Tuesday 10 December 2013

Star Trek and what on earth is a fandom?: Part 1

I have recently been able to start recording and watching Star Trek and being the nerd/fangirl I am, I am now a trekkie (much to the amusement of my mother and bemusement of my father). This made me realize that when I talk about fandoms people generally have NO idea what I'm talking about so this is Part 1 of "What On Earth is a Fandom?".

Defintions

  • Fandom - A virtual kingdom for the fans of a certain book/TV show/movie/band etc. (eg. The Sherlock fandom). All fandoms have different names for their fans, for example Star Trek fans are Trekkies, Harry potter fans are Potterheads etc.
  • Fangirl/Fanboy - A term for a person who is extremely invested in a certain book/TV show/movie/band. They generally have a blog dedicated to whatever fandom they belong to or spend a lot of time reading other fangirls/fanboys blogs.
  • Feels - Extreme uncontrolable emotions felt while reading a perticular part of a book/TV show/movie/band or seeing a fandom post referring to said part or just thinking a lot about the book/TV show/movie/band (a vulcan's worst nightmare ;) ).
  • ASDJJHJFYFJKHJHHJGYTTYFFHGFRDHD - Usually expressed when one is so overcome by feels it renders one incapable of normal speech/typing.
  • I can't even - Also expressed when one is so overcome by feels it is impossible to even.
  • Fanfiction - Stories written by fans about a certain book/TV show/movie/band or their favourite ship.
  • *dying whale noises* - Another outcome of feels. A bit like moaning in pain but more guttural.
  • Fandom Reference - A reference to a speech a character made, song lyrics, quotes etc. slipped into everyday speech/posts.
  • Tumblr - A website that is home to many fandom blogs and is a bit like fandom rehab.
I thought this next bit required a section to itself in this post because it is a HUGE part of the fandom life.
  • Shipping - Basically (relation)shipping to people one thinks might look good together. It causes a lot of feels and copious amounts of fanfiction to be written.
The different type of ships
  • OTP - One True Pairing. In colloquial terms it means ones favourite ship and people generally have fictional and nonfictional OTP's
  • NoTP - A ship a person dislikes greatly.
  • Crack Ship - A ship of two people that would be hilarious together.
  • Canon Ship - A ship that exists (eg. Ron + Hermione = Romione)
  • Headcanon ship - A ship that does not exist ( eg. Draco + Hermione = Dramione)
This is just a brief description of what shipping is, it goes a lot deeper than that but I will explain more in future posts.
 
Some common fandoms and their fan names
  • Dr. Who - Whovians
  • Sherlock - Sherlockians
  • Supernatural - Currently no name
  • Star Trek - Trekkie
  • The Hunger Games - Tribute
  • Harry Potter - Potterhead
  • Mortal Instruments - Shadow Hunter
  • The Host - Hosts
  • Lord of the Rings - Rings
Some examples of fandom posts
 
 
It made me really happy when I googled "random fandom posts" and the majority of them were Sherlock, Dr. Who, Harry Potter and Star Trek related :).
 
So I hope now you understand a little bit more about fandom terminology :). To those of you that read my blog and are fangirls and know what I'm talking about PLEASE EMAIL ME at izznknit@gmail.com with any changes you think I should make etc. because I think of stuff to type and then forget it so it would be great to have some feedback.
 
NEWS
 
It is now the holidays and almost Christmas time so the time for crafts is upon us. In honour of my new Star Trek addiction I made a felt Spock and Kirk and am in the process of making a Scotty, Chekov, Sulu and Uhura :D
 
On new years eve I am probably going to do a post where I reminisce about 2013 so come here if you want to revel in nostalgia (see that is an arctic monkeys fandom reference :D).
 
Live long and prosper internet :)
 
izzy
 

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