User: freckles42 Date: 2006-06-24 10:29 Subject: Fandom Land Security: Public Mood: silly Tags: fandom, potterverse

Behind the cut, what happens when I start contemplating the fandom and what a map of this place would look like.

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User: freckles42 Date: 2007-06-16 10:18 Subject: PSA Security: Public Mood: annoyed Tags: fandom, psa

Dear Fandom:

It is Occlumency. Not occulmency or oculmency.

Oculus is the Latin word for eye. I can see how people might become confused as to its seeming usage in this context, as the idea of using your mind's eye to see things could be applied. However, Occlumency is about mental blocking.

Occultare: Many people (including the Lexicon) believe that the root word of Occlumency is Occultare, which means "to hide, conceal." This is getting closer, but still not quite right. At least this is an understandable confusion.

Occludere means "to shut up, close up." Think occlude. This, to me, seems the clear and obvious choice of roots. The right letters in the correct combination and number... yup.

I'm sure many would like to argue that either of the latter could apply, but frankly, I think if JKR wanted the root to be occultare, she would have used a different spelling. Harry's not just trying to hide thoughts and feelings, but is rather trying to completely block out an invading mind.

That's pretty much it. Nothing deep, just a little Latin and some griping. This sort of thing really rubs me the wrong way.

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User: freckles42 Date: 2007-02-08 09:56 Subject: fandom as a mediaeval society. Security: Public Mood: thoughtful Tags: fandom, meta

It really brightens my day to see what people have to say about each other in the fandom. This place has its share of drama, sure, and sometimes it gets out of control (like when it bleeds onto metafilter and fark). But usually we take care of ourselves - a self-regulating society. In many ways, it's not unlike an anarcho-syndicalist commune early society.

There are the well-known fandom folks - people whose names you'd probably recognise no matter what part of the fandom is the area from which you hail. These are not unlike the knights or lords/ladies, each known by their stature. And while most are known fandom-wide, they each are best known in their own corner of the fandom. Hell, we even have our own crests and sigils - usericons, anyone?

ETA: I have revised my opinion of these folks, so I think they might be better classified as the most prominent artists and workers in various guilds. There used to be grocers' guilds, various artisan guilds, fishers' guilds, etc. These folks were all still part of the middle class (discussed below) but had a much higher profile than most. They were usually vaunted by their respective communities, usually for a combination of cunning business moves, exceptional skills, and so on. This might be a better comparison than the other one.

There are the moderately well-known folks, of course; these are people that you see post occasionally, and when you follow the link to their userinfo you discover you already have a half-dozen common friends. These are like the rising middle-class - merchants and such - who mostly work in the village outside the knights' abodes and interact with the knights and the "common" people. Some of these folks are working very hard to gain enough status to move up a notch in society.

Then there are the quiet participants, whose names you recognise from comments to fic, art, theories, or debates; they contribute, but very rarely in their own journal. These are the freemen - they go about what they do quietly, occasionally stopping to talk to the merchants and making the occasional payment (a comment!) to their knights, but otherwise they mostly just enjoy the work of others.

What of the priestly class? Those would be the news aggregators, reclisters, and people who create/manage things like HP Wiki and the Lexicon. They adore the works of others and spend much of their time in our world focused on bringing the words of others to the wider world. They spread and share the knowledge, and their hard work can be appreciated by all.

And then there are the lurkers, who only surface once a year to mate when they feel truly compelled to comment on something. These are the hermits and medicine women who live on the edge of the forest. Of course, there are far more lukers in the fandom than there ever were hermits or crazy cat lady predecessors old maids who used to hex kids that wouldn't stay off their lawn. However, the social interaction is apt. These people are mostly harmless, and when they do surface it's likely all they wanted was to buy some cheese from the store in town. They are actually pretty nice people if you get to know them.

There are also, of course, trolls and sockpuppets, but those get fed to the sea monster pretty quickly. They are highway robbers and con men, basically.

So there is a hierarchy, obviously. Now, some people might suggest that JKR takes the place of a queen of the fandom, but I would say that her status is, frankly, more like a god than a queen. Some challenge her, some adore her, and we are all waiting to see what more she will add to her creation. There are even the elite few who get invited to speak to her personally. Some don't even believe she exists (shadow writers, anyone?). A queen would step in and interfere, collect taxes and so forth. A deity sends out messages as she sees fit (jkr.com), but mostly leaves us alone and gets on with the work of creating.

So, we self-regulate. People who violate the "rules" that we have created in this fandom are either driven to the edge and told not to return until they learn some manners or they adapt and assimilate into our society. This is a wide and varied fandom with many areas for one to find a group of one's fellows. It is much like having little enclaves devoted to certain crafts. "This is the realm of horses, and this is Smith-town" is not all that different from "This is the realm of artists, and here are the icon-makers." We agree to certain protocols - be polite, be respectful, and please, have fun!

Obviously there are some flaws with my observations - we don't have indentured servants, or fiefs, etc. We generally see ourselves all as equals, rather than strictly adhering to the level on which we exist. Anyone can move up - or down! So perhaps comparing it to the social structure of Reformationist England would be more apt (where much of the old structure is still in place but the growing middle class is making a fair argument for equality, especially with the ideas of Luther giving an argument for the destruction of the class system; and there's also a much more complex society in place), but then I don't think the flavour is the same as our fandom. We're not trying to overthrow or make major changes, we just are. Nor are we that organised.

We even have trade with other fandoms (crossover, common interests, anyone?).

Questions? Comments? Snide remarks?

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