The Internet: Fandoms (Part 1)
We're going to jump right in with possibly the darkest part of the internet. Fandoms. Some might argue that this is actually Tumblr, but I'm saving that for another post.
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in the book series, the following that had become quite large by the point of Holmes' death reacted in a most stunning fashion. 20,000 people unsubscribed from the local newspaper and many started to send the newspaper office hate mail. People wrote not only hate mail, but also letters to both Doyle and the newspaper office, pleading for Holmes to be resurrected. Then the arm bands came out. People walked around wearing black armbands, mourning the death of the consulting detective.
Now I like Sherlock Holmes as much as the next person whom Doyle and BBC managed to stab in the heart, but I don't think I would quite react in that way. That's probably because I have the internet and EVERYTHING IS SPOILED. Also the fact that I read the books before watching the show and was obliterated by the books first.
So what is a fandom? Well put most simply, it's a following that has accumulated and been dragged along with a TV show, movie, book series, anime, etc. Fandoms tend to generally have 4 different kinds of people. There can be more, but this is simply what I've observed.
The Writer - The Writer is their name, fanfiction is their game. The Writer loves writing and writes fanfiction or "imagines", which are like snippets of fanfiction. With the fanfiction usually comes cover art or a GIF as a sort of visual topic sentence. There's a small possibility that somebody will see their work and go "Huh. They're good at writing. Let's hire them." More often than not it's this though: "Oh my God that person is creepy as hell." Don't worry writer. It's not their fault that Destiel looks a little creepy at first.
The Artist - The Artist is probably the most creative out of the four. Their drawing skills are usually amazing, despite many of them calling their own work sh*t. They also have more of a chance of getting a good job as a story board artist or some other creative high paying job because they have their entire portfolio on the internet. People see fan art and they're like: "Woah, she/he's good. Let's hire her!"
The Theorist - The Theorist usually makes headcanons (personal beliefs about fandoms) and actually gets you to believe them. The theorist works in text posts and words are their instruments. The Theorist also can make you think of something in a way that you didn't want to before. Accept their headcanon, but beware their other ideas. These people are generally very fun to talk to though.
Me - Not actually me, but a good example. I'm the kind of person that reads the fanfiction, compliments the artist on their work, and freaks out about the theories. We're essential to the fandom. Otherwise the creators would just create things and nobody would see them. So don't feel bad about not writing fanfic or drawing fanart or making headcanons.
To be quite honest, fandoms tear your life apart. Going back to the Sherlock Holmes example, we can sum it up in one GIF.
I have so much more to add on this topic but I need to go, so there will be a part two. I'm not lying this time. I hope you guys have a great weekend!
Cheers, DFTBA, and Good Night.
Anna Grace
