[ SECRET POST #4972 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4972 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 39 secrets from Secret Submission Post #712.
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)]

Ehhh depends on the fandom and how accessible the additional info is, and what you consider minutiae.

Like, I'd probably be annoyed if someone claimed to be a fan but didn't know the character's names, but if they were behind a few episodes or didn't read the entire series prior to an adaptation or didn't know the full ancestral lineage of a character...who cares?

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like it's less excusable in this day and age of Google and everything being accessible online. Back in the 90s, for instance, it was one thing because a lot of stuff simply wasn't available online or wasn't translated or didn't have summaries online, that sort of thing. But these days, I can Google anything I want to know and find, say, a wiki that explains the plot of those side story episodes I haven't seen or details the character's lineage, etc.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay but...why on earth is that REQUIRED?

Take Lord of the Rings for example. I would count someone who loves the movies, someone who loves the books, and someone who loves the Silmarillion all as "fans", even if they're varying degrees thereof. Do they have be able to read Elvish to be a fan? Elvish is freely available to learn online now, after all.

Or Star Wars--to accurately be a fan, do I need to have watched all of Clone Wars or do the main movies suffice? Do Solo and the Mandalorian count?

I can understand being annoyed at the difference between "I love this thing" and "I like this thing", but I'm struggling to understand where and why a line has to be drawn.

[(Anonymous)]

See, to me, there's a difference between just being a fan of something in the sense that you consumed the thing and enjoyed the thing, and being a fan of the "involved in fandom" sort. If you're the first type I honestly don't think it matters, but I think if you're going to go delving deeply into the fandom, I think you should at least have a passing familiarity with all of the parts of canon even if you haven't personally consumed them, because otherwise it just makes it awkward if, for example, you're trying to talk about character arcs in Star Wars as a whole and the person you're talking to doesn't know anything about huge chunks of canon.

[(Anonymous)]

The secret doesn't say anything about delving deeply or having in-depth conversations or even about "fandom" though. It just talks about what measure makes a "fan".

And like, honestly, even among people of the same level of engagement as me, sometimes in-depth conversations just aren't going to click, and that doesn't necessarily have anything at all to do with how many wiki articles they read. That's just how people work.

[(Anonymous)]

Nah. When you're talking about something like SW, it's ridiculous to have expectations of how much of the lore the person has knowledge of. Take me, for example. I stood in an endless line for the very first release of A New Hope in 1977. I was such an avid fan I collected every Star Log and science fiction mag that had the slightest mention. I built scale models of the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon. I waited agonizingly long for the premieres of Empire and Return of the Jedi and then went to the theaters repeatedly for rewatches. I am a Fan.

When Phantom Menace came out I have to say I was disappointed. The plot was incomprehensible. The Anakin character beyond unlikable. I won't go into Jar Jar or I might puke. The only reason I didn't leave the theater was I went with my brother (we see all blockbusters together) and I couldn't abandon him to suffer alone.

I didn't see the rest of that trilogy. From what I hear, I am one of the lucky ones.

I enjoyed the latest trilogy, but it didn't impress me very much. Kylo's motivation was weak and the storylines were the same as the original trilogy in disguise. I liked the characters, though.

I guess you could call me a huge Fan of Star Wars: the original trilogy. Does that make me less of a fan? Do I need to delve into midichlorians to be a real fan? Or love baby Yoda or have watched Solo? How much $$ do I have to shell out to Disney before I'm considered a real Fan?

Can't you and I talk about the made my own goddamn light saber, fer chrissake? Sure, it was out of a flashlight and some rolled up artist paper, but it was the envy of the neighborhood for a day or two. Why not just skip talking about that Poor Anakin Guy? I just think, with a franchise as huge and sprawling as SW, it's absurd to say you have to be a fan of the entire thing to be a Fan.

[(Anonymous)]

SA
talk about *how I* made my own lightsaber. Sheesh.

[(Anonymous)]

Post-ROJ there has also just been SO MUCH Star Wars. Even if you toss out all the novels before the new trilogy, there are now new novels and comics and things that count now. You had to be playing Fortnite to understand everything, apparently? We're talking an awful lot of time and effort (not to mention expense) to fully delve into the minutiae of the fictional universe.

That's why I grumble that I prefer Star Trek because it didn't make me do homework. It's different now with streaming, but prior to Discovery, everything that mattered with Star Trek was either on broadcast television (and rerunning endlessly) or had a wide theatrical release. You didn't need cable. You could safely ignore every novel, comic, and game. You didn't need to spend money except for the odd movie ticket. If you were watching the shows as they aired, you didn't have to devote more time than it took to watch whatever episodes were new that week.

[(Anonymous)]

Trekkies are also pretty flexible regarding which episodes and movies we consider important, and which ones are somewhat optional.

[(Anonymous)]

See, to me, there's a difference between just being a fan of something in the sense that you consumed the thing and enjoyed the thing, and being a fan of the "involved in fandom" sort.

Ok nerdbro.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think it's odd to expect people to *want* to become knowledgeable about the canon if they are going to get involved in the fandom, but I don't believe you have to pass some threshold of canon knowledge before you can be *allowed* to participate in fandom. Everyone has to start somewhere and most people don't have to get deep into the lore before they start wanting to engage with other people about it. If it's something that's been around a while (Star Wars, Star Trek, LotR, a lot of comics characters) and not a new thing where everyone is starting from scratch at the beginning, most people are going to start their fandom participation (if they care to participate in fandom at all) *during* the process of leaning the lore. Gatekeeping with those people who are still in the process of learning just makes fandom seem unwelcoming and not fun and makes you seem like a jerk. It probably also dampens people's enthusiasm for continuing to learn.

[(Anonymous)]

One can learn Elvish online? Cool!

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like a serious market is being missed by not making Elvish an option on Duolingo. Who doesn't want to know how to say such useful phrases as "The neighbor's children are bleeding in the library" in Sindarin?

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but if you're a fan of something really huge (Marvel Comics for example) nobody knows everything. No matter how long someone's been into the comics you can always find something they haven't read. You shouldn't be gatekeeping, you should be gate-opening! When someone says, "There's no content for X, or X is always presented in a dumb sexist way" and you know that's not true, you tell them where to find the good stuff, not rant at them for being wrong!

[(Anonymous)]

A lot of stuff from before 1990 is unavailable and out of print for long-running fandoms.

[(Anonymous)]

Same. A good grasp on the plot and characters is enough for me to call someone a fellow fan. This, and they should read fic.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm annoyed when I meet someone who claims to be a fan of my favorite thing and doesn't know much about it. But I know this is really just about my feeling hurt. Because I want soooo much to know more people I can blather to about my favorite thing.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT Yeah, I've been there! It's fun to talk at length about the things you like, but yeah, it's not the other person's fault or shortcoming. It's just a differencem