Gids is headed this way with an undoubtedly unpopular opinion

[giddy_london]

Thank you, MCR. This is actually the nudge I’ve been waiting for, and I think it’s safe to say that I will be leaving bandom behind. I want to make it clear that I’m not overreacting to the news about Bob, but that this announcement (as well as the fans’ reactions to it) has made it easier for me to decide to cease my involvement in this fandom. In

Comments

[momebie]

I haven't been paying attention to bandom for almost a year now. I've always been fandom ADD, so it wasn't a surprise when I just wandered off one day. Because of that, this isn't exactly a nail in a coffin, but I feel less of a reason to go back. I'll have one fic to post after I finish my Help Haiti offering, and then I'll probably be done with it. Which doesn't affect anyone but me, I'm sure.

Like you said, I've got too much going on in my real life to really worry about it. And while I wish the band and Bob the best, and am, yes, a little sad about it, it's not really a Thing. Life goes on.

[giddy_london]

I think feeling "less of a reason to go back" is kind of the perfect way to put it. I've been pretty cranky about bandom in general and MCR in particular since last fall, and even a hiatus didn't do much good, so focusing more on RL stuff seems to be what's best for me. The thing that sucks about stepping back from fannish involvement is the not interacting with people as much thing. I feel like I made good, lasting friendships with some people in previous fandoms, and I don't feel bandom will be the same way, unfortunately.

[momebie]

I think a part of that might have to do with the source material, really. I love quite a few of the people I met in bandom, and I hope I don't lose them any time soon. The ones I really like I have other things in common with. Even if they're real life things. Especially if they're real life things. But as you said, the majority of the people I met there I didn't really bond with.

When you're dealing with fandoms set in stories (movies, books, what have you), you tend to bond by themes, you know? There is something there that spoke to you that will move you and others, and in seeing that you can learn a lot about the others. You feel like you're in on something greater. But bandom, at least on the surface, was so much about following a certain sense of celebrity and pretty boys doing each other, that there aren't many long lasting themes.

For those who bonded over the music itself though, any music, I think those bonds will last longer.

[giddy_london]

Interestingly, three of the four fandoms I've been involved with in the five years I've been on LJ have been RPF fandoms. (The exception, of course, being Harry Potter). I haven't given much thought to how one might become friends with someone based on the fandom itself, but you bring up an interesting point. On the other hand, my first LJ fandom was LOTR RPS, which was more or less "a certain sense of celebrity and pretty boys doing each other," and yet I feel the friends I made in that fandom are the people I was and am still closest to, even if we haven't had a fandom in common since.

[iamsupernova]

MCR were a band before Bob, and if they continue to be a band after Bob, so much the better for them.

Good for you that you can see it that way, but the fact that they were a band before him doesn't invalidate the time he WAS in the band. He became part of the fandom, part of the reasons people love MCR, and for those of us who are upset by this news, it's not exactly easy to see the band we love, the way we loved it, missing a piece.

Just my two cents.

It makes me sad that people are leaving bandom for this, like people who left bandom when Panic split. But I guess this is just the nail in the coffin for some people.

[giddy_london]

Oh, I don't want to be misunderstood at all - I am definitely aware that Bob being a part of MCR made him a part of the fandom and a part of the reason that people love the band. Bob was a part of why I loved the band, and I tend to agree with the people who are upset that Bob splitting from the band only warranted two lines in a blog post after so many years with them. If Bob was so important to the band and so well-loved, why so little information in so callous a post? And I can definitely understand people who are upset because they only knew MCR after Bob joined. Bob not being there will definitely mean a piece missing.

I think for me it's just easier to deal with because I've been feeling so ambivalent for so long, if that makes sense. It is sad that this is prompting some people to leave bandom, but as you pointed out, it likely isn't over-reaction for most people, but a final nail in the coffin. Either way, it sucks. :(

And I totally thank you for your two cents! Discussion is good, right?

[iamsupernova]

I haven't been participating much in the fandom reaction, except for a bunch of terrified capslock tweets just after the blog was posted, and a few journal entries on my flist that are basically a big collective sadface from all of us. I'm avoiding anything complicated regarding his departure from the band, because that's where the hurt feelings and wank begin, imo. I'd like to be sad for a while, and move on. It'll be easier, I think, than recovering from the Amanda Palmer scandal. I just wish sad things would stop happening to the bands I love.

I think eventually light will be shed on Bob's departure. This band likes to talk, and explain, and they care about their fans. This was an official statement, and it definitely didn't seem like the way they usually do things. I'm going to sit back and wait for them to say something with heart, because I know they have it in them.

[giddy_london]

You are clearly far smarter than most, staying away from a general reaction! I like to see what people everywhere are saying, and there've been a lot of good and a lot of flat out horrible comments. I think your plan to be sad for a bit and move on is a good one. :D (And, as you pointed out, likely far easier than recovering from the AFP stuff).

You know, I really hope they do eventually say something more - I'd like to think that Bob meant more to them than a businesslike blog, and I'm fairly certain he did. I realize none of us is really entitled to anything from the band, but something of substance, "with heart" as you said, would probably go a long way to making people feel better.

[earlofcardigans]

Oh Gids. You already know exactly how I feel about most of this what with having spent emails and phone calls (which are still open and I'll probably need btw) about it.

I've never been a 'let's hold hands and get along' type person, so I'm going back to corner and watching tv and listening to Motion City Soundtrack and trying very hard to be the calmest person in my family today.

[giddy_london]

Stevie, I know exactly how you feel. ♥ I was so thankful to have you to talk to about it, and I only now regret not saying something in my journal at the time. But the past is past, right? Forward and onward!

Hee! Nope, I will never be that person either, but if you need me to hold your hand, I will. Meantime, I'll be thinking of you and your family.

[lhazzie]

Obvs I have very little awareness of all this, but kudos to your no-bullshit attitude. People who are intolerant of others' opinions should go fuck themselves.

Is that hypocritical? Maybe... Lol.

I AM DRUNK.

And also, I AM A MASTER OF SCIENCE!

Your new fandom can be you life. Babies are exciting; moving is exciting. Exciting is all that is needed for a fandom. Or something.

OH HAI.

[giddy_london]

I mean, obviously I think people having differing opinions is a good thing - otherwise how would we ever have any discussion about anything? But I think there's a difference between stating your opinion and respecting someone's differing ideas and shoving your opinion in everyone else's face as fact and calling other people stupid or bad fans for thinking differently.

HEE! I LOVE THAT YOU ARE DRUNK AND A MASTER OF SCIENCE! YOU ARE SO IMPRESSIVE!

Haha, maybe I can be a fandom of one? Well, or maybe two - surely the bf thinks living together and having a baby are exciting. And if no one else here does? Fuck 'em! :D

[lhazzie]

Bad fans are healthy fans. If you care so much that other people's take on the situation hurts your personal feelings, then you care too much.

Babies are exciting! They're not human... But they're exciting! :D And eventually, they turn into humans.

[giddy_london]

Unless someone's opinion is directing, specifically insulting to you, I agree. And that's when I just think LOL OVER-INVESTED.

I hope this gets exciting! Mostly I poke at my belly and wonder whether there really is anything in there. Although, you know, eventually I'll be like HOMG GIANT BABY IN THERE WTF.

[giddy_london]

Hee! Yeah, I guess you missed this post a couple of weeks ago? :D

[giddy_london]

Hahaha, it might have been an eye, actually! According to my book, the baby's eyes are starting to move to the front of its head this week. HEE.

Thank you! We're getting pretty excited, too, and I think by the next ultrasound in 3 weeks it'll be even more real. :D