OTW Fannews: Looking Back

• Romance writer Keira Andrews discussed how attitudes toward fandom and fan fiction have changed over the years. “Fandom was Fight Club, and we didn’t discuss it with showrunners or actors… Sometimes I really miss the days of having our own secret world, but that horse is out of the barn and galloping out of sight… I honestly think that you have to be a fan to understand fandom. Many people know about fandom now, but they’re still Muggles, if you will. Or maybe Squibs.”
• Celebuzz ranked pop music fan base names. “In the world of pop fandom, it is de rigueur to name the fan base to which you belong (or to have your chosen idol name it for you.) Over the last several years, we have seen groups with nicknames like Little Monsters, Beliebers, and Arianators grow into power and change the way we talk about musicians and their fans.”
• On PasteTV, Amy Glynn talked about how binge-watching Buffy got her through her divorce. “All I wanted was a timeout from my own reality; a break. I wasn’t expecting a breakthrough. But a Joss-curated trip back to growing up showed me some interesting stuff about adulthood. It was also the first step back to my ‘real’ life, or whatever was going to be real from here on out. The first time around, Buffy made me laugh. This time, it made me see.”
• Keidra Chaney of The Learned Fangirl reviewed rock critic Gina Arnold’s book about the 1993 album, Exile in Guyville. “[I]t’s about the culture and mindset of the early 90′s indie rock scene in Chicago and beyond, the hyper-masculine, hyper-obsessive club dubbed ‘Guyville’ by Phair and others at the time. It’s also about the changes in technology and culture that have changed what it means to be a part of the indie rock scene as a performer or a fan in the past 20 years.”

What changes have you seen in your fandom? Write about it in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in a Fannews post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.