J, Q, and Y Please <3
J: Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr.
Answered! :) But here are even more things I looked into because of tumblr: Pacific Rim, Orange is the New Black, Buffy, Agents of SHIELD!
Q: A ship you’ve abandoned and why.
Johnlock. I adored Johnlock, I really did. The Sherlock fandom was really defining for me - it was the first fandom I really participated in, tried writing and drawing in and putting those things publicly online, the first fandom I attended a convention specifically for and made friends in - friends that I’ve gotten the chance to meet in person and become very close with. So in many ways, the show and the ship are special to me.
Series 3 really made it hard to keep loving, in a lot of ways. The fandom itself became very bitter, divided, and hostile to one another immediately after series 3 aired. The content of the show was divisive - everyone had different opinions and feelings about what happened. There was a lot of meta, and while it was interesting, eventually it became exhausting to me. I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore. I didn’t feel a sense of optimism at the end of s3 like I did at s2 - there was no feeling of “oh, there are a million ways I can see this playing out, I want to write them all and see what everyone else comes up with!” It felt very dead-end. That, in combination of the climate of the fandom, caused my feelings on Johnlock and Sherlock to cool. I stopped reading fic pretty much right after s3 aired, and haven’t looked back since.
That’s sad, in a way. I did enjoy myself a lot and I spent a long time in Sherlock fandom, and for almost a year afterwards I was between fandoms, not really reading fic, definitely not producing anything. I focused on different things. It’s mostly sad in retrospect because of how much fun I had, and how I feel now that I can’t ever get to that place again in Sherlock fandom. I’m not sure I’m ever going back.
Y: A fandom you’re in but have no ships from.
The one that immediately pops into my mind is How To Get Away with Murder!! The fandom isn’t huge, and aside from one canon ship that I like, I don’t ship much from it at all - I’m much more engaged in the plot and story arcs. It’s a stellar show with a stellar cast!! I wish the fandom was bigger just because I want to see more of what it already offers - more plot twists, more mystery, more Annalise Keating!
