Snowflake Challenge Day 12

[cornerofmadness]

In your own space, talk about what you think the future holds for fandom. What are your hopes and dreams for fandom? Do you have any predictions about what the next five years holds for fandom?

This one is so very hard. If you had asked me a few years ago I'd have said fandom would continue as fandom always has. Now we have governmental proposals that could end it (and I doubt all the petitions in the world would stop if they got serious). We have Amazon trying to sell it (and I'm not a supporter of that. It's one thing to have fun with someone else's creation, another to make money off their backs).

But I do think fandom will survive and thrive somehow. I think it might be leaving me behind a little. You have to understand, I'm pushing 50 (holy hell, how did THAT happen?). I've been in fandom for nearly 37 years now. I've been in it from the paper APA days. I moved on line where Fanfiction.net was one of the end all/be alls of fandom. Then came the forums and yahoo mailing lists and all the personal website archives.

But almost as quickly within just a few years, fandom moved to blogs, livejournal especially. I kicked my feet but I went along with it and it will be 10 years this March and until 2013, it was a thriving fandom home, in spite of all the issues. I'm not feeling this move to tumblr, I'm really not. I don't like the interface, or the lack of cuts and I simply do not have the time for one more social media. Also nearly a decade of doing it one way is hard to change.

I'm not sure my future in fandom is all that bright. Whether or not I change to follow the fandoms, my time for fanfic is fading but for a good reason. I'm making big strides as a professional author. By June I'll have two novellas and a novel for sale. Most of my time is spent doing that.

But I DO love fandom. I have made some of my longest friendships through fandom (seriously I've known some of them for 30 years now). I would be sad to lose it entirely. I've found the fans supportive (and I'm hoping they'll continue to support my own pro efforts). I've found fans to be wild and crazy.

The one thing I don't see changing in the future for fandom is everyone getting along. It's a beautiful dream but there will always be those who don't see the fandom as you do. Which is fine (points to an earlier snowflake challenge, there are plenty of pairings I don't like for example) But there are those who will make you miserable if you don't like the things they do. I'll never understand that.

Hmm this came out grimmer than I intended but it is truthful.