the_wanlorn | The golden apples of the sun.

We start something, we join something. It's not popular, it's not at all trendy and cool, and that's okay; that's the point. It's something that us Outsiders enjoy, somewhere that the Cool Kids don't go, a place for us to be as weird as we fucking want and not have to suffer the jeers and giggles of the mainstream population.

(Oh my gods, could I be any more cliche and corny? Someone shut me up please!)

Anyway, fandom was a place that we could all have a riproaring good time. Our little oddities were overlooked in favor of being fucking awesome with everybody else. But now the media is starting to pick up on fandom, and there are articles in the paper and 30-second segments on the news.

musesfool talks about this, how fandom is going the way that 'alternative' music did. She explains it all gloriously, making me

One of the problems that she doesn't talk about is courtesy. Fandom is its own little society, with rules and conventions and different standards for proper behavior (being drunk all the time is okay, but please don't pee in my potted plants). When a n00b comes in, s/he is usually quick to learn What Is Expected Of Her/Him. Fandom as a whole acts as a mentor for the little waif (a House-like mentor, but a mentor none the less). They learn quickly that it's not okay to repost others' work, but non-fandom people don't because there's no one regulating them, as

iamsab points out. (And that's another thing. As much as I love YouTube, augh! There needs to be some sort of... something! That prevents a video from being posted more than once or something.)

But these interlopers aren't necessarily looking to learn the culture of fandom. They just want to partake in the shiny and perhaps mold it to fit their whims and desires. Some of it isn't their fault, to be sure. There's no rulebook; you go along until you do something wrong, people pile on you and you learn. The Cool Kids have never really had to do this, so they don't understand how it works.

And so, fandom will change. Non-fans will trickle in and start to take over, as they do. Perhaps the only way we can prevent our world from taking a dramatic shift, is to set out some guidelines, and point the interlopers to them.

penknife has the right idea with her post about non-fans and fanfic.

As

elke_tanzer says, within fandom it's all for one, one for all. But that stops being true once outsiders sneak past the security cameras and tripwires.

All of the above is really discussing fandom as a community. But there are people who don't view fandoms as a community.

On a bit of a different angle, there's

vee_fic, saying that fandom is not a community and musing on what the next evolutionary stage will be.

I'm stick of talking. Everyone become telepathic, now.

=|=|=|=

Hey, remember back when Cameron was hot? Yeah, me too.

01. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
02. Whats your philosophy on life?
03. Would you have my back in a fight?
04. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
05. What is your favorite memory of us?
06. Would you give me a kidney?
07. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
08. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
09. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if I asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?
BONUS QUESTION: What should my next journal entry be about? A story, an idea, a day in the life, whatever. I might even fulfill your request if you're lucky!