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Fandom Snowflake
Day 14: In your own space, talk about what you think the future holds for fandom.
Where is fandom going? I don't know. I know where it's been though, for me anyhow. The Tolkien slash corner when I wandered in was like a spiderweb of interconnected circles, first on Yahoo Groups and then on LiveJournal. We didn't all talk to each other and hang out, but we knew of each other and there was a general sense of belonging.There were fights, some really ugly, there were BNFs who could be difficult, but there was always an underlying love for the elves and men we wrote and read about and concern for one another. I tended to keep my personal life to myself, but when my MiL passed, when my much-loved dog died, when I was diagnosed with cancer, I shared these things and all the support and love and kindness that came back to me were incredibly precious.
That community has more or less fallen apart now, people move on, get busy, have more responsibilities in life. People who came in via the movies weren't always drawn to the Silm when it moved to the centre of Tolkien fandom, the days of 'write the story, don't worry too much about canon' gave way to a bigger focus on 'scholarship', which felt elitist to a lot of writers who honestly were just there for the elves and knew a bit of background but didn't have any urge to study HoMe, they just wanted to tell stories (often about characters no one writes about now). I miss those days and those people and that attitude -- fun and love and a bit naughty and under the radar and there for each other. Many of us were the type of friends who exchanged Christmas cards and birthday greetings (and sometimes gifts). Those friends I still have are doubly dear to me now.
I might find something similar one day in the right Discord, but really to me Discord is just like a Yahoo Messenger group chat that goes on and on and on and I only know some of the people and very often the topic doesn't talk to me... I am not an early first age person as a rule, except for Gondolin. Posting - I know this is a general fandom malaise, but we got comments back then. Lots of them. Even on very average fics. I never posted anything that didn't get at least a few comments on LJ, and I was not one of the mainstream writers (did not write E/G back then, nor twincest or Legolas, both very popular). There was never that sense of writing into a void and there was always someone to measure yourself against, someone to look up to, someone to encourage.
So that's some fandom history. Where is it going? I don't know. I don't think we'll have the answer this time next year either. Fandom isn't leaving Tumblr yet, though it will eventually. They only left LJ when there was a sure landing on Tumblr. There's a new generation over there that doesn't know anything else, but there are many of us who've been around for a while and know it can be better. Pillowfort showed promise but they got the spotlight trained on them way too soon and I think were found wanting --- it's a shame, because they have threaded comments, likes, reblogging, all in the same place, but so clunky and awkward at this stage that it's not a pleasure to go play there (and no easily altered themes, oh come on people, even Tumblr knows that matters!). So, it's not the answer yet. Twitter? Oh dear god, I hate Twitter! What I'd love to see is something as user-friendly as LiveJournal, with the threaded comments and image hosting, plus reblogging. I still host images on LJ when I'm in a rush and when I make a post that needs complicated formatting, I go over there and write it, then copy/paste. Why? Because it's a smoother ride. Sorry Dreamwidth, still some distance to go.
Fandom will go on, because as long as there are tales that have gaps that ask questions like 'what then?' and 'why?', people will fill those gaps as we have since time out of mind. The shape that will take further down the road -- who knows? Whatever happens, I hope we don't fragment too far because one day we'll lose touch so completely that the only place we'll occasionally connect will be in the comment threads on AO3. And that would be so sad because fandom is about the writers and artists and the magic they create and the way imagination sparks from one to the other. This is our sandpit, we need to treasure it.
(okay, that was depressing af but I needed to get it off my chest)
Where is fandom going? I don't know. I know where it's been though, for me anyhow. The Tolkien slash corner when I wandered in was like a spiderweb of interconnected circles, first on Yahoo Groups and then on LiveJournal. We didn't all talk to each other and hang out, but we knew of each other and there was a general sense of belonging.There were fights, some really ugly, there were BNFs who could be difficult, but there was always an underlying love for the elves and men we wrote and read about and concern for one another. I tended to keep my personal life to myself, but when my MiL passed, when my much-loved dog died, when I was diagnosed with cancer, I shared these things and all the support and love and kindness that came back to me were incredibly precious.
