The magical steps toward FANDOM

There was a crowd of screaming teenager that day on one of the coolest mall in Jakarta. They have stood in line since early in the morning and they didn’t move an inch. They screamed one named only. Justin Bieber.

For those of you who has been living in shell for all year long of 2010, or do not watch tv, or never use the internet – then maybe the name of Justin Bieber wouldn’t ring any bell for you. He is a teenage American singer who has made a good name and a good fanbase for himself all year long in 2010.

And those crowds of screaming teenager were lining to get the ticket of Justin’s concert that will be held in April. Boo hoo, you thought? Too much for you? Then you never heard the term “fandom” then.

What is fandom, anyway? Quoted from Wikipedia, fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. While according to Urban Dictionary, a fan is somebody who has an interest in something or somebody. Pretty obvious, right?.

A fandom or a groupie may not always have celebrities as their center of interest and loving. It could be hobbies, genre, fashion, music, literature and many more. Those fans that contribute themselves in the fandom world, also make their selves busy by spreading their love to other people, to make their love interest is well known. Some of them are writing fan-fictions, some of them are making videos to post online, others are putting costume play (also known as cosplay). For those with more time, money and creativity also making fan art and re-enactment of their favorite. It could be a form of play, a scene, comic or a music video.

How does one start to be a fan in a fandom world? Easy . It all starts with one little thing called “like”. It could like the artist look, the artist music, the storyline of a movie or the idea of a novel. If anyone start gushing or non-stop talking about something or saying something like ,”That Twilight movie is awesome !” or “Smash boyband is great!”. Then that’s the first step towards a fandom world.

The next step is “research”. Fan will do a thorough research regarding anything toward their love interest. What does he/she like? What his/her favorite color? Does he/she sleep wearing cute pajamas? And so on. After research then comes the “fieldwork”. Fieldwork is the one that takes most of the time and money. It’s starting with downloading the music, buying their goodies such as posters or magazines, buying the novel or movie or anything related to their love interest.

Sometimes, fan in a fandom world do not wish to be alone. Therefore they usually join the community which shares the same love they have. They usually have meet and greet and support their love in all online communities. For those die-hardcore fans, they even will to go the extra mile by visiting them. Fly to Korea or Singapore just to meet them or watch them live in concert.

Some also studying their language too if their love interests do not speak the same language. That’s why these past few years, some fans also start to studying languages other than English. They also start to speak Chinese, Japanese and even Korean !.

Like the old saying that too much will kill you, then just know your limit. Too much of indulgence is just as too bad as too little. Know your limit, time, financial and love. There’s nothing wrong with having something or someone or groups – that we passionate for.

Spread the love and enjoy your fandom ! .

Written by:
Cyra

Source:

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.teensmag.com.sg

A dream called reforestation

Reforestation. Say that word to 10 people. One of them probably laugh, another smirk, another daze, another will pretend to hear and another will shout,” Yes!”.

In this gadget world, people probably will ignore this kind of topic despite there are many promo and banner about saving the world, save the planet and so on. Why is it so hard? Should we care? Or we not?.
Honestly, from the bottom of my mind, I think we do care. All of us do. It is just hidden and buried under piles of economic problems, work problems, political problems and many other problems. Some people just shoved it on their back of their mind until it’s totally forgotten, while other just too busy to survive and the other keep it together and make it work.

Celebrities like Leonardo Dicaprio and Cameron Diaz are few of some Hollywood celebrities who do cares about environment. Running around with hybrid cars and plea in every chance they get to keep the planet green, clean and healthy. Another celebrity is Nadia Hutagalung, who keep her go-green attitude to the level of non-toxic product at home and keep everything consumable organic.

Can we do that? Sure ! We can. After all reforestation is not a weird creature that we should alienated. Just keep it simple, start from home. Keep everything green and don’t forget to water the plant. Yes let’s face it, not everyone born to have a green thumb, but at least keep our house environment clean is one small step toward happy, healthy and sane planet.

And what’s that other thing? Oh yes, keep your trash and do waste it in the waste bin. No, you do not stick it at someone’s chair, or at the edge of public transportation seat or throw it to anywhere you like. In fact, bring a small plastic bag whenever you go so you can keep your trash there and throw it to the nearest waste bin that you see.
After all, it is a very old planet. Let’s keep it green and alive as long as we can. After all, we are all walking on it each and every day. Don’t we?.