a thought about the dS fanlore page

[thisaintbc]

 I'd love to see something about the due South Fandom Renaissance on fanlore, but a) I haven't seen anyone use the term for a few years so I'm not sure if it's still something people talk about, b) I don't want to have to write it myself, and c) I would honestly feel pretty weird about writing an article about it, considering that all things said I have a pretty narrow perspective on this & that ultimately it's a pretty small part of a much larger dS/C6D fandom history. 

I want our more recent fandom history to be recorded, ultimately, though, & I guess that may mean putting on my big kid pants & getting the ball rolling myself. 

ETA: some highlights from my conversation about this with thisisteal elsewhere: 

• modern due South tumblr fandom was built on a foundation of catladyinwaiting & deputychairman & we feel they should be mentioned on the dS fanlore page in some capacity
•  key components of the dS fandom renaissance seem to be:
  • people who saw dS on TV as kids growing up & getting involved in fandom
  • tumblr's rise as a new fannish platform helping foster a resurgence of interest
  • folks such as Cat & Deputy helping to create a new fannish space around the show
• in particular, for me, due South's narrative about discovering who you are away from home & in a dramatically-different-yet-somehow-similar culture really spoke to me when I was in college, which is why I became interested in the show again, but I don't know how universal that experience would be

Comments

[feroxargentea]

It's funny, because my immediate unfiltered response would be "uh...tumblr happened?" Because dS fandom was still trundling on elsewhere, and it would have been easy (it *was* easy) to ignore tumblr altogether. But I do wonder to what extent the non-tumblr fandom has been propped up these last few years by the generalised enthusiasm driven by the tumblr kids, helping keep things alive for the rest of us.

(I'm saying this more as a curious onlooker than as a participant, mind you. dS was never my main fandom.)

[thisaintbc]

That's fair! "due South fandom renaissance", to describe a wave of new fans getting excited about the show in the past 5-10 years, is definitely a term I first saw being used on lj (but I think to describe tumblr fandom, if I remember correctly) in maybe about 2014? ...which doesn't necessarily mean that's where/when it originated, of course, but I guess ultimately it's a question of whether it's noteworthy enough to go on fanlore?

I *do* think that either way it's a shame that folks like Cat, Deputy, & Jackymedan, who were truly honestly instrumental in shaping tumblr fandom as it exists today, don't have fanlore pages, as well--but, I dunno, I feel a little weird about the idea of making fanlore pages for people I know?

[feroxargentea]

For what it's worth, I'd say "yes it is!" and "go for it!" :)

[writedragon]

And then you have fans like me -- I only ever even heard of due South in June of 2018 -- via Tumblr. Someone recommended it as the best thing ever, and that it was now on youtube. I checked it out and was instantly hooked on the entire Six Degrees fandom (I'm not Canadian so I've had quite the Quest on my hands).

Then I went looking for other due South fans (via Facebook, Tumblr, and Archive of our Own), and found a small but (miraculously, to me) robust community. Without the global reach of Tumblr (sadly, now), I never would have found this show nor met some truly wonderful people.

Something else you should know: I'm not a kid (far from it). I fall into the second-largest demographic on tumblr, which historically is midlife creators and artists (think Neil Gaiman, Rachel Talalay, many others).

The appeal of the show for me is its fundamental optimism wrapped around compelling characters. It's the same thing I love about Doctor Who (Fraser= The Doctor to me). Life is full of cynicism and this show reasserts that Maintaining The Right still has value, even if it's only for your nextdoor neighbor, your best friend, or the guy who fixes your shoes. Beautiful.

[thisaintbc]

Right--tumblr was really key, I think, to this resurgence of interest in due South long after the show ended. Honestly if Cat & Deputy hadn't fostered the enthusiasm on tumblr the way they did I don't know if a tumblr-centric community would have emerged--or it would have looked very different. There was apparently a similar comm that predated the dsvb (the flying blimp? maybe?) but I think? that it was lj centric still?

I'm repeating myself from an earlier comment here, sorry, but "due South Fandom Renaissance" is a term I first heard/saw being used on livejournal (to describe new fen coming from tumblr, though) in about 2014. I don't see it used very often anymore, but honestly I'm also not on livejournal in any real capacity anymore.

You're in good company then! I'm still a kid, or at least I still think of myself as one, but most of the due South fans I've gotten to know are probably closer to your age than mine.

due South's optimism (I might even describe it as pragmatic optimism?) really is a breath of fresh air!

[ride_4ever]

Meep! How did I miss this post? Well, it was posted on my birthday so I may have been too intoxicated to read posts offline celebrating.

Anyways, I totally support there being more dS on Fanlore. (I myself am working on making a more in-depth Fanlore page for the dSSS.)