The Wanlorn (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_wanlorn) wrote2005-03-10 08:58 pm
the_wanlorn) wrote2005-03-10 08:58 pm
Entry tags:
Thoughts on Fandom
The problem with fandom is that there are three very different types of writers/readers.
You have your purists. These people think that everything should be written as though the original author had written it. Everything must strictly adhere to canon. This produces some very good writing and some very good feedback.
Then there's your typical fangirls. They are the polar opposites of the purists. Canon? What's that? To then, canon isn't important at all. Most of the time, they're using a setting and characters that have the same name and vaguely resemble canon… but really aren't. Characterization is warped, Mary Sues are introduced, netspeak prevails. To be fair, some of them write correctly and use good grammar. The majority, however, are in desperate need of a beta reader. Or a course in basic English.
Those are the two extremes. Together, I'd say they make up about 80%* of fandom - 60%* fangirl, 20%* purist. The remaining 20%* is the happy medium.
The happy mediums are in it for fun. Being the "medium" is the best way to describe them. They respect canon and edit their works for grammar and spelling. They label their fics appropriately. When they write "fangirl" fics, they clearly label them as AU and/or OOC. If they have original characters, they slap on an OC warning. Some of them (::gasp::) even acknowledge that they've written a Mary Sue! They do their damndest to make sure that purists and other mediums know what they're getting into. Mediums are in it for fun and that pretty much sums it up (I could go on for a couple more paragraphs about why mediums are cool, so I'm copping out with that).
For the most part (ie: the majority of the fandom population), everyone exists in a Venn diagram. The purists are the right circle, the fangirls are the left, and the middles are, well, the middle. Purists and fangirls try to avoid each other. The middles traverse back and forth willingly, and both groups visit the middles occasionally.
Middles are diplomats.
The problems occur when the purists and fangirls mix. Sparks fly! Explosions occur!
FANDOM ERUPTS!!
Purists can't resist calling out the fangirls for their canon-rape. Fangirls assault the purists with "omg argron wudnt mary that slut arwne!!!!11 aragon+legi AL THE WAY!!!!1111!!111111"
Both emails/reviews end up causing wars because this is the Internet and nobody lets anything go. Ever. In come the flame wars, the rampant LJ posting. The middles either choose sides or try to pacify both groups.
Eventually, everyone gets fed up, people swear to withdraw from fandom, to never read X's group of work again, etc etc and everything calms down for a while.
So, I suggest that we separate fandom completely! A site for fangirls, a site for middles, and a site for purists. Fic-reading would be open to all, but to review or find the authors' emails, the reader would have to be a site member. And to be a site member, the reader would have to prove his/her belonging to that group.
Of course, that would take most of the fun out of fandom… so nevermind… :-)
<3 fandom!
*All of these numbers have been pulled out of my ass after browsing ff.net and![[journalfen.net profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandom_wank. Admittedly, not the best place to be getting my "statistics" from, but whatever. ;-)
You have your purists. These people think that everything should be written as though the original author had written it. Everything must strictly adhere to canon. This produces some very good writing and some very good feedback.
Then there's your typical fangirls. They are the polar opposites of the purists. Canon? What's that? To then, canon isn't important at all. Most of the time, they're using a setting and characters that have the same name and vaguely resemble canon… but really aren't. Characterization is warped, Mary Sues are introduced, netspeak prevails. To be fair, some of them write correctly and use good grammar. The majority, however, are in desperate need of a beta reader. Or a course in basic English.
Those are the two extremes. Together, I'd say they make up about 80%* of fandom - 60%* fangirl, 20%* purist. The remaining 20%* is the happy medium.
The happy mediums are in it for fun. Being the "medium" is the best way to describe them. They respect canon and edit their works for grammar and spelling. They label their fics appropriately. When they write "fangirl" fics, they clearly label them as AU and/or OOC. If they have original characters, they slap on an OC warning. Some of them (::gasp::) even acknowledge that they've written a Mary Sue! They do their damndest to make sure that purists and other mediums know what they're getting into. Mediums are in it for fun and that pretty much sums it up (I could go on for a couple more paragraphs about why mediums are cool, so I'm copping out with that).
For the most part (ie: the majority of the fandom population), everyone exists in a Venn diagram. The purists are the right circle, the fangirls are the left, and the middles are, well, the middle. Purists and fangirls try to avoid each other. The middles traverse back and forth willingly, and both groups visit the middles occasionally.
Middles are diplomats.
The problems occur when the purists and fangirls mix. Sparks fly! Explosions occur!
FANDOM ERUPTS!!
Purists can't resist calling out the fangirls for their canon-rape. Fangirls assault the purists with "omg argron wudnt mary that slut arwne!!!!11 aragon+legi AL THE WAY!!!!1111!!111111"
Both emails/reviews end up causing wars because this is the Internet and nobody lets anything go. Ever. In come the flame wars, the rampant LJ posting. The middles either choose sides or try to pacify both groups.
Eventually, everyone gets fed up, people swear to withdraw from fandom, to never read X's group of work again, etc etc and everything calms down for a while.
So, I suggest that we separate fandom completely! A site for fangirls, a site for middles, and a site for purists. Fic-reading would be open to all, but to review or find the authors' emails, the reader would have to be a site member. And to be a site member, the reader would have to prove his/her belonging to that group.
Of course, that would take most of the fun out of fandom… so nevermind… :-)
<3 fandom!
*All of these numbers have been pulled out of my ass after browsing ff.net and
fandom_wank. Admittedly, not the best place to be getting my "statistics" from, but whatever. ;-)