Fandom Snowflake 2025 Challenge #5

[scrubjayspeaks]

Challenge #5

Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I love the way that fandom can focus my mind through hyperfixation. By which I mean, being deep into a fandom gives me both motivation and a lens through which to see things. This feels very abstract, so, example time!

Right now, I'm very enthusiastic about the world of Moomins. So I'm trying to borrow books from my library, find copies to buy, and generally research what books exist or will be coming out. I'm watching the 90s cartoon on Youtube. I'm looking for posts on tumblr.

But also, I'm learning Swedish--partly to be able to read the original versions of the canon, but also just out of enthusiasm. It's fun to immerse myself in the language and culture out of which the canon arose, to surround myself with the trappings and vibes of it. Also, it's a fun excuse to try making various Scandinavian foods.

I'm thinking about making a Snufkin hat, which would be the first time I did cosplay crafting since sometime in the early 2000s. It's been a long time since I did fanart or any other physical/nonwriting fandom crafting. It's fun to have a "reason" to make things or a direction for my creative impulses.

A lot of this is stuff that I could do without the framing of fandom. I can try new recipes or make crafts whenever I want. But fandom provides a focus. It both points my enthusiasm and creativity at a target and helps ramp up that enthusiasm.

It's especially nice to have these outlets that aren't writing. Writing often feels like work, or at least feels like something I have to "get right." No one else is going to care if I get Swedish pancakes right, though, as long as I find them tasty. The all-consuming fixation of a fresh, strong fandom gives me so many more outlets that aren't subject to the self-criticism that comes with writing.

I think the reason Stranger Things has been floundering for me a bit is because I feel like writing is the only thing I can contribute to or do to engage with the fandom. And I just can't handle that pressure right now.

Maybe it's because it's a very cozy canon, or maybe it's because it's a non-American canon, or maybe it's because it's a canon directed in part at children. But Moomin feels very easy to playfully engage with like this. And at the literal end of the day, it's very helpful to have something fun to retreat into this way.

Comments

[shipperslist]

Maybe it's because it's a very cozy canon, or maybe it's because it's a non-American canon, or maybe it's because it's a canon directed in part at children. But Moomin feels very easy to playfully engage with like this. And at the literal end of the day, it's very helpful to have something fun to retreat into this way.

It's cozy and warm and in its core, very anarchist, too. And it shines through that it was created by an openly lesbian woman who didn't give a fuck but lived her life as she wanted to.

[scrubjayspeaks]

An excellent point. I mentioned in another comment that it reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes in a lot of ways, including that anti-authoritarian undercurrent.

And the way the Moomins set off on adventures and get into situations is very "we're just going to try something because it sounds fun, and we're not going to wring our hands about it too much in advance." Which might not always be the safest way to live, but it can be fun. I love the panel of Snufkin saying something to the effect of "I let small things happen to me and think they're tremendous."

[shipperslist]

"I let small things happen to me and think they're tremendous."

That's a good advice.

[trepkos]

I love the Moomins! And you're right about the focus thing - I hadn't thought about it like that. But one day in 2005 I realised that nearly everything I had done that day was in some ways related to Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I think I am like you - an obsession took over, and I had to print out fanfic and decorate files to keep it in, and get a Spike coat made, and have Buffy watching nights with my sister, with little mock-sausage rolls in the shape of coffins ... you get it!

[scrubjayspeaks]

Yes! I think it can help with some of the choice paralysis that comes with life. There are so many things you could do, and ways to do them, it can be overwhelming. But if you opt to filter a lot of life through the lens of a fannish love, it's like picking a theme. You can automatically set aside a lot of less appealing options and background noise. Which curtains should I buy for my room? Well, which ones would belong in Moominhouse? That sort of thing.

[trepkos]

Exactly! What shall I wear today? What would Spike wear?

[ngtskynebula]

"It's fun to have a "reason" to make things or a direction for my creative impulses. A lot of this is stuff that I could do without the framing of fandom. I can try new recipes or make crafts whenever I want. But fandom provides a focus. It both points my enthusiasm and creativity at a target and helps ramp up that enthusiasm." Thiiis! I also feel like this with fandom!