diaphenia

I haven't read your latest story because I devoted my fic reading time to reading an AU in which... you know what, it doesn't matter, the point is that I need forgiveness and absolution, and as I don't have religion I need it from you, and the fandom at large.

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princess-george.livejournal.com

Dude, my latest story is all of 850 words. You can eat it up with a spoon in approximately three point five minutes. That includes leaving a comment. It's not one of my 8000 word epics or anything like that.

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Whoooa after Jen's comment I had to go check if I missed anything of yours ~just in case~ and I totally did! What am I doing with my life?!? Reading now.

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lizinstereo.livejournal.com

You're having a fandom rumspringa.

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It's just... I've never had a fandom before, I never read fan fic for other things, and I don't know how to handle this. I've seen people who write in four different fandoms at once, and I find it fascinating. How. Parks takes up all my free time.

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lizinstereo.livejournal.com

I've never loved a fandom as much as Parks fandom. I read/dabble Mad Men and Glee communities, but they aren't nearly as much fun. I used to lurk in Harry Potter fandom - that shit was bananas.

It's okay to like more than one thing! Just let me know what tags you're using on tumblr so I can block the stuff I don't care about.

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I mean. I know, on some level, that I don't just have to like Parks. But I also don't want to lose everyone! This is a small fandom, we have to stick together ~~and not abandon me~~.

But yeah, I just love this fandom so much is the problem. I worry that Parks will get cancelled not just because that would suck, but because then what will we all do with our time? I don't know how everyone will stick together if everyone finds a new fandom.

I don't post much about this weird obsession on tumblr, but it's all under: The Hunger Games

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Well, when you decide you need help, we're here. Although I'm guessing the Hunger Games fandom is a lot bigger than ours. So you may get lost forever.

DON'T LEAVE US. THERE'S NO JEAN-RALPHIO EQUIVALENT IN HUNGER GAMES.

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I can't leave Parks. I can't write for the Hunger Games, you know this, because I wouldn't even begin to know how to write for HG. Almost everything's depressing over there,

stillscape, just everything. And I'd be writing wacky AUs or something, and people would be so confused, because everything would be fast-paced and screwball, and no one would ever let anyone finish a sentence, and it would be terrible.

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I mean, the crossover potential is kind of epic. You know you want tiny Ron Swanson to be a tribute.

I don't think I could do HG fandom, just for the depression factor.

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I just can't picture Pawneeans, or even Indianapoliseans, killing teenagers. I just can't.

It's super depressing, and I don't know why I'm reading it but I can't stop.

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jncar.livejournal.com

lol :-)

Being a multi-fandomer is okay. It's a normal, natural thing. Nothing to be ashamed of.

I tend to be pretty fandom-monogamous when it comes to fic-writing, but I've been a multi-fandomer for reading fic / discussions / etc. for years now. Welcome to the club.

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How in the world do you separate your headspace, though? Because when I, say, marathon a bunch of THG fic, and then try to write Parks, I just can't. Especially given that a lot of writers over there have just such a different style of writing, that I start wanting to write really weird, dark stuff I'm completely incapable of writing.

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jncar.livejournal.com

I don't know? I actually skimmed back through my fic index, and I've been completely writing-monogamous with just one exception where I dipped my toes back into a previous fandom a couple of years after moving on.

But I was involved in LOST discussion boards and some fic reading all through my Harry Potter fandom days, and on up through my brief stint in Heroes fandom and the beginning of my time in Star Trek fandom. I just flitted back and forth.

Right now I don't actively engage in any other fandom discussions, but I'll check out stories / graphics / discussions / reviews / etc. for Community, Once Upon a Time and Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra.

I guess as an aspiring professional fiction writer I've trained my headspace to move fluidly from fic-verse to fic-verse without too much adjustment time. The biggest adjustment I have to do is with my original stuff, TBH. I write for both kids and adults, and when I switch to kid writing after reading/writing adult stuff I usually have to read some kid-fiction to get my mind back in the right mode. Other than that I don't have a problem.

