Day 1049: Fandom Life

As a member of the internet and social media, I'm always seeing posts that note "what a time to be alive," and it's occurred to me recently that now, right now, is a wonderful time to be alive, at least in regards to the live of being a fan. Suddenly it's become kind of "cool" to be a part of a fandom, whether it be Star Wars, Disney, a television show, or something else entirely. In fact, it's gotten to the point where I think most of us wonder what people without a fandom do with their freetime.

Honestly, picking a fandom to be a part of isn't even that hard, unless you're trying to stay away from all negativity. There's plenty of that on the internet wherever you go, and while some fandoms are worse than others, every one of them has a few rotten eggs. But seriously, all you have to do to become a part of a fandom is like something, and usually that means becoming absolutely obsessed with something.

It starts out relatively simple, like when I began watching Star Wars. You watch the movie with the smallest amount of interest and enjoyment, and then suddenly something clicks. For me, it was the moment a certain space scoundrel came on screen and I realized that it was indeed Indiana Jones. Boy, I'd been missing out on an entire childhood of Harrison Ford and I had no idea.

And so, you begin to watch (and rewatch) the movie over and over again. With a TV show you end up buying a season pass on iTunes so you can watch the film immediately the next day and every day after that until another episode appears. Maybe you start DisneyBounding your favorite characters, and tweeting the cast and crew. You join internet groups, maybe you create a fan page (or a giant blog dedicated to your fandom), and eventually things just start to get a bit out of control. 

You attend a fan convention, maybe something as big as Comic Con or D23 Expo, or something smaller that simply embodies your fandom. And when you can't go to the conventions because you spent too much money on fan merchandise, you stalk the internet waiting for any possible news. And speaking of fan merchandise, things just sort of start to pop up in your room, especially after people figure out that a gift featuring your favorite character would work perfectly for an occasion. 

And before you know what happened, you're a part of a fandom. You've made friends and learned everything you possibly can about the show or movie: all the head-cannons and real plotlines and accepted truths. You spend the majority of your day thinking about the fandom, and drawings in the columns of your notebooks relate your love of the scoundrel that stole your heart.  

Previously, at this point you'd try to hide your love of the fandom. Kept it completely under wraps for fear of someone finding out you actually have a shrine to a character in your bedroom. But that's a world that exists no more. Now you can be proud of your fandom and the happiness it brings you! 

What fandoms are you a part of!?! Let me know in the comments! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 30).