Squee it Loud and Proud?

[otw_staff]

Who do you squee with? Do you share your fan art, fic and thoughts with family? Friends? Absolutely everyone, or only in certain forums? How, in other words, do you live your fandom - and why?

Being a fan has always been a big part of my life - movies, books, bands, sports teams, you name it! I remember feeling, as a teenager, like the whole world around me had changed because I'd found a particular little world or group of characters. I read everything Tolkien wrote, and then read it again. I watched Star Wars with my happy heart in my throat, fell in and out of love with singers and bands and found the Church of Baseball.

Still, I never gave fandom life much deeper thought until I started writing fan fiction again.

I say again, because technically I wrote it in junior high school. It was, um.... before the age of electronic publishing; my stories got passed hand to hand in five subject notebooks. I still have a few that have survived and wow: I didn't know what a Mary Sue fic was at the time but I sure knew how to write one.

Then, five years ago, I was inspired to write my first fan fiction as an adult: A fill-in fic for LOST spanning the time from "The End" through when each of the survivors passed on months, years or decades later. It was a lot of fun, and it was satisfying to tell a story again. It also filled the little ache I had in my heart for the show and introduced me to the world of modern fan fiction.

I find it amazing on a lot of levels - rich in many ways, with some wonderful, thoughtful writers. Yes, there's a lot of chaff to winnow out, but it's not that hard to do, really. It's often as good or better than some of the professionally crafted writing and TV shows I consume, and through the writing comm I'm in it's brought me a sense of community with other fan writers.

Still, I don't share my fan writing and reading habits with everyone. I've mentioned it to my sister, who has mentioned it proudly to others (she's a fellow Lostie and would read my fic if she were into reading, but sadly she is simply not). I've sent some of my FRINGE fics to a guy friend, but have never linked him to or discussed with him my slash fics - not because he would judge but because they simply wouldn't be his thing.

I also mentioned my hobby to a longtime female friend over dinner while we were on vacation together in Vegas and she nearly inhaled her soup. She listened with some interest, though, to my stories of AO3 and FF.net and the many, many stories and fandoms found on them. In the end she seemed intrigued at the way it might democratize the consumption of fiction, all of us having a place share our stories.

And that's really it- beyond that, I keep my writing to the fan sites and my group of writing comrades. I don't squee about it anywhere else. And why should that be? We talk sports at work. We talk hobbies like computing and gadget collecting. If we love to go to the theater or if we write and produce plays (as some of my co-workers do) we don't hesitate to gush or promote them to anyone who'll listen. But somehow, certain kinds of fandom feel - to me at least - more personal. Something I'd only share with those I open up to more fully.

That's me, though, and I'm that way about most other matters that I hold dear, too. I don't feel the need to talk about them with just anyone.

Here are some articles about fandom and sharing it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, and about other resources you may know about re: fandom life! Do you think this age of greater sharing and wider ability to publish will lead to more open, happy, squee-it-loud-and-proud fans in years to come?

“This is Why I Treat Fandom Like It’s Important (Because It Is),” by saathi1013

"Fandom and Ew, Girls" by UrbanHymnal

10 things to learn if you wanna be a fangirl

Editorial policies, "public domain," and acafandom

Fanlore.org: Anonymity

Fanlore.org: Pseudonym

Comments

[sevilemar]

It's pretty obvious to everyone who visits me at home that I'm a fangirl, because I have my fandoms tattooed on my kitchen wall (here's a picture on my tumblr). But since I don't just invite anyone into my home, it's kinda like an open secret: Anyone who wants to know knows, but I'm not going around telling people if they don't ask me. And if people ask, I usually give them a short explanation, leaving it up to them if they want to know more, or forget about it the next day.

I share my squee mostly with fellow fans, be that irl or online, because like you said, it feels personal. If they are good friends, they don't have to be in the same fandom to understand my passions, concerns, etc. Sometimes, when there is no one available, and I don't feel like using social media, a few close and non-fannish friends have to endure a bit of squee or ranting. Does them good, in my opinion^^

I read the second and third article, and mostly skimmed the one about aca-fandom and TWC editorials. It's interesting that there seems to be a need for fangirl empowerment in this way. It was always the passion and sharing that took place inside fandom that was immensely empowering to me. From early on I didn't much care what non-fannish folk thought about it, but I guess I was lucky and still am.

I've always been intensely passionate about some things, and those passions were always such a big part of my identity that when I discovered online fandom in my early twenties, becoming a fangirl seemed just natural. It never occurred to me that it might be something others might use to shame people with. Now that I think about it, I probably missed a lot of that shaming directed at me because I didn't realize their comments were meant that way. Interesting.

PS: The first link seems to be broken.

[otw_staff]

Thank you for the heads-up on the link! Gah. I'd have sworn I checked it, but can't have.

It's funny, it took me forever to realize I even am a fangirl. I'd always kind of assumed everyone gets as deeply invested in the things they love as I do. Certainly, people do for sports, and it really takes me aback when some people 'get' that kind of rooting/fandom but look askance on enthusiasm for shows/movies/authors.

I try to be an unabashed fan - but I guess I also think before I squee, lately, and consider the person I'm sharing with and whether they do or don't get the particular thing that I love that we are discussing. If they don't get it, I keep my thoughts on it more brief and to the point - because odds are, I'm not going to change their minds.

[sevilemar]

I don't get the distinctions between sport fans, fangirls and art/literature/culture aficionados either. I started with ballet when I was 5 years old, which is kind of both sport and culture, and had no problem drifting into theatre for a while, then discovering fandom and the joys of academic literature discourse at the same time when I entered university. I've always brought the same core of passion and intensity to everything, and it never felt much different in the end.

No, you probably won't change their minds, but you'll get the rant, squee, whatever is bugging you, out of your chest. When I am with friends, that is often reason enough for me to do it, so that it's out there and not festering or souring in my mind. It's different with acquaintances, colleagues, and family. Like you, I don't talk about it, or keep it brief. Why bother if I don't need to and they won't get it, anyway?