Just Make It - Why You Should Try Being in Fandoms

By Serena Wang

When it comes to watching something new, it always feels like I finish it too fast. Like, it’s over in an hour, but I still want more. I’m sure it’s something you’ve felt before too, searching around for some exclusive clips or a new interview – but there’s never enough content.

Now, I can’t speak for everyone when I say this, but I personally obsess over characters the moment I see them. They live at the front of my mind for weeks and months on end – but all there is to do is rewatching, reading, scrolling over and over again. Something about them captures people. Maybe they sound cool. Maybe they’re good at something you like. Or maybe they look good. Whatever the reason, they are the characters our eyes sparkle for on mention, the perfect topic to talk about for hours. The beautiful settings, unforgettable quotes and the tear-wrenching stories beg to be discussed, explored in the words tumbling from your tongue – but when the day’s over and your friends are, frankly, tired of your yapping, where will it all go? You need an outlet, somewhere for all that love to go.

I’ve loved too many series to count, but without exception, I’ve always gone to fan-works. These are artistic pieces made by fans of specific media, just for the love of it, from the simple story re-write to painted canvases of their favourite scenes. It’s where I go when the content isn’t enough, and so has it for millions of people online. You can find fan-works nearly everywhere, from most social medias or online forums to published books – some fan-works have been so notable that publishers were willing to print them – and poster prints. They come in each and every style, but generally in the form of art, songs and writing, with such a wide range of personal flair you could never tire of.

Depending on the community, some will have more fan-writing than others, but all share a culture-rich form of writing – fanfiction. It’s what it says: fictional stories written by fans. If you hated the original’s ending, chances are that someone thought the same. And if you wanted something new, chances are that someone’s already written it too. Fanfiction takes the chance to riff off the ‘canon’, deviating from the original story, usually with the same characters down an alternate timeline. Fanfictions also usually come in tropes, like classic high-school romances or apocalyptic worlds that give writers space to explore the characters even further. The community is extremely diverse, creative, with millions of writers making fanfiction worldwide, and uplifting to be in.

It has become a stated point in fan spaces that people refuse to allow negativity for fan-works. Though the community is only brought together by media, people band together against judgement with great fierceness. With the growing impression of art needing to meet a certain standard, many start judging other people’s art or their own. Fandom spaces have always stood against this. They are welcoming, appreciative and collectively excited about art. After all, fans are looking for content, and every piece of art is beautiful. Artists uplift each other, passionate for all types of artistic expression, regardless of skill level.

If you’ve ever thought about wanting more, I cannot recommend fan-works enough. To find communities and groups all for your favourite shows, seeing someone’s handmade movie poster, reading the perfect retelling of your favourite book; fandom spaces are beautifully unified in a mutual love for something. And that really could not be any better. So, if you’ve got nothing on tonight, try giving your favourites a search online. Make some friends to talk about them. Hell, if somehow, you can’t find the fan-work you’re looking for, just make it yourself. The fun of art is that it’s never limited to rules – do whatever you want, forever.