than some other shows.

So true! X-Files later episodes probably weren't so bad, compared to other things on television. But we knew what it had been, and the contrast was painful.

in almost every case, there are still a few gems among the mud of bad seasons

So true!

There was one entire season of "Smallvile" which could be tossed, except for a 10 minute exchange between Clark and Lex, that I wouldn't have missed for the world.

Oh, really? Should I look for it? Which episode?

I never have seen Firefly - I really should.

Don't force yourself - ! I think when and if you do get around to it, you'll find it clever and witty and tightly written and well characterized, but not everyone likes it. To me it was the characterization that made it: I've never seen a show in which I liked all the women - who were distinct, funny, and interesting.

Re: Fannish psychology, part 1

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>it was mostly because I found Lois Lane so annoying I didn't want to watch her.

It's funny, by the time they started really focusing on Lois I was so sick of Lana that Lois was almost a welcome change. Almost. Lois Lane has always been a PITA; this one is no exception, but she's less annoying than Terry Hatcher or many of her comic book appearances.

BTW, I went to a comic book shop for the first time in many years yesterday to pick up the Spiderman comic with the Obama cover, and while there I couldn't resist getting a Batman and a Justice League, plus a Dr. Who. I hope this is not a slippery slope...! :-)

>>>Oh, really? Should I look for it? Which episode?

I don't remember the name of the episode, but it's the one where Lex invites Clark to his wedding to Lana. He does a "just so you know what you're missing" moment, but the way Rosenbaum plays it, it felt like what Clark would be missing would be *Lex*, not Lana.

I definitely will get around to watching Firefly one of these days, probably when everything goes into rerun again.

Re: Fannish psychology, part 1

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

by the time they started really focusing on Lois I was so sick of Lana that Lois was almost a welcome change.

I thought that the first time we met her. Then I got so annoyed by Lois, that Lana looked almost acceptable in comparison. Which was when I gave up.

I couldn't resist getting a Batman and a Justice League, plus a Dr. Who. I hope this is not a slippery slope...! :-)

Bwahahahaha.

the way Rosenbaum plays it, it felt like what Clark would be missing would be *Lex*, not Lana.

Even the idea of that is sexy!