wyntir_knight | Snowflake Challenge 2015

Day 9
In your own space, talk about what surprises you about fandom. It could be a pairing or fandom you never thought you'd like. A fanwork type you never knew existed. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

There is just so much that is surprising about fandom, there really is. From the sheer amount of talent out there to the support network that builds up around the fandom and all of the passion that comes with it (for good or ill).

There are a some unreal good authors out there - I mean, people who could easily be published if they were writing something other than fanfiction (and no, I'm not going to get into Fifty Shades and Mortal Instruments), and some artists who are producing words that I would happily purchase if I had the wall space to display those purchases. These are people who are doing this for the love of their fandom and not for the money. After all, there isn't a lot of money out there in selling fanwork commissions. I have seen traditional art, plush toys, magnets, pins, blankets, tattoos, clothing ... just so much creativity all in the name of fandom.

And then there's the community. I can't speak for the other fandoms, but the Transformers fandom has been open and welcoming from my first days in the community (ignoring the Trukk Not Munkey issues). I attended my first BotCon and was invited to stay in a total stranger's room, I was invited to meals and drawn out of my self-imposed shell by people who didn't know me from Eve. I was a fellow fan and that's all that mattered. I've also seen several of these same people reach out to the Brony population and offering support (the logic being if a woman can like Transformers, then a man can like MLP).

All of this surprised me because when I was a young fan, the love of such things was something you kept hidden. Boys would sit in a corner and play D&D with scraps of paper and a handful of strange looking dice, and they would be mocked mercilessly. This was not something that you advertised in any way, and yet now, we can be open about our love of all things fannish. I think that that change in attitudes is what surprises me the most. Yes there's still flak. There are still those who accuse female fans of being "fake" and who accuse male fans of being manchildren and there's still a certain look that you get from the general population when you tell them that you're going to a GI Joe or Anime Convention, but we as a group have built up a support group to help each other out.

I think that's it for the sentimentality for today ...