bakerstreetbabes:

At A Scintillation of Scions V, I (Curly) presented a paper entitled The Validation of the Internet Fandom: Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Fandom and the Age of Tumblr. It was very well received and made a lot of people cry (gyah sorry!). My heart sort of swelled as I walked back to my seat and kept getting stopped, Sherlockians new and old thanking me, telling me how fantastic it was, and that they were so proud and pleased. I hadn’t felt like I had done anything monumental or extraordinary, but after awhile I realized that maybe I had done something important.

So, here is the paper in its entirety, as well as the recording from the actual presentation (so I can prove people laughed and clapped!) I hope you like it.

—————

The Validation of the Internet Fandom: Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Fandom and the Age of Tumblr

By Kristina Manente

Scintillation of Scions V

June 9, 2012

I have an addictive personality. I’ll get addicted to outfits or hummus sandwiches, movies and songs. I should have known I’d end up here at Scintillation for one simple reason: as a child I watched The Great Mouse Detective. I watched it so many times over and over again, I’m sure it’s melted my brain. And drove my mother insane. I was hopelessly in love with it. I still am. It was a staple of my childhood and while I was vaguely aware of whom Sherlock Holmes was growing up, I wasn’t a Sherlockian.

            I didn’t start reading the canon until last year. I thought Watson was always rotund with a bushy mustache (well, part of that is true), and I had no idea who Jeremy Brett was. In fact, when the Robert Downey Jr movie adverts first showed, my first thought (other than god Jude Law is hot) was that of Basil of Baker Street. Of the cartoon mouse who unashamedly stole my heart. I didn’t know what would happen in the next two to three years. I didn’t know about Sherlock or how it would change my life forever.

            Sherlock is my first fandom, and I use fandom in the sense of a distinct internet community. A community of thousands who all love the same thing, who write about it, laugh about it, argue about it, art about it, cry about it, and lust over animated gifs of Benedict Cumberbatch together. It’s a beautiful mad thing. I stepped in unaware and I have never been more glad. Fandom has introduced me and countless others to the original stories. It has celebrated these magnificent characters and it has changed my life, and many others.

Read More…

Because we’ve been doing so much about fandom this summer, thought we’d bring this back, in case you never listened/read it before!