#fandomassignment

[littlemonster4everfan-blog]

Fandom Assignment

Since 2009, I've been a Little Monster, which probably is not a surprise. I'm still part of the Lady Gaga fandom, but I was never one of those fans who made fanfiction based off her or anything like that. I was just a very big fan, but it was the most crazy when I was in middle school, because the main thing that I always talked about was her. When my friends came over to my house, I mostly just showed them her videos and songs during the whole hangout. I think my obsession peaked when I was trying to convince a bunch of people to watch her video because Justin Bieber was about to pass her as having the most viewed video of all time. Looking back on it, I can't believe I went that crazy. Lady Gaga is a normal human being, just like all of us. She just happens to be famous, and for good reason.

[mdaltonmasscomm-blog-blog-blog]

Christly Knows Best

I’m not sure if this qualifies as fan fiction, but it is by far my favorite show. With my fan fiction, it would go into more detail with the children’ lives. I think that more people would be amused with what Chase and the other children do in their free time rather than focusing most of it on the dad.

[ilyilianaa-blog]

Awkward Fandom

I have never read fan fiction before and I thought it was an interesting experience to read through some of them. I consider myself to be a fan of the show Awkward on MTV. The fan fiction writing I read was a form of emotional intensification and recontextualization. This altered version of the script has Jenna and Tamara experiencing a pregnancy scare. They are also still dating their boyfriends Matty and Jake, who are being for the most part supportive. This is different from what is currently going on in the show, Jenna and Matty are no longer together. This piece of fan fiction shows that fans want to see Jenna and Matty get back together. Fans everywhere want these two sets of couples to stay together forever by writing about possible futures they could have.

[justinbostonuniversitycomm-blog]

The Beyoncé fandom, also known as the Bey-hive, is one of the most ruthless groups of collective fans on this planet. There have been countless GIF’s, fanpages, and of course the iconic album drop. However, other than my “Yonce” phone case, my favorite semi-unknown piece of participatory culture is the twitter @BEYONCEFANFIC. In one-hundred and forty characters or less, the maker of these tweets makes up scenarios in which Beyoncé says or does things that poke fun at her extravagant lifestyle, friends, or family.

               For “hardcore” fans such as myself, it’s especially entertaining because some of the tweets involve jokes from her Destiny’s Child days, or the period of time when she was involved in the three-strong girl group. In one of these small blurbs, which happen to be my favorites, it says that “Beyoncé's phone is dying and she can't find her power cable. She blows into her iPhone's charge port and her battery spikes from 3% to 110%.”

               After reading this, I was laughing for almost an hour straight. The beauty of the tweet is that it only makes sense to someone who appreciates or likes Beyoncé. In that sense, it’s both partial and exclusive to the Beyoncé fandom, which conveniently gives “us” a sense of unity. But besides this point, the tweet also sneers at Beyoncé’s sheer power and beauty, something that has become a focal laughing-point within the fandom.

               Regardless of what the Beyoncé tweet, GIF, picture, or joke is, it gives those of us (which there are many) in the fandom a real sense of community and a chance to connect; something that few other fandoms or fan-bases have.

[hruskbu-blog]

This image is fan art from the most recent installment in the Mad Max franchise; Mad Max: Fury Road. I by no means belong to the fandom of George Miller's Mad Max series, but when I watched his newest movie I couldn't stop thinking about its spectacular visuals and mind-bending stunts. This fan art is an expansion of and reaction from the role of music as seen in the war cars/trucks throughout the movie. The feeling of insanity, adrenaline, and violence is portrayed just as it was throughout the film. Nothing is transformed from the original movie in this fan art, only merely expanded upon. There is also a refocus of characters in this painting. Neither Max nor Furiosa (two key characters in the movie) are represented. Rather, the bald headed lunatics that Max fights throughout the movie are solely represented.

[sofia-spencer-blog]

This is the first chapter of an ongoing piece of fan fiction, it encompasses all 7 books, and is told entirely from Hermione’s point of view. Personally, I am a huge part of the Harry Potter fandom. Along with being sorted into my Hogwart’s house (Gryffindor), I have a fan fiction account on fan fiction.net, own several fan t-shirts, 2 wands (Harry and Ginny’s), can quote the books/movies from memory, and know most of the actors in said movies by name. When Quizup was a popular app, I was also one of the top players in Harry Potter trivia in the country. Basically, I am a total fangirl. From a fangirl’s point of view, I consider this a stellar piece of fan fiction. The author clearly understands the canon, and re-imagines Hermione as the main character. In this piece, we see Hermione’s bravery, and of course, intelligence as she guides Harry and Ron from one debacle to another. However, I also love this fan fiction because it accounts for scenarios that J.K. Rowling was not able to cover in the books. For example, this fan fiction gives coverage of Hermione’s feelings for Viktor Krum, and his adorable Yule Ball proposal. Also, Romione is clearly represented as Hermione directly states her love for Ron, rather than being skittered over as Harry initially misses the signs in the Golden Trio’s youth. This piece of fan fiction has produced for over two years, with 10,000s of followers, and over 100,000 words written during that time (to give context, the HP series as a whole was about 884,000 words), and currently the author is nearing the end of the Order of the Phoenix. I like what this author does with the text, because it respects the canon, while answering our few unanswered questions about Hermione’s character and provides fans another portal into the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

[marinamad2-blog]

Harry Potter is arguably one of the largest fandoms in existence simply because of its popularity. Adults, kids and teenagers feel they can relate to the story and characters. The gif displayed above demonstrates a moment of camera in which one of the actors, Dumbledore, is dancing. This character is known for his wisdom and seriousness; therefore, this gif provides a humorous escape to it. This gif is an example of how fan fiction can explore recontextualization showing characters or plot events in a different light. Again, a famously serious and kind of scary character (Snape) is shown laughing with his boss. The phrase “Dumbulin’” also adds comedic value because it personifies the little dance the man is doing by naming it after his character. I am personally invested in Harry Potter; however, I would not count myself in the fandom. This gif makes me laugh showing me a different side of the character and gives me a wider appreciation for the actors that made the story available to a wider audience and introduced it to people that have not yet read the books. I saw the movies before reading the books, these people represented the story to me that later on became a significant part of my early teen years.