ADD+OCD=OMG

ireallyhatecornnuts:

deans1911:

One of my roommates just called me a pervert for writing fanfiction, and all I can think is, ‘Fuck you.’ I’m not just sitting at my computer like a psycho, obsessing over fictional characters. I’m one tiny part of a fandom microcosm. We create things. We facilitate discussion over moral values and free will. We conduct graduate level research into questions of integrity and courage and religious beliefs. We tear apart a meticulously constructed universe to examine themes of gender roles and heteronormative behavior, and we transcend language and cultural barriers to stamp out society’s emphasis on body stereotypes, misogyny, socioeconomic status, and what it means to be a tragic hero in a postmodern world barren of true grand narratives. But really, I just write raunchy gay porn.

This is the thing, though.

People view fandom through the lens of documentaries like “Trekkies,” and the whole Beatlemania phenomenon  What they fail to understand is that, yeah, those are all extreme fans, and yeah, they do exist, but for every “traditional” batshit-crazy fangirl, there are ten tearing the media they’re viewing apart and reconstructing it into something new, just for them. They do this through metacritical analysis, through fanfiction, through fanart, through various arts and crafts, and through going to conventions and interacting with the original creators of the media on a face-to-face basis. And what people often fail to understand is that these fangirls and boys? They’re productive members of society. They have jobs. Families. Friends. Lives that are enriched by the fandom they participate in and the media they consume. 

The best friends I’ve ever had, I’ve made through fandom.

Some of the most interesting experiences I’ve had, I’ve had because of fandom.

Because of fandom my writing skills have improved in leaps and bounds.

Because of fandom I got a job writing for a newspaper without having ever set foot in a college classroom, based purely on my writing talents (which were, as I said before, improved almost entirely on the fact that I was writing fanfiction and receiving real-time constructive criticism on it).

So fuck anyone who thinks that writing fanfiction is gross or creepy or perverted. I feel deeply sad for people who aren’t in a fandom, because the level of connection you can share with people who have the exact same interests as you, and the interesting debates you can get into with people who don’t, is an awe-inspiring thing.

(Source: , via bemusedlybespectacled)