Tony Gallichan is Mildly Perturbed by... The word Anorak
A couple of years ago, when The Buccaneer Chronicles Rpg was starting to get deep and we started to do bits of music for it, we decided to try and do a website about it. We had great plans and now we have finally made a start.
But what gave me pause for thought was a small bit in SFX about another website that had beaten us to it. Apparently they had put novelisations of their Star Trek missions online. We were not bothered about that. Oh no. What really got my goat was SFX's attitude to it.
The site was 'sad'. How could normal, decent people like the site?
God was I mildly perturbed by that.
Who the hell do they think they are hmm?
Ah yes... they represent sci fi for the Loaded generation. I get the feeling that they must have had the piss seriously taken out of them when they were younger cos now they are working for a sci fi mag they feel that they have to prove something, show the world that they know its sad and laugh at others sadder then them.
How sad.
A friend of mine stopped going to the Tavern a good few years ago because he was fed up with the people there not just not talking about who but laughing at those who did.
So, it seems fandom has developed a defence reflex. If we are seen to laugh at others who show their 'Fannishness' more then we do then hopefully 'normal' people, (and where I live normal means going out on a Saturday night, getting very drunk, having a fight, having a curry, having another fight then going home to either hit or fuck the girlfriend.), won't take the piss out of us and join us instead at laughing at the poor unfortunate who happens to be a bit more into his sci fi then us.
At conventions I used to get very embarrassed by friends who would try to avoid certain fans, the more enthusiastic ones. (Blue stripe and Cyberloon spring to mind... even the names are nasty).
I've decided that I've had enough!!!!
Yes it's just a silly old piece of TV nonsense but we love it because of that. And being able to dive into the rich history and continuity and play with it is great.
This site is sad and proud!!
I should expect that Cornell would say we were 'Post Sad Fandomists' or some such.
I can live with that.
So, enjoy the site, laugh at the silliness. Just remember that we know it's sad. Its deliberately so. We are just doing this for fun, to have a laugh. And at least we are contributing to all this. Some just get their DWM, surf other's sites and read fanzines. They consume.
So, be nice to each other. We are all fans no matter how hard we try to deny it.
I think people should learn to live with it and enjoy it without shame.
I'm a Doctor Who fan.
And I'm proud of it.
Tony Gallichan comes from Jersey. A collection is being taken up to get the postage needed to return him.