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This is just fascinating. I suppose you have practice, and I hadn't thought about it, but swinging from fantasy to sitcoms has to be a challenge, too. To say nothing of adult vs kid.

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Ooooh HG fic recs, please.

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Oh my god, I can't do that to you. You'll be here all day.

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Well save some favorites up for me for when school is out and I have nothing to do.

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I've compiled my recs here (http://delicious.com/diaphenia/Fandom%3A%20THG).

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Yay, thanks! I'm going to try to resist until school is out, because I have been down that rabbit hole before. Once upon a time I started casually reading some fic from the show Parks and Recreation.

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Several months later I was on an airplane to meet you.

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I feel like Parks fans are probably, on the whole, less likely to be serial killers than Hunger Games fans.

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whimsical-irony.livejournal.com

You are hilarious and I love you. I never knew fandom could be this stressful, haha.

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These are the things that happen in my head.

I can't even explain it.

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In my eight (?) years in fandom, I have read in the following places: Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls, The Office, The Daily show/Colbert report (oh god that was not a good point in my life), 30 rock, West Wing, Bones, HIMYM, Community, Castle, Chuck, Star Wars, Harry Potter (movies), Arrested Development and I look for fic with every new fandom. It's baaaaaad. Of course, I only read. I do not write.
Oh. And Parks.

And tbh, maybe it's because I'm more participatory in Parks fandom, but it is unlike any fandom I've been part of. The writers, readers, and everyone else are just so amazing. It's pure joy. There's no wank...even in the heyday of The Office, there was wank. (For example, I did not like Karen, which lead me to not like Rashida, which WAS THE WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE.)

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Amber, I have two questions.

(1) What in the world does Daily Show/Colbert Report fic consist of? Colbert/Neil Degrass Tyson?

(2) So, explain the difference between the Parks fandom and every other fandom, because I don't know what that's like. For one thing, there doesn't seem to be many of us compared to, say, other fandoms. Tell me more though.

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1. Stewart/Colbert over the 2004 election and after Stephen leaves and how lonely it gets... It was not a good time in my life. I think that should be repeated. Also...I WAS 15 AT THE TIME. WHAT KIND OF FIFTEEN YEAR OLD DOES THAT. It was a very strange time...and at 15 I was still growing into myself. I think that bears repeating. Some people do drugs in high school...I read RPF slash fic for comedy newsmen. ANYWAY.

2. Any opinions you see here come from my own experiences in fandom. And despite my youth, I've been around the fandom block a few times.

Well, like...the joy that comes down from Amy and flows through the cast and crew...it comes down to the fandom as well. Add to that the fact that it's smaller. A lot of fandoms are stretched because of shipping wars, but we don't really have those, because the romantic relationships are not THE FOCUS of the show.

Like let's be real here, we don't have Harry/Hermione vs. Ron/Hermione (goodship ftw btw.) The biggest arguments about shipping come from like, whether or not we think Ann and Tom should break up or not, which will not make or break the show for us. And even if we do disagree, it doesn't change the lens through which we view the show and the characters.

We love the romance aspect of it, but the characters in Parks and Rec exist independently from their romantic relationships. In a lot of other fandoms, that's all people care about, myself included. I read gen fanfic in this fandom...I RARELY do that in other fandoms (exceptions: HIMYM, Community, and sometimes West Wing).

With a lot of fandoms (again, this is my experience experiencing), there is a sense of elitism. Like, there are the queens of the fandom, and they are part of this select group that you don't get to be a part of. They've "watched the show from the beginning" or they "write the good stuff" and so they know it better than you do, so you can't have your opinions. I don't think we have that in Parks. Like, you and stillscape and fairytiger and craponaspatuala and rikyl and jncar and shornt and scullyseviltwin etc. write the fanfic and run the fandom (if that makes sense?) but you don't object to us youngins and newbies hopping in and trying our hand and having insights and drabbles or whatever else we try to do.

