so perhaps i like the idea of a blind cliff and a long jump

Huh.

There's a part of me that's just--I guess is both irritated and resigned about the pseudo-intellectual snobbery that is anti-pop culture and anti-popularity. But it's also this.

I like the Lemming Method. I am a fan of the Lemming Method. If I could somehow acquire my own personal charisma machine and pimp everyone by sheer strength of personality into whatever fandom I'm in? I would be doing that for every damn fandom I have. I mean, sure, if you want, let divine intervention lead you to that very special text, but you know what? I found a much faster way to discover what I love.

I don't need fandom to tell me about a text I already love, though that's nice as well. I need fandom to show me what I'm missing. Did I miss spies or space cowboys or King Arthur, did I miss magical schoolboys or Superman redux or Wolverine in a cage (thank God for Diebin)? I've done both; I have dragged friends into fandoms they weren't interested in and watched them fall in love, and I've followed people where they went because I wanted to see what was so damn shiny in the other side of the hill. It's not everyone's way, but it's a lot of mine. I loved Diebin before I saw X-Men; I adored astolat before I fell on top of Stargate; I was all about cesperanza before I went near Due South.

Being apologetic because the authors interested you first? Because the fandom interested you before the source? Are you kidding? Apologize because I found a group of people so awesome and want to join in? Because the sheer rush of creativity is so overwhelming I want to be a part of it? Because there's one person that's worth watching one to three seasons of a show I wasn't too sure of so I'd get her fic?

That's what I celebrate.

Fandom cannot be done wrong, per se, but in a lot of ways, following each other around to see where they go, check out the other side of the mountain, looking in blank astonishment at a text or source you are pretty sure you are going to hate, but what the hell, brown_betty loves it, so okay--this exemplifies what attracted me to fandom in the first place. Beyond the source itself, it forces me to do what I wouldn't do on my own, makes me think outside what I'm comfortable with, and gives me nice rewards if I do those things.

Sure, I can't claim to be edgy, independent, intellectual, or special. I can claim, however, that unlike outside of fandom, if the source fails me, if the show/book/comic/medium fails me, the fandom around it never does.

Be a lemming. Jump blind over the cliff because your friends are doing it. Sure, the jump is scary, and you can't work out why the hell they thought this was a good idea, but the rush is unbelievable. You'll love what you find on the other side.

ETA: Current guild rules require me to mention svmadelyn, chopchica, and amireal as the primary lead lemmings leading me over whatever cliff they find.

ETA 2: I forgot to use my lemming icon. Lemming pride, my friends. Lemming pride.

Comments

[sorrelchestnut.livejournal.com]

Word.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I have a lemming icon! I NEED TO FIND IT NOW.

And you know, calm down before I break something. *g*

*And check my spelling, geez.

[annaalamode.livejournal.com]

I freely admit that I am easily pimped by others. It is how I ended up in almost every fandom I have ever been in.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I am totally brainwashable. Give me source and have someone I like around and I am there.

[grammarwoman]

With my show-killing curse (any TV show I fall in love with is canceled within two seasons, and more often within one), I am always leery of jumping into a new, ongoing fandom. I don't want to doom people's squee!

I suppose this means I should be following Due South and other finished series, hm?

So what prompted this pronouncement, anyway? Is someone getting flouncy and/or uppity?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

God. So many posts on fans as lemmings. Just. Gah.

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

The Lemming Method is awesome. Without the Lemming Method leading me to follow my favorite authors around, I would never have wandered over here from anime fandoms tragically depriving all of you of my awesomeness. I will always support the lemming way of life. <3

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Hell yes! It is the way of my people!

[chopchica.livejournal.com]

I have to say, with all of the bitching you and mad did about SGA, I'm amazed we ever got there at all.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

IT WAS DIFFICULT OKAY?

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Yeah, how is wanting to enjoy what my friends enjoy a bad thing? I mean, if I don't enjoy anything about it or it sounds totally uninteresting, I'm not going to get into it just because my friends do. But if I see people mention something a lot and it sounds interesting then why on earth shouldn't I give it a go?

I never understood the whole "I was a fan before X was popular" or "well, now that X is popular, I hate it!" kind of mindset, either, which this seems to be related to.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Me either. It's not like everything has to fall from the sky in a burst of inspiration to be legitimate. I mean, I think all of us make an effort to get other people into stuff we like because we think it's neat and they'll like it. Being contemptuous of that seems, well, kind of anti-intuitive.

[swordage]

Let me put it this way: I am a pretentious college chick, and I am about to google Diebin because you mentioned him/her/it and am considering getting into Merlin just because other people seem to think it's amusing. I am fairly certain it is not my thing! But it also seems interesting! And by interesting I mean full of gay innuendo and unicorns!

[swordage]

which is long way of saying YAY LEMMINGS that is how we find good new things yes, by sharing it.

