An Ode to All Fandoms

What is a fandom? You may ask

Well, it’s rather simple, you see,

It’s simply the love one has

for a particular book, movie, team, or series on TV.

And then that appreciation and love

Grows and grows until you cannot hold it in anymore

And so you blurt it out to others,

Whom, you find, love it just as much, if not more!

And so a little community builds,

Small, at first,

But then it spills

To the web, where is bursts.

A kingdom of fans emerge

From the farthest corners of the internet

To encourage others to share their love of stories and characters and romantic interests.

And you may wonder

What could warrant such love?

And is there, you might ponder,

One that rises above?

Although I have my favorites,

I have to tell you true,

I believe every fandom exists

Because these stories ring true—

For every person who’s ever

been a part of a certain fandom

It has been because those stories

Have changed lives forever.

You might know the way it feels

To see yourself in your favorite character,

To cry tears of joy and happiness and reel

Because it was them or him or her

Who showed you

That’s it’s ok to be you.

It’s Sam and Frodo and the One Ring,

It’s Pippin when his haunting voice sings.

It’s Hermione with her wand brightly lit,

Saving the day with her incredible wit.

It’s Skywalker, Solo, and Leia three,

Leading a rebellion to bring freedom back to the Galaxy.

It’s Daenerys (before the final season),

Liberating people from every region.

It’s the Doctor constantly evolving,

Always learning, always growing, always loving.

It’s Black Widow’s dark past and selfless sacrifice, reminding us even superheroes struggle and have vices.

I could list every fandom in existence,

But the point is this:

Every fandom was formed from acceptance

And the shared need to not feel alone in this

Difficult, beautiful universe.

We are all on our own Hero’s Journey

And we have beautiful stories to help us along, you see?