(no subject)

[diandrahollman]

I see fandom people gush about how amazing Sherlock fandom is/was and how awesome an experience they had and...I wish I could understand. Because being in Sherlock fandom was such an overwhelmingly negative experience for me that it all but convinced me to leave ALL of fandom because obviously it is too hostile an environment for the good of my mental health. No joke: I actually had PTSD flashbacks of my worst years of high school playing human punching bag to a pack of bullies who openly invited me to commit suicide.

Anyway. I'm sure there were some nice people in Sherlock fandom, but I didn't find ANY until it was much too late. And now that I keep seeing the same awful behavior in other fandoms... I feel like this might be a generational thing. Like...younger fans take their fandom too seriously and are easily whipped into a frenzy. Or Tumblr and/or Twitter might have something to do with it. Which honestly reinforces the idea that fandom is no longer for me.

I still have WIPs I want to finish. And maybe, like, a one shot. But I think I might take a giant step back after that.

Comments

[sarahthecoat]

Gosh, i'm so sorry you had to go through that. I have had a largely positive experience in the sherlock fandom, concentrating on the meta, fic, and art. I lurked from somewhere in s2 hiatus till just after s4 aired, before making a tumblr. So i saw a lot of stuff go by that i was just as glad not to be drawn into! I guess i learned how to step away from the parts, or the people, that i didn't enjoy. "curate your dash", i was reminded. I unfollowed, and even blocked, a few, and i use notifications to focus on the blogs i'm most interested in. I don't tend to go into a tag (yikes, the fight over tagging in s3 hiatus! I con see why some people don't use them at all!), and that seems to spare me?

ETA, i see we talked about this before, sorry if this feels like a rehash!

[diandrahollman]

Yeah, I know I keep bringing it up. Sorry. It's just so baffling to me that I successfully avoided the ugly parts of other fandoms and then couldn't seem to find the good parts of one of the biggest fandoms. I feel like I may have finally found the nicer people, but most of them have moved on to Good Omens or some other fandom now. I guess that's what I get for always arriving in fandoms too late.

[sarahthecoat]

ha, yes, I admit I am also one of the still-fans of Sherlock who is currently reveling in Good Omens. It's just SO NICE to have such quality content to squee over! But I'm constantly amazed at how much new insight is still coming up in Sherlock. There's a few dedicated folks still mulling over the many matching scenes and lines that point to through-threads of meaning.