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| ''This article primarily deals with the obsession of idiots. For the small island of Fandom, see [[Goth|The Dark Lord]], the main and only inhabitant.''
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| Used in a general sense, '''fandom''' is that vast, amorphous body of [[fat|overweight]], [[basement-dweller|basement-dwelling]] [[nerd]]s that worship [[canon]]ical works. On a more specific basis, however, "fandom" is a collective term applied to the fans of a ''particular'' canon work. Thus, [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] possesses its own fandom, as does [[Star Trek]] and the [[Lord of the Rings]]; taken together, these individual fandoms constitute the universal "fandom."
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| ==A History of Fandom==
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| Fandom has existed for [[At least 100 years|at least a hundred years]], though prior to the advent of the [[Internets]] it was popularly referred to as "[[religion]]" or "[[mental retardation]]".
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| The word ''fandom'' is a combination of the word fan ''fan'' and the affix ''-dom''. The word fan is an abbreviation of the word "fanatic" (seriously), meaning ''A person marked or motivated by an [[extreme]], [[irrational exuberance|unreasoning enthusiasm]], as for a [[Judaism|cause]]''. The affix -dom is primarily used in a general sense to refer to an entire body of something or some abstract entity, typically one that relates to a a population (kingdom, , serfdom, freedom, dominion). -dom is from Middle English and is also [http://www.answers.com/topic/dom-2 the root for] the word '[[doom]]'. Interpret as you will.
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| The oldest fandom still existing in the modern world is, of course, [[Jews|Judaism]], whose members, called "Jews," are [[obsession|obsessed]] with one of the first known pieces of [[fanfic]], called the ''Tanakh'', which was primarily about eating Aryan babies. The primary author of this canon work, "Moses," rapidly became the unquestioned [[moderator]] of the Jewish fandom [[communities|community]], attaining something akin to [[Internet celebrity]] status. [[True|Proof]]: the word 'fan'atic is originally from the Latin ''fānum'', meaning 'temple'. And they almost got away with it.
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| Later, a Jew named [[God|Jesus]] started promulgating fanfic that broke with established canon. He managed to attract some followers, and after the Jews nailed him to a piece of wood in the desert, these individuals split off into their own branch of God-fandom. Calling themselves [[Christian]]s, they wrote their own definitive piece of fanfic, stapled it together with some of the older Jewish fanfic, and called it the ''Bible''. They later went on to conquer [[Europe]], convert the native fans to their cult-like following, and oppress those other fandoms which harbored differing opinions on how best to obsess over God.
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| [[Image:jesusslash.jpg|thumb|right|Some original slash art from [[at least 100 years]] ago, featuring [[Jesus]] and Mohammed.]]
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| This process repeated itself again, some time later, when a [[Suethors|Suethor]] named Mohammed wrote up yet ''another'' piece of fanfic (this one called the ''Koran''), that ran contrary to both Jewish and Christian canon. He attracted [[fanboy]]s and [[fangirl]]s from throughout the [[Middle East]], who promptly began calling themselves [[Muslims]]. They took issue with the Christians, and the relations between the two quickly devolved into one of history's first [[flame war]]s.
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| But primitive fandom was not restricted to these three groups alone. Back in the dark ages before the Internets, fandoms were spawned from all sorts of things: philosophies, political leaders, [[old media]] programs, types of government. Conflict between these sundry fandoms typically resulted in war and other [[lulz]] (such as the [[Holocaust]]), particularly between members of the ''same'' fandom who disagreed over the treatment of a canon character, [[OTP]] or [[whatever]] in a piece of fan- or [[slashfic]].
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| Fortunately, the Internets put a brake on the amount of blood shed over riffs between fandoms and their associative slashfic, fanfic and [[Mary Sue]] authors. Thanks to the anonymity and distance afforded by [[e-dentity|e-dentities]], [[message board]]s, [[LiveJournal]] and [[chat rooms]], bickering between members of particular fandoms now cause flame wars, [[drama]] and, of course, much [[lolz]] (as opposed to carpet-bombing).
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| (Well, that's not entirely [[Iraq|true]].)
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| ===A History of the word Fandom===
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| First, one must understand the origin of the word fan. From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
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| Fan (fæn) - 1889, Amer.Eng., originally of baseball enthusiasts, probably a shortening of fanatic, but may be influenced by the Fancy (1807), a collective term for followers of a certain hobby or sport (especially boxing). There is an isolated use from 1682, but the modern word is likely a new formation.
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| Now, we should also consider the word dom.
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| Dom (dam) - Unk. Year, BDSM community shortening of the word dominant and/or domination. (※[[Sodomy]])
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| Finally, we can discuss the meaning of the word Fandom.
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| Fandom (fænˈdam) - Derived in an Unk. Year from a combination of the words Fan and dom, labeling a fetish where a celebrity is dominated, possibly enslaved, by a ravenous fan. (Derivation similar to [[Fantard|femdom]])
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| ==Fandom Character Traits==
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| Placing an [[!|exclamation mark]] between an adjective and a name is common practice in the fandom world. It is used to show the traits of a character, often relating to a specific story.
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| ''Example: Redeemed!Draco falls for Dark!Harry in my Harry Potter fanfiction! [[Teh]] [[hawt]]ness[[oneoneone|!!!!1!1!'']]
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| [[Image:HPFandom.jpg|thumb|right|[[ZOMG]] [[Harry Potter]] and Draco FOREVAR[[oneoneone|11!!11]]]]
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| Also used commonly by [[Mary Sue|Sueologists]] to describe the many types of [[Mary Sue]]: Happy!Sue, Bitchy!Sue, Evil!Sue, etc.
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| This is, of course, a sure sign of a Retarded!Writer.
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| ==Prominent Fandoms==
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| Fandoms are related [[Fantasy]] or [[Science Fiction]] [[99%]] of the time with the other 1% dedicated to [[religion]]/[[politics]]:
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| * [[Anime]]
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| * [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]
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| * [[Firefly]]
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| * [[Furry]]
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| * [[God]]
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| ** [[Christian|Christianity]]
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| ** [[Jews|Judaism]]
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| ** [[Muslim|Islam]]
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| * [[Harry Potter]]
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| * [[Lord of the Rings]]
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| * [[Star Trek]]
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| * [[Star Wars]]
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| * [[Twilight]]
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| ==See also==
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| * [[Fantard]]s
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| * [[Hatedom]]: The even less lulzy negative version of fandom.
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| * [[Ship]]pers
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| * [[Fundamentalist]]s
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| * [[Fandom Wank]]
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| * [[Fandom Secrets]]
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| * [[The Great Livejournal Strikethrough of 2007]]
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| * [http://fanhistory.com/wiki/Main_Page Fan History Wiki - A Guide to Fandom Wank]
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| {{fanfic}}
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| [[Category:Fandom Stuff]]
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