Life in a fandom is wonderful yet heartbreaking. It is full of joy yet full of sorrow. The fictional world you find yourself getting lost in or the band whose music you listen to continuously all serve one purpose: to distract you from the real world. Fandom life can serve its purpose well. It can take your mind off the hideousness of reality. However, sometimes it works a little too well.
Sometimes, your anchor in reality slowly starts to drift away and you find yourself swept up in the fandom. There are endless blogs to scroll through, endless fan fictions to read, endless fan videos to watch. There is so much out there at the tip of your fingertips that it is nearly impossible not to get caught up in it. Fandoms can break your heart but also make you feel as if you finally belong somewhere. It's a complicated love-hate relationship.
So may I now introduce you to Sam Winchester, a character from the CW series "Supernatural" who truly understands what you're going through. And he's here to tell you that you're certainly not alone.
First, you're introduced to the thing. May it be because of a discovery unearthed by chance or because of a friend's influence, the first time you dive into a fandom can be quite a terrifying thing. You're unsure of what exactly to expect. Initially, you may only pretend to be enthusiastic.
But, the bad part about binge-watching is you can easily go through a nine-season show in less than two weeks. And now you're left with no new content. And you're not exactly willing to accept that.
But then you remember that the internet is a thing, filled with people just like you. Soon enough, you find them. You stumble upon entire blogs and websites designed by fans that are run by some of the coolest people ever that are ready to talk endlessly about your favorite thing. And stumbling upon these people for the first time is a beautiful moment in one's life.
You realize you are not alone. There are people out there who are as in love with this thing as you are. They want to talk about this thing endlessly just like you. You share a common passion and you realize you can hang on until next season as long as you have a great community of people that are trying to get through it also. The online community gets it more than people in your immediate life tend to. Because it seems like you're constantly having to defend yourself with your family and friends who just don't get it the way these people do. While you're all like:
because of a season finale, your family just looks at you like:
But they also are able to talk you out of it, because apparently that's quite a rude thing to say. Oh well. But you still have a hard time accepting the story line the writers have got going for your favorite characters.
So now you delve into the world of fan fiction. A beautiful and oftentimes horrifying place often filled with unnecessary sexual encounters and undisclosed feelings.
But, in the end, you respect what the writers are doing and you know your love for this fandom and the world it revolves around will never dissipate. It's something you're endlessly passionate about and no matter what people try to tell you, you will always be a part of it.
Because at the end of the day:
