Your messages are always welcome, Wanderers. Thanks for so many of you getting in touch! Don’t forget, you can:
- email us at fandomwanderers@gmail.com
- tweet us at @FandomWanderers
- get in touch via our Facebook page
- comment at the bottom of our articles or use the form on our Contact page
Here’s what you’ve been saying since we published Issue Thirty-Nine.
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Congrats on a great year, guys! 
(And just a heads up – your Tumblr link isn’t leading anywhere.)
Plastig Ffantastig on ‘Issue Thirty-Nine: A Note from the Editors‘
Thank you! And thanks for the heads up, we’ve fixed it now (hopefully). -Ed.
We always appreciate being told when something’s not right on our site, so please do let us know if you spot a mistake or a technical hitch!
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Aw, don’t apologize for bringing the mood down. This is so important! I have fortunately never experienced anything more than a heated argument in fandom but read some nasty stuff in threads… Thank you and have a lovely holiday!
mekare on ‘How to Deal with Bullying in Fandoms‘
Thank you! We’re glad you think the article is useful. -Ed.
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I think another reason could be that the holidays give us much needed tim to digest the developments of the show we watched. With a new episode every week we don’t tend to think too deeply about the ramifications of a single episode but, as you said, hanker for more. The enforced break (at least for me) tends to get the creative juices flowing based on what we have already seen. In extreme cases, like the Sherlock or Hobbit fandom, where we have to wait one YEAR for getting new material to obsess about, this tends work very well. 
(and then comes the pain of being jossed…)
mekare on ‘Hear Those Fandoms Rumbling…‘
This is very true! Thanks for getting in touch. -Ed.
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Mmh, very interesting quote and interesting question! I think, just being exposed to so many different concepts and ideas is what helped me grow the most. I am not a cosplayer at all, but reading fic (and reallife experiences of fans) really broadened my horizons and educated me on so many issues. And then of course, there are these instances where you read something which you are not sure you are going to like and end up with “hello there kink I never knew I had” *g*
Maybe it’s important because it lets us be more ourselves than we have ever been.
Yep, the main reason: no judgement. (at least usually). Fellow fans are way more accepting than your average neighbour. 
mekare on ‘Fandom as… Expression of Gender and Sexuality’
Thank you – we’re glad you found the article relatable! -Ed.
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//What is it about fandom which helped you find yourself?//
Slash and yaoi. Hands-down, what helped me find myself as an 18/19-year-old confused about my sexuality back in 2001-2003 was slash and yaoi fanfic and fangirls. I can thank aestheticism.com, minotaur, Harry Potter and Highlander slashers, Weiss Kreuz and Gundam Wing yaoi fangirls, and my all-female & almost-all-queer college anime club for the relative lack of emotional trauma that accompanied figuring out that I was attracted to other women.
Elspeth on ‘Fandom as… Expression of Gender and Sexuality‘
We’re glad to hear that fandom helped you out! Thanks for letting us know. -Ed.
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I’d just like to point out another area of fannish activity some people may not have considered, but that to my mind is *very* directly relateable to work in any kind of an office setting: admin work on various awards programs, archives, discussion lists, and the like. For the better part of a decade I participated in a fanfic competition in the Tolkien fandom. At various points I wrote web copy and copy for mass communication, corresponded with site users both to explain site policies and address criticisms they might have, set and enforced policies, collaborated with our web development team to develop website functionality, recruited, set the timetable and ensured it was followed, trained and managed a work team to support our user community, audited submissions for quality control… the list goes on.
While at one point I was actually the program administrator so I probably did more than most, anyone who’s been involved in this kind of thing has done most of the things you’d get paid to do in many professional environments. And if you aren’t to the point of actually applying for a job, there’s loads of time to get involved. I’m yet to come across an archive, awards program, or listserv that wouldn’t welcome another set of hands, and there’s virtually nothing you could do to support these groups that wouldn’t count as a transferrable skill if presented well.
That’s not a criticism of this post, which is excellent! I just thought I’d nudge people in that direction, and help out the many people who contribute in this mode already.
Marta Layton on ‘Fandom As a Transferable Skill‘
Absolutely – that’s an excellent point! We’d overlooked a very important part of fandom, there, and we’re very grateful that you pointed it out. -Ed.
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What we’ve been talking about on Twitter:
- @PatrinaC told us the Blacklist and Sherlock fandoms were getting very excited about the returns of their respective shows.
- @CeceCalabrese and @Astorix23 were eagerly anticipating the Doctor Who Christmas Special when we spoke to them last. We hope you enjoyed it!
- @Tinkdances got in touch to show some appreciation for the focus on sisterly love in Frozen.
- @ajaromano pointed out that the opening quote in our article ‘Fandom as… Expression of Gender and Sexuality‘ appeared to overlook the existence of genderqueer identities. This wasn’t our intention at all, but we apologise for any offence or upset caused. Again, do call us out on these things!
- @seandelahunty95 predicted that the future of Doctor Who would involve lots of ‘wibbly wobbly stuff’.
So why not join us on Twitter at @FandomWanderers for more fandom chat?
Fandom Wanderers 