I hope all my Canadian friends had a great Canada Day!

This wee blog burst we concentrate on you! The FAN!

Which really is FANtastic when you think about it.  How many FANtasies are being FANned each moment of everyday?

The truth is Outlander is NOT the first fandom. WHAT?! GASP! NAHW! Really???

It is one of the more…let’s say…Universal fandoms…where you have HUGE GAPS in not only age, socio economics, race, sex, hell…let’s just put it this way…just like the books Diana wrote, are GENRE-BENDING…so is the demographic for the TV show. Simple & easy as that.

This means there are SO many levels of fandoms…by JamieClaire&BlackJackRandall they are ALL RIGHT and deserve to be there!

It is FANatical. It is OUTLANDISH and it WORKS.  We simply need to remember it is UNIVERSAL.  Which means – applicable EVERYWHERE…like…EVERY – WHERE…from every corner of the world. I am pretty sure that means there is more than enough room for all kinds of fans. No matter your views.

Naturally, the ABOotlanders believe there is always one rule that should be followed – that is #AAPI – Always Assume Positive Intent.  That means in reading what I write here, I come from a positive place. One of fun, love & joy.  Yes, I am a smartass at times and sure I can be cheeky however I ALWAYS come from place of POSITIVE INTENT and I will read most things coming from that same place.

We also have a philosophy of KINDNESS.  It doesn’t hurt. It feels nice & well, we all could do better with a little extra.

This FANdamonium blogburst is ALL ABOUT putting the FUN in our fandom.  We HAVE lots of it & we don’t all have to LOOOOOOOVE one another…that would just be plain silly, but it certainly would be nice if we could respect one another.  You know just like in real life, there are different people, with different personalities, they won’t all get along and love one another. That’s cool. Our fandom is made up of so many different kinds of personalities, it only makes sense they break off into their own happy little groups.  To find like minded people who will lift them up and energize their purpose.

We like to have fun with other fans & have learned since our days in the first #Droughtlander …we can pretty much put Outlander into ANYTHING.   We believe in this fanmily – in all it’s mentally hilarious glory!

We can put a stamp on each of our  OUTcrops of fans.  They have made themselves very visible. The coolest part is, when new fans find their way to this happy huge family of ours, they can find their niche with their people.

I’m going to start with us.  My kinda fan. The kind that love the books & love the show. That just want everyone to be happy & share the love. We are the “Toutlanders”. There are many of us out there.  A nice place to be.  We generally get a long with all of the groups because of our principle way of thinking is in the #AAPI mindset. 

We have the “Freakoutlanders”. It’s not their fault, it’s just their personality. They get really excited about EVERYTHING! They post the same posts on all the FB pages, they tweet and retweet interviews & new photos of cast members. We LOVE the Freakoutlanders because if we miss something all we have to do is find their feed and BOOM…there it is. Everything. ALL the Outlander things ALL of the time!

There are the “Shoutlanders”. They are…ummmm….passionate.  Yeah, that’s the word I was looking for. They’re the loud, proud & defenders of the fandom, the show, the books, the cast. When an article has been written, an interview done – anything-  that maybe has a questionable comment, in accurate information or dissed ANYTHING Outlander.  They go – vocal. They often go full on MamaBear.  They rally the troops and get shit done so to speak. They “shout” all over the twitterverse all over facebookdome…wherever they can be heard. They rally. Sometimes, the virtual pitchforks come out – they mean well…I am sure they do. Some get a trifle excited.   There are some smaller shoutlanders who come out for the polls – all of the polls.  They band together and get super vocal & it sure works!  If there is a cast member up to win a poll…we usually take it home because of these dedicated individuals.

The “Missoutlanders” can’t ever catch a break.  They always seem to post or RT things days later thinking they were the first to do it.  They are well intended. They just don’t spend as much time on line as, let’s say, the “Hangoutlanders”, who have their mobile device attached to them because they have it there for work or something else…company.  The hangoutlanders know everything right away and pipe it out to us all as soon as they can. We love them because the freakoutlanders follow them closely. They make a great team!

This fandom also has people watching your back for you.   They are like the neighbourhood watch. The “Lookoutlanders”.  They make sure people aren’t stealing pictures, gifs, artwork, fanart or memes.  Rest assured, you are being watched, if you use someone’s photographs to make a meme or to create fanart – you will be called out or maybe even fan-shamed. Be prepared. Rethink your actions.

I think the “Spoutlanders” & “Uncouthlanders” might fall into the same category here.  Though we always do try to #AAPI  – we may have to question the motives of some who try and delve into the darker side of the fandom. Which is try and make the personal lives of cast & crew their business.  In turn divulge information from their personal lives…this then creates drama. It also starts gossip amongst the fans themselves about other fans…blah blah blah.  There is no positive that can come from that kind of juvenile behaviour.   So it is spouty in the way that when we talk more about others – we aren’t focusing enough on our own stuff…and it’s uncouth because well, that’s obvious.

I have encountered some “Dropoutlanders” and that’s ok too.  Fans of the TV show at the start or they are book fans and will always be book fans but they just could not bring themselves to get past the changes made to the show.  I don’t personally agree with them but it is not up to me to force them to watch or tell them their opinion is wrong for them. That’s silly.

We do have those who still watch even though they can’t stand the changes being made & they will defend their right to hate it & keep watching, I call them “Slipoutlanders“. They slip in and out of loving and disagreement. The “Getoutlanders” want them to just go away. “Stop watching if you don’t like it” is a favourite saying. However,the “slipoutlanders” maintain they like it, they just don’t like or agree with everything they have done & know where it could have been done better. They often make their opinions known, in various ways.

There could be some really intelligent discussions if all of us folks could check into the #AAPI frame of mind. However, sometimes we are too concerned with being right instead of being.

I like the “Hideoutlanders“,  they are there, they are watching, seeing & playing a long.  They interact when they want to, play, poll, RT & share. Waves? Nah…not their thing.  Peaceful. Sweet. Jumping into “toutlander” mode when they see fit. They will “Tryoutlander” fan fun when they like and leave what they don’t.

Last but not least…our “Thoughtlanders”…these are our creative souls.  They range from those who put paint to canvas, charcoal to paper, create fan vids and yes – memes and blogs.  Not everyone agrees with me, that they are fanartish… however I believe that if you put your heart, mind & some love into something with some creativity then…it’s art too. It’s different.  Everyone sees the world through different eyes & we can appreciate different views.

The FANdom is a family, yes, some say, FANmily.  All families don’t love every member, but the truth is they should try and get along. Try and be kind and if they can’t do that…they should go to their separate corners & love who they are with.  Do the best with what you have.  The truth of the matter is we want Outlander to LAST.  It’s been around over 20 years – it’s grown organically & beautifully.  It will continue to do so, in its own way…that’s pretty cool.

 

 

SL…ABOoterific