Fandom Acts Of Kindness

Fandom can save the world! This first of its kind, actionable and inspirational resource provides the tools and motivation necessary for pop culture fans to make a difference—while having fun! Fandoms are united as a community because of the power of story. And it’s exactly the magical alchemy forged when mixing story and community that has helped fandoms across the world feed thousands of hungry children, donate countless books, build schools, register voters, disrupt online hate speech, and save lives through crafting PPE for COVID-19 frontline workers, natural disaster response, and mental health crisis support. Fandom Acts of Kindness not only tells the stories of the good fans have done in the world but serves as a dungeon master’s guide to how to be a hero yourself. Perfect for those who want to inspire others, organize collective action, sustain, and nurture your own mental health and creativity, and do it all through a pop culture perspective.

Fandom can save the world! This first of its kind, actionable and inspirational resource provides the tools and motivation necessary for pop culture fans to make a difference—while having fun! Fandoms are united as a community because of the power of story. And it’s exactly the magical alchemy forged when mixing story and community that has helped fandoms across the world feed thousands of hungry children, donate countless books, build schools, register voters, disrupt online hate speech, and save lives through crafting PPE for COVID-19 frontline workers, natural disaster response, and mental health crisis support. Fandom Acts of Kindness not only tells the stories of the good fans have done in the world but serves as a dungeon master’s guide to how to be a hero yourself. Perfect for those who want to inspire others, organize collective action, sustain, and nurture your own mental health and creativity, and do it all through a pop culture perspective.

Do you have a Google alert for your favourite band going on tour? Or maybe you have a pull list at your local comicbook shop? Or perhaps you’ve got a season ticket to your sports team of choice? That would make you a fan, whether you realise it or not, and there’s a lot more to fan culture than you might think. In the 21st century pop culture is everywhere; you can’t move for a new superhero film or major franchise appearing in our lives and we love it. We’re just jumping into the media landscape headfirst in order to get more of our favs, track down spoilers and deep dive about plot lines on social media. It’s hard to deny fan culture as part of the world now, there’s a fandom for everyone, but what does that actually mean, and where did it come from? From ancient times to modern media, humans have shared their love for the stories that mean something to them and brought in others to be fans of them too. We’ve written ourselves in, made art of, and celebrated with others who love the same things as us all in the name of being a fan, even before the word fan existed. There’s a whole lot of who, where, what, when, why, how and huh to look into when it comes to fan culture. From Shakespeare to Superman, Dickens to Daleks, and fanfiction to Frodo there is so much more to fandom than meets the eye. And a whole lot of references to pack in too.

Celebrities depend upon fans to sustain their popularity and livelihood, and fans are happy to oblige. With social media they can follow their favorite (or least favorite) celebrities’ every move, and get glimpses into their lives, homes, and behind-the-scenes work. Fans interact with celebrities now more than ever, and often feel that they have a claim on their time, attention, and accountability. In Fame and Fandom, the contributors examine this tumultuous dynamic and bring together celebrity studies and fan studies like never before. In case studies including Supernatural, Harry Styles, YouTube influencers, film location sites, Keanu Reeves, and celebrities as fans, readers find new approaches to fan/celebrity encounters and parasocial relationships. This is the go-to volume on the symbiotic relationship between fame and fandom.

Fans used to be seen as an overly obsessed fraction of the audience. In the last few decades, shifts in media technology and production have instead made fandom a central mode of consumption. A range of ideas has emerged to explore different facets of this growing phenomenon. With a foreword by Matt Hills, Understanding Fandom introduces the whole field of fan research by looking at the history of debate, key paradigms and methodological issues. The book discusses insights from scholars working with fans of different texts, genres and media forms, including television and popular music. Mark Duffett shows that fan research is an emergent interdisciplinary field with its own key thinkers: a tradition that is distinct from both textual analysis and reception studies. Drawing on a range of debates from media studies, cultural studies and psychology, Duffett argues that fandom is a particular kind of engagement with the power relations of media culture.

Go deeper inside the hit TV show The Boys and its characters with psychologists, media experts, filmmakers, and more—including the original comic series' co-creator and the actors behind Soldier Boy and Stormfront. Supes Ain’t Always Heroes offers a fresh look at The Boys, delving into the show’s unflinching depiction of celebrity, politics, social media, corporate greed, racism, sexism, and more: The true difference between Homelander and Billy Butcher—and who the show’s biggest villain really is What Soldier Boy’s characterization says about how we define masculinity How today’s media landscape has contributed to The Boys’ success What the evolutions of Hughie, Starlight, A-Train, Mother’s Milk, and other show standouts reflect about addiction, family, identity, and self-acceptance PLUS: Exclusive interviews with The Boys comics co-creator Darick Robertson and actors Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), Jim Beaver (Robert Singer a.k.a. Dakota Bob), Aya Cash (Stormfront), and Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir) provide a unique glimpse behind the scenes. Comments from editor interviews with more of the show’s stars give further insight into their experiences in bringing these complex characters to life.

This book is the first to explore handicrafting practiced by media fans, their online fan communities and the multiple meanings they create. Based on in-depth ethnographic research into fans on the online social network for knitters, crocheters and crafters, Ravelry, Brigid Cherry explores textile craft by fans as both an artistic practice and transformative fan work. Including case studies of projects inspired by Doctor Who, True Blood, Firefly, Harry Potter, Sherlock and steampunk, the book engages with many forms of fan production, including fan art, fan fiction and cosplay. Fans of popular films and TV shows are increasingly engaging with textile crafts as a way of reworking, reimagining and engaging with cult media texts. Proving a global phenomenon amongst fan cultures in the digital media sphere, traditional film and TV audiences are forging their fan identities and participating in wider fan communities in innovative ways through online craft forums and blogs that showcase their knitting, crochet, spinning and dyeing projects. Exploring key debates from textile and media theory, surrounding gender, domesticity, the culture industries, audiences and fan culture, this book is essential reading for students of textiles, media studies, fashion, cultural and gender studies.

Fandom and geek programming has exploded in libraries in recent years. From anime-themed library lock-in events, cosplay contests, and video game tournaments, to an annual Harry Potter Yule Ball, libraries have embraced their inner geek and are hosting a wide variety of fandom programs. For those librarians who have no idea about the importance of Doctor Who, or the Star Trek vs.Star Wars debate, planning for such programming can seem daunting. Teen Fandom and Geek Programming: A Practical Guide for Librarians covers major fandom and program themes, as well as real-world event, club, and program ideas to help librarians provide this type of programming to their communities. Specifically, detailed coverage is provided for: Major fandoms, including superheroes, anime, Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Sherlock, and video game fandoms including MMOGs, Nintendo, and RPGs Fandom clubs Fanfiction programming Cosplay programming STEM programming through fandoms (graphic design and art; video editing and design; 3D printing) Large-scale geek events Promoting inclusivity through geek programming Use the tips and how-to knowledge in this practical guide to get more teens into your library!