Surprised some people think the moment you’re over like, 25, that your interests turn to dust like a vampire in the sun
it’s especially funny when you see the people who say that kinda stuff get older and their idea of the cut-off age just kinda moves further and further back. like they’re 20 and they say “if i’m still into fandom at 25 i’m killing myself”, then when they turn 25 it becomes “anyone over 30 and in fandoms is a fucking loser”, then when they’re 30 it’s “lmao imagine being 35 and in fandoms”
they just keep moving the goalpost and at no point does it occur to them that maybe they could just. not do that? at any point they could stop making up arbitrary rules to shit on strangers over and just mind their own business, enjoy their own fandom experience without trying to ruin it for others
I just think how funny it was that I was delighted when i found a 40 yeard old still into fandom, and it made me less afraid to grow older, because i could dedicate myself to the thing i love no matter what
big same, back on livejournal there was a fanfic writer i followed who was very open about being over 30 and i adored them and it made me realize that i didn’t have to give up my interests and stop creating fan art when i turned a certain age, that i could just keep on playing video games and reading comics and shipping and drawing as long as i wanted and found it fun. this idea that so many under 20-year-olds (and even over!) have these days – that fandom belongs to them and is only for people exactly like them and everyone else needs to leave, even if they need to be bullied out – is so foreign to me and seeing people not only being shitty to people who’re just enjoying themselves without doing anything wrong or bothering anyone, but also shooting themselves in the foot like that – because whether they like it or not, they too will grow older – is so sad and i do no understand it at all
The first major modern fandom as we know it (as in, 20th century or later, had distributed fanfic zines, dedicated groups, cosplayers, etc.)–the Star Trek fandom–was started, and initially driven, to a large degree, by women in their 30s. Bjo Trimble and her husband are now in their 80s, and still active in fandom circles. (In case you don’t know the name, this was the couple behind the letter writing campaign to save the original series.)
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