Like, I don't write fanfic. I do not have that kind of skill. I'm good at talking and telling stories and being persuasive, but that does not translate well to writing fiction. (Just imagine me reading this post as if I'm giving a very impassioned Leslie-esque speech.) I think a lot of things about my shows, though. But because I don't write the stories about them, a lot of people in a lot of fandoms do not take you seriously. And even if we're silly or whatever, in the Parks fandom, you're not pushed aside. You discover the show, you discover the fandom, and it's like what happens in my family: you come home with the show for the firs time, your girlfriend's Great-Aunt Jayne you've never met before gives you a big hug and welcomes you. You're probably very confused and wondering if she's drunk, but you enjoy it nevertheless. (In this mostly-convoluted metaphor, your girlfriend is Parks and Recreation and the family is fandom and Great-Aunt Jayne is...well...probably you. It's okay though. She's still pretty young!)

We make new friends but keep the old ones. We support each other through good times and bad. The hardcore fandom is pretty small, but I think Parks has a broad base of support. I don't think there's anyone who knows good tv that doesn't like the show, even if they aren't rabid fans like we are. We have great role models in the cast and crew and writers and showrunners. It's not like Rob Lowe/Aaron Sorkin or Dan Harmon/Chevy Chase...everyone gets along pretty well and it's like sunshine (which is why I wore a bright yellow shirt today).

TL;DR: Essentially what it boils down to is that we are probably weirdoes, but we're weirdoes who care about this show and who care about each other.

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holy shit that was longer than I anticipated it being.

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This is just a wonderful explanation. Because, let's be honest, I just don't have any other experience that can compare to being in the fandom. It's weird to me, given that I've never had internet friends before, and I never really assumed I could care about a bunch of people I've never met. And of course I'd never meet them, obviously. And then I jumped in and discovered you could care for a bunch of people you've never met, even if you don't have their last names, and that it's not really better or worse than your local friends, just a different way to get to know quality people.

Insightful stuff, Amber. I just love this.

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It's not better, it's not worse, it's just different. I expressed this to a friend of mine that I met through another fandom and she agreed. It's something that people in our ~everyday lives probably won't ever understand and we can't really explain it to them because I don't think it's explainable. I tried to explain to my IRL friends that I know that "I watch Parks with a great group of people online and that's why I can't just 'watch it tomorrow'" and they just don't get it at all.

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This is why the internet is great! You get to meet people based on liking the same stuff, rather than meeting people based on geography and then hoping you like some of the same stuff.

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I find it extremely funny that you'd describe yourself as a newbie and me as one of the people "running" the fandom. I'm pretty sure you've been here longer than I have. (Although I have been watching the show since the beginning...but I only started writing last July.) And this is my first real fandom. I was in a band fandom for a while, way back in college, but that was just message boards and chats, no fic or anything. Obviously.

We probably should name the whole fandom Weirdos who Care. That totally works.

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I watched the first few episodes as part of my THURSDAYS OF TELEVISION but liked a boy too much to honestly pay attention to getting into the show. I really got into it around Camping.

But I've never been a STALWART OF FANDOM and that's the difference. I don't generate content, and y'all do. But this is the first time that this lack of content-generating has still allowed me to really participate in fandom and not treat me like a crazy.

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Seconding naming the group Weirdos Who Care. Perfect.

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I'll draft a resolution.

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RESOLUTION DRAFTED

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This is just so great. And so is our little corner of fandom! I'm pleased to learn that we are special, because of course we are. I've never been really involved in fandom before, I've watched from the sidelines but never have felt compelled to participate until I stumbled across this community. And even then I never planned on getting involved to the extent that I have, let alone create content of any kind. But it was totally inevitable, because who wouldn't want to get involved with such delightful people?

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