[lurkerlynne.livejournal.com]

My only objection to the Lemming Method is as it pertains to fanon; one writer does something nifty, then it's all over the fandom. Penguins in SGA is a good example. :/

I tend to watch a show, then hunt down the fandom. Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to do so as the fandom is forming but usually I'm following behind.

[lurkerlynne.livejournal.com]

So in other words, I'm a lousy lemming but I'll make sure the mattresses are in place for the rest of ya.

[amalthia]

I'm okay with following the lemming method. :) I do follow authors but I've yet to follow any author to bandom...so I do think the source has to appeal in some way. :)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I have yet to write RPS, though I have read it due to evil pimpers. Darn them and their wiley ways.

[kaballa.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen whatever has sparked this & don't understand contempt for following a popular author or BNF, but I would like to offer one alternative view, which is that there is often a sense of *disappointment* when a new show like Merlin comes along, as what seems to happen is that a good and/or popular author who is highly prolific in a fandom abruptly decamps, closely followed by a knot of similarly prolific or particularly creative fans, and the first fandom is left weakened, and for some time the flow of good fanfic, discussion etc. dries up. It usually takes time to recover from the loss of energy.

I suppose what I personally find is strange is that often when fans jump collectively to other fandoms, certainly in the jumps I have witnessed on LJ (along the lines of: SG1 - SGA - Supernatural - Torchwood - Merlin), the fans that perform a so-called lemming jump don't look back, being supremely focussed on the new creative burst. They don't seem to come back to revisit older fandoms, they jump in time to another new one, which makes me curious as to whether it's the experience of collective fandom as creative force that has the appeal rather than any specific show.

[quietus-x.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's an interesting point.

I'm pretty sure fans synergize off each other. When you have a strong fan community, with lots of active participants and spirited fanworks/discussion, the entire fandom is strengthened, and being a part of something new! fresh! exciting! definitely holds its own appeal and instills a sense of excitement into everything for the entire fandom.

Plus, Merlin's a baby show -- it's just gotten started, so there's still time for it to grow and become totally awesome (as opposed to older shows, where totally awesome changes are less likely to happen), so I think there's more of an optimism involved. Its shine hasn't worn off yet, and/or the writers haven't had time to wreck it with a retarded plot yet.

I mean, compare this to a closed canon fandom, like Due South or Jeeves and Wooster, where things happen but are generally more sedate, especially since a lot of scenarios and stuff in fic have already been hashed out.

That said, even if there existed a really shitty show that wasn't worth watching, I would probably read the fic/check out the source if the fandom was strong enough, not because "this many people can't be wrong", but because "this is the backstory to these totally awesome fics".

[ratcreature]

Yeah. I mean, I need to genuinely like a source to get into it, I can't be in a fandom just for the fanworks, but fandom is a great way to find new things. How would I find things otherwise?

(Sadly I don't have a lemming icon, so the sheep will have to do.)

[sholio]

Yeah, that's how it works for me. I definitely have to fall in love with the source in order to love the fanworks -- I've had fanworks lure me into a fandom before, but it functions as a gateway to the source for me, not as a replacement for it. On the other hand, most of what I've become hooked on, over the last few years, has been directly or indirectly due to fangirl pimpage, usually because I'll watch my f'list squee about something and want to find out what they're squeeing about.

[an-kayoh.livejournal.com]

I can honestly say that I wouldn't be listening to half the music I currently do (and wouldn't know about 90% of my top ten all time favorite songs) if it weren't some people's crazy fanvids, most of them about shows I previously wouldn't have touched with a thirty foot pole but recommended by people I trust.

I do find it a bit hard to answer honestly when my dad asks why I started reading Steinbeck, though. Because mmmchelle mentioned it offhand in a story?

[quietus-x.livejournal.com]

You should check out fanmix.

[jade-dragoness.livejournal.com]

*nods* I agree with the lemming method!

That's how I got into watching Merlin. svmadelyn pimped it out after the first episode and when I watched it it made me go 'oooh' at the screen.

I don't have the time to go through various television channels to find The One Good Show. There's too much of RL getting in the way. So, getting told by someone who's taste I trust what they like? Saves me so much time in the long run.

There's also been fandoms that I cheerfully read, that I've never seen a bit of the source material, all because the authors rocked. Am I suppose to be ashamed of this? Hardly. Good story is good story.

*gives you a high-five* Lemming United! Errr...unless there are cliffs involved.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

svmadelyn is the pimpiest pimp ever.

There's also been fandoms that I cheerfully read, that I've never seen a bit of the source material, all because the authors rocked. Am I suppose to be ashamed of this? Hardly. Good story is good story.

Comics fandom. Ohhhhyeah.

*gives you a high-five* Lemming United! Errr...unless there are cliffs involved.

They are awesome cliffs. *pushes up and leaps afterward* Wheee!

