Snowflake Challenge #10: Fandom Love Letter

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, creator, episode, or it could be your fandom friends. Share your love and squee as loud as you want to. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Dear BBC Sherlock fandom:

You are a hot mess, and I love you. I have loved you since the summer of 2011. You were my very first fandom, and you taught me everything I know about fan culture. I have compared every subsequent fandom against you, for better or for worse. You are full of kind, generous, talented, creative people. You also have a few absolute lunatics and a few more small-minded, deeply disturbed, highly entitled individuals.

You taught me the concept of canon and showed me every way that fans can interact with and disregard and disrespect canon and its creators. You taught me the definition of doxx as well as the importance and triviality of the penetrative role in anal sex. You taught me the concept of asexuality. You reinforced the difference between reality and fiction and showed me the many faces and facets of people who still cannot tell the difference. You taught me just how far down the rabbit hole conspiracy theorists can fall. I do not know any active fans of you in real life, all my fandom friendships are online relationships, but they are none the less precious to me for that.

I am a different person for having known you. I don’t mean you taught me the words for what I already was, I mean I actually changed who I was because of you. The transformative work is, in fact, me. You even gave me a name, and so I remain your,

okapi

Comments

[smallhobbit]

And we love you too!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you very much ;)

[ancientreader]

I mean I actually changed who I was because of you. The transformative work is, in fact, me.

Yes, that's it, and I don't think I've ever seen it put quite so crisply. Fandom has transformed me too. I might never have been able to start writing fiction again if not for fandom. Thank you for this insight.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Wonderful! I am glad it resonated with you. I am glad you started writing fiction again! Hurrah for fandom!

[sjh2009]

That's a beautiful letter. It's incredible to see the impact that fandom can have and the journeys that people have travelled. I've learned so much about life and gained such an understanding about other people too.

Thank you for sharing :)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you and thank you for reading!

[spikedluv]

The transformative work is, in fact, me.

That was so beautifully put! Thank you for sharing this letter.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

You captured all the things

[jesse_the_k]

Boom Boom Boom!

What part of your resonates with a giraffe-in-zebra-costume?

Re: You captured all the things

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I suppose it's being a mixture of unlikely parts--and yet still existing!

[debriswoman]

This is so well put. And I am so glad our paths crossed:-)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Aw, thanks. I am very glad, too.