Anyone ever think about why some TV shows (or movies, books, etc) inspire you to be active in the fandom, and others don’t? I don’t know about other people, but I typically have one TV show at time that I’m truly obsessed over, and want to discuss with others, and read/write fanfic for. My other TV shows I just watch. I enjoy them, but most of the time when an episode finishes, I don’t really think about it again till it airs the next week.
Are there factors which make a show a fandom show for you?
For me, it’s 100% the OTP factor. I would so LIKE to transition out of OUAT to any one of the much better shows that I watch and enjoy (and all of them are better), but I just can’t find an OTP that moves me like Rumbelle does.
^^ same
Also, I am consistent about this because I have watched other really terrible shows because of OTPs. (Ask me about V 2009 and my lizards in love sometime.)
The OTP factor has been mentioned by several people….so I’ll rephrase the question. What makes an OTP, an OTP for you? Is there a magic formula? Does it have to do with liking the actors, or have you noticed similarities in your OTP’s stories? Or is it all just random and unexplainable?
And if any multi-shippers see this (I know I’m mutuals with a few), I’d love your input as well. If you multi-ship, then obviously you don’t have just ONE True Pairing….so how does fandom fever strike for you?
This looks like an interesting discussion *slides in quietly at the back*
Ok this might sound weird but a show becomes a fandom show for me, not actually because of anything to do with the show but because of the fandom itself. If I like a show then I will google it and read fanfic, watch fanvids etc. That will sometimes lead me to stumble across fandom, through fansites etc. It’s the people in the fandom that get me to join.
Now I admit I liked Once Upon a Time a lot before I joined the fandom. I liked it more than I liked most shows even before I got to fandom. My love for Once Upon a Time is second only to my love of Stargate. I’d written tens of thousands of words of blog posts analyzing story arcs, character motivations etc. I’d even written some fanfic before I ever joined the fandom. However, I never would have written the 400k of fanfic that I have without the community here on tumblr. It doesn’t matter how much I like a show, I’m inherently lazy.
The Rumbelle fandom is fantastic with all the events, and the prompts, and the interaction. I never get to talk about what I love in real life because nobody shares my interests. Being enthusiastic with others, makes me more enthusiastic generally. I guess there’s also a right place, right time element. The stars align or whatever. I have to be in the right place in my life etc. I’ve only been in two fandoms, and there was a ten year gap in between them.
I jumped into the Rumbelle fandom because I don’t like to miss out on things. The first Rumbelle is Hope was happening about the time I found the fandom and well the rest is history. However, at the end of the day it still comes back to the people. I stumbled across the Rumbelle fandom on tumblr, I lurked reading a few of your blogs for a few weeks before I ever joined. I found you to be intelligent, interesting, nice people with great senses of humor. It was a community I wanted to be a part of and that’s basically it.
A little backwards perhaps, but a show becomes a fandom show for me because of the fandom, and a great big dose of right place, right time.