armanya

I started musing on what fandom means to me the other day. I got into my first fandom at 15 (that's 13 years ago, if we're being honest), and it has been an interesting time to be in fandom, what with the internet being properly established and fandom having moved through quite a few primary services by now.

I've also seen my fair share of drama, ship wars and fandom wars and I don't even know what. It always perplexes me. I generally just love everyone, or well, the people I don't love I'm pretty much indifferent to. I tend to ship all the things and happily flutter between fandoms.

And then it struck me. Stanning and fandom really doesn't always go hand in hand for me. I actually really just love fandom. I love making up and exploring characters, coming up with impossible hilariously untrue conspiracy theories, generally fangirling and shipping and making lots of likeminded friends. And while I normally get into fandoms for people I stan, I don't always stan the people I'm in fandoms for. Which is why, guess, I have a lucky tendency to be able to read good fic in any fandoms, because good fic will make me feel for the characters even if I don't know them. Fic characters and RL people are really very far removed for me.

Idek if there was a point to this. Or if that made sense haha. It was really just something that came to mind when I saw people being sadface about lack of fic in their fandom. I guess I'm lucky that way, I never really have that problem.

Though, it does bug me when people accuse me of abandoning someone I stan cause I move fandom. I can still stan someone even though I'm writing about someone else. The two are definitely not mutually dependent for me.