turning this into a poll because i am just so beyond baffled right now.
have you ever participated in/been part of a fandom without reading/watching the source material?
yes
no?? what the fuck
See Resultsok follow up poll because i wasn’t clear enough it seems. please note that seeing fandom content is not the same as being an active participant in fandom
to what level have you participated in a fandom without reading/watching the source material?
not at all
very passively; reblogging to support a friend, mutual, or artist
passively; the art/fic was good even if i didn’t understand some of it
neutral; i have discussed it with a circle of friends who are all in the fandom
actively; i have read a lot of fics and post regularly about it
very actively; i have written long essay-like discourse posts and/or fanfic
See ResultsIt used to be a lot harder to get ahold of media in the 90s and even the 00s than it is today. Today we’ve got an almost incomprehensible amount of media on media on media, but in the 90s? It was video rental hell! You relied on reruns or fandoms dedicated enough to make & distribute VCR copies in their free time. It was expensive and time-consuming so it wasn’t the norm.
The norm used to be participating without having seen all of the media because all of the media was difficult to come by, and that’s why fandoms like Due South and Stargate where popular at the time: you could easily read fic/participate by having seen just one episode or even just having read a synopsis. The same goes for procedural dramas.
It was accessible, in a way. It does make me sad that the bar for fandom entry these days seems oddly high for something that’s supposed to be for & about having fun.