To Fandom, With Love
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | To Fandom, With Love |
| Creator: | Aja |
| Date(s): | August 8, 2002 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | To Fandom, With Love |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
To Fandom, With Love is a 2002 essay by Aja.
It was posted to her website, notquiteroyal.
The essay opens, "This mini-pep-talk is in response to ashkitty and her thoughts on the fandom." ashkitty had written on August 1, 2002: "I've never seen a fandom so full of itself as HP. And that's saying something. Is it okay to just be here for the fic, or do you get a special visitors' pass for that?"
In turn, ashkitty was commenting on a quiz posted to Fandom Bitches called Which Inner Circle are YOU?, which was also a commentary on Harry Potter BNFs and their various dramas.
This essay was written as a response to the events later described by Aja in Me & CC; or, BNFs do not have more fun regarding her fallout with Cassandra Claire.
Some Topics Discussed
- The Inner Circle
- Harry Potter
- BNFs
- hurt feelings
Excerpts
I don't think this fandom is full of itself. Not at all. I've seen self-importance in fandoms and while I could point to a few corners of the fandom that seem to have their share of egos, I also realize that the ego in and of itself isn't bad, and I have yet to see a single instance of anybody's ego actually hurting anyone else around here.
I've been deeply involved in 2 fandoms over the last 3 years, this one more deeply than the first. I've seen a lot in all three major fandoms I've been in, and the politics and in-fighting are inevitable. Fandoms, more than any other phenomenon I've ever encountered are like a mini-scale replica of global politics. It's to be encountered and dealt with, because it's not going to go away. It's just how things operate.
I'll agree that lately the fandom has been a nasty place and I think it's touched us all. But I also agree with [info]altricial--the brunt of the fighting has been friends defending friends, not a mix of ideologies. And you can't continue to point fingers and shove blame around when everyone is essentially acting to help support the people they care about. Lines get crossed and feelings get hurt, but here, unlike the other fandoms I've seen, there's a much more tightly-knit feeling of true community, and a real, deep-seated feeling that everyone cares about each other in the end.
I really really wish that I could extend a huge hug to everybody who has been hurt in some way by the fandom in the last month. Every single one of us. I wish that I could patch wounds and heal sores and make things right. It's hard for me to accept that sometimes I just can't, and no matter how much I want to, no matter how much I *care* about the people who are being hurt, sometimes there is just nothing I can do but let it go and move on. This is maybe the hardest lesson I have had to learn so far, among others that I'm still learning.
But what has helped me in dealing, in being able to move on, and bear no ill will in the end, is knowing that deep down, the hearts of everybody i've met so far in the fandom are true and honest and good. I really firmly believe that *every* person I have met here, every single one of you, is an essentially good person who cares about their friends and wants to make the fandom a better place. So even though I can't get along with some of you, and probably will never be able to convince others of you that I'm not some kind of simpering fangirl who is only posting this to gain sympathy for herself, --it really helps me to believe that we're all here, we're all *committed to*, the same essentially good, innocent purpose--namely, to read and write fiction and explore characters and stories we care about.