Snowflake Challenge 2025 - Day 5
Jan. 10th, 2025 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gothikmaus
Challenge #5
Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom.
I could write an essay about this, but I'll try to limit myself to a few key points.
First of all, fandom made me realise I can write and draw. Shortly after I discovered fanfiction, I decided I wanted to try my hand at it. It was a challenge at first, as English isn't my native language, but I improved a lot thanks to all the fics I read and wrote. Same with fanart: I've always like drawing (I started drawing my own comics in primary school), but I've never been particularly good. In the last few years, though, I've tried to put some effort into my drawings and, even if I'm not what you'd call a "talented artist", I definitely improved.
Then, thanks to fandom I made friends and built wonderful memories. This is especially true for the Die Ärzte fandom (a German band): I'm still in contact with a few of the people I met online and, even if we live in different countries (or different continents!), we still write to each other and meet up when we happen to be in the same area. Last time it was just a few months ago. I went to so many great concerts and had so many crazy adventures, and none of that would have happened without fandom.
Lastly, fandom is what has been keeping me sane for years. Whenever real life gets too stressful, I know I can count on fandom to distract me for a while. In part it's also the reason why, when I really couldn't go on at my old job any longer, I decided to quit, leave everything behind, and move to Berlin. That was one of the best decisions of my life and exactly what I needed at the time, but I don't think I would've done it without fandom. Of course there's a long story behind that, but I'm not getting into details here.
Anyway, these are just some of the reasons why fandom is so important for me and how it improved (and continues to improve) my life.
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Date: 2025-01-10 09:37 pm (UTC)Fandom seems to be great for helping people become adept at other languages. I know fan friends for whom English was not their native language but who write fanfic better than many of those born to it.
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Date: 2025-01-14 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 06:32 am (UTC)Absolutely agreed!
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