Who here is familiar with the term 'fandom'? Good- raise your hands in the Vulcan salute. Now put them down, because I can't see you anyway, so it's no big deal. You may not have even put them up. I don't mind- you don't have to do that for me.
Anyway- a fandom is a group of people who are absolutely head-over-heels in love with a specific show/book series or something like. The Harry Potter fandom is one example, with Potterheads flying flags in all Hogwarts House colors. And the Gleeks, Glee fans who dance in their living rooms and croon the songs sung every week by...whatever that school is (can you tell I'm not really a Glee person?).
Fandoms are everywhere. They're big, they're small (the fandoms of more obscure shows, for example. I can't think of any, but if you go to fanfiction.net you'll see listings for shows with only a few stories written.), but they're always ful if people who are absolutely passionate for their favored show/book.
And the fanfiction. Oh, the glorious fanfiction that comes from the people who belong to these fandoms. Not familiar with fanfiction? That's ok- by the time you're done reading this, you will be. You'll know of several stories, several very good authors, and will wonder how on earth you ever survived without reading stories about Tony Stark's accidental engagement to Pepper Potts.
Ok. Maybe you won't wonder how you ever went without that. But this may lead you down a path that will provide many, many hours of entertainment.
My fandom participation began long ago with Star Trek: Voyager, a show that I've been a fan of ever since the premiere over ten years ago. Such a fan was I that my best friends parents got me a picture of Kate Mulgrew's trailer as a gift (Captain Janeway). And I framed it. I also wrote fanfiction.
You're probably (okay, I know you are) rolling your eyes at this. Fanfiction? Silly, right? Wrong. So wrong. Did you know that Fifty-Shades-Of-This-Is-Just-Awful was a fanfiction? Did you know Mercedes Lackey used to write fanfiction? Well, she did- and now she's famous. Fanfiction has been around forever, and it honestly is one of the best ways I've found to kill time between seasons, or to find new ways to look at characters you enjoy watching.
There's a great website (which I already mentioned), fanfiction.net. There you shall find a crazy assortment of fanfiction ranging from absolutely tame to burning corneas mature. The downside to fanfiction is that anyone can write it, so you'll come across quite a few that are just awful- grammar, spelling, you make it. There will be many that fall under PWP (Plot, what plot?), and countless pieces that are under 1,000 words. One of my favorite fanfics is well over 50,000 words. The range is insane, but fanfiction.net has a great filter system that allows anything for pairings (think you're the only one who imagined Fargo and Dr Blake hooking up on "Eureka"? You're probably not.) to ratings.
The fandom world may appear obsessive to many, but I can tell you this- it can be the most accepting community you'll ever hope to meet. The people I spoke with, beta'd for (to beta is to edit and/or read a fic for someone.) and wrote with were the people who didn't judge me for doing what I did, and the people who challenged me to write scenarios I'd have never thought up on my own.
Fandoms are everywhere, and they're just going to keep getting bigger. So allons-y, my fellow Whovians, and Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies. Because while life can take a lot from us, it can never take the sky from me.
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