It is true, I am shallow

[trinityvixen]

Explain to me what is fandom to other, normal people. I have this idea that I am insane. It's probably a correct appraisal of my behavior, but all the same, I'd like to know that I'm not alone.

[Poll #1192336]

I just needed to poll. I realize I'm currently fascinated and frustrated by fandoms for two works that really are problematic to be fannish about aside from just enjoying the canon product. One is Battlestar Galactica; the other is Iron Man. The former is hard to enjoy the fan off-shoots because NOTHING is as good as the show. Reading the scripts from the show isn't as good as the show because the show flies less on the words and plot than it does on the acting that makes it happen. The latter is problematic because, gosh darn it, it's pretty near perfect and there's hardly a thing to add or subtract from it, dramatically. (Which makes me very scared for the sequel prospects, but we'll see.)

This is really annoying, in case I haven't made that clear. Stupid fandoms. They're eating my life and giving almost nothing back. And, on top of that, I have trouble mustering interest in anything else. I have friggin' Doctor Who--AND IT'S GOOD!--that I'm not watching because I'm moping around waiting for next Friday (and the inevitable DVD release of Iron Man since I am too po' to go back to the theater again). I thought maybe I'd decompressed after a couple of days with no BSG on the horizon. Nope. I'm back to refreshing TWoP every hour in hopes of a recap update. GAAAAhHHHHH.

How do other people get un-obsessed with fandom? HELP ME!!

Comments

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I can't really help--I'm not a fandom person. I like things, but nothing obsessively. Doctor Who is probably the closest right now, and that just means I look forward to new episodes every week and sometimes discuss the episodes with friends. I don't post on message boards, I don't read or write fanfic (though that could be argued, since I write tie-in novels), and I do read related news when people send me articles or links but I never seek them out.

Hm, maybe that's my problem. Maybe I need to find a fandom or two. :)

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Wow, you write tie-in novels? That's like, one of my (sort of abandoned because I didn't know what kind of connections one had to have to do it) goals in life. *ENVY*

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

I do, yes--Star Trek, StarCraft, WarCraft, Warhammer, Exalted, and a junior novelization, thus far. Thank you for the envy. :)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I am totally obsessive. I want to ache with people when I watch something that made me wibble. I also write pages-long meta about stuff that no one reads because OMG I never shut up when I'm excited.

I understand about not reading fanfic, though. It's pretty much ruined my brain and you have possible legal consequences, so, yeah, I'd avoid it, too.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

I'm not dissing that mindset, and sometimes I'm even a little envious--I don't know that I've ever been that into any show/series/book/comic/game. Afraid I'm just not a geebler. :)

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

See, that's the thing. When I was in high school I became so obsessed with whatever it was. I felt so strongly about it. But as I got older... I don't really feel that strongly about any of my interests, fannish or otherwise. In a sense that makes me sad, like I've lost something. On the other hand, obsession to the exclusion of other things wasn't that healthy to begin with. :)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm in gryphonrose's camp on this one. I have shows/books/movies/whatever that I like a lot, but I don't really do the obsessive thing. I think it's the same reason why I have a dozen artistic-y hobbies and am fabulous at none of them, or why I was third in my class and didn't win any of the academic awards - I don't specialize. Heck, when I'm in a RPG, I almost always end up playing a utility character, not someone really good at one thing. I get easily distracted and I don't like investing that much time and energy in any one thing.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

See, and characters are the one place I CAN be obsessive. Okay, that and stories--the ones I write/run, not the ones I watch/read. I like to develop my RPG characters completely, so I really know them. I just don't talk about them all that much outside of play.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Actually, from that perspective, so do I. But I usually have several characters - from stories I'm working on, games I'm playing, random daydreaming - in different stages of development, so I don't usually focus on one to a level of obsession. I jump around mentally.