That community has more or less fallen apart now, people move on, get busy, have more responsibilities in life. People who came in via the movies weren't always drawn to the Silm when it moved to the centre of Tolkien fandom, the days of 'write the story, don't worry too much about canon' gave way to a bigger focus on 'scholarship', which felt elitist to a lot of writers who honestly were just there for the elves and knew a bit of background but didn't have any urge to study HoMe, they just wanted to tell stories (often about characters no one writes about now). I miss those days and those people and that attitude -- fun and love and a bit naughty and under the radar and there for each other. Many of us were the type of friends who exchanged Christmas cards and birthday greetings (and sometimes gifts). Those friends I still have are doubly dear to me now.
I might find something similar one day in the right Discord, but really to me Discord is just like a Yahoo Messenger group chat that goes on and on and on and I only know some of the people and very often the topic doesn't talk to me... I am not an early first age person as a rule, except for Gondolin. Posting - I know this is a general fandom malaise, but we got comments back then. Lots of them. Even on very average fics. I never posted anything that didn't get at least a few comments on LJ, and I was not one of the mainstream writers (did not write E/G back then, nor twincest or Legolas, both very popular). There was never that sense of writing into a void and there was always someone to measure yourself against, someone to look up to, someone to encourage.
So that's some fandom history. Where is it going? I don't know. I don't think we'll have the answer this time next year either. Fandom isn't leaving Tumblr yet, though it will eventually. They only left LJ when there was a sure landing on Tumblr. There's a new generation over there that doesn't know anything else, but there are many of us who've been around for a while and know it can be better. Pillowfort showed promise but they got the spotlight trained on them way too soon and I think were found wanting --- it's a shame, because they have threaded comments, likes, reblogging, all in the same place, but so clunky and awkward at this stage that it's not a pleasure to go play there (and no easily altered themes, oh come on people, even Tumblr knows that matters!). So, it's not the answer yet. Twitter? Oh dear god, I hate Twitter! What I'd love to see is something as user-friendly as LiveJournal, with the threaded comments and image hosting, plus reblogging. I still host images on LJ when I'm in a rush and when I make a post that needs complicated formatting, I go over there and write it, then copy/paste. Why? Because it's a smoother ride. Sorry Dreamwidth, still some distance to go.
Fandom will go on, because as long as there are tales that have gaps that ask questions like 'what then?' and 'why?', people will fill those gaps as we have since time out of mind. The shape that will take further down the road -- who knows? Whatever happens, I hope we don't fragment too far because one day we'll lose touch so completely that the only place we'll occasionally connect will be in the comment threads on AO3. And that would be so sad because fandom is about the writers and artists and the magic they create and the way imagination sparks from one to the other. This is our sandpit, we need to treasure it.
(okay, that was depressing af but I needed to get it off my chest)
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This is partly why I liked Innumerable Stars so much; there was a really nice mix of fic and art across the LOTR, Silm, and movie sub-fandoms.
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Fandom ‘splitting’ is sad, and I still believe, from my own reading experience I’ve the years, that if a writer knows the Legendarium (not necessarily as a scholar, but familiar with the Silm, *and* LOTR *and* the Hobbit) their fanfic is so much better; you can sense the broader history behind everything they write.
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I was so happy we got a nice mix for TRSB too. Hope it's the case this year as well; I know there were some teething problems with the event, but some great art and fics came out of it.
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It is a shame. And in fairness I haven't been brilliant, I was busy over the holidays like most people, so there are plenty of fics I need to go back and read.
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Yuletide. We forgot about Yuletide. It sucks people in for weeks. That might be at least part of the problem with the timing of Secret Santa.
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Oh gosh, yes, Yuletide. I didn't do it this year because there were other events I wanted to take part in, and because I am so stubbornly monofandom - although I did see requests floating about for stories based on Tolkien's lesser known works, so I might go that route next year.
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Wish I knew where Amazon would go with the series (rather than the rumours doing the rounds). Then I'd know whether or not to get excited.
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I know what you mean. I think a lot of people use fanfic as "practice" for original fic, though, which isn't how I approach it at all.
I do write certain characters or scenarios or formats as a challenge to myself, sometimes, but I won't publish anything I'm not pleased with.
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