Buffy, of course, also came into being with the internet and so its success was partly augmented by the rise of the blogosphere and by the online culture of fandom . It also captured the academic imagination. The subdiscipline of Buffy studies, combining institutional academic criticism and theory with fandom and unlicensed criticism in the public sphere,
When you visit the theme parks, is that something that has also inspired you over the years to participate in cookbooks of the food experience outside of the fandom stuff?
But many are not And it's, I think, somewhat difficult to maintain a sort of a robust ecosystem of viewership and of fandom in a world where many high-level games are drawn in somewhat rote fashion, perfect though the play may have been. And for players too, I think this can be frustrating.
Like when I'm researching Lil' Kim or Biggie and these kinds of artists, back then brands, luxury houses, or bigger brands are from the fandom , and access as far as having access to brands and the fashion industry as artists and how that has changed.
--it's modernized, modernized "Star Wars." You mentioned kind of what drew you to the fandom in terms of how it felt and your mother. What was your first fandom experience? Was it a convention?
There are some entry level drugs that get to the-- but the mania, I think, comes from her out of proportion fandom for this particular writer. And so the times where she is rewarded with something-- hearing that he's got another book coming out, or--
And these are-- Yuletide is specifically for rare and obscure fandoms . So it's the fandoms where you never get to see a story in your tiny little fandom . I've gotten-- I'm trying to think what the mode-- and people can submit, can ask for the most obscure, most bizarre, things.
And normally, there's that kind of geek hierarchy where if you're the science fiction writer, you're on a higher level of the hierarchy. But in fandom that doesn't-- in fanfic that doesn't happen. Because you are writing for people that you know are-- you're hoping are going to write you something back.
I'm the author of "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe," which is-- I have to pinch myself every time I say this-- the first complete history of the franchise and its fandom . And I very much wanted to show both aspects, both the history and the example of folks, like Mr. Vader, here, who tend to take their love for the movie in a very creative direction.
Yeah. I tried to find like early examples of viral content pre Google and it is hard. There are some but it was a lot of fandom communities like the XFiles had like a pretty big internet presence. um Star Trek like it it it's like the stereotypes were sort of true in that sense.
But "Jedi", seven years old, 1983-- the world opened up. And how did you fall into the fandom ? Because watching the movies and enjoying them at home is one thing.
This was not something where anybody had any notion that this would be commercially viable, that this would escape from a very tiny audience. And much like with comics fandom , yes, you did swipes. People would take characters and re-appropriate them, because it wasn't really for commercial purposes.
It is an interesting question My relationship with YLAB? I am good with them Our relationship is combination of fandom , loyalty, family and they also help me with money and legal issues When I say something and it is contractual issue, they would review even though it is against their profit
We've been waiting for this. We're the best at fandom . We're the best at supporting our team.
That sounds great, here we go. Like the Disney Wikia Haunted Mansion fandom is hardcore, and they have resolved all the canon.
You get more by building a community, not just around your fandom but about the specific characters, or the specific pairing. People do a lot of shipping in fandom . You get people to write you stories that are not just-- you don't just want people to write you stories in a particular fandom , necessarily.
it's just-- and it became much like JJ Abrams in "Lens Flares" or something later on. It's a really wonderful meta comment on the fandom .
You break the stick, you put it down, and you will respawn exactly where that insert was located. And if the platform allows for that and the fandom allows for that, then you have an open door for creative spaces.
been seen before. Like, for "Golden Girls," we were looking at the-- what did you call it? Like, the fandom around it and what that meant to people who are queer, even though the show wasn't explicitly queer. And we found different stories about how the show itself had affected us.
And how do you get more? You get more by basically building a community around your fandom . You get more by building a community, not just around your fandom but about the specific characters, or the specific pairing.
You also want people to be encouraged to leave comments, to talk. Because those comments-- the more commenting is going on in a fandom , the more likely it is that somebody else is going to want to jump in and write their own stories. Because they know they're going to get a lot of feedback.
And they're like, this story-- that idea is good, but they did so badly. It's also meant that people who run challenges in fandom are frequently the kinds of people who have large communities and lots of friends.
They sign up for something between-- they say I'll write a story at any one of these six fandoms . And I want a story in any one of these four fandoms . And we match them up.
And this giant exchange happens where everybody is writing these stories. And these are-- Yuletide is specifically for rare and obscure fandoms . So it's the fandoms where you never get to see a story in your tiny little fandom .
And when I was talking earlier about different fandoms , the Harry Potter sets went into hibernation for a few years based on licensing and movies. And so, they're coming out with new sets in
But I think he got there first. OK. How do you think fandom has changed from hanging out with your friends at the slumber party, the convention in 2011? Have you seen anything happen in terms of the fan base or in terms of the organization?
want to get a sense of uh of the room of your Hamilton awareness or fandom or
So it was pretty interesting, the power of fandom and the internet teaming together can really do some fun things.
And they're like, this story-- that idea is good, but they did so badly. They're both starting from the same place of being invested in the fandom .
Buffy the Vampire Slayer used to be one of the most popular fandoms in FanFiction, The Lord of the Rings, just about any TV show, movie, book, even there's FanFiction about
But it's possible. The "Archie" license model-- Right. --it's modernized, modernized "Star Wars." You mentioned kind of what drew you to the fandom in terms of how it felt and your mother. What was your first fandom experience?
why does stuff like that matter? I think someone smarter than me can maybe explain it, but it's part of that fandom . I'm a Beatles fan and a Beatles nut, and it's like I have a book that details every professional day of the Beatles from late '50s
of fandom . It also captured the academic imagination. The subdiscipline of Buffy studies, combining institutional academic criticism and theory with fandom and unlicensed criticism in the public sphere, has produced a small library of often very sophisticated cultural and textual analysis.
So they lived it. And as the evolution of the athlete grows, so does our fandom , and so does our celebrity.
But you do-- like, you just run across these things where you appreciate the fandom that they're-- like we had someone came to our show.
But they didn't. The success of the first movie and the fandom around it, were there a lot of celebrities in Hollywood
explicitly queer. And we found different stories about how the show itself had affected us. And then-- so the times that that has happened is lesser than people just sort of expressing fandom .
Remember, the readers are a small subset of overall "Star Wars" fandom .
What happens is, like an example, science fiction fandom -- there's this saying that if you do something once it's a tradition, if you do it twice,
You get more by basically building a community around your fandom . You get more by building a community, not just around your fandom but about the specific characters, or the specific pairing. People do a lot of shipping in fandom .
And they're like, this story-- that idea is good, but they did so badly. Generally, you write the kinds of stories that you want to read in fandom .
And they're like, this story-- that idea is good, but they did so badly. Because you need a big enough base of audience for people who want to write in that fandom to find each other in a way.
And they get randomly assigned. They sign up for something between-- they say I'll write a story at any one of these six fandoms . And I want a story in any one of these four fandoms .
So in the FanFiction community women write stories about the characters or the settings of these fandoms . It's not always romantic or erotic but the vast majority of the stories
But it is amazing, because you can come in from all different angles of deep, deep fandom , comment fandom , watching everything from day one,
And there's this-- Steve and I call it in the book, a semi-permeable membrane between the canon and the fandom , and you can imagine that for lots
Oh, for sure. I mean, you know, when I do TV, my fandom has come to expects a certain something from me.
It's a classic. And then for you, I heard that your Harry Potter fandom is real.
explicitly queer. And we found different stories about how the show itself had affected us. And so when we buried down, and it was, like, oh, this episode is actually more about what people do with fandom , or what
But yeah, whenever I'm feeling kind of in a rut, or what do I do creatively, I like to remind myself that, yeah, fandom