…meaning that these posts, these RPs, these drabbles, fanfics, memes and Sails reblogs that I would happily send out into the void for no reason other than that not to do so would pummel my soul with the force of a tidal wave…they are not spinning out into cold, soulless cyberspace but rather finding homes on your dashboards (where you can then mute, block, or otherwise ignore them at will ;-p). And that…that is pretty frickin’ amazing and I will tell you why.
I am, I think, a little older than many of you, and when I was growing up, fandom was a bad word. Actually, “fandom” wasn’t a word at all, there was only “fanboy” and that was not something you wanted to be. It wasn’t cool to care. Becoming invested in something designed for entertainment, that was looked down upon, that made you and your concerns superfluous.
The idea that there would be people, the majority of them female, who would come to love fictional character so much that they would invest themselves and each other in writing for, about and as them – that wasn’t even an idea anybody had had, much a less a thing. There were RPers, of course, and fanfic existed, it’s just that there was nowhere to share it, and so we all wrote secretly, in our bedrooms, for nobody, and assumed that we were alone.
But we’re not alone, not at all, and fandom? Fandom is fucking awesome. Fandom is interest, excitement, passion. Fandom is allowing one’s self to be powerfully moved by something someone else has created. Fandom is an active response to art.
My fandom is Black Sails and I love the show and the characters and especially Flint so much it makes me a better person. It connects me to history and nautical adventures and literature and you guys. Many of the people I follow are in different fandoms, but they’re all RPers and/or unabashed fans of something. It doesn’t matter what it is, what matters is how much you love it. You reacquaint me with things I used to adore. Introduce me to things I never would have found on my own. I’m reminded, with every post I read, how powerful it is when humans invest: in themselves, in each other, in characters, in stories.
I know it’s customary to do some kind of giveaway at these milestones but I can’t really…do…the things?…so I wanted to give all of you this, a reminder that what you’re doing here matters, that it’s the very opposite of a waste of time, it’s dynamic engagement with narrative. We tell stories here and make art, exchange jokes and share songs. We come here to care: about each other, about fictionalized characterizations of human truths, about conflict and love and motivations and angst. We come here to celebrate the best that humanity has to offer. We come here to worship.
So now, without further ado, a little biased veneration: