My emotions can be seen as 'too much' sometimes and my friends and family have been subject to my intense passion for something...... As a popular tik tok voice over says "I can't like things in a chill way..."
I am also a fangirl.
And that requires a whole new level of passion.
Fans get a bad rep.... "fanatic" is a dirty word thrown around for someone who is over exuberant about something. Usually the term fanatic is used in a negative connotation with things like terrorist attacks or political associations ('left wing-fanatics'). That's probably why you wouldn't hear a casual fan of something called a fanatic openly...you usually say they're a fan of [insert tv show/movie/comic/music/etc here].
Fandom is something that you either get because you are apart of the fandom, or you don't unfortunately. A lot of 'nerdy' fandoms are looked down upon because outsiders can't possibly understand the reason for others obsessions in something as 'childish' as comics or collectibles. Most people, though will get fandom on SOME level because it can be used to describe everything from a fantasy genre TV show, to a football team...or from commemorative coins, to cars.
Personally I have way too many fandoms. It would take far to long to name them all...
I just read a book on fandoms based off one of my passions--The TV Show Supernatural. It's a wonderful collection of stories from fans of the show and those involved in it's production. It details how the supernatural fandom is more like a large community or 'family' than 'just another following of a Sci-Fi show'.
I was so engrossed that I managed to read it in 3 days. It's not a particularly long book (just shy of 300 pages) but it's the fastest I've ever read a book in my life. Some of the stories in it's pages made me well up with tears of happiness as well as tears of sadness and compassion for the trials its storytellers have been through.
It's a book that, while keeping on the theme of the Supernatural fandom, explains how one tiny interest can fully capture someone's life and become their whole world. It perfectly explains how fandoms are and how they can be for many individuals.
Being a part of a fandom means that you can let your passion for that subject fly unabashedly. Being a part of a fandom means finding like-minded people who you can talk about your passions with for hours on end. Being a part of a fandom also means the likelihood of you spending your life savings on Conventions, Collectibles, Autographs and photo ops have increased 500%.... but being part of a fandom is pure happiness.
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