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Half the fandoms I'm into I got into because somebody recced a fic and I liked the fic enough to go "so let's see 'bout where this came from now." Another quarter I got into because a good friend sat me down and said "you will read/watch this right the hell now."

I'm a lemming and proud of it.

*cough* I blame you directly for SGA.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

That, that, that. The fic! It can suck you in!

*cough* I blame you directly for SGA.

*whistles*

[celestialcuming.livejournal.com]

Feeling you sooo hard. I too am a shameless lemming - I've never watched half the shows I read slashy goodness about just cos most of them never make it to South Africa, and when they do its like 4 years later than their appearance in the US and UK - so I leap fearlessly after several people in fandom and I have yet to be led astray :)

[j_apollo]

I am exactly the same. Back in South Africa I almost always got into fandom first, often long before I wound up watching the show.

[firesprite1105.livejournal.com]

WORD! I discover fandoms through my favorite fanfic writers and reccers, not the other way around.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Pretty much this, yes.

[kudra2324.livejournal.com]

i have been following the same writers around different fandoms for almost a decade. which is to say that i agree with your post completely.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

And it's so much fun that way!

[calligrafiti.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Who else are we going to trust? TV ads? They're designed by people paid to make something look shiny. Entertainment Weekly? Again, a source designed to make things look as good as selective editing and photoshop can manage. With the exception of shows I saw when I was 10, and sadly cut off from all other fans (pre-internet), almost every fandom I've fallen into has been due to the kindness of other fans saying, "This. You should totally devote brain cells and time from your finite life to this. It's worth it." And the few times when I've brought a new fandom back to the tribe, it felt like stumbling over a sampo* of chocolate and porn that I could share with my favorite people. "See? Isn't it yummy?"

*Sampo = Finnish mythological object that would be full of whatever you wanted or needed at all times.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

From Family Muomi? Gah, i'ts been over a decade since I was in Finland.

"This. You should totally devote brain cells and time from your finite life to this. It's worth it."

Seriously! We only average eighty years on earth! That's not much time!

[cleito.livejournal.com]

Nothing gets me into a new fandom faster than excellent fanfic. Because many of the fandoms I'm in are not the greatest professional product, but the fans and the fic make up for all of that.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

This a thousand times. And maybe more.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

THANK you. I followed people from Sentinel to Due South, and I followed people from Star Wars to Harry Potter, fandom convinced me to give SGA a chance, etc., etc. I don't always get into a fandom that way, but it's a perfectly legitimate way of discovering a new fandom. And I love discovering fandom that way. I - are people seriously complaining about this method? What the hell is going on lately? Everyone seems 10X pissier than usual.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Everyone needs more sugar and caffeine?

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

sorry, I should have said this somewhere/somehow else - I meant it for you but now realize I'm also talking to a whole lot of others at the same time, which I would have avoided if I'd had enough coffee. I'll go get a second cup and delete my first comment. And sorry for the bad maneuver.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

Word of mouth is how we people "discover" so much of what enjoy — we're introduced to wine-tasting by a friend who drags us to one, we see a movie because we've read a good review, we have books given to us by people who just know we're going to love them, we go hiking because a friend invites us along, we try knitting because a coworker made a great sweater and we want to try... why should fandom be any different?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*shrugs* Magical enlightenment from above? I'm still working that out.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

I think that the Lemming Method certainly works well for some people, and for some fandoms, and for some people at certain points in certain fandoms, and I agree with what you're saying about the strong desire to tap into that creative energy and enthusiasm and to become a part of it. resonant8 was very much a catalyst author for me, who got me thiking about due South, Sentinel and Snape/Harry in Harry Potter, and from there I latched onto other great authors as well that took me to new places, such as astolat and Beautiful Lifetime Event. Hell, it was a slash author's brilliance in convincing me that two Green Berets could be hot for one another that got me to try writing slash in the first place. However, I've gotten into fandoms after being aware of and enjoying the source first, and I've gotten into fandoms that have a very small following (see icon) by hunting for the fic after falling in love with the source. So in short: word, and I think each person is an individual who encompasses multitudes - the lemming, the pioneer, the intellectual, the squeeful fangirl. It's all good.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I think each person is an individual who encompasses multitudes - the lemming, the pioneer, the intellectual, the squeeful fangirl. It's all good.

That is very quotable.

[wrenlet.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha, I just spent my entire winter break/head cold sprawled across the futon watching three and a half seasons of Criminal Minds because ONE PERSON posted about a character interaction that pinged me.

I followed you to Smallville, for crying out loud. Good friends share their shiny toys, how could that POSSIBLY be wrong?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Oh man, yes. Sometimes you have to see it!

...I AM NOT TO BLAME FOR SMALLVILLE. IT WAS A DARK MASS THAT SUCKED PEOPLE IN. AND POSSIBLY BOUGHT SOULS.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

My name is Lucy Gillam, and I approve of this message.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*grins*