[ SECRET POST #3485 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3485 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 42 secrets from Secret Submission Post #498.
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.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm an 'old' fan from the days of 'zines and it would have been social suicide to tell my non-fan friends that I wrote fic, went to cons, or did any kind of cosplay. I understand this secret because it does feel like the same thing I had to keep to myself is now accepted in mainstream culture. I'm glad that more people can feel like they are part of fandom and not have to endure the stares of other people, but, at the same time, I feel angry because I had to be in the fandom closet.

My first ship was Kirk/Spock, and I wrote slash but only communicated it with other Trek fans. But I do think that there is still a certain amount of lip service to mainstream's involvement with fandom. Take the newest Trek movie and making Sulu 'gay'. I've been making Trek gay since the early 1980s; Hollywood just caught up and the entertainment shows are making a big deal out of it.

I guess what I'm getting at is that those of us in fandom are different than the more casual fans who like to pretend they know everything. And we always will be.

[diet_poison]

I'm really surprised at how much of this sentiment there is. Like...it just sounds like you really want to be special and persecuted. Instead of being happy that new fans won't have the same negative experiences you did, you sound jealous of the persecuted status being in fandom used to give you and like you don't want to lose that.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

I can understand being weirded out by the public behavior of some fans *cough*Supernatural*cough*, but being upset because kids these days *aren't* getting bullied for being fannish just doesn't make sense.

[(Anonymous)]

It's human nature. It always feels a little weird to see something being easy for someone else when it was so hard for you. We've always done it. Lewis and Clark looked at the people on the Oregon Trail and said, "Oh, you have a TRAIL now. That must be NICE."

[(Anonymous)]

Lewis and Clark looked at the people on the Oregon Trail and said, "Oh, you have a TRAIL now. That must be NICE."

This made me LOL :D.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm the 'old' fan -- I didn't mean to sound like I feel special or persecuted. I am glad that the newest members can love their fandom without so many people pointing and laughing and thinking they're weird.

What I did mean (and perhaps didn't articulate) is that now there are more people who say they're Star Trek fans, for example, but they aren't the fans writing or creating fandom pieces. Please don't think that I meant that I want special consideration for my fandom experiences; I want fans to be able to love what they love without people judging them. But I do think that casual fans still think spending time creating fandom work is 'weird'.

[plushulala]

I didn't realize that was still a thing, honestly. I thought we were mostly past that point if only because I see people openly posting their fanfictions to their facebook timelines and attaching their real names to them. Sorry you're still experiencing pushback from new fans who think only "losers" create fanworks.

[diet_poison]

Well, I do think we've still a ways to go.

[(Anonymous)]

"I'm an 'old' fan from the days of 'zines and it would have been social suicide to tell my non-fan friends that I wrote fic, went to cons, or did any kind of cosplay."

I actually had to fight my way off the bus when a bunch of kids found the fanart I had hidden inside one of my books after once of them jacked my backpack. And then I got suspended for fighting. Then I had to explain to my parents why I got suspended and why they were tearing up one of my textbooks (because we got a bill for it from the Board of Ed). As an aside: This is also when I learned that textbooks are very much over-priced. :/

But it wasn't so much the kids. Kids are fucking assholes, and I've always known that. But My teachers actually convinced my parents to send me to a psychiatrist because I was spending my class time drawing fanart instead of doing homework. Because, you know how much fun homework is and anyone who isn't practically falling over themselves to do school work must be insane!

So, in a way, I kinda get the whole, "You aren't a real fan unless you've walked the Gauntlet of Shame" we walked.

But I also have a kid. She's 25 now and she suffers from one of those mental illnesses that television vilifies. She suffers from paranoia and anxiety and she's so terrified of living in a post-apocalyptic / dystopian nightmarescape (because of what she's seen on the news / read online) that she has to watch Star Trek every day because it gives her hope that maybe there's a future for humanity that doesn't end in a complete shitshow or she'll end up in the ER (again). I can't be sure but I think Trek may have saved her life on at least one occasion. And she can publicly express her love of Trek without getting mocked because being in fandom is "normal" now and Trek is "the shit". That makes her life so much easier.

I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings because I really do understand where you're coming from. I'm just saying there are some good things happening for people because fandom is mainstream. And let's be honest, this isn't true of many of us, but there are a lot of people who use fandom as a coping mechanism. I don't really want to be That Person who makes people who already feel bad feel even worse because I had to literally fight just to be fannish, especially when I consider that, growing up, what we have now is exactly what I wanted in the first place.

I'm bitter because new fans have something we didn't, but I don't begrudge them their good fortune.

[(Anonymous)]

Here to high-five you because my first ship was Kirk/Spock also, my first fandom activity was to jump in the deep end and start up a ST:TOS zine, and yeah we had to keep a low profile but wasn't it all AWESOME FUN?

(In retrospect the merchandising was minimal and IMO that's what made going to cons so much fun - more focused on actual fan activities and not so much on the flogging of commercial crap.)

[plushulala]

I was a Voltron fan in the 80s. No cons, no 'zines, almost no merch... The Struggle Was Real. :b