smallhobbit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smallhobbit) wrote2013-09-03 07:31 pm
smallhobbit) wrote2013-09-03 07:31 pm
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Thirty Days Meme: Day 10 - Fandoms
One of the things Drayce suggested when I was looking for prompts was "how I got into fandom". That's easy. When my father died, a few years ago, I stayed with my mother for nearly a week to sort out all the practical arrangements, as well as provide some support for her. Dad had been ill for some months, and by the end he had no idea where he was - at one point he was convinced he was in Hong Kong, where my mother said he had never been, although he was in the navy during the war and seemed to have sailed round most of the world - so to her his death, whilst sad was also a relief. Since, even in that situation, I needed an escape from my mother for a while, I delved into the Life on Mars fandom (being a fan of John Simm) and let the trivialities of the discussions take my mind off real life for a while.
Once home, and life had returned to normal, I remained with the fandom. I read fics. And then I decided that, as, many years ago, I had done some writing to entertain my colleagues, I would have a go myself. At that point I was considering doing a course that would have involved writing more than work emails and documents and I thought it would be a good idea to do some creative writing. I found that I enjoyed it and that there were people who liked it. So I carried on.
I started to get to know people, both over the internet and then meeting them in RL. My daughter (then a teenager) was concerned, having had it rammed into her head not to meet people who you only knew on the web. I pointed out that if anyone thought they were grooming me they would have a shock. And if you're going to pretent to be someone different, why on earth would you pretend to be a middle-aged woman? I made real friends, some of whom I'm still in contact with.
Slowly I moved over from Life on Mars, and various other projects John Simm had been involved with, into the Sherlock fandom. The advantage of a large fandom is that there are going to be people that share your non-fandom interests. (I'm not going into the disadvantages). I got to know more people, both on the 'net and in person. I go to the theatre with some of them and that's great, because they'll suggest something I hadn't thought about and probably wouldn't go with by myself. I can thoroughly recommend seeing "The Mousetrap" with a group from Sherlock fandom.
And now, apart, from my own small corner of Sherlock fandom, and here I should also add I've also made friends with people whose main interest is the ACD canon, I have added the Lewis fandom. I'm not so heavily involved, but I'm writing more fics, which I'm enjoying.
And that probably sums up fandom for me: it's somewhere I can go to enjoy myself and if, for whatever reason, I'm not enjoying it, I'll take a step back. I have met some great people and I look forward to meeting more, because without you lot the place just wouldn't be the same.
Once home, and life had returned to normal, I remained with the fandom. I read fics. And then I decided that, as, many years ago, I had done some writing to entertain my colleagues, I would have a go myself. At that point I was considering doing a course that would have involved writing more than work emails and documents and I thought it would be a good idea to do some creative writing. I found that I enjoyed it and that there were people who liked it. So I carried on.
I started to get to know people, both over the internet and then meeting them in RL. My daughter (then a teenager) was concerned, having had it rammed into her head not to meet people who you only knew on the web. I pointed out that if anyone thought they were grooming me they would have a shock. And if you're going to pretent to be someone different, why on earth would you pretend to be a middle-aged woman? I made real friends, some of whom I'm still in contact with.
Slowly I moved over from Life on Mars, and various other projects John Simm had been involved with, into the Sherlock fandom. The advantage of a large fandom is that there are going to be people that share your non-fandom interests. (I'm not going into the disadvantages). I got to know more people, both on the 'net and in person. I go to the theatre with some of them and that's great, because they'll suggest something I hadn't thought about and probably wouldn't go with by myself. I can thoroughly recommend seeing "The Mousetrap" with a group from Sherlock fandom.
And now, apart, from my own small corner of Sherlock fandom, and here I should also add I've also made friends with people whose main interest is the ACD canon, I have added the Lewis fandom. I'm not so heavily involved, but I'm writing more fics, which I'm enjoying.
And that probably sums up fandom for me: it's somewhere I can go to enjoy myself and if, for whatever reason, I'm not enjoying it, I'll take a step back. I have met some great people and I look forward to meeting more, because without you lot the place just wouldn't be the same.