fangrrl_squees: (Default)
aka Britgeekgrrl ([personal profile] fangrrl_squees) wrote2008-10-12 12:30 pm

Changing Tack, Slightly...

I've been a grumpy fan, of late and a thousand pardons for that. My so-called real life is being a bit bothersome at the moment.

So, to (partially) counteract the crankiness, allow me to share:

Fans Who Give Fandom A Good Name.

(or why I haven't thrown my hands in the air and taken up macrame, instead)

- Cheerfulness. Granted, when you get a group of fans all together at some fannish event, being of good cheer isn't too terribly difficult but, damn, the SF/F crowd can take it to some significant levels. Grumpy fans really have to work at being grumpy when at a con, methinks.

- Generosity. The fannish crowd seems to delight in going above and beyond when it comes to good causes and helping folks out. Whoever thought of setting up a blood drive at San Diego Comic Con was a genius - sweetening the pot with donor-only goodies probably didn't hurt but, still... I saw hundreds of folks on the sign-up sheet at the blood-bank table. If only a third of them came through, it still would have been a significant turnout.

- Optimism. Related to, but not the same as being cheerful. I ascribe this to the genre, really - find me a fan who doesn't believe, just a bit, that we're eventually going to get past our collective Terrible Twos and get off this rock.

- Open-mindedness. My rant about smug pagans/atheists/etc, aside, I've found that you rarely see conservative and SF fan in the same sentence - well, not since the Golden Age days... ;)

- Welcoming. Just try to stop a fan from introducing you to their fandom, should you voice the slightest interest. No, really.

- A willingness to embrace the absurd. Because, c'mon, if we're going to dig stories about time travellers, space-ships, sentient machines, giant space-traversing flowers and whatnot, you've got to be willing to be a little silly, occasionally.
ext_3685: Stylized electric-blue teapot, with blue text caption "Brewster North" (*mwah*)

[identity profile] brewsternorth.livejournal.com 2008-10-13 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Inorite? That's why I am definitely coming back to Gally. No way I'm missing out on that.

[identity profile] brithistorian.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely right here - I wouldn't be living in my current house if not for get generous qualities of fans. When I was looking to move from New Orleans to Minneapolis, a fannish friend (who I only knew through LJ) who was about to move out of this house convinced her landlady to rent it to us without meeting us and we moved into it sight unseen. (And yes, I know it could have turned out horribly, but I trusted my friend, and the landlady trusted my friend, and it turned out well.)

[identity profile] fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow! That's amazing!

Yay for fans! :)