fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3377 ]

[ SECRET POST #3377 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3377 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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04. [please don't randomly link other people's secrets ??? ]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 063 secrets from Secret Submission Post #483.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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06. http://i.imgur.com/OXR4230.jpg

I mean, do fandom and other hobbies have to be mutually exclusive?

They don't. Unless OP is one of those only can do one type of thing sort.

Not last I checked. (I have a ton of hobbies.) But maybe if you aren't very creative or imaginative?

Wow! Well aren't you amazing! And utterly condescending towards the original OP. I see no evidence in their post to imply they're not 'creative' or 'imaginative'. That's not even what the post is about. Perhaps you'd better reread it.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-03 07:29 (UTC) - Expand

What even is this secret? Did OP forget how to be interested in anything other than fandom?

Every single fandom friend I have also has "normal person" hobbies (hiking, climbing, SCUBA, etc.) so surely this is not some impressive feat that can only be accomplished by non-fandom people.

Really? For me fandom is one of the things that I can easily talk about with strangers. I mean everyone watches TV at some point but most people don't ride horses.

You make art though, isn't that a different hobby?

I get the idea that their art is fanart, so very linked to their fandom involvement.

You can have other hobbies too, but I can understand it's hard to get into stuff if you don't get the opportunity.

For me I just don't feel passionate about anything enough to get motivated to try new things outside my normal routine. I want to be passionate about something, but I just can't. Doesn't help I live pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it's hours long drive to do anything worth doing for fun.

No you wouldn't take any other, OP.

My main non-fandom hobby is working needlepoint and cross-stitch kits.

Saying that as someone who hasn't gone totally gray yet gets looks that are just as weird as if I happen to mention exactly what kind of stories I write (fanfic).

I kind of understand how you feel as I felt that way when I was young, but really, your hobbies are no weirder then your average person's.

And there are *tons* of us. Like *tons*. Back in the day it was a little more fringe, but now so many people play video games, watch cartoons and attend conventions that we're actually getting to the point of overcrowding.

You may be judging yourself harsher then other people are judging you, enjoy way you enjoy, like what you like. It's a lot more fun to enjoy just about any hobby when you stop caring what other people think.

I know many other people in fandom have non-fandom hobbies - I am not saying it's impossible! Just that I, personally, don't seem to - no matter how hard I try. Sorry if the secret was confusing, English isn't my native language.

If you want other hobbies, go get them, but if you don't, why make a problem of it? Do you have any idea of why it makes you feel weird and not normal?

Go look at the numbers on ff.net and AO3: there are hundreds of thousands fanwork makers and millions of nerdy fans. You are as normal as anyone. http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/4385

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-03 02:14 (UTC) - Expand

What have you tried so far? I guess I'm confused because I don't know how you could fail at a hobby. You don't have to excel at whatever hobby you choose to pursue, all you have to do is decide what you want to do and then do it. Outside of fandom, I like hiking, needlework and photography. I'm not great at any of those things but do them anyway because I enjoy them.

Have you tried any hobbies where you can still apply your fandom interests? There's a wide variety of possibilities there.

So far I've only seen people giving you shit OP or telling you that you can have other hobbies at the same time or that you should TRY MORE THINGS - but that's not the point of this secret is it? It's about how even if there are other things, nothing is quite as big or meaningful to you as fandom and you wish it were. I fucking feel you. You've probably tried other things, haven't you? You've looked and tried and nothing else feels as good. Nothing else is as fun. You love it but you don't like the way the outsiders look at you when they talk to you at work or at social functions. Fandom is, in a way, subversive and people who arent involved don't really understand it. The problem is the majority of the world is not involved. And it sucks. I feel you, OP. I do.

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-03 02:44 (UTC) - Expand

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-03 02:56 (UTC) - Expand

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-03 15:02 (UTC) - Expand

There is nothing wrong with your hobby. Trust me

I'm 60 and have been a fan of science fiction and Star Trek since I was a kid. Yeah, the original Trek.

Now, I didn't find much in the way of fandom friends until I started going to cons. Had a few RL friends who were in SF or Trek.

Enjoy your fandom for your whole life. It's as normal as anyone elses' hobby.

I'm sorry, but this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Nobody's forcing you to participate in fandom to the exclusion of other hobbies. If you want non-fandom hobbies, what's keeping you from trying something new?

Then what are they supposed to do if someone asks them what they like to do - lie?

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-04-04 20:48 (UTC) - Expand

Fandom is big. A lot of people are in it. My other hobbies don't get nearly as many people in such an organized manner. What I'm saying is fandom is kind of a popular thing now, so it can't be that abnormal. (Okay maybe feel out other people before springing your a/b/o fanfic on them.)

So far I've only seen people giving you shit OP or telling you that you can have other hobbies at the same time - but that's not the point of this secret is it? It's about how even if there are other things, nothing is quite as big or meaningful to you as fandom and you wish it were. I fucking feel you. You've probably tried other things, haven't you? You've looked and tried and nothing else feels as good. Nothing else is as fun. You love it but you don't like the way the outsiders look at you when they talk to you at work or at social functions. Fandom is, in a way, subversive and people who arent involved don't really understand it. The problem is the majority of the world is not involved. And it sucks. I feel you, OP. I do.

People will still look at you weird for mentioning your 'normal' hobbies too. Has much more to do with the people you talk to those hobbies about than the hobbies themselves.

Maybe find other art people? Art's such a huge field, surely there's some non-fandom art topics you can connect with people over.

Yeah, this. Once in college I mentioned that I sometimes watch nature documentaries. The person I was talking to looked at/talked to me as if I just said it was my kink.

I get into work. The women are talking about soap operas and reality TV. The men are talking about sport. They think I'm weird for liking country music and going to sci-fi conventions. I think they're weird for doing 'socially acceptable normal' things. *shrugs*

Through fandom, I've learned more about composition and grammar than I ever did in school, I've learned to write HTML from scratch, I've learned to make graphics, I've gained various certficates and qualifications in subjects I only found because of a fandoms I've been in...

If you want to take up something non-fandom related, make sure you do it for YOU, not because 'people in real life think its